by Shojai, Amy
· Identify the reactive distance at which the scared cat becomes agitated if another cat approaches. Avoid situations by maintaining appropriate distance between the fearful cat and potential triggers.
· Provide additional quiet areas and/or hiding places in the home. Elevated perches such as cat trees, shelf space, and small boxes help Sheba feel more secure.
· Separate aggressive cats so they can’t see each other. Visual contact heightens cat arousal and can increase aggressive episodes or make them worse.
· Use Feliway, in a plug-in or spray form, which is available at pet products stores.
· Create a house of plenty by providing lots of toys, scratching posts, and litter boxes (at least one per cat, plus one) to reduce competition with other cats.
· Use interactive play to build feline confidence. A fishing pole toy or the beam of a light pointer allows the cat to have fun with you, but from a distance not likely to trigger an attack.
· Training cats to do tricks builds confidence and helps improve the bond you share. For more details, refer to the training section.
· Rescue Remedy can help shy and fearful pets, so add several drops to their water.
· Fearful cats often learn to turn aggression “on” immediately at the sight of another cat with which they’ve argued. Behavior modification using counter conditioning teaches Sheba to tolerate the other feline. To begin the program, each cat should be segregated in her own room.
· Then create a 15-minute routine and repeat three to four times every single day with each cat in private. This could include the cat’s meal, a special playtime, grooming session, or other pastime Sheba enjoys, to reduce fear of the unexpected.
· Measure a bit beyond the cats’ reactive distance in a single room or long hallway. Place two cages/carriers at each end, or use a pair of baby gaits to keep the cats separated outside of that reactive distance. When using carriers, spray a bit of Feliway on a cloth and leave it inside before inserting the cat.
· Feed each cat lots of treats, talk in happy, upbeat voice, and scratch their cheek/chins through the crate to make the experience pleasant. Cats willing to take treats while seeing each other are not as fearful. Do this several times a day for three to five minutes at a time before returning them to their private rooms.
· Slowly decrease the distance between the carriers, continuing with the treats, praise, and petting. This teaches the fearful cat to associate the other kitty’s presence with good things while she feels protected inside the carrier.
· Once the fearful cat no longer shows arousal within that critical distance, take out the non-fearful cat. Leave scared kitty inside her carrier, and continuing to treat-treat-treat. Take turns bringing one cat out while the other gets treats in the cage. The cats may never become buddies, but over time, they may be able to tolerate each other without resorting to violence.
CALMING SIGNALS: FELINE RESTRAINTS
Fearful cats often bite without thinking, and pin-wheeling paws cause lots of claw damage. When you know a particular situation (i.e., vet visit) prompts an aggressive outburst, contain the cat’s claws and teeth to protect yourself and others.
· Mesh cat muzzles are available from veterinarians and pet product suppliers. They cover the face and eyes, contain the teeth and help calm the cat by shutting out the view. Make sure you choose one that fits properly (they come in several sizes), and that allows air to circulate for appropriate breathing. Flat faced cats like Persians can be more difficult to fit, and also often have more trouble with breathing.
· Commercial “cat bags” typically contain the whole body while the head sticks out, and can keep claws at bay particularly when something on the cat’s head needs attention. A pillowcase can work well in a pinch.
IT FEELS TOO GOOD
Owners of multiple cats often experience “petting aggression,” also referred to as status-related aggression, especially when these cats don’t have the “clout” to boss other felines around but want to control their world. Cats avoid the behavior with those who resist but get pushy with people who give in to demands. They often ask for petting especially when you’re cuddling another cat, but then bite you to stop the interaction. That may in part be due to location of the strokes, since cats accept grooming from other cats on the head and neck and may prefer this to body contact.
Physical correction makes the behavior worse. Petting aggression can be explosive and dangerous, and is typical of young energetic cats taken early from their litter, and left alone for long periods during the day. The following tips also can help.
· Identify and avoid situations that might lead to aggression. Use a treat or toy to bribe cats off furniture or out of the way, rather than physically moving her.
· Say, “move” and toss the treat on the floor or entice the cat down with a feather. Eventually, just say the word “move” and offer a sweeping gesture for the cat to obey—and, you’ve avoided an encounter that could otherwise cause a bite.
· Stand up to dump the cat off your lap before she bites. When you’re petting other cats, ignore her when she solicits attention, unless she behaves.
· Limit petting to the cat’s head or back of the neck, and identify the cat’s petting threshold. Count the number of strokes Sheba enjoys before her ears flatten, tail becomes active, and eyes dilate, and in future stop before you reach her limit.
· Desensitize the cat. If she tolerates three strokes before ears go back, add one more stroke and then stop, and dump her off your lap before she can bite. Add one stroke each week to gradually increase her petting threshold.
ALL WOUND UP
Both predatory and play aggressions include components of stealth, silence, alert posture, hunting postures, and lunging or springing at “prey” that moves suddenly after being still. Nearly any type of movement, from walking to picking up an object, triggers the behavior. Predation directed toward an infant, or smaller pets represents the greatest danger, but over-the-top play is normal and hand raised kittens and those weaned early seem to have increased risk.
