WHY UNDERSTAND YOUR CAT’S BEHAVIOUR?

Cats are cryptic creatures. One moment they solicit your attention, and then the next your hand gets pawed at and attacked. They oftentimes come across as aloof to those that want to shower them with affection, while seeming to enjoy the company of those who pay them scant regard. Indeed, cats are one of the more misunderstood pets, certainly more so than dogs.

So why try to understand the far from humble feline?

Knowing what is normal behaviour as opposed to abnormal behaviour for a cat will allow you to quickly spot when your cat may be ill or stressed, and to deal with the issue before it becomes a problem. It will also allow you to understand what problem behaviours are natural to the species as opposed to what may be particular to your individual pussy, which will set your expectation level as to whether you will be able to extinguish that mode of behaving or only moderate it through redirection.

And it will result in a happier, more trusting pet, secure in the knowledge that his caregiver truly understands him… or as much as one can ever truly understand a cat.

Quick Links to Page Contents:

• Cat Colonies & Culture
• Kittenhood & Development
• Adolescence
• The Adult Cat
• Problem Behaviours in Cats

CAT COLONIES & CULTURE:

Before we even begin to consider how cats behave in our homes, it is worth considering how they self-organise outside of human interference, and for that we need to consider the structure of cat colonies, as found throughout the world where there are strays and street cats.

Colonies tend to establish around resource-rich areas, such as a concentration of food or a lush area within which to hunt, and are made up primarily of females that are related, be they female siblings or mother-daughter groupings. These females will observe communal nursing, which means that a litter born from one would be looked after by all within the colony.

Adult males, however, are not committed to their bloodline, and so will tend to roam more widely or remain near the resource centre of the colony, with little affiliation to its own family.

KITTENHOOD:

While a cat’s personality and traits are partly dictated by genetics, through its breed and lineage, much of its character will be borne out of its experiences through its first year of life. Factors such as sociability (both toward humans and other cats), fear, fight or flight response, as well as overall stability and capacity to learn, will all be formed and can be influenced at this early stage.

Parental factors:

Both parents play a role in the development of their offspring’s behaviour, but while the maternal role is a blend of both inherited and nurturing factors, the paternal role is one of pure genetics, as the father takes little part in his kitten’s upbringing.

However, the role of the father is crucial in one aspect, and that relates to a kitten’s approachability toward humans and novel objects. A father that tends to be skittish around people or easily spooked by novel objects or sounds will tend to breed kittens that are similarly cautious or fearful.

As noted above, it is the mother, as well as other females related to the mother, that would rear the kittens. In a more natural setting than our family homes, such as at a cat colony, she would at first bring her kittens dead prey, but as they grew older she would bring live prey for her kittens to catch and kill so that they may hone their skills. Generally, the type of prey that the mother would hunt and consume would then become the same that the kittens prey on once they mature, not so much because their mother had taught them what to catch but because the skills they acquired early on would match their abilities to hunt that type of prey – be it birds or rodents – later in their life.

Neonatal period – 0 to 2 weeks:

The gestation period for a cat is between sixty and sixty-five days, and it is during this time that her kittens’ sense of smell, touch, and balance develop. In fact, they are born with all three of these senses functioning. At birth, their acute sense of smell helps them to imprint on their mother and litter mates so that they establish what can best be described as a ‘family scent’, while touch and balance help them to orient their bodies toward their mother’s teats so that they may feed on her first milk. This first milk, or colostrum, is rich in antibodies and will satisfy their nutritional needs and protect them from disease for the first sixteen to twenty four hours of their lives.

They will continue throughout this period to feed every two to three hours and to sleep between feeds. Their mother will lick their anal regions to stimulate them to toilet, and in so doing may eat their faeces, which is a perfectly normal behaviour for cats tending their young.

Hearing and vision follow toward the end of the neonatal period, both only becoming only fully functional at the beginning of their next phase of development.

