ComPETability: Solving Behavior Problems In Your Multi-Cat Household Page 4

  Let the Games Begin

  Play reaches its peak by age 9 to 16 weeks, and declines thereafter. While adult cats tend to fall into the “playful” or “lap sitter” categories, all felines continue to play to a certain extent. Play behavior in cats can be described as locomotory, social, and object oriented. Running, jumping, rolling and climbing (locomotory) can be done “solo” or be interactive with others.

  Object play involves the cat targeting anything from a bug to a feather and turning it into a toy. Social play means cats interact with each other or owners, and can include wrestling, biting, pouncing, play-fighting, and chase-tag games.

  Behaviors for fighting and fun are similar, and you need to recognize the difference, as play fighting can escalate to aggression and require a human referee. Cats exaggerate fighting postures to indicate play, or the sequences may be jumbled. They may roll on the ground to invite play, “hop,” or tippy-toe sideways with fluffed fur, or bring a toy and drop it nearby. On occasion cats will race past another cat and whop him with a paw as a drive-by invitation to play tag. During wrestling games, cats use inhibited bites and retracted claws. In these instances of appropriate play, all the cats willingly participate and take turns chasing each other.

  Inappropriate play results in one or more cat frightened, hurt, or overwhelmed. Mouthing aimed primarily at the back of the neck, or uninhibited bites means play has gotten out of hand. You’ll hear hisses or screams from the bitten cat. Vocalizations are rare during cat play, so if one or both cats get noisy, or repeatedly attempts to get away, separate them to see if they go back for more.

  Feline Poker

  Cats use a variety of dominant postures and avoidance behaviors to either bluff their way into positions of authority, or to cry uncle and fold their cards without losing face. They interact in such subtle ways it can be easy to miss these feline “conversations.” Pay attention to the following body signals to understand if one cat seeks to rule the roost, or to just “get along” by appeasing feline housemates. Keep in mind, though, that while Sheba may be dominant in the TV room, another cat often “rules” other locations. A dominant cat:

  · Maintains eye contact, and stares to control space

  · Rotates ears forward

  · Holds head high, with erect, tense and rigid posture (standing on tippy toes)

  · Fluffs fur all over her body (piloerection)

  · Grasps other cat by the nape of the neck (inhibited bite)

  · “Power grooms” other cat (aggression may follow)

  Once you understand what Sheba says, it improves your relationship. Use the signals yourself—averting your eyes, or turning your head away—to calm a fearful kitty. Offer your fist for the cat to sniff, because some cats react to this as though to another cat’s round head that “bunts” to signal no threat. Other common feline appeasement gestures include:

  · Play bowing (with front legs motionless)

  · Sitting, with back to other cat/you

  · Crouching

  · Repeated rolling

  · Yawning

  · Nose touching

  · Approaching with tail up

  THE PHYSICAL CAT

  Feline behavior and health directly impact each other. A behavior change commonly indicates a health problem but cats may continue the misbehavior (for example, miss the litter box) long after the physical problem (constipation) has resolved. Cats hide discomfort extremely well, but may bite or claw in response to petting that inadvertently hurts them.

  Feline Form and Function

  All felines remain amazingly similar in size, function, and personality, but many can be categorized into two very broad body and behavior types based on how they evolved. The oldest breeds arose spontaneously as a result of their environment, and major differences are coat length and body conformation.

  The “warm weather” body type (Oriental) like the Siamese arose in the temperate climates of Asia, and is characterized by lithe, muscular cats with long, lean legs, whip like tails, large ears, slanting eyes, longish muzzle and thin single coat. These cats tend to be vocal, active, swing-from-the-drapes-type cats. The “cold weather” body type (cobby), typified by the Persian appeared in the colder climates of Europe, and have short, square, compact bodies with a broad head, small ears, short muzzle, round eyes, and a thick weather-resistant double coat. These cats often are sedate, quiet, lap-snugglers.

  Feline design ideally suits the cats’ ultimate purpose as predators of small game, whether she weighs 4 to 6 pounds (as in the Singapura) or is a heavyweight like the 20-plus pound Maine Coon. Cats hunt by stalk and pounce, using bursts of energy to explode upon unsuspecting prey. They use paws like hands and paw-pat everything before trusting it in their mouths. Adult cats kill quickly and efficiently with a bite to back of neck that severs the spinal cord. For pet cats, of course, the victim most often is catnip mice and stuffed feather toys. Give Sheba a legal outlet for her energy by providing regular exercise to keep muscles toned, body healthy, and mind active.

  Cat Senses Explained

  Feline senses are much more acute than our own, and cats rely on eyesight much more than dogs do. They expertly detect movement from peripheral vision, need only 1/6th the amount of light that people do, and use twice as much of the available light, enabling them to function in low-light conditions. If human eyes were proportionally the same size as the cats’ our eyes would be eight inches across. When cats lose their vision due to cataracts, glaucoma or age, oftentimes they develop temporary behavior problems until they can adjust.

