Eating is a positive experience for healthy animals. Two neurotransmitters released while eating are dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine is associated with feelings of reward and motivation; serotonin with feelings of happiness and calmness.  Thus, food is one of the ways we can induce a positive emotional state in a healthy cat.

Food and your cat’s mental health


Recent research points to two dopamine events when eating: the first when you actually eat the food and the second, when the food reaches your stomach. (Reference 1). On the other hand, rising serotonin levels act as an appetite suppressant, giving a feeling of satiety. (Reference 2)

The connection between food and your cat’s mental health provides us an opportunity to take advantage of the emotions triggered by dopamine and serotonin when eating.

Foods that calm


There are foods  that incorporate tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin. Royal Canin’s Calm diet  and Hill’s c/d Multicare Stress for cats  contain hydrolyzed milk protein and L-tryptophan to reduce your cat’s fearful behaviors in stressful situations or environments.  The caveat with these foods is that the cat must eat enough of the food to get the appropriate dose of tryptophan.

Cat using food puzzlefood and environmental enrichment


Engaging in foraging behavior can benefit cats with generalized or separation anxiety. (Reference 3)

  • Foraging can provide a cat that is vigilant, tense and easily aroused with an alternative outlet for her energy
  • Cats with separation anxiety will find foraging a rewarding activity that is not related to interacting with the owner.
  • Serotonin release during the foraging cycle promotes calm behavior.

Foraging Method 1 – Multiple Separate Feeding Stations

  • Divide your cat’s daily food ration into portions.
  • Place these in different places around the house.
  • Put some dishes up high or in boxes and closets for variety

Foraging Method 2 – Use of Food Puzzles

  • Cats have to use their paws to get the food
  • Vary in complexity and style

cats with carrier and treatsFood and your cat’s mental health: behavior modification


We can use the positive emotions triggered by eating to guide our cats’ behaviors.  The use of a stream of small food rewards will trigger dopamine release, which in turn gives the cat feelings of reward and motivation.  Food can be a powerful adjunct to some of the interventions used in veterinary behavioral care: (Reference 3)

  • counter conditioning
  • operant conditioning
  • differential reinforcement of alternate behaviors

These methods work best with foods that the individual cat finds particularly palatable and desirable.

counter conditioning and food


Counter conditioning refers to training a different response to a situation.  Consider the cat carrier that takes your cat to the vet.  Many cats have a fearful association with the carrier and the process of going into it.  The goal of counter conditioning here is to teach the cat that good things happen when he’s near the carrier.

We start with getting the cat accustomed to the carrier by just leaving it out in the room.  Once he is comfortable with the carrier left out, we can offer some treats close by the carrier and gradually work up to treats in the carrier.  Over time, the cat will associate good things with the carrier – we have used food (treats) to change the cat’s emotional state when near the carrier.

operant conditioning and food


With operant conditioning, an animal repeats behaviors that have good consequences and avoids ones that are not rewarding.  Say you ask your cat to “sit”. When he sits, you reward him with a treat (food) he likes. He will be more likely to sit next time in anticipation of getting his reward.

differential reinforcement of alternate behaviorS


Here you will be replacing an undesired behavior with one that is more appropriate to the situation.  Say your new kitten attacks and hangs on to your legs as you as come in the door or you have a “door-dashing” cat.  You could train (operant conditioning) your kitten/cat to jump up on a nearby shelf or table on cue for a  food reward when the door is opened.  (The cue can be spoken or you could jingle your keys.) The goal is to replace the attacking/door dashing behavior with sitting on the nearby piece of furniture.

Food makes our cats feel good. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin promote positive emotions when eating.  This connection between food and your cat’s mental health provides you with opportunities to influence your cat’s behavior through diet, environment and training.

references

1. Cell Press. “Your brain rewards you twice per meal: When you eat and when food reaches your stomach.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 December 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181227111420.htm>.

2. Voigt JP, Fink H. Serotonin controlling feeding and satiety. Behav Brain Res. 2015 Jan 15;277:14-31. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.08.065. Epub 2014 Sep 16. PMID: 25217810.

3. Delgado M, Dantas LMS. Feeding Cats for Optimal Mental and Behavioral Well-Being. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2020 Sep;50(5):939-953. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2020.05.003. Epub 2020 Jul 8. PMID: 32653265; PMCID: PMC7415653.

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Gus eyes Athena’s dinner and prepares to move in.

Solitary hunters, cats will eat or cache their prey after a successful hunt. Mother cats will bring prey back to their kittens to teach them how to hunt and what to eat but cats typically DO NOT SHARE their prey. They will growl when eating to warn other cats off.

In photos taken on the “cat islands” of Japan (called neko shima), cats line up at dishes of food put out by the island residents. There are 11 islands in Japan that have more cats than people on them. There are not enough mice for the cats to eat so residents of the islands provide food for the cats.  Feeding times appear to go smoothly on the cat islands with the occasional spat between cats. The island residents do put out food in more than one location so a cat can always move to another feeding station if he gets into a fight over food. Contrast this with our picture of a wild cat, a solitary hunter, munching his mouse in solitude.  

Our indoor cats don’t have the option of leaving if they are the target of food aggression.  Although cats may appear to get along eating next to another cat or out of the same bowl, cat behavior experts recommend that we separate cats when feeding, preferably out of sight of other cats. (Reference 1)

Why separate cats when feeding?