Transition period – 2 to 3 weeks:

It is during this stage that a kitten’s eyes and ear canals will fully open. While born deaf, a cat will ultimately be able to develop one of the broadest range of hearing known amongst mammals, from the lowest tones that we can discern right up into the ultrasound. While their visual acuity is only one-fifth to one-tenth as good as ours in terms of detail that it can see from a distance, its vision is five times greater than ours for seeing at night.

The kittens will begin to move around to explore their environment a bit more, which will help to improve their coordination.

Early socialisation to humans can begin during this period by introducing the kittens to human touch and to gentle handling. In fact, being regularly handled by a broad range of people – as opposed to just one – is best, as the kitten will generalise his or her experience of humans and this has proven to increase not only approachability but also a willingness to be picked up and handled later in life. This is especially important for those kittens that are timid or who may be the offspring of a nervous father.

This gentle form of socialisation should continue on a daily basis over the next four months. Through this process, one should be able to begin to identify those kittens that appear more solitary or disinterested as opposed to those that show greater curiosity and approachability.

Feline socialisation period – 4 to 8 weeks:

By the beginning of this period, the kitten’s incisors will have fully emerged and his canines will have begun to come through the gums. It is around this time that the mother will begin to wean her kittens off her, although the exact timing of this may depend on the size of the litter. Now the kittens should also be able to eliminate voluntarily so that they need not rely on their mother’s licking to stimulate them to do so. They should also have learnt proper use of a litter tray, if having been introduced to one earlier in their development.

The kittens will begin to show greater locomotor function, by clambering over surfaces, batting at and grasping objects, and finally engaging in some basic forms of play with one another.

Midway through this period, kittens will have reduced their need for sleeping by a third, be far more alert and engaged, not only with their litter mates but also with their human caregivers, and their coordination will have vastly improved as they will be able to clamber up furniture and jump down to land on their paws.

Kittens that are removed from their litter too young or that don’t have the opportunity to engage with other kittens at this formative stage generally tend to be poorly equipped for interacting with other felines, becoming more aloof, fearful, or even aggressive. It is therefore recommended that kittens are not given away, sold, or otherwise removed from their litter until eight weeks of age.

For shelters that receive abandoned kittens, they should endeavour to socialise those of a similar age together, so long as they have all been medically checked and cleared of disease.

Late socialisation / juvenile period – 8 to 16 weeks:

This is an important period in a kitten’s life, as it is usually around this time that they leave their litter mates for their new home. For that reason, it has also been called the ‘Human Socialisation Period’, although, as noted before, that process should have begun within the first two weeks of the young cat’s life, and should have been implemented with as broad a range of people as possible.

For the first two to three weeks the kitten should remain housebound so that he be given time to settle in to his new home and to bond with his new family. The kitten’s coordination and reflexes will have reached adult levels, and so he will be climbing, jumping, and navigating through the home with both poise and confidence.

Human socialisation should continue throughout this period through regular contact, handling, and play, as well as some basic training (should you wish to explore this training options, please visit our page on ‘Training Your Cat’). At this stage, you may want to introduce your cat to being groomed by you, as well.

Toward the end of this period, the kitten will start to lose his baby teeth as they become replaced with adult ones, and it will be just one sign that the young cat is already on its way toward adolescence.

Seniority classification period – 4 months up to 3 years (breed-dependent):

Different cats mature at different rates. For instance, a Siamese cat may reach sexual maturity at four to five months of age, while it can take a Charteux up to three years to fully mature. Speak with your vet about the sexual maturity of your cat and discuss when it would be best to get him or her neutered. Some will advise that it be done as young as four months of age, which may be fine for a Siamese that has fully grown, but that may not be best for another breed that is still developing.

Generally, though, neutering is advised just prior to full sexual maturity. Not only will this help prevent roaming in males, as well as spraying, but even more importantly it will prevent an unwanted pregnancy, be that of your own cat or that of a neighbour down your road.