They’ll terrorize shy cats, bully smaller kittens, and pester geriatric felines as well as targeting owners. Confident adult cats usually put these obnoxious felines in their place, young kittens outgrow the behavior, and tips found in “Teaching Limits” help a great deal. In addition, the following will help you deal with very playful or predatory aggressive cats.
· Provide safe areas where the picked on felines won’t be molested, such as high perches or separate rooms.
· Place a bell on the attack cat to warn victims in time to escape, and so you can interrupt and stop the behavior.
· Hissing from an aerosol, a water gun, citronella sprays and other interruptions may stop the attack cold. Experiment to find what works best for Sheba.
· A leash and harness can be attached to the cat for control and interruption of undesirable behavior.
· Play interactive games with all your cats to burn off energy. Move toys perpendicular to line of sight—across cats’ field of vision rather than toward or away from her—to spark the greatest interest. Interactive play encourages confidence in shy cats so they’ll kick Sheba’s furry tail and teach her manners.
· Create a regular routine that includes specific playtimes, so the cats learn to expect fun interactive times.
· A second kitten of the same age, size and temperament could help by providing a legal target and playmate, as well as teaching bite and claw inhibition.
THE BLAME GAME
Redirected aggression happens as a result of Sheba being unable to respond to a physical or verbal correction, or the thwarting of a desire. This affects adult male cats most often and arises from territorial, fear-induced, inter-male or defensive aggression.
When Tom can’t reach the squirrel tap-dancing on the trees out the window, he instead nails the closest available victim. That may be another cat or the owner who wanders by at the wrong time, and such attacks seem unprovoked if you never
see the squirrel. Owners often think the cat has gone nuts when Tom attacks out of the blue or when cats who previously got along become hostile to each other.
Common triggers include the sight, sound, or odor of another cat, other animals, unusual noise, unfamiliar people or environment, and pain. While people only become the accidental victim in the presence of the trigger, a housemate cat can become a permanent scapegoat after just one “accidental” response. After a first episode, the aggressing cat “remembers” and launches attack whenever he sees the scapegoat cat. The poor scapegoat anticipates attacks, and acting like a victim stimulates the aggressor to continue the behavior. Refer to the section on “Cat Bashing” to help stop the cat aggressor/victim pattern. The following suggestions also help prevent future cases of redirected aggression.
· Leave the cat alone when you know he’s aroused and you notice chittering teeth and active tail. Try to keep the other cats from bothering him as well, especially when he lounges in the windowsill.
· Keep stray cats and strange animals away from window sight of your property. (See Shooing Stray Cats Away).
· Prevent access to windows or partly cover them to keep your cats from seeing the triggers. Pull the blinds, and move furniture away from windows. Double-sided tape products such as Sticky Paws (www.stickypaws.com) applied to windowsills makes the surface uncomfortable so cats avoid lounging.
· Separate cats that show aggression toward each other. It may take several days or weeks for the aroused cat to “forget” the association and stop picking on the victim cat. Time away helps the scapegoat stop acting like a victim, too—which helps reduce the chance of being picked on.
· Bell the aggressor cat so the victim kitty can avoid encounters.
Shooing Stray Cats Away
Outdoor roaming cats cause your indoor felines no end of angst. Your cats feel proprietary toward even the yard that they see through windows. They don’t even have to see—just smell each other—and the hissing party begins. The presence of a strange cat prompts hit-or-miss litter box behavior, redirected aggression, and stress-related behaviors or health problems for your indoor cats.
While you shouldn’t ever be cruel to strays or ferals, your first obligation must be to your own pets. When you know the owner of a neighborhood cat, contact them about the problem. If the cats have no owner, contact the local shelter about capture-and-adoption options. Feral stray cat populations can be helped with resources from Alley Cat Allies (www.alleycat.org). Meanwhile, refer to these tips to relieve your cats’ behavior problems caused by outdoor cats.
· Wash Walls. Cats urine-spray to mark territory and the smell draws them back again and again to re-baptize the spot. They know about your indoor cats and seek to assert their ownership, and that smell also drives your indoor cats crazy. Avoid bleach which smells attractive to cats and will increase spraying. Enzyme-based odor neutralizers are the best option.
· Make Targets Unattractive. Aluminum foil wrapped around door bottoms make urine splash back onto the spraying cat and may persuade stray felines to find other targets. The Ssscat shoos with a "hiss" of air when the motion detector is triggered and can be set nearly anywhere. You can also set up motion-detector water sprinklers that shoot streams of water when critters enter range. For the roofs and hoods of cars, place a plastic carpet runner nub-side up to make this warm place uncomfortable.
· Brush Away Brush. Piles of wood, long grass or other habitat invites mice and other prey attractive to stray cats. If you clear away the clutter—and free meal—stray cats hunt elsewhere.