  • Cats with more dominant personalities will nose smaller, more timid cats out of the food bowl.
  • Victim cats may gorge and eat their food quickly, leading to “scarf and barf”.
  • Victim cats may start to lose weight.
  • House-soiling issues can start if the “bully” decides the game should extend to resources other than the food bowl.

These behaviors can be subtle. The “thief “at first just sits quietly near the “target” cat and stares at her. The target may stop eating. There may be some fisticuffs as the target tries to keep eating.  Eventually the thief just noses the target out of  the bowl, and the target cat leaves.

Strategies to separate cats when feeding


Assign each cat his own food station out of sight of the other cats. If you are meal feeding, you can fill each station with a cat’s portion and call each cat to his station as you place them around the house. Collect the feeders in 15-30 minutes as the cats finish their meals.  If you like, you can offer the meals in food puzzles, one per cat.

Locations of feeding stations


You may be able to take advantage of your cat’s preferences when deciding where to locate her feeding station. Some cats like to be up high and can be fed on their cat tree or tops of shelving units.

Closets can also make good feeding stations. Cats who like to be up high can eat on the top shelf and may just need a step ladder, storage cubes that form a ladder, or a single pole cat tree to get up there. If you just need to keep the family dog out, a gadget called a “Door Buddy” can work.

Baby gates can be used to block off doors to closets or rooms to separate cats. Although an agile, determined cat can easily scale a baby gate, this is usually pretty difficult for a dog.

feeding stations


Microchip Feeders

If you are dealing with cats on different diets or cats that eat slowly or “graze”, microchip feeders such as the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder are worth the cost. These feeders will only open for the cat or cats they are programmed for.

Enclosures for Feeding

A “Meow Space” is a deluxe feeding enclosure. It is ventilated and has a locking pet door which can be accessed by microchip or collar tag.  Like a microchip feeder, the “Meow Space” will only open for the cat or cats it is programmed for.

A plastic pet carrier can make a great “kitty diner”. Each cat can eat in his own carrier. If one cat finishes before another, the gate can be closed until the slower eater is done. This also helps your cat become more comfortable with his/her carrier.

Tip: Make a carrier cover that will “camouflage” the carrier, matching your color scheme and decor.

not enough room to separate cats when feeding?


Consider feeding social groups together.  Cats who belong to the same social group prefer to spend time with each other and are often willing to share resources such as food and litter boxes.

How do you know if cats are affiliated? The following behaviors can help you identify the social groups in your home.

  • Sleeping the same room
  • Allogrooming (grooming each other)
  • Sleeping touching each other
  • Touching noses

Note who does what and with whom, then diagram the social groups in your house. You may be able to feed cats in a social group in the same area. It is still recommended for each cat to have a separate bowl, be spaced apart, and to meal feed the kitties.

Separating your cat from other animals while eating allows your cat to feed in the same way as a wild cat. Feeding alone helps avoid behaviors like gorging and vomiting which can affect a cat’s physical and mental health.  Although it can be a challenge to separate cats when feeding, attention to each cat’s preferences and identifying the social groups in your home can help you develop a feeding strategy.

references

1. Sadek,T. (chair) “Feline Feeding Programs:Addressing behavioral needs to improve feline health and wellbeing” Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2018) 20, 1049-1055

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Leaving tasty kibble out all day is like a having a bowl of potato chips on the counter.

A wild cat’s day begins in the late afternoon. He is an opportunistic feeder, a generalist, who will eat anything from bugs to bunny rabbits. He may snack on a lizard, sunning in the late afternoon sun. As the shadows grow longer, he will go on the prowl, looking for the small rodents that make up most of his diet. If he is lucky enough to catch something, he will retire and dine al fresco, alone. He will then doze or nap a bit while his meal digests. If he is part of a cat colony, he may groom or play with the kittens, while their mothers hunt.

In a few hours, he’s off to hunt again and will keep on prowling, looking for prey. He is not above scavenging a meal from other animals’ leftovers or from human garbage. His stomach is small and he will eat a 6-10 meals as he hunts through the night. When the sun starts to rise, he will turn in for the day, sleeping, grooming and sunning.

The behavior of feeding – why meal feed your cat


Our indoor cats have chosen a different lifestyle.  They depend on us, their human caretakers, for their food. They may be fed in one location with other cats, once or twice a day or be free fed from a large bowl of kibble available 24/7 (Reference 1).

The Problem with The big bowl and free feeding


Imagine a big bowl of potato chips or crisps left on the counter.  You pick one or two as you go by.  It is very easy to continue snacking and before you know it, that bowl is getting empty.  In the same way, it is easy for a cat to eat too much of  palatable and caloric kibbles left out, nibbling a little at a time.

Free feeding with more than one cat in the home


  • Cats with more dominant personalities will nose smaller, more timid cats out of the food bowl.
  • Victim cats may gorge and eat their food quickly, leading to “scarf and barf”.
  • Victim cats may start to lose weight.
  • House-soiling issues can start if the “bully” decides the game should extend to resources other than the food bowl.

The behavior of feeding – what can we learn from wild cats?


  • Cats have evolved to eat multiple, small, low calorie meals every day.
  • Cats prefer to eat alone – without other cats around.
  • Cats spend most of their waking hours hunting and foraging for food.

the take-away for indoor cats


  • Meal feeding reflects the way cats naturally eat.
  • Cats need to be fed separately from other pets (cats, dogs) in the house.
  • Cats need to engage in hunting/foraging behavior.