Once your cat has been neutered, you should then consider letting him out to explore its territory. Initially, you may wish to do this only while under supervision by providing him with a harness and a long-line lead, but do not leave your cat unattended, as he may get entangled in the long-line. During this time, you should consider training him to return to you when summoned, which should help you to monitor his whereabouts and have him back home in time for both of you to be safely tucked away in bed!

ADOLESCENCE:

Welcome to teenage angst and rebellion! Depending on how well you kept to the rule of not allowing your cat to bite or scratch you during play, you may weather this storm a little easier.

Your cat may begin to show signs of hormonal changes, wanting to go outside to explore, showing rather a bit more energy as well as irritability, and perhaps even deciding that he is not entirely happy with where you placed his litter tray, so finding somewhere else to do his ablutions.

The solution: Be consistent with your play, not allowing things to get out of hand (or latched onto your hand), and channel your cat’s energies through training, including the proper place to toilet! If your cat appears set on doing his toilet elsewhere, you may need to reconsider what substrate you are using, or it may be easier to simply accommodate his wishes and move the litter tray to his preferred new spot.

If you have yet to get your cat neutered, this would certainly be the time to consider it. For more information on this sensitive topic, please view our page on ‘Neutering & Spaying Your Pet’.

THE ADULT CAT:

Having now matured, your cat will continue to learn from and be affected by experiences throughout his adult life. But having been properly nurtured through his growing years, he will be in a much better position to deal with them.

Should you decide to adopt a cat that may not have enjoyed such a beneficial upbringing, you may be able to discern from his behaviour what issues he may have faced during his growing years and what aspect of his upbringing he may have missed out on. It may even point toward the type of corrective training required to help ameliorate his poor behaviour. At the very least, you will be better able to understand and protect him by not inadvertently placing him into confrontational situations that could trigger poor responses.

PROBLEM BEHAVIOURS IN CATS:

Behavioural issues in cats come in many forms and for many reasons. Some may be a result of a poor upbringing while others that we view as problematic are in fact perfectly natural for a cat. Whether it is scratching a sofa or bringing home prey, these natural behaviours cannot be extinguished but only redirected with some measure of success. In terms of some of the abnormal problem behaviours that cats present with, it is worth remembering to always check for any potential health-related reasons for their occurrence before trying to resolve them on your own.

Some of the tools that an animal behaviourist will use to correct unwanted behaviours in a pet include:

• Counter Conditioning – training the cat out of a conditioned or association-based response
• Desensitisation – reducing a negative association to external stimuli through gradual, low-threshold introduction (Note: this is very different from flooding, which is exposing an animal directly and forcefully to a negative association, and should never be done as it can lead to anxiety, stress, and learned helplessness)
• Habituation – reducing a conditioned response to an inconsequential event
• Redirection – transferring one set of responses to another set of stimuli

It is always worth remembering that while cats are influenced by past events, they nevertheless live in the present. Reprimanding or punishing them for something done only minutes before, or for behaviour they are presently doing, but that is based on a history of negative associations, would not only be unsuccessful but also counterproductive. In effect, it can easily make matters worse!

Aggression:

While it is important to distinguish between cat-on-cat and cat-on-human aggression, within each of these there are different causes for aggression to occur, and it is important to ascertain the underlying reason for each case in order to prevent recurrence. Causes may include:

• Fear-related aggression (toward cats or humans)
• Inter-male aggression (between cats)
• Petting & play-related aggression (toward cats or humans)
• Redirected aggression (toward cats or humans)
• Territorial aggression (primarily toward other cats)

Fear-related aggression should be easy to spot when one considers the cat’s body language and general demeanor just prior to and during the incident. A cat that is scared may choose to fight or to flee, and hence may display one of two characteristics. It may endeavor to make itself as small as possible, by crouching low, and to try slink away; or it may arch its back and bristle its fur, including its tail, in an effort to make itself appear larger. A cat that is fearful but that has learnt that by being aggressive it will drive away those that scare it is more likely to repeat this aggression in the future. In time, the more fearful signs may dissipate entirely as aggression takes over and it begins to feel more confident in its threat displays.

