It’s your cat’s birthday. With these 5 tips, it’ll be a happy day for your furry friend!

Your kitty is not just a cat? She’s your friend, your ray of sunshine, part of the family? She is always there for you at any time of the day. She doesn’t care what you look like, whether you do everything right – YOU are her favourite person! When you’re feeling down, she senses it and cheers you up in no time, with just a jump onto your lap. In the morning she’s your reliable alarm clock; in the evening she purrs you gently into your dreams. In short: no human can do what your cat can. That’s why her birthday is a celebration for you.

What can you give a cat for its birthday?

What can I spoil my cat with? Birthdays aren’t just for congratulations, but presents too! A cat won’t appreciate flowers or chocolates. So it has to be something that your furry friend will love: something that shows her that today is a special day, and different to usual. Maybe something new for her to discover? Or you can surprise her with tasty treats that she doesn’t find in her bowl every day. A special treat for her taste buds!

Treats for cats – a cat buffet

Welcome to the land of milk and honey! A cat buffet offers a colourful feast of delights. Bowls of different treats, for example, one with fish or meat, others with gourmet dry or wet food and a few snacks for dessert! Make sure you serve fish and meat meals cooked and be careful to remove the bones.

A new cat bed

How about a new cat bed?  A brilliant idea! Our furry friends love warm, cosy nests and beds to curl up in. They can’t get enough of these zzzzzz zones! And it’s no wonder, because our kitties need enormous amounts of sleep. Adult cats sleep 12 to 16 hours a day, kittens or seniors even more.

TIP: A new cat bed makes a great gift. You can easily make one yourself, instructions can be found here

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A new cat toy

Or maybe a new cat toy, in case your cat is bored with her current selection?

Rolling the same toys back and forth 100 times…… there comes a time when you just lose interest! Your cat has had so much fun with the same toys that s/he gets bored. Here are some great ideas for cat toys your cat can have fun with plus instructions for you to make your own

A cat birthday cake

A birthday without a cake? That’s impossible – something important would be missing! So get into the kitchen and bake your cat a birthday cake! However, make sure that the cake is edible for cats. Forget your usual cake ingredients – you’ll have to make a few adjustments! Otherwise, the cat cake won’t be a treat for your kitty, but give her a stomach ache…

Baking a cake for a cat

If your cat is a big fish fan, why not bake her a delicious fish cake? Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
• 1 egg
• 45 g fresh goat’s milk cheese
• 100 g fresh fish (e.g. trout, herring, wild salmon, sprat or sardine – without bones or oil, not smoked)

1. Blanch the fish.
2. Chop all the ingredients and mix together. 
3. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized muffin tin.
4. Put in the oven at 180 ºC for fifteen minutes, then leave to cool. 

– Bon appétit!

Baking cat biscuits

Cat biscuits are a great little snack in between meals. Your cat will enjoy them for a long time! How about a poultry snack to celebrate the day? The guest of honour’s mouth will be watering as you make them.
• 45 ml chicken stock
• 250 g corn meal
• 125 g spelt flour (type 630, corn or buckwheat flour can be used instead
• 350 g fresh poultry meat (chicken, turkey – without skin or bones

  1. Blanch the poultry.                                                             
  2. Chop and mix all ingredients.                               
  3. Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for two hours.                                                                
  4. Roll out and cut round biscuits and place on a baking tray.                                                              
  5. Bake in the oven at 180 ºC for fifteen minutes, and leave to cool. Then your cat I can snack on her first birthday biscuit!         

CAUTION!

Cakes and biscuits will keep fresh if covered and sealed in the fridge. Biscuits will keep for a maximum of 2 days – don’t serve them after that! Be sure to observe the shelf life: maximum 2 days – after that you should no longer use them!

Invite cat friends?

Invite cat friends? Perhaps not, as it isn’t a children’s birthday party! Don’t forget: she’s a cat and has different needs. A cat can have friends, but only s/he chooses them! And decides who is allowed to enter his or her territory. If cats are siblings, or grow up together and share the same living space, they can get along well. But like us humans: we may get along just fine with one person, but less so with someone else.

Invite other cats?

Please don’t invite other cats! There are very clear hierarchies among cats.  Adjustments are made from time to time and sometimes sparks can fly. If an unfamiliar cat joins the group announced from the outside , it can be a very tense situation for all parties, especially for the so-called “intruder”. It’s unknown territory with no cover and nowhere to retreat: pure stress!