Choosing to meal feed your cat


It does not need to take a lot of time and effort to meal feed your cat. Divide your cat’s daily allotment of food into 4-5 portions. Your cat will be happier – he will have more to look forward to and his food will be fresher, as smaller portions will be put out frequently instead of topping up the bowl.  Check out the Meal Planner below – mix and match the meals that work for you!

canned cat food meal feeding
Canned foods lend themselves to meal feeding.

Meal #1

If your cat enjoys wet food, offer a wet meal when you are home to pick up the dishes.  Choose an amount your cat can finish in 15 minutes or so.

 

Timed Puzzle Feeder
This Cat Mate feeder can accommodate a food puzzle.

Meal #2

Dry food can be placed in bowls or feeders around the house. You can change the locations of these daily if you like to keep your cat on his game.  Timed feeders can meter out the food while you are away.

Cats plays with featther toy1
Core workout – Zelda plays with feather toy!

Meal #3

Hunting practice: play with your cat with a fishing pole toy for a few minutes.  Make sure to end the game with a small snack.

Zelda has the treat in sight, ready to pounce.

Meal #4

Tossing treats or kibble: Zelda chases dental kibbles down the hallway and pounces on them as if they were grasshoppers. This can be a fun game with larger kibbles like those from dental foods, where 10-15 pieces of kibble are about 30 kcal.

cat with food puzzle
Marley works the Poker Box, a food puzzle.

Meal #5

Food puzzles offer foraging opportunities to cats. But be forewarned: most cats are lazy – they will choose food that they do not have to do anything for.  You have to meal feed for this to work – otherwise, the cat will just go and snack out of his bowl.

More About Food Puzzles

Most likely, you will need to “train” your cat to use a food puzzle. Once your cat learns one, she will pick up on others more quickly.  When your cat knows how to do several of these puzzles, you can rotate them to keep her interest. For more about the psychology of food puzzles and training your cat to use one, see  “Cats Eating From a Food Puzzle: Contrafreeloading?

Choosing to meal feed your cat allows him to engage in more natural feeding behaviors.  It will be easier for you to regulate his intake which is better for his health and longevity.  With a little bit of creativity and using the Meal Planner, you should be able to meal feed your cat, whether she is a dry food addict or eats a combination of wet and dry foods.

references

  1. Sadek,T. (chair) “Feline Feeding Programs:Addressing behavioral needs to improve feline health and wellbeing” Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2018) 20, 1049-1055

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a cat chewing on plasticHave you had or do you have a cat who would eat anything – hair ties, ribbons, plastic – in addition to food? Have you experienced the anxiety waiting for your cat to pass whatever object you think he ate? It is not unheard of for cats to eat, chew or suck on non-food items. This behavior is called pica.  How do you manage the cat with pica?

The Bristol Cat Study (Animals 2021, 11(4), 1101; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041101) followed a group of cats for a little over 3 years.  To participate in the study, the owners had to own a kitten or kittens, 8-16 weeks old at the time of registration.

These owners were asked whether or not their cats chewed (with or without ingesting) one or more of the following items: 1) woolen fabrics 2) other fabrics 3) plastics 4) other materials. These questions were repeated at 2-4 months, 6.5-7 months, 12.5-13 months, and finally at 18.5-19 months.  About 25% of 2203 cats were reported to exhibit some pica behavior.

Findings

  • plastics were the most commonly targeted material
  • pica was most commonly reported at 6.5-7 months of age
  • about half of the cats reported to have pica at 6 months did not show pica at 18-19 months of age
  • cats who moved to a new house when they were around year old were more likely to have pica

 

Managing the cat with pica


Pica can result in GI injury, poisoning, or electric shock. The goal of managing pica is to prevent injury to the cat.

Step one: Identify the material being targeted


Yarn? Thread? Hair Ties?

  • yarn can wrap around the tongue
  • thread may have a sharp needle attached
  • hair ties

Poisons?

  • Household chemicals: cleaners, antifreeze, insecticides, plant sprays
  • House Plants: can be toxic – lilies in particular can cause kidney damage even in small amounts

Other?

  • Filmy plastics and things like “fabric softener sheets”
  • Chewing/biting electrical cords
  • Kneading and sucking on blankets
  • Chewing or sucking on toys

Step two: Keep targeted items out of reach of the cat with pica


  • keep blankets and other fabrics in closets your cat can’t get into
  • put hair ties and elastics away
  • replace toys your cat may be eating with ones that he can’t eat
  • supervise play times and access to toys
  • cover electrical cords with plastic covers that cats can’t bite through
  • unplug unused appliances
  • discard or hang houseplants
  • store household chemicals in a secure closet

Step three: Provide the cat with pica an alternative behavior


We would like to provide Kitty with an outlet for her oral activities and provide something safe for her to interact with.

Cat using food puzzleKeeping kitty busy


Try “free feeding” your cat with pica if possible. If “free-feeding” is not an option, frequent small meals will work. Food puzzles offer a natural cat behavior (foraging) as well as a snack. For some ideas, visit foodpuzzlesforcats.com.