A professional behaviourist should treat such a case, and would most likely look at creating a desensitisation programme for the cat, initially limiting its exposure to its fear triggers before gradually reintroducing those elements at low threshold through a process of counter conditioning.

Inter-male aggression is most prevalent in areas of high density cat population, especially where the cats have remained intact. Should this prove to be a problem, along with any of the other issues associated with intact male cats, then sterilisation ought to be considered. We appreciate some may argue that we are altering animals purely for our benefit, but if that were simply the case we would not recommend it. The fact is that neutering can be beneficial for cats, as well, in that it can reduce roaming, and hence risk of injury and death, be it from cat fights or road traffic accidents, and it eliminates the chance of unwanted litters.

Certainly, if a cat is getting into fights with other males in the area, it would certainly be worth thinking about, as it will also reduce territorial aggression, which will be discussed later.

For petting and play-related aggression, it may be that the person (or cat) has simply misread the subtle cues that the aggressor was presenting, which then resulted in the hostile response. Be sure to let everyone, especially children who come into contact with cats, be aware of what signs to look out for and when to avoid or stop petting a cat that is exhibiting those warning signs. Some cats enjoy to be petted and stroked, some prefer not. It is especially important to not stroke the belly of a cat, even if it were to roll over onto its side, for this is a vulnerable area and by touching it you may invite a defensive response.

Redirected aggression may occur where a cat is feeling either stressed or fearful, be it from an external source (such as the presence of other cats or dogs on its territory) or from an internal source (such as an injury or illness that brings with it some discomfort). If it is ascertained that a cat is expressing redirected anger, then it is important to isolate the underlying cause and to remedy it, remove it, or isolate the cat from it, thereby removing the stress or discomfort and the need to express that aggression.

As noted earlier, territorial aggression may occur in areas that contain a high population of cats, particularly male cats. It can also occur when one male has a rather inflated sense of its own territory, or when a new cat moves into an area and upsets the social balance that exists between the cats already living there. This can lead to cat-on-cat aggression, redirected aggression toward the owner or other family members, as well as other problem behaviours like inappropriate toileting if the cat begins to feel unsafe within its own space.

The truth of the matter is that you are more likely to be aware of the problem if it were your cat that was being picked on, his territory being infiltrated, and it was your neighbour’s cat that was leaving its mark all around your garden or home. Conversely, you are less likely to be aware if it were your cat that was causing all the ruckus. To that end, it is important that neighbours communicate with one another when such problems arise, but to do so in an empathetic and non-judgemental manner. The owner whose territory is being encroached upon can then remove the scent of the other cat from his yard, replacing them with rubbings of his own cat’s scent, while the owner of the more dominant cat might consider keeping his cat indoors for a short time, giving the other cat an opportunity to establish himself in his own territory before allowing his cat back out.

Destructive Scratching:

Cats scratch and claw at surfaces for a number of reasons, and all of it is perfectly natural. Firstly, it is a means by which they mark their territory, not only by leaving a visual sign of their presence but also while scratching they are also rubbing scent from glands on their paw pads onto that surface. Secondly, it is a means by which cats keep their claws clean and sharp and shed frayed, outer claws. Finally, cats often claw both during play and while at rest, as they knead the surface they are about to lie down on or do so while they stretch out in contentment.

Cats don’t tend to leave their mark – be that through scratching or spraying – at the boundaries of what they believe to be their territory, but along familiar trails that they will take within that space. It may just be that some of your furniture lies along one of those regular trod paths for your cat. Or it may simply be that he fancies the feel of that wood or fabric whilst maintaining the condition of his claws. Either way, you will want to redirect this natural behaviour, and fast!