  Scent communication between cats serves to identify family from stranger, and aids with social interactions. Besides their noses, the vomeronasal organ located between the soft palate and nasal passages reacts to pheromones, specialized chemicals that communicate directly to the cat’s brain. Because cats rely so much on scent to determine food safety and stimulate appetite, a stuffy nose has dire health consequences.

  More than scent or sight, cats rely on their ears, and hear sounds in a 10.5 octave range, a wider span of frequencies than almost any other mammal. This range allows her to detect extremely high frequencies and even ultrasonic squeals of mice. Since cats need this sense above all others, age, which increases the risk of deafness, can severely interfere with communication between cats or with their owners.

  The feline sense of touch is most sensitive in the area surrounding the muzzle and on the paw pads. Each hair on Kitty’s body originates deep in the skin, next to a nerve receptor sensitive to vibration, touch, heat, cold, and/or pain. Just brushing the tips of the whiskers, for instance, telegraphs information to Sheba about air movement, barometric pressure, petting or punishment. Over-stimulation—excessive petting—can prompt aggression in some cats.

  Specific tastes vary between cats. Though they often share similar tastes as people, they don’t detect the same sugar/sweet flavors, and instead are most attracted to meaty tastes. Strong-smelling treats can be a great training tool for r food-motivated cats. That’s one reason cats react so favorably to the pungent aroma of fishy canned foods.

  Kittens, Juveniles, Adults, And Old Fogies

  As kittens grow up and mature, their behavior evolves during each life stage. From five to seven weeks of age, the drive to copy Mom-cat becomes consuming, and babies learn to eat solid food, use the litter box, and play “nice” with peers. While adult cats may not care for them and avoid contact with furry infants, most recognize them as babies and rarely offer to harm youngsters.

  Juvenile delinquent behavior develops during month three to six and can be aggravating for even laid-back adults. More confrontations between adults and delinquent kittens take place either because the adults want to teach manners, or the kittens haven’t a clue and continue brainless behavior. While some adult cats of either gender (intact or neutered) take these teenage kittens under their paws and have great patience, more often the older feline avoids the miscreant or whips her furry tail into polite behavior.

 
According to Bonnie Beaver, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist at Texas A & M University, kittens are very social until they reach 6 to 10 months of age when they experience a dramatic change in personality. Interactive play becomes rougher and tends to end with aggression. Over time the length of play bouts decreases, while aggression increases and becomes more intense. In a feral setting, this serves to disperse the littermates, but in a household, owners bear the brunt of rough interaction. The personality can’t be changed back, but you can redirect aggressive play toward legal toys.

  Conventional wisdom suggests cats reach adulthood by twelve months of age. However, bodies and coats continue to develop up to 24 months in certain breeds. Social maturity takes place between 2½ and four years of age, at which time these maturing cats may challenge older ones for a higher ranking in the social hierarchy. Cats age quite gracefully, and may not show age-related changes until they reach eight to ten years or older. Sensory or mobility challenges and other health issues often result in crotchety older cats’ behavior changes.

  Acting Romantic

  For all cats, behavior is inseparable from sexuality. Kittens practice mounting, biting necks, clasping and thrusting during play, and adolescents continue to experiment as they mature. Male kittens often mount a variety of objects including pillows, blankets, other cats or even your arm. Mounting behavior between adult spayed or neutered cats often is a dominance display, and masturbation can be a way for a stressed kitty to calm himself down.

  Oriental-type cats such as Siamese mature quite early, with girls sometimes able to become pregnant as early as four months of age. Females go in and out of season every 21 days, from about February through October, and theoretically could have up to three litters a year. Males mate as early as six to nine months. Hormone-related behaviors include female rolling, crying, and screaming during heat, spraying urine in marking behavior, roaming to find willing mates, and dominance displays that can evolve into aggression and fights.

  Spaying removes the ovaries and uterus of female cats, while castration removes the testes of male cats. Both surgeries are referred to as neutering, and eliminate the chance of accidental babies. When performed prior to sexual maturity, neutering prevents or reduces many hormone-related behavior problems, so today, animal welfare societies often perform the surgery once pets reach two pounds, during kittenhood.

  The Cat Clowder

  Cat society defines how cats deal with each other. No longer thought of as antisocial loaners, today we know felines relate and interact with each other in dynamic and very fluid hierarchies. When enough food and other resources are present, adult females associate in lineages, which are the building blocks of cat society. Similar to lions, domestic kitties in colony settings may suckle each other’s babies, sever umbilical cords, move kittens to new locations, and otherwise communally raise the infants.

  Large cat colonies may have several such lineages. Each usually consists of related adult females and successive generations of their offspring. Females relate within their lineage and to a lesser extent outside of it. These tend to be friendly, well-integrated groups of cats, with the eldest female holding the highest status. Juveniles and kittens automatically become socially integrated to their birth lineage and these ties usually last a lifetime if the cats remain in each other’s company. Ties of adult females to their sons and daughters are stronger than to nephews and nieces.

  Most observation of free-living cats suggests that adult males rarely are affiliated with any one lineage, usually only temporarily during mating. However, cats in feral situations often choose to sit together, establish feline friendships, and each individual favors company of some over others. The age, sex, social status and blood ties of the individuals involved govern these associations.