· Foil Digging. Soft garden soil proves irresistible for outdoor cats to use as a toilet. Before you plant, line beds with chicken wire-vegetation grows through the wire but it's off-putting to the digging cat. Add prickly cuttings from holly leaves, rose clippings, pine cones, or other uncomfortable material helps keep cat paws at bay. Add the peels of citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, grapefruit) for an off-putting odor—cats don't like citrus smells.
· Try Commercial Repellents. Check the reviews, not all work particularly well. The Cat Stop has received some thumbs up comments, and it works with batteries and a motion detector that triggers a loud sound to shoo away strays.
Mirror Angst
Cat eyes have the ability to discern mirror images. Cat face conformation-eyes at the front for binocular vision-lends itself to seeing reflections. But most times, a reflection doesn't also have a strange odor or unique sounds attached so the reflection isn't important or "real" without a signature odor or noises. But others develop problem behaviors from misrecognizing their own reflection as a threat or playmate.
Kittens that have less life experience are most likely to react to reflections before they realize they can’t reach that “cat behind the glass.” Some cats react to the reflections in pictures, oven, fireplace screens, or even tile. Mirrors and other reflecting surfaces can be confused with windows.
Cats often attempt to reach the other cat by pawing underneath or at the side of the mirror to "get around" the barrier preventing contact. Cats also do this after watching TV images of birds or other critters, mistaking the screen for a window.
The lurking outdoor cat presence primes the mirror-gazing kitty to become suspicious so his fearful reflection also triggers defensive body language. When the cat displays “friendly” body language, the reflection does the same and such interactions are less likely to cause problems. But a fearful or aggressive body posture is reflected back to the cat and perceived as a thread, raising the actual cat’s arousal. This becomes a vicious cycle. When cats are highly aroused they react rather than think, and it matters little that the reflection offers no scent or sound. Some cats learn to associate shiny surfaces/locations with feeling upset and these can trigger acting out behavior.
The interaction with the reflection runs the range from curious and playful, to head-thumping and screaming attacks. This could also feed into cases of redirected aggression. In other words, the cat becomes hissed off by that “threatening cat” seen in the mirror, but can’t reach the interloper, and so instead nails a passing cat friend.
Each time a cat sees an upsetting reflection he practices being upset. Each repeat of a given behavior predicts more to come, and makes it more likely for it to continue. Reducing the number of instances lowers the potential for a repeat.
· Remove mirrors if possible.
· Move mirrors or problem reflective surfaces. A new location may not have the same associations.
· Cover reflective surfaces you can’t move. Tape paper over cat-level mirrors.
· If outside cats are amping up his reactivity, refer to the section on shooing away stray cats.
· Scatter catnip in the locations to give upset cats a pleasurable feline “high” that counters the angst.
· Pheromone products like Comfort Zone with Feliway may calm upset feelings, too.
· Create positive associations with the mirror locations. Use favorite toys, interactive games or treats so the location comes to mean a benefit for the cat.
· When you have one confident cat that ignores the mirror, play games and offer treats in the mirror-area while the upset cat watches. This can teach the upset cat that another feline has no fear, and can encourage copy-cat calm behavior.
VET ALERT! HYPERESTHESIA SYNDROME
Aggressive behavior without an identifiable cause is referred to as “idiopathic” aggression, but a relatively rare physical condition could be the culprit. Hyperesthesia syndrome, an excessive sensitivity to touch, refers to several odd behaviors (including aggression) that have no recognizable stimulus.
The syndrome first appears in cats one to four years old and Siamese, Burmese, Himalayans and Abyssinians seem to have the highest incidence. Affected cats indulge in excessive grooming that targets their own tail and lower back, and may ultimately result in self-mutilation when Sheba attacks herself. Inexplicable aggression is the second pattern of behavior. Cats seem friendly, and even beg for attention
, then furiously attack when the owner attempts to pet them. The final pattern reported by the veterinary literature is seizure.
Some behaviorists believe stress triggers psychomotor seizures that cause the behaviors. Other researchers believe the syndrome parallels human panic attacks and obsessive/compulsive disorders that occur due to the individual cat's personality in combination with the pressures of her environment, frustrations and stress levels.
If you can identify and avoid stress factors that trigger incidents the syndrome may be eliminated. Some cats can be jarred from the behavior by an unexpected sudden noise like clapping your hands, or slapping a newspaper against a table. Cats may also respond to anti-seizure medication or human anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants that act on the cat's brain to put on the behavior brakes.
Chapter 5: TOILET TECHNIQUES
Cats have a reputation for being fastidious, clean creatures so we expect kittens to be born knowing about toilet etiquette. Doing what comes naturally often gets Sheba in trouble with owners when neither party understands what the other wants out of the deal.
The dirt in the potted palm offers the perfect place to make a feline deposit, especially if the “legal” toilet isn’t up to kitty standards. Spraying urine on the doorframe, or on your purse, makes perfect sense—or actually, scents—especially when other cats are around. To the dominant kitty, urine labels the object as hers, and dampens the territorial ardor of other felines. Shouts or inappropriate punishment increase the cat’s stress level and frequently prompt an increase in bathroom indiscretions.