The best way to get your cat away from your furniture and onto something more home-friendly is not to rush out and buy the first scratch post that you find, but rather to test out what kind of surface your cat enjoys scratching against.

• Does your cat prefer scratching on carpet, sisal, or wood?
• Does your cat prefer scratching on a horizontal, slanted, or vertical surface?
• Does your cat prefer scratching at a specific site or area, and what type of scratching alternative can be accommodated there?

Once you have decided on a suitable pad or post, place it near to the carpet or upholstery your cat has been using and try to make it more inviting or engaging by scenting it with catnip. Take rubbings of the surfaces where your cat has scratched and wipe them over the pad or post, thus transferring your cat’s scent from the unwanted area to the scratch-friendly spot. At the same time, try to make those areas you don’t want scratched to be as unappealing as possible. Cover table legs with newspaper and then wrap double-sided sticky tape around that paper. Spray or wipe surfaces with diluted citronella (check that it won’t cause staining first!).

However, avoid using any essential oils, as the majority can be toxic to cats. And avoid startling your cat by shouting at or spraying him with water, should you catch him in the act of scratching at the wrong spot, for all you will do is make him more wary of you.

What you most certainly should never do is to get your cat declawed. It is a cruel and barbaric practice that leaves the cat suffering significant pain and reduces its ability to grip surfaces and fend for itself. While it is illegal in many countries, including the United Kingdom, this is sadly not the case in all countries.

Excessive Vocalisation:

Meowing and yowling are both natural behaviours for cats although, unusually, the former is generally not reserved for its own kind but expressed almost solely for the benefit of human beings, and the cat’s owner in particular. Some cat breeds, such as the Siamese and the Burmese, are more talkative than others, but even within the quieter breeds one may find variations in levels of vocalisation.
Generally, cats meow not only as a greeting or to invite attention, but also to ask for such things as food, to be let out, or to be stroked. Senior cats may vocalise more if suffering cognitive dysfunction. Yowling, on the other hand, is a more drawn out sound than the average meow, and is used by reproductively intact cats as a means of soliciting the opposite sex during breeding season.

There are two factors to consider when deciding whether a cat is vocalising excessively or not. The first is whether it is excessive compared to what is normal for that individual cat based on its past history, and the second whether it is excessive compared to what is normal for that breed. If it is the former, there is the chance that it could be either health, stress, or age-related, and the cat should be seen to by a veterinary surgeon. It it is the latter, and especially if the meowing is related to asking for something, it may suggest that the cat has become conditioned to vocalising, as every time it has done so it has received a reward, be it food, cuddles, or been let out. Here the advise would be to perform some counter conditioning on the forthright feline by paying her attention only when he becomes quiet. It may even mean preempting him by providing his food, letting him out, or cuddling him before he even has the chance to speak, but either way you will be disrupting the link between his meow and his reward.

Hunting:

Not all cats are born hunters, but those that are will often bring home little presents, some of which may have already been opened. It isn’t pleasant cleaning up after your cat’s party, but scolding your cat or locking her indoors isn’t going to help.

Try engaging in games with your cat that push her to engage her predatory instincts. These may include variations of feathers-on-a-stick or ball-on-a-string, for which your cat will stalk, pounce, and attempt to grab. You may need to vary the prey-object every so often, as cats tend to bore quickly of toys that they can’t easily eviscerate or that does not behave as captured prey should. You can either do this by switching out toys or by changing the odour of the prey-object by scenting it with catnip or basil, and then wriggling or dangling it in a slightly different fashion than before.

If you haven’t attached a bell to your cat’s collar, now might be the time to do so. Also by switching to a fluorescent collar, you will be helping to make your cat that little bit more visible to potential prey.

Inappropriate Toileting:

Firstly, it is important to discern the difference between toileting and spraying. The former relates to urine elimination and generally occurs on horizontal surfaces, while the latter involves urine marking and is generally done against vertical surfaces. We will deal with scenting and marking later.

