What are the principles of environmental enrichment?

Techniques utilized to enrich an environment generally fall into 5 categories: Food based enrichment Sensory enrichment (sight, smell, touch, hear, taste) Novel objects Social enrichment Positive Training. Do remember that to be effective, the animal can not be made fearful and must actually utilize or engage in the activity for it to be enriching. Think about what the species your target animal belongs to would normally do. Food based enrichment – hide a small ball filled with food so she can hunt and find it, then it will zip around the house like a mouse when batted and pushed encouraging chasing, catching, and consuming behaviors. Sensory Enrichment – place a fleece covered (touch) perch near a window so that your cat can climb up and observe (sight, hear, smell) birds and squirrels at a strategically placed feeder. Novel Objects – offer your cat empty cardboard boxes and paper bags to climb on, around, and through to explore one afternoon. Social enrichment – multi pet households where the animals are in stable healthy relationships offer valuable opportunities to be social with their own species. Positive Training- when it is fun, everyone likes to learn something new. Be sure sessions are not frustrating, and never use techniques that make your pet fearful.