Licking – a soothing behavior for cats


Slow-feeding mats are textured silicone mats that you spread canned food on. The cat licks the food off much like a wild cat may lick meat off a bone. Licking appears to be calming and soothing to cats. Some cats may like licking toys or balls made from compressed catnip.

Chewing

There are silicone toys that can be filled with catnip or silver vine (see the PetZone Boredom Buster dental chew toy). There is also a gum stimulator on the Catit Wellness Center that is designed to be chewed and sucked on. If you try these, be sure to monitor the wear on them and be around to supervise your kitty with these.

Cat Grass


Cats are attracted to grass and like to chew on it. There is the grass sold at pet stores and seeds you can plant. Some varieties of ornamental grasses are non-toxic to cats. Make sure to check the ASPCA site to make sure that the plants you choose are safe.

Step four: reducing stress in the cat with pica


Stress can stimulate an increase in pica behaviors, especially as cats grow out of the kitten stage. Identify and reduce stress whenever possible.

Social stress: 

  • How does the cat with pica get along with other pets in the household?
  • Do neighborhood cats come to the windows?
  • Are interactions with humans
 predictable?

Environmental stress:

Managing the cat with pica can be challenging.  Although the Bristol Cat Study indicated that half the cats who had been reported with pica at 6 months were no longer chewing/ingesting things at 18 months, it is wise to monitor your cat for such behavior, even if it seems to have gone away. Providing cats with safe opportunities to lick and chew is key to having a happy and healthy cat.

Your veterinary team is an important resource if you suspect your cat has pica. GI distress, oral pain and neurological issues can sometimes exacerbate pica and are best treated.

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A cat and dog relax togetherIn this post, we look at how cats get along with other species – are their behaviors affiliative or is there conflict?

How cats get along with other species


How Cats Get Along with People: Signs of Affiliation


In an interview with Terry Gross of  the NPR show, “Fresh Air”, the well-known anthrozoologist, John Bradshaw, noted that cats view their owners as cats, specifically cats they are affiliated or friendly with.  Cats greet us as they would an affiliated cat, rubbing up against us, touching their noses to our hands, licking our hands and faces, snuggling next to us in bed at night.

Rubbing our legs is an affiliative behavior.Cats use the same friendly behaviors when interacting with people as they do with other cats.

  • nearness
  • rubbing up a person’s legs (allorubbing)
  • bunting against our hands (nose touching)
  • licking hands (allogrooming)
  • approaching with tail up

How Cats Get along with people: Signs of Conflict


Cats show similar conflict behaviors when interacting with humans that they would use with other cats.

  • staring
  • stalking and pouncing
  • running away
  • biting, swatting and swiping
  • arched back and hair standing on end

Young cats in particular can be guilty of stalking and pouncing on owners as they round a corner in the house. Some of these behaviors can be the result of playing with the cat inappropriately or redirected aggression, where the cat associates the owner with a fearful experience.

A petting session sometimes comes to an end when the cat bites or swats the person petting him, then jumps down and runs away. It is important to add to the list above some “pre-conflict” behaviors that we must watch for:

  • flattened ears
  • fur on the cat’s back ripples
  • the cat turns to face you with a stare

How Cats Get along with Children


Cats showed no preference to gender or age when meeting volunteers in a shelter for the first time. The volunteers did not interact with the cats but instead read an age-appropriate book. [Turner, The Mechanics of Social Interactions Between Cats and Their Owners]

After 5 minutes, the volunteers were allowed to interact as they pleased with the cats. The cats reacted strongly to the differences in behavior between men, women and children. Women and girls tended to move onto the floor with the cat and speak quietly; men remained seated, and boys approached the cats immediately, causing them to run away. [See below Turner].

Children, being more active, and less attentive to the body language of cats, tend to elicit more conflict behaviors from cats then adults. Children playing with cats must be supervised by adults as young children, in an excess of enthusiasm, may hit the cat with a toy or chase them.

A cat’s impulse is to flee when chased by a child but if cornered, he may bite or scratch. It is important to allow cats avenues to escape the attention of boisterous youngsters – high cat trees or closets with latches that allow the cat access but not the child.

How Cats Get Along: Cats and Dogs


Although cartoons and films may show cats and dogs as mortal enemies, many co-exist peacefully in human homes.

A recent survey based study by Thomsen et al. (cited below), indicated that the success of the relationship depends on the age of the cat (preferably around 6 months) when introduced to the dog. Ideally, good experiences with friendly, well-behaved dogs during the cat’s “sensitive” period will predispose the cat to forming relationships with dogs. Slow, gradual introductions between cat and dog (similar to Introducing Cats) have the best chance at success

Just like with humans, cats tend to show the same behaviors to dogs they are friendly with that they would show to other cats.

  • sleep in the same room as the dog, sometimes touching
  • rub against the dog when greeting
  • approach with tail up

Although a dog may be affiliated with the cat in his house, this does not mean he will not chase or bark at a strange cat. A cat who has been raised with dogs may still turn and flee from dogs he does not know. Affiliation exists between individual animals, not a whole species.