Inviting people to the party

Make it a full house? That might not be a good idea. If you want to invite people to the party, for your cat’s sake limit yourself to one or two people she likes. Your cat won’t like too much fun and excitement. If it gets to be too much, she’ll run and hide. But that’s not really the point, is it? It’s her birthday after all!  You should prioritise her having a good time.

The right music for a cat party

What kind of music is right for a cat party? What kind of sounds would a cat DJ put on if he had the choice? There is actually a certain type of music that the majority of kitties rather like. These are mainly the sounds that our furry friends have enjoyed since they were kittens: sounds they have absorbed in the first weeks of life.

Relaxing music for cats

Certain music has a particularly calming effect on cats. When cats listen to this kind of music, you can really see how they relax. Even grumpy cats become calmer. Relaxing music is not just apt for a cat party, but also for when your cat is exposed to stressful situations: e.g. on New Year’s Eve or during a long car journey. Give it a try!

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Pampering your cat

Pamper your cat on her birthday! Just like for us humans, kindness is essential. Touch, closeness, body contact: your cat needs all of that, in large doses, please! Treat your cat to a little wellness session in the form of a massage. Start by applying gentle pressure from the head to the end of the tail. Start with your fingertips behind the ears, massage over the flanks and shoulders. Sweep across the back to mark the end of the massage.

TIP: You can also massage over the eyes with small circular movements. Many cats really enjoy this!

Stroking your cat

If you pay attention to your cat’s body language when pampering, you’ll discover over time what s/he loves and what you’d best avoid. It’s better to completely avoid “taboo zones”. Preferred petting areas are on the back, flanks, chest, behind the ears, on the chin and between the shoulder blades.

Playing with your cat

Play a special game with your cat for her birthday. But WHAT? Think like your cat.  When you’re a hunter, what’ s your favourite thing to do? That’s right! Lurking, hunting and of course, pouncing! So create the stimuli that satisfy these needs. The best thing is to find games where your cat can hunt. First she stalks, then she pounces, bam! Gotcha. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Fishing: Fill a bowl with water and place a table tennis ball or cork on the water surface – the larger the water surface, the more exciting the game!
  • Exploring: Fit cardboard boxes, cartons or large paper bags with escape holes. Place something inside to find (paper, toys, leaves, pine cones or something similar).
  • Spinning tops: Wooden spinning tops are inexpensive and available in many toy shops. You can propel them with a pull-string or by hand. Cats can follow them closely and send them off in new directions by pawing at them.
  • Pilfering: Other housemates sometimes have great toys that cats like to borrow: dog toys, for example
  • Pounce: Throw balls at the wall and let your cat chase them.
  • Lurking: Hide a toy, peek it out every now and then and hide it again. At some point you’ll have to sacrifice the bait, otherwise even the most patient hunter will lose interest.      
  • Catching: A strong leather strap, with or without something attached, that is quickly pulled across the ground. It’s the ultimate game that’s easy to vary and indestructible. Also throw small balls, fur mice, crumpled paper balls or walnuts.
  • Light game: Shine a torch in the dark. Start the game close to the cat. Give him or her a real chance to catch the beam.

CAUTION: Do not use laser pointers as they can cause severe retinal damage if shone into a cat’s eyes!

Leave your cat alone when no longer in the mood

Remember: kitty decides when enough is enough. Don’t force anything on your cat that she doesn’t really want. If your cat doesn’t want to be pampered or played with, leave her alone.  Even fun and games come to an end. If your cat has had enough and prefers to retreat to a quiet place to take a nap, let her.  Even the most active bundles of energy need to rest at some point. 

How old do cats actually get?

If you’re lucky, you can celebrate 38 birthdays with your cat! Creme Puff, a US domestic cat born on 3 August 1967 and who died in 2005 holds the record, reaching a ripe old age of 38 years and three days! The Guinness Book of Records declared her: “the world’s oldest known cat”. Most cats don’t live quite that long – on average about 15 years.

Is giving a cat for a birthday gift a good idea?

Gift a cat as a birthday present? Absolutely not! That’s not at all a good idea!

You can give many things as spontaneous birthday presents, but please not a cat! You need to understand that getting a cat is for life and not just a birthday surprise! The pet you gave as a gift is suddenly no longer so small and cuddly or perhaps wasn’t such a good idea… Many animals are simply discarded. No furry nosed feline deserves such a fate!