{"topic_id":"companion_enrichment_cat","category":"companion-enrichment","context":"---\ntopic_id: companion_enrichment_cat\ncategory: companion-enrichment\ntitle: \"Cat — environmental enrichment & exercise (indoor safety, hunting-instinct toys, meal-scatter feeding)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version (merckvetmanual.com). First-hand consumer text saved to source_file; paraphrased derived fact summary per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3. Pulled/extracted 2026-08-01.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-01\ntokens_estimated: 560\nverification:\n  method: paraphrase\n  claims: 8\n  passed: 8\n  date: 2026-08-01\nrecovered: false\npath: companion-enrichment/companion_enrichment_cat/01_companion_enrichment_cat.md\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), pet owner version\"\n  title: \"Cat — environmental enrichment & exercise (indoor safety, hunting-instinct toys, meal-scatter feeding)\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-01\"\n  ref: \"Providing a Home for a Cat (Merck pet-owner version, Sept 2025)\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary manual (consumer version)\"\n  needs_review: false\nlicense: paraphrase\ncopyright_note: \"Source Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is a copyrighted veterinary reference and not openly licensed; per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3 all claims are paraphrased derived fact summaries (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not verbatim quotations.\"\nauthority_tier: T3\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T3:vet-ref\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\n\n# Cat — environmental enrichment & exercise (indoor safety, hunting-instinct toys, meal-scatter feeding)\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), a copyrighted veterinary reference. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, the points below are paraphrased derived fact summaries: numerical values and proper nouns are preserved from the source, but sentences are rewritten and not quoted verbatim.\n\n## Claims\n\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Indoor living is far safer for cats than outdoor access.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Under-exercised cats risk obesity and related health problems.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Toys like feather wands or balls trigger hunting play and encourage activity.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Split meals into several bowls around the home to prompt the cat to move and find them.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Play and interactive toys build the bond and reduce destructive behavior.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* A water fountain encourages drinking by offering moving water.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Do not tuck the litter box away in a basement or garage.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Cats are harder to exercise than dogs, but hunting-style toys help.\n---\n## License & attribution\n\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is a copyrighted veterinary reference and is not openly licensed. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, every claim above is a paraphrased derived fact summary (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not a verbatim quotation.\n\n- https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat","sources":["companion-enrichment — Cat — environmental enrichment & exercise (indoor safety, hunting-instinct toys, meal-scatter feeding) (retrieved 2026-08-01)"],"source":{"authority":"companion-enrichment","title":"Cat — environmental enrichment & exercise (indoor safety, hunting-instinct toys, meal-scatter feeding)","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/cat-owners/selecting-and-providing-a-home-for-a-cat","retrieved":"2026-08-01","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version","verification_file":"pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual — pet owner version","source_file":"pdf-raw/companion-care/cat_owner_combined.txt","trust":{"authority_tier":"T3","fidelity":"paraphrase","license":"paraphrase","display_grade":"B"},"tokens_estimated":526,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}