A cat is a wonderful addition to a family, and both children and parents will appreciate having a cat for a pet. They are affectionate, they are friendly and they will happily climb on your lap in the evening and purr when you scratch them under the chin.

But in modern times there is a trend which is growing towards keeping cats indoors day and night. There’s a range of reasons for doing this but the principal reason is that cats love to hunt and are very good at it. They do so mainly at night but also during the day and can terrorise the local wildlife.

Cats can play havoc with the lives of our wonderful nocturnal native animals.

Experts now recommend that if you have a pet cat you keep him indoors at night always, and suggest that it is even better to keep him indoors during the day as well.

And I support that, but it’s also important to understand that cats are extremely active and it’s very important that they be able to climb, to run and to play.

If one day you have a little spare time go outside and watch your cat playing and climbing trees. You won’t believe how well and how fast a cat can climb a tree.

So if you’ve now decided for the sake of the wildlife that you should keep your cat indoors you should understand that his natural playground is no longer available to him and he can no longer run and climb and play.

The good news is that there is some excellent cat furniture which does the job very well. There are now some very effective pieces of furniture variously called cat trees or cat gyms, or towers or condos, all of which refer to pieces of furniture which are specifically dedicated to providing your cat with a place to play, sleep and climb to his heart’s content.

When the penny drops and he suddenly discovers his new cat tree you won’t be able to keep him off it. They are weird looking devices with all sorts of play places for him to climb, lie in or sleep in, and for cat play .

And a good cat tree will also serve another purpose. Cats love to scratch and it’s in their nature to do so, so it’s unlikely you will ever stop them doing it. And as a result you may find that you get driven out of your mind from your cat tearing up the legs of your favourite table. A good tree will provide your cat, provided you teach him how to use it, with the perfect place to scratch away and do all the damage that he wants.

So if you’re considering keeping your favourite feline in the house do him a favour. Buy him a tree so that all those things that have been taken away from him such as climbing are once again available, and watch him come to life on his new cat tree.