How do I know what my cat likes?

The duty of the cat caregiver is twofold fundamentally, (a) to provide a secure home - safety comes first and (b) to make their cat happy!

Jackson Galaxy has some great advice on how to start the process of making your cat happy. And his advice is echoed in Dr. Desmond Morris's well-known book Cat Watching, the first and I would say best book on domestic cat behaviour on the market.

Image: MikeB

Jackson Galaxy says that cat owners should behave like a detective to find out what's going on; what's wrong and what's right, which means that the cat owner should be very observant.

I think that part of the duty of being a good cat caregiver is to be highly observant. Cat owners should watch their cat and take mental notes or even write it down.

If you want to find out what makes your cat happy observe their behaviour. Here are a couple of simple and easy examples.

Food preferences

Cat owners should provide their cat with best quality wet and a bit of dry food for night-time grazing together with some treats from time to time. Domestic cats have food preferences when it comes to wet cat food. To find out those preferences you have to go through a lot of different cat foods and observe the cat's response. Simple stuff. Once you found their favourite you provide it regularly.

RELATED: How do I know if I’m feeding my cat good quality dry cat food?

This will not only make your cat happier but it will also reduce the amount of wet cat food wastage. And it is always a nightmare to get rid of wet cat food which is going off as it so smelly, messy and horrible!

RELATED: What is complete cat food?

Sleeping arrangements

Another example would be to observe where your cat likes to sleep. If your cat is an indoor/outdoor cat they might spend quite a lot of time outside at night and sleep during the day when there is a lot of activity at least potentially in the home. 

An indoor/outdoor cat might have difficulty in finding a quiet place to sleep. Their caregiver should observe their cat and provide a quiet corner of the home, perhaps a room, where they can sleep and within that home use a customised discarded cardboard box which will provide a roof over the cat's head and walls on their sides. Domestic cats like to feel the pressure of the walls of a box against them as it gives them a sense of security. It's why they like boxes.

Quite a lot of cats are borderline anxious or actually anxious. They don't show this to their owner. Cats are undemonstrative which makes it difficult to find out what they like and therefore what makes them happy. This is where the owner's observational skills come into play.

Caregivers should be detectives and they should do this all the time throughout their period of cat ownership. It never stops. Cat owners can always learn more about their cat and what makes them tick.