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I have a confession to make. I was not born a cat person. When I was young I thought cats hated me, because I would often leave a cat encounter with a scratch or two. Then a couple of things happened, I met my husband, the cat whisperer, from him I learned that there is a right way and of course, a wrong way to meet a cat. The bloodshed happily ended and my encounters with cats became enjoyable. The second thing that happened is that a very special cat, a large orange cat named Mr. Sebastian, came into my life. Like many other lessons in my life, an animal came along on my journey and broadened my view of the world. At some point along that journey I had an epiphany, cats are not dogs! I can just hear the cat people out there saying, “duh, and what else is new!” But for many of the dog people in the world, this is news. So when I had the privilege of attending a Behavioral Education Network Seminar on cat behavior, I knew I had share what I learned from Dr. Suzanne Hetts and Dr. Dan Estep with all of you. Ok, so in the old days many behaviorists thought cats were very similar to dogs (that sure made me feel better), but that has changed. Behaviorists now believe that cats are quite different, for one thing, they do not have strict status roles (think alpha dog) and that there is a lot of variation in how cats deal with each other and other animals. I love that idea, they are the free thinkers of the animal world. For example, cats don’t really have a signal, that humans understand anyway, that indicates submission. In fact, if a cat is rolled over on its back it may be simply getting its claws ready for use, as a weapon. It also appears that cats stay “aroused” longer than other animals and they don’t easily make up after fights. In other words, they kind of hold a grudge. Boy, do I ever see that! They also experience a sort of frustration, if a cat sees something out a window that it finds agitating, it may turn around and lash out at the nearest person or living thing. You may hear a cat owner saying that the cat attacked for no reason, well, the cat had its own reasons, something in its environment made it really, really angry! The great part of all this is that they are far more intelligent and complex than we ever imagined (note how I am completely avoiding the cat vs dog intelligence discussion) There are a few things every cat needs to be happy. The first is space, I don’t necessarily mean square footage but they need places to go to be alone and feel secure. Secondly, they do need something to do, cats get bored. Most of the activity that cats find rewarding involves things that hone their predator skills, but some is simply play. Third, cats are very sensitive to odors, this of course becomes a serious issue when for humans because it can determine whether or not a cat uses a litter box. They also need a place to leave their own scent, behaviorists think that activities like shredding your couch is really about leaving a scent mark than it is about sharpening claws. We can do a lot to shape a cats environment and make it a really happy place, let’s explore some of these things below. I think most people know that cats need their space, before my big epiphany I used to approach a new cat and “try to make friends”, what I was actually doing was totally invading the cats personal space. Have you ever wondered why cats seem to gravitate to the person who is the least interested in making friends? From the cats point of view, that is the person who is allowing the cat to decide what the interaction will be. Some of my clients have heard my mantra that I always interact with cats on the cats terms and time, not mine! I have learned to respect the cat. Once they have a relationship with you or another cat, they still need a place to get away from everyone; it is actually stressful to a cat to have to constantly be in a social situation. That means that when you are creating a living space for cats, be sure there are hiding places and that some those cat places are high. Vertical space is really important to cats too, especially if they are sharing the home with other cats or dogs. It seems that every time I read the latest research on a particular species, the news is that they get bored, we still seem to be stuck in that 19th century idea that animals have nothing going on in their brains. Anyone who has lived with a cat is not surprised that cats get bored too, they are really intelligent and in a wild state have to spend lots of time and energy figuring out how to get food and how to stay safe. That drive is still hard wired in them. So what are we to do, luckily, pet product manufacturers are happy to provide options, there are tons of cool cat toys out there. So have some fun and try some out, your cat will let you know what works. Another way to go is to provide homemade entertainment, cardboard boxes and paper bags are great fun for cats too. When all else fails, another cat might be an option for you. Finally, let’s talk litter box. That is the issue that I hear about the most from my cat clients. If you are having a problem, the first thing you should do is have the cat checked out by the vet to rule out a medical problem, especially if your cat suddenly stopped using the same old litter box. But even healthy cats can have issues with the litter box, let’s explore some of the reasons. As I said earlier, cats are very sensitive to odor, so this is a huge deal in the litter box dynamic. If the litter or even area has a strong perfume or disinfectant odor, your cat may not want to go near that box. The best way to go is odor neutral for the litter and location, cats love that. The cats aversion to bad odors also means you have to scoop frequently. I have a few clients that need twice a day scooping for that very reason. Any bit of smell and kitty finds somewhere else to go. There is a bit more to the perfect litter box than smell, although cats have their own preference for texture and depth of the litter. But there are some generalizations you can make. Most cats like a fine texture and not too much in the box. They don’t like to sink way into the litter, think about how they do their business outside, they don’t dig way down, they just clear a bit of leaf litter or loose soil. So keep your litter shallow, if you are using a lot you can experiment with a second box and see which one the cat uses. Let’s not forget the location of the box. We like to have the litter box out of the way or covered up so we don’t have to look at it, but often that doesn’t work too well. Cats really hate the possibility of an ambush, when they use the litter box they need to feel safe. So if you are having problems, think about the location, does your cat feel secure using the littler box or does she feel like there is no way out if she is approached while she is in there. This is really important in a multicat household or even multicat neighborhood! I read of one case where a cat was actually spraying because it felt threatened by a neighbors’ cat outside the window. So keep the box in an out of the way location with at least 2 exit points and be aware of unexpected noisy things like dryers or furnaces. Sometimes you do everything right and your cat still has issues, there are great resources available to cat owners. One of them is the Animal Behavior Associates. You can get them on the web at: http://animalbehaviorassociates.com/ , you can get information and even set up a consultation for your specific problem or just learn about what makes the feline world go around. |