Dogs also have a set of affiliative behaviors. The hallmarks of a well-socialized dog include:

  • relaxed body
  • rapid tail wag
  • no staring
  • indirect approach, looking and sniffing at the ground

Canine conflict behaviors include:

  • backing away or trying to escape
  • submissive behaviors: flattened ears, tail tucked, looking away
  • staring, growling, snapping, erect posture
  • tail held vertically or arched over the back

Another survey-based study (Menchetti et al. cited below) compared owners’ perceptions of how dogs and cats living in their homes get along. Owners felt that:

  • Dogs are more social than cats towards strange animals and humans
  • Dogs are more playful than cats with their owners
  • More dogs lick the cat than vice versa
  • More cats ignore the dog than vice versa
  • Most dogs and cats in the same household will sleep together and play together at least occasionally
  • Although cats and dogs have different body languages, they still manage to understand each other

A Tale of Tails


Both cats and dogs use their tails to communicate.

  Cats Dogs
Friendly Gesture Tail up Tail wagging
Conflict Tail twitching Tail up

Somehow, cat-dog pairs translate each other’s language. The cat approaches the dog for a nose-to-nose greeting with tail up and lies down beside him. The dog recognizes the cat’s behaviors as positive signals and he wags his tail.

When the dog approaches the cat with the tail up, the cat recognizes the conflict/aggressive signal, arches his back, twitches his tail and backs slowly away.

Cats will use the same visual signals that they use with other cats when interacting with other species, such as humans and dogs. It is important that we, as pet guardians, know and understand the affiliative and conflict behaviors of each species residing in our homes to prevent altercations and promote peaceful coexistence.

CITATIONS:


Menchetti L, Calipari S, Mariti C, Gazzano A, Diverio S. Cats and dogs: Best friends or deadly enemies? What the owners of cats and dogs living in the same household think about their relationship with people and other pets. PLoS One. 2020 Aug 26;15(8):e0237822. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237822. PMID: 32845923; PMCID: PMC7449504

Jessica E. Thomson, Sophie S. Hall, Daniel S. Mills, Evaluation of the relationship between cats and dogs living in the same home, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, vol 27 2018, Volume 35-40 ISSN 1558-7878, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2018.06.043.

Turner DC (2021) The Mechanics of Social Interactions Between Cats and Their Owners Front. Vet. Sci. 8:650143 doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.65014

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Do cats have personalities? If you define personality as “the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time” – yes, cats and other animals have personalities. How do describe your cat’s personality? How does personality affect how cats get along?

Studies (see Litchfield et al., cited below) of captive wild cats such as Scottish wild cats and cheetahs have suggested using personality assessments

  • to house socially compatible animals together
  • to tailor the environment to an individual animal’s needs – for example, provide more hiding places for a fearful cheetah

Can personality assessment improve the welfare of our domestic cats?

In 2017, Carla Litchfield and her research team published a study on personalities in pet cats. Litchfield’s team conducted a survey of 2,082 cats in New Zealand and Australia. The survey consisted of 52 personality items. Statistical analysis of the data found five reliable personality traits – “The Feline Five”: (citation below)

  1. Neuroticism
  2. Extraversion
  3. Dominance
  4. Impulsiveness
  5. Agreeableness

“The Feline Five” is similar to the Five Factor Method (FFM) used in human personality research. The FFM describes a person’s personality using five factors. An individual’s personality will have varying amounts of each factor. These five factors are: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience.

THE FELINE FIVE AND HOW CATS GET ALONG


Anxious or calm? (neuroticism)


Cats that score high on this factor are typically shy, fearful of people, insecure and anxious. On the other hand, calm cats don’t get as stressed when faced with changes in environment and exposure to other animals and people.

It is worth observing how the anxious cat gets along with other cats in the household. Timid, anxious cats can become the targets of more dominant cats who may stalk and chase them and prevent them from accessing resources such as food and litter boxes.

  • Providing more resources and hiding areas will improve the welfare of anxious cats.
  • It may be necessary to provide dedicated areas that only these cats can access.

The anxious cat will also benefit from consistent and regular interaction with humans following the CAT guidelines (See Touch not the cat: interacting with cats).

extroverted or introverted?


Extroverted cats are out-going and inclined to interact with people and other pets. They are sociable and curious. Introverted cats spend more time alone and are more quiet and reserved.

Extroverted cats can be energetic and prone to boredom. This can result in interact conflict – for example, a younger active cat may pick on a senior cat for entertainment. Extroverted cats can benefit from more play (hunting), foraging (food puzzles), and supervised outdoor access via leash walks or a catio.

dominant or Meek?


The dominant cat will stalk and chase other cats and sometimes humans. They displace other pets from favored positions and will steal their food. “Meek” cats are more tolerant of other cats and are willing to time-share places; they don’t exhibit the bullying behavior of a dominant cat.

Dominance behaviors are thought to occur more frequently in captive populations of cats. In the colonies of wild cats, the females raise the kittens co-operatively. There is competition between some male cats but there are also the “family toms”, unrelated male cats that affiliate themselves with the colony and have been known to protect and participate in rearing the kittens. [I. Rochlitz(ed.), The Welfare of Cats, 1-22 © 2007 Springer]

The popular “pack hierarchy” theory of wolves has been abandoned. Observation of non-captive populations of wolves show that they group together in family units, where the parents guide the activities of the group.

In the instance of a dominant cat “bullying” a more timid cat, the welfare of both the bully and the victim must be considered.

  • Enrich the “bully” – give him or her more opportunities to play (hunt) and forage (food puzzles).  If possible, offer supervised outdoor access via leash walks or a catio
  • Provide the victim with ready access to resources and safe places. This may require separation when the two cats are not supervised.

impulsive or cautious?