  Toms also are said not to be involved in kitten rearing, but Dr. Crowell-Davis says that’s not always true. Intact toms have been seen helping queens defend kittens from invading toms, to groom babies, share food with juveniles, and to curl up around abandoned kittens. Males also sometimes disrupt intense wrestling play between juveniles, using a forelimb to separate them without using aggression against either.

  Felines in any given family group—composed mostly of females with some immature males and the occasional Tom—offer a united front and show hostility toward strange cats that attempt to join the society. Non-group members are not allowed to casually approach and enter the group. If the unknown cat or kitten persists, they may eventually be integrated into the group but only over time that involves many interactions. Therefore, introducing a new cat into a resident cats’ territory almost always proves challenging for owners. Introducing very young cats of the opposite sex into a resident adult’s social group works best, as it offers the fewest social challenges to the dominant feline.

  The feline social structure depends on a hierarchy of dominant and subordinate individuals. Rank of the individual cat decides which one gets the preferred access to valued resources: resting spots, food pans, water, toys, your attention, and so on.

  Cats don’t follow a clear linear hierarchy, though. There is usually an obvious top cat and one or two bottom cats (called pariahs because they get picked on by the others), but no number two, three, or four cats with stair-step ranking below the dominant feline. Instead, most cats share an equal “middle space.” This more fluid social standing requires a decision about who eats first, crosses a path first, gets the best sleeping spot time after time, on a case-by-case basis, says Dr. Beaver. Sometimes the calico wins the day while the tabby gets her choice another time.

  This time-share mentality allows every cat (even middle management) to feel like a King. Time-share means the cats don’t need to fight over property. It may appear that one cat owns the second floor of your home, while another cat owns the family room. This makes perfect sense if you consider that people also bow to the whims of a boss while at work, but we call the shots in our own homes.

  Subordinate cats signal deference by looking away, lowering ears slightly, turning the head away and leaning back when they encounter a cat dominant to them. Often close encounters are simply avoided by giving way spatially—the subordinate cat gets off the path, jumps off the chair, or otherwise acknowledges the other cat’s right. Cat #1 may own the second floor, but when she’s not around, Cat #2 lounges there with impunity—timeshares the area because the first cat wasn’t using it. When the owner returns, the subordinate cat pretends not to care, looks the other way (so he doesn’t have his nose rubbed in it!) and relinquishes the territory when Cat #1 returns.

  Dominant cats show their status with a direct stare, stiffening of the limbs, holding ears erect while turning them sideways, and elevating the base of the tail while the rest of it droops. The display usually prompts the subordinate cat to defer.

  Fights occur most often during introductions of new cats into an existing feline society, or when a change in social status due to infirmity or maturing adolescent cats takes place. Ownership of property rates very highly among cats. When rare valued resources must be shared, the potential for arguments escalates. It’s important for owners to acknowledge the dominant status of the highest-ranking cat (by feeding first), while providing enough resources for lower ranking cats (multiple litter boxes and feeding stations).

  Chapter 3. PAWSITIVE PURRSUASION

  Owners have long turned to dog trainers to teach Rex better manners, but until relatively recently, cats have gotten shortchanged. But of course savvy cat owners now recognize that Sheba also can be trained. It’s helpful to briefly explain some of the complicated terms used by animal behaviorists for better understanding of some of the book recommendations.

  Classical conditioning introduced by Pavlov and his bell-ringing dog-drooling experiments is one tool. He showed that an unconditioned trigger (such as food) prompts an unconditioned/unlearned response (salivation). More importantly, Pavlov showed that neural stimuli, such as a bell, once associated with the uncontrolled stimuli (food) prompts a conditi
oned reflex. This technique teaches dogs and cats to learn, or become conditioned to, a sound, smell or behavior associated with a particular response.

  Operant conditioning, introduced by B.F. Skinner’s box experiments, prompted rats to learn to press a lever to get food pellets. Operant conditioning deals with relationships between stimuli, responses, and consequences. The pet learns that what he does (sit on command) is critical to what happens next (gets a food reward).

  “Behavior modification seeks to get the desirable versus punish the undesirable,” says Dr. Lansberg. You do that through the use of various types of reinforcement and punishment. Punishment can either be “positive” or “negative” with varying results.

  · POSITIVE PUNISHMENT: The word “positive” means you ADD something the pet doesn’t like to get the desired results, and usually causes some degree of fear in the pet. For example, the electric scat mat adds a shock to prevent Sheba jumping on the sofa, while hitting Sheba makes her stop climbing the drapes. Positive punishment that causes pain or fear has little to no place in modern training.

  · NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT: The word “negative” means you REMOVE something that the pet likes, so a “good thing” goes away when the pet performs the undesirable behavior. For example, if the kitten bites during play, the game stops. Negative punishment can be used humanely and effectively.

  Reinforcement refers to some sort of incentive that prompts the pet to want to perform a particular behavior. Different cats respond better to various reinforcers, but a special treat or toy—whatever floats the pet’s boat—works best, particularly if you reserve it only for training. The cat only gets her favorite feather toy during training sessions, for example.