While understandably frustrating, there is no point in shouting let alone rubbing your cat’s nose in it. As has been stated before, cats learn from past experience but they live in the present moment, and all that they will associate with that act is that you get rather nasty and vindictive around bodily waste. What is a better course of action is to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and to achieve that it means removing any whiff of cat urine from the area, for cats are drawn to the scent and will toilet in the same area if given half the chance.

By either using a vinegar/water solution, or alternatively a cleaning product containing biodegradable enzymes that breaks down the urine, you will be able to remove not only the urine but more importantly the smell that will draw your cat back. It is important that the area be cleaned thoroughly, for a cat’s nose has twice the number of smell receptors as yours, so even if you can’t smell it, your cat probably will!

Next it is important to ascertain the reason for this inappropriate toileting. Common causes for this type of problem behaviour include:

• Medical or health-related reasons: Get your cat checked by your local vet in order to rule this out. Monitor your cat’s eliminations to see if it is experiencing pain during toileting, which means it could have built up a negative association to the litter tray. Alternatively, if your cat needs to go more frequently, it may have contracted a urinary tract infection.
• Age-related reasons: While your cat may not be physically unhealthy, he may still be getting old. Some senior cats do suffer from a form of feline dementia, or cognitive dysfunction, which can result in inappropriate elimination.
• Stress: Has there been changes in the home or to your routines? Is there inter-cat conflict occurring in or around the home? Have you recently welcomed in a new addition, be it another pet or a new baby?
• Inadequate provision: Are there enough litter trays available in relation to the number of cats in the household? Have you introduced a new type of substrate? Are you cleaning out the litter tray regularly? Have you introduced a new type tray or recently moved its location?
• Environmental Factors: If your cat is toileting outdoors, has the weather changed? It may simply be that he no longer fancies going outside in the rain, and so an indoor alternative space should be provided.

By understanding the underlying cause for this unwanted behaviour, you will be more able to correct it. Medical and age-related reasons should be dealt with in concert with your vet, while both stress and inadequate provision should be resolved by the owner, by removing stress factors while providing adequate toilet areas to the cat.

Marking & Spraying:

While it is generally understood that male cats perform urine-marking, it is also not uncommon for female cats to urine-mark. This is a perfectly natural activity for our cats, but one that can become a problem when it occurs indoors or occurs due to a neighbouring cat trespassing on one’s property.

Marking is very different from accidental toileting, as its purpose is to convey a signal to other cats, particularly those with whom territories may overlap, about a cat’s sex, health, and reproductive status. One can quickly distinguish between marking and accidental toileting by noting whether urine was voided onto a vertical or horizontal surface, as marking is nearly always done on the former while toileting is usually performed on the latter. Also, the quantity of urine in marking tends to be far less but is far more pungent than in general urination.

Castrating male cats and spaying female cats will certainly reduce the likelihood of marking, but may not eliminate the behaviour entirely. Marking may still occur in roughly ten percent of castrated males and five percent of spayed females. It may also take a few weeks or months after the operation for a male to stop marking.

In multi-cat households it is important to reduce competition for resources, so it is worth ensuring that there are sufficient litter trays as well as perches and beds for each and every cat in the home. All areas, particularly to the outdoors, to food, water bowls, and litter trays, should have multiple access points.

Synthetic pheromone diffusers such as Felifriend, which is known to reduce inter-cat aggression and increase the tendency for cats to approach and show affiliative behaviour, may prove useful under such circumstances.

If it is a neighbour’s cat that is causing the mischief, you may wish to have a quiet word with your neighbour, as per recommendations for territorial.aggression. Alternatively, you may want to invest in a motion activated sprinkler system that will train your neighbour’s cat not to encroach into your cat’s space. The only downside with this approach is that you will have to keep your own cat indoors for the duration, lest it get sprinkled, as well!

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