Impulsive cats tend to be unpredictable and may react differently to the same thing at different times. Cautious cats are not so easily stimulated by their environment and keep to a smaller set of activities that they are comfortable with. Impulsive behavior is thought to be a response to environmental stress. [Litchfield et. al]

Agreeable or unfriendly?


Agreeable cats are well-adjusted cats that are friendly toward people and other pets. Low scores of agreeableness (irritable, aggressive toward people) may be due to poor socialization, frustration, pain or illness. [Litchfield et al.]

The agreeable cat is thought to be a source of enrichment for other cats in the household.

Personality and How Cats Get Along


Personality results for Gus.

Recognizing different personalities in our cats can help us manage how cats get along in our multi-cat homes. Whereas two timid/shy cats may get along, two dominant cats can clash. A dominant cat and timid cat may suffer from a bully-victim relationship.

What are the personalities of your cats? Take the online test based on the “Feline Five” at https://www.idrlabs.com. (Search for “feline five”).

Citation: Litchfield CA, Quinton G, Tindle H, Chiera B, Kikillus KH, Roetman P (2017) The ‘Feline Five’: An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus). PLoS ONE 12(8): e0183455. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183455

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Fighting cats

If your cats get along well, they will share sleeping areas, engage in some allogrooming, and greet each other on occasion by touching noses. Well, you say, my cats aren’t very good friends but they aren’t trying to kill each other, either. What are the signs of conflict? What should we look for to avoid getting to the point “they want to kill each other”?

The 2020 survey referred to in last week’s post not only assessed affiliative behaviors, they also polled respondents on conflict behaviors. They chose seven behaviors associated with conflict. These are listed below with the frequency reported by the participants of the survey. (Elzerman AL, DePorter TL, Beck A, Collin JF. Conflict and affiliative behavior frequency between cats in multi-cat households: a survey-based study. J Feline Med Surg. 2020 Aug;22(8):705-717. doi: 10.1177/1098612X19877988)

Behavior Frequency Rank
Stare daily 7 – Most frequent
Stalking daily 6
Chasing daily 5
Running away weekly 4
Twitching Tail weekly 3
Hissing monthly to never 2
Wail/Scream monthly to never 1 – Least frequent
     

How do your Cats Get Along?


Let’s take a closer look at these conflict behaviors.

THE STARE


 

A cat will stare without blinking:

  • at prey while hunting – he is aware of where that animal is and what it is doing, otherwise he may miss out on dinner!
  • during a cat fight. Fighting cats must be able to rapidly respond if the other launches an attack.
  • to discourage another cat from accessing a resource.

 

Cat blocking other cat
Zelda looks innocent but she is keeping another cat from going through the door.

If you see one of your cats fixing an unblinking stare on another, take note of the circumstances and see what happens if you intervene. For example, if one cat is staring at another cat and is sitting in a doorway, she may be blocking the other from resources through that doorway.

Interrupt the stare by opening the door wider, throwing a treat away from the doorway, or redirecting the “door-blocker” with a toy. Does this give the other cat a chance to get through the doorway? If this is successful, you may want to look more closely at how these two cats get along.

Avoid handling the cats in this situation in case they are more aroused than they appear.

 

Stalking, Chasing and Running Away


These behaviors may be associated with:

When hunting, the cat is targeting a toy or prey. It is object play. But how do we know whether two cats are fighting or playing? After all, many of the same moves in a cat fight are seen when cats play together.

Just like a football game, play between cats has distinct rules. And, like football, tempers may flare when a player challenges the rules. What starts as play can escalate into a cat fight.

invitation to play

play sequence

Cats chasing each other

end of play

Play is over

Are these cats playing?

Social play consists of an invitation to play, the play sequence, and the end of play. The rules are:

  • Claws are not extended
  • Biting is gentle without intent to injure
  • The invitation to play is often repeated by one or the other of the cats throughout the interaction.
  • If one cat declines play (there may be some hissing and growling here), the game ends.

If you see that the “rules” are not being followed, it is time to shake a bag of treats or can of coins and redirect or separate the participants. [see Managing the Indoor Cat Fight].

Check all your cats regularly for wounds from bites and scratches.  If you notice your cats having a lot of wounds from scratches or bites and they “play” together, this may not be play. It may be conflict and it is time to observe the cats, assess their environment and social status.

Twitching Tail


A twitching tail indicates that a cat is focusing on something. The tail is for balance and changing direction – the tail often twitches before the cat pounces.

  • The twitching tail + stare > pounce: Is this play? conflict?
  • Are the rules of play being followed?
  • A map of the social groups in the house can help with deciding whether this is play or conflict.

Vocalizations – Hissing


The hiss is that snake-like sound. Cats may hiss when they are:

  • afraid
  • startled
  • frustrated
  • displeased
  • You will hear it in a cat fight, often from the cat on the defensive.

Vocalizations – Wailing/Screaming


Cats will wail or scream:

  • if they are fearful
  • if they are hurt and in pain
  • if they are fighting

You must decide from the circumstances and the body language of the cat or cats if these vocalizations are meaningful. If it is a cat fight, the combatants must be separated [managing the indoor cat fight]; if a cat is hurt, you must get the cat in a box or carrier for a trip to the vet.

Don’t wait for a fight to break out. Take a few moments to determine if your cats get along and if there is anything you can do to improve things.

