The four-part Netflix series, “The Hidden Lives of Pets,” is much watch TV. Educational, heartwarming, and joyful — it leaves one purring for more. Alas, there is a rat segment in the first episode about “Intelligence” that makes a convincing case for the benefit of catios!
Watch a 1-minute edited segment on Facebook or Instagram.
A few quotes from the profiled scientist and narrator in the piece:
Scientist: “Most rats in laboratories are housed in various standard cages. They have all the food, everything they need to live, but it’s not engaging or interesting. Brains need engagement. So we’ve done a lot with these enriched environments, larger environments with more social interactions and objects to interact with. It’s almost like a rat Disneyland. And being in that enriched environment seems to prepare the animals to learn new skills, if you will, or new tasks.”
Narrator: “Kelly’s work with racing rats is proving without question that if you give your pet a happy, stimulating life, you’ll see a difference in its behavior.”
Scientist: “So it’s important to challenge your pets, and have different things they can play and to be active, we need to be active. And the rats in the enriched environment, they’re running around more and climbing, and that’s very good for their brains to be physically active.”
In a nutshell, providing animals with enriched, stimulating environments, like cat Disneyland’s, makes them happy, smarter, and more fulfilled. That is exactly what we do!