FECAVA Newsletter – July 2023
FECAVA joins iCatCare in Celebrating International Cat Day on August 8th
International Cat Care (iCatCare) is encouraging cat owners to take five minutes a day to play with their cats to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. The two-week social media campaign, ‘Purrfect Play Every Day’, launches on August 1 and has been developed to inspire human behaviour change leading up to International Cat Day (August 8) and beyond.
The campaign is designed to motivate owners to play separately with their cats for at least 5 minutes every day with a wand toy, an activity that less than 30% of cat owners are currently engaging in according to our recent survey. Wand toy play provides a safe outlet to perform natural predatory behaviours (a critical feline welfare requirement) and offers key benefits such as:
- Reduction in hunting behaviour (studies have suggested up to 25%)
- Increased mental stimulation
- Encouraging exercise and maintenance of a healthy bodyweight
- Reduction of certain problem behaviours (including attention-seeking and destructive behaviours)
- Strengthening the human-animal bond
iCatCare will be sharing expert advice to help owners understand the benefits of play for cats of all ages, as well as providing tips and tricks for safe play with the whole family. The campaign will feature downloadable resources and short videos veterinary professionals can share with cat owners that also tackle the issues around common barriers to regular play with cats, such as being too tired or unable to make play a daily habit (reported by approximately 20% of cat owners).
To help support our Purrfect Play Every Day campaign, follow @icatcare on social media, share the content and use the #InternationalCatDay and #PurrfectPlay. For more information, visit: https://icatcare.org/international-cat-day/
International Cat Care (iCatCare)