A few years back, one of my dog-owning clients asked me about getting a stroller for her dog. She wanted to walk to the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center for her dog’s appointments, but her dog tired easily and she thought a stroller would make the walk to AMC easier for both her and her dog. My first reaction was “that’s dumb, a dog stroller” but after thinking about it a bit, I realized the dog stroller had many uses to improve a dog’s quality of life and wrote about it in a previous blogpost. Never did I think of putting a cat in a stroller. Now, a new research study is investigating if strolling with your cat is a good idea. I’ll discuss the study below.

Cats Strolling to the Vet’s Office

I would guess the number one reason for a cat stroller is transportation to veterinary visits. I have a number of feline patients who come to AMC in a stroller. The photo below shows my patient, Musette, in her stroller. They could come in a regular cat carrier but, like my dog owning client, the cat owner wants to walk to AMC. Some of these cats are doing really well and have gotten too heavy to be carried more than a few blocks over someone’s shoulder.

Environmental Enrichment for Cats

While indoor cats are safer, live longer and cannot prey on the local songbird population, their lives can be rather boring. The need to improve our indoor cats’ physical and emotional wellbeing has led to the concept of environmental enrichment. The idea behind environmental enrichment is to provide your animal with surroundings that meet their physical, emotional and social needs. For cats, these needs include places to scratch, hide and climb. These needs dictate the cat furniture in your living room such as a cat tree, scratching post and a cozy bed.

Can Strolling Provide Enrichment for Cats?

Experts in environmental enrichment recommend creating a comfy perch for your cat on a window ledge where they can watch the world go by. Researchers at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine wondered if a cat stroller might offer the same benefit. The school’s veterinary students have teamed up with the Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center to study cats’ response to a 15-minute stroller ride. The researchers note that shelter dogs are walked daily while shelter cats often spend all of their time in a cat kennel. They hope this simple but clever environmental enrichment opportunity will improve the shelter cat’s quality of life.

Resources for Enriching Your Cat’s Environment

Interested in enriching your cat’s environment? Here are some enrichment tips from the International Society of Feline Medicine. Both cats and owners love “catios” and, if you’re looking for some inspiration, check out CatioSpaces.com. Finally, the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine has an Indoor Cat Initiative with good suggestions for improving your indoor cat’s surroundings.