  • Map social groups [Social Groups of Cats]
  • Draw a house map of resources (litter boxes, food stations, water, scratchers). Draw paths showing how cats reach these resources.
  • Move furniture if necessary to make accessing resources easier for all cats.
  • Make sure there sufficient resources for the number of cats.

Next week, we’ll take a look at describing individual cats’ personalities. How does this affect how cats get along?

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Affiliated cats
Gus and Zelda are not a bonded pair but do groom each other.

 

Have more than one cat? How do your cats get along? Are they “bonded” or affiliated?

If there is a reliable source of food, free-roaming cats will often form groups called colonies. Within the colony, there are smaller groups of 2 or more cats that prefer to spend time together. These cats are comfortable sharing resources such as food, water, latrine areas, sleeping and resting places.  Some refer to these cats as “preferred associates”; others call them bonded or affiliated. 

This post is the first in a 3 part series of “How do your cats get along?”: 1) signs of affiliation 2) signs of conflict 3) personalities in the multi-cat home.

 

 

 “Preferred associates” show affiliative behaviors.  You may find them:

  • snuggled up taking a nap
  • rubbing against each other when greeting
  • grooming each other
  • “play” fighting
  • twining their tails together

Not all cats have preferred associates. Within the cat colony may be “groups” of just one cat, who keeps to herself but shares the colony territory and resources. So, not only is there the strong bond of the preferred associates, there is also the looser affiliation of the members of the cat colony.

Multi-cat homes host ad hoc cat colonies. When I am taking a history for a veterinary exam, I usually ask guardians with more than one pet how their cats get along. The big three questions for multi-cat homes are:

  • Do your cats sleep touching each other?
  • Do they play together, with claws sheathed and taking turns?
  • Do they groom each other?

These 3 questions barely scrape the surface of how cats get along and whether or not there is potential for conflict or ongoing conflict in the home. Like human social relationships, relationships among cats can be complex.

A survey of 2492 multi-cat households published in 2020* set out to see if there was a relationship between household factors (type of house, number of litter boxes, feeding stations, scratching posts), and how often affiliative and conflict behaviors were seen.

*Elzerman AL, DePorter TL, Beck A, Collin JF. Conflict and affiliative behavior frequency between cats in multi-cat households: a survey-based study. J Feline Med Surg. 2020 Aug;22(8):705-717. doi: 10.1177/1098612X19877988.

Affiliative behaviors in cats – from most frequent to least frequent


sleeping in the same room


Cats share a sunny sleeping place.Cats don’t have to be “preferred associates” to choose a spot in the sun in the same room as a housemate cat. As long as there is plenty of space, peaceful coexistence should be possible.

 Most frequently seen affiliative behavior – multiple times a day

allogrooming


Allogrooming refers to a cat grooming another cat by licking around the head or ears. It occurs most frequently among cats that are related…BUT … it is not restricted to family groups. It can be a way for cats to redirect potential aggression. A few quick licks to the head can soothe a would-be combatant, avoiding a fight. Sometimes, you will see cats who are not particularly chummy grooming each other’s head or neck.

Frequency – several times a day

Sleeping Touching each other


Two cats sharing a basket

I view sleeping snuggled together something bonded cats do whereas the casual touch of cats napping next to each other indicates a weaker affiliation.

Frequency- several times a day

Touching noses


Kittens at Kndergarten
Kittens at “kitten kindergarten” session

Colony cats touch noses when returning from foraging or hunting. Each colony has its signature scent that helps the members of the colony identify each other. House cats being inside all the time may not need to engage in this identifying behavior as much as their outdoor counterparts. However, a cat who has been to the veterinary hospital may not smell quite right to his housemates and peaceful coexistence can be disrupted.

Frequency – once a day

Why isn’t play in the list of affiliative behaviors?
Play between cats incorporates more than one basic behavior. Because social play between cats is “play fighting” and can easily escalate into a fight, behaviors like chasing and stalking are often categorized as conflict behaviors.  (See cats at play: a guide to mutual social play)

There are many other things that cats do that may be “affiliative” – tail-twining and rubbing up against each other – that were not included in the study above. However, this basic list can give you an idea of whether harmony reigns in your cat kingdom. Pay attention to how your cats get along and to their body language when interacting.

Next week, we will take a look at “conflict” behaviors and how frequent the survey found them to be.

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cat on counterAfter adopting a feral cat 3 years ago, I am still struggling with cats on the counter. Gus spent most of his wild life dumpster diving, and hunting mice and bugs for food. He certainly would have availed himself of any food a good samaritan left out for the community cats. Understandably, the kitchen counter is a cornucopia of food as far as he is concerned.

Counter-surfing cats – Why do they do it?


  • Cats are looking for food.
  • Cats are curious and keen observers of other species and their activities.
  • Cats like high places and may feel safer on the counter, out of reach of the family dog and children.

Strategies for Counter-Surfing Cats


The Foodie Cat


  • Have food on the counters only when you are preparing it.
  • If you need to leave during food prep, be sure and secure the food in a cabinet or unused oven.
  • Train your cat to a mat.

The Curious Cat


  • Offer your cat a place where she can monitor counter activities.
  • Train her to stay at that place while you are at the counter.

The Trapped Cat


  • Offer your cat a place where he can get away from the children and/or dog.
  • If he still prefers the counter, train him to stay in the place you offered.

