Virga says that animals in zoos, like this lion, need to have a bit of control over their environment. (Photo & caption via NPR)

Virga says that animals in zoos, like this lion, need to have a bit of control over their environment. (Photo & caption via NPR)

 
In a recent interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, Vint discusses how house cats, like lions, are more fulfilled when they forage for food — and how animals express affection differently than we might think.

“I take my clients through a program of actually teaching their cats to forage for their food,” Vint explains. “Yeah, it isn’t live, but they’ve got to go on the hunt or the prowl throughout the house, and the locations in which they’re going to find the meal scattered about in the house … are going to be different every day. And cats find that very stimulating and very interesting — it adds a lot of richness to their lives.”

You can hear Vint’s entire NPR interview with Terry here.