Mat Training


Mat (aka station) training is popular with dog trainers. Ideally, when you tell your dog to go to the mat, he goes there and waits on the mat until you tell him he can leave. Mat training can be very handy because the “place” the dog must go to can move around – it is wherever the mat is.

Cats can also be mat trained.  Here is how it works.

 

the training matChoose a mat for your cat to sit on.

A cat interacts with the training mat

Encourage the cat to go to the mat by, say, throwing a treat on it.

A cat gets a treat on the mat

Reward the cat once she interacts with the mat.

Coax the cat back to the mat

If she gets off the mat before you tell her to, encourage her to return to the mat.

“Shape” the behavior by having her stay on the mat for increasingly longer periods of time.

Release the cat from the matEstablish a cue to let her know she can leave the mat.

Counter Control – Other Aids


Aversives – things cats don’t like

  • A non-toxic citrus spray on the counter (cats don’t like citrus)
  • An upside-down carpet runner (with the “spikes” facing up)

Punishment


  • Water guns are a traditional solution to deter counter-surfing cats…for these to really work you must spray the cat as she is jumping on the counter.
  • Motion-activated spray systems (SSSCAT) may discourage counter-surfing cats as long as the device works…but these devices can startle and frighten some cats.
  • See “How Does Clicker Training Your Cat Work?”

Counter-Surfing Cats – a Hard Case


Having been a feral cat, food is Gus’s major priority in life. He inevitably jumps on the counter if there is any suggestion of food preparation. He is always willing to get down from the counter when I point my finger to the floor but he returns to the countertop in a few minutes. He is undeterred by water guns, citrus sprays, and upside down carpet runners.

Gus easily mastered the idea of station training – sitting and staying on the mat is not problem until you start food preparation. He is fine as long as the treats keep coming. However, if I fall behind dispensing treats (when breading cutlets or some other involved culinary task), he returns to the counter again. I feel he cannot “dial back” his emotions enough to recall his training.

Solutions


  • If the cooking is so complicated that I can’t pay attention to Gus, I will put him in his “safe place” (the master bedroom) with his resources and some food.
  • If things are not too hectic, I will give him a lickimat with some baby food on it. This seems to keep him happy and contented for 15- 20 minutes.

Counter-surfing cats are often looking for food, a good place to monitor activity in the house, or a way to escape the family dog or a busy toddler. Decide where you want your cat to be and see if you can train her to go to a mat in this place. If all else fails, put your cat in her “safe place” while you fix meals, work on projects, or entertain guests.

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Art by Kal Meyer

Imagine being suddenly snatched up by a giant from your favorite chair. You are lifted up into the air, your legs flailing as you try to maintain your balance. Scary, huh?

Some of the more exciting scenes in fantasy movies include the hero or heroine being snatched up and taken away. In the Wizard of Oz, a troop of flying monkeys swoop down and grab up Dorothy and her dog, Toto, taking them to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West. A giant ape carries Ann Darrow up the Empire State Building in the movie “King Kong”, as the audience shrieks and squeals.

Picking up your cat can be frightening for him. He often has little warning before he is airborne. He feels helpless and scared. But, you say, I pick my cat up all the time and he does not seem to mind.  In certain circumstances though, he might redirect his fear as aggression and  bite or scratch you, if you try to pick him up, say, to move him away from the vacuum cleaner.

Okay, so maybe you can coax him to go where you need him to by using treats or a target stick. But there still will be times when picking up your cat is necessary – for example, you may need get him out of the way of a car. What can you do?

Picking Up Your Cat Step-by-Step


The “Pick Up” behavior was a by-product of training Gus, a feral cat caught in a live trap when he was three years old.

When you picked Gus up, he often would thrash and flail in your arms, biting and scratching. He responds well to clicker training so I wondered if I could teach him to be picked up, in the same way he learned to sit and target.

We broke the behavior of being picked up into the following steps.

  1. Kneel next to him on the floor and touch him where I would if I were going to pick him up. Give the verbal cue “UP”, then, click and treat.
  2. Slide my arms around him like I was going to pick him up. Give the verbal cue “UP”, then, click and treat.
  3. The next step was to actually to start to pick him up briefly, lifting him off the ground, with the cue “UP”. Click then treat.
  4. Finally, I would pick him up off the ground for a few seconds while saying “UP”.  I would click when he was off the ground, then treat him when I placed him back on the ground.
  5. I “shaped” the behavior by picking him up and holding him longer and longer, always rewarding him afterwards.

 

Unlike most of the time we train our cats, “UP” does not require the cat to actively choose to do something. It involves a passive response. The click marks that the cat is being lifted up and will be rewarded in the near future. But, the “click” can also make your cat feel good.

Like Pavlov’s dogs, who salivated when they heard a bell, the “click” is a classically conditioned response.   Once the click has been consistently associated with food or another reward, it ultimately triggers the same pleasurable emotions as the reward.

The “Pick Up” command was so successful that I taught all my cats this. Gus still squirms sometimes when the hold is taking him somewhere he does not fancy going… but, the biting has stopped! And he is rewarded for his patience with treats or head rubs when we arrive at our destination.

Although your cat is not in control of the situation when being picked up, if he hears the cue and the click, he knows what is going to happen, and can anticipate something good which should reduce his fear and anxiety.

 

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