{"id":560,"date":"2021-03-31T13:35:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T12:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/?page_id=560"},"modified":"2022-11-25T12:24:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T12:24:06","slug":"feline-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/?page_id=560","title":{"rendered":"Feline Behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does this mean for our feline companions who do not react well to change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ollie<\/figure>
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It is time to prepare and plan to help our cats adapt before any change to house, or enviroment takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps your cats will be giving it a high five, like Ollie, here on the right, however not all cats will.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Citywhiskers will be concentrating on some of the behaviours that cats could display with this change to their environment and help you look out for signs and give recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what signs would a cat display: Meowing more, scratching furniture, inappropriate urination, over grooming, hiding to name a few\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: These are not specific behaviour modification plans. These are guides and ideas to help. \u00a0Behaviour and welfare of the cat will be very specific and cannot be addressed by just reading these topics.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember Citywhiskers for all your cat sitting needs. Now offering additional services see www.citywhiskers.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Less company, less attention, less interaction for cats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cats may try other tactics to get attention such as scratching furniture, toileting inappropriately, not using litter tray or toileting on the bed. These behaviours could be down to insecurity in their environment and\/or separation anxiety. An easy solution is to try focused play\/attention times. Start building in a routine morning and night for 10 minutes. Great bonds occur through play. It releases endorphins in cats (the happy chemical).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Plugging in a pheromone diffuser could also be used to help calm your cat. Pheromones are a chemical substance released by an animal, it triggers a social response in its own species; cats use smells to communicate. We have seen this when a cat rubs our legs, their scent glands on their cheeks put their pheromones on to us, giving them reassurance. They will sniff objects, the scent will tell them who and when was last there. If in their social group that\u2019s fine, if not can make a cat nervous and it may need to increase its territorial behaviour.  Cats have lots of different scent glands that release pheromones, around their face, chin, lower ears, forehead, and cheeks and around the mouth. There are also scent glands located in your cat\u2019s paw pads and pheromones in their urine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your cat is now scratching the furniture. Cats are scent marking through scratching. Scratching is a natural behaviour for cats, and they need to be able to do this. It is essential for claw maintenance and it is also used as a territorial marker, leaving their scent from the glands between their toes. To encourage welcomed scratching, ensure you have a sturdy vertical scratch post and place this near where the cat prefers to scratch (if this is your sofa). Cats will not use a scratch post that will fall on them each time they use it. Some cats like horizontal scratching such as carpets. You can encourage them to use a cardboard scratcher and therefore limiting unwanted behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you notice your cat is stressed, you could put the radio on while you are out or the TV keeping a constant noise in the background for the cat and perhaps drowning out erratic noises from outside or next door. The house was perhaps busier and noisy with working at home or home schooling and now it has gone too quiet. This could be a solution, to help keep a steady continuous sound for your cat.
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Soiling the Bed\/Inappropriate Urination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cats use elimination of urine (and sometimes faeces) for communicating. This can be the first and most obvious indicator that something is not right in their world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, have you noticed this is a new behaviour? It is advisable to get it checked out with a vet. It could mean a medical issue, such as cystitis which is brought on by stress. It could also be Diabetes, Kidney issues, or crystals \u2013 it would be advisable to rule this out first. If your vet check concludes healthy, then it\u2019s behavioural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did it start? Is it in a specific area of house? Is it the same area each time? Start looking for triggers; does something happen immediately before the behaviour? Do you have enough litter trays? Are they clean? Have your changed Litter type recently? Is there at least 3cm of litter in each tray; look at the location and type of tray, and are the trays big enough for example?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was your reaction? If a cat urinates beside you in bed you are shocked and you scream or shoo the cat away.  Any reaction we make positive or negative is the cat getting attention. This may be all they are looking for… something to be mindful of. i.e. if they get noticed for this by your reaction, they may keep doing it. It\u2019s best not to react, no matter how angry or shocked you may be. The cat may be insecure and it’s urinating where it smells your scent the strongest to help the cat deal with the uncertainty of being home along or separated from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One solution could be to start locking your cat out your bedroom, make a fuss of them before you go to bed and first thing in the morning, build bonds and reassure your cat. Perhaps consider a pheromone plug in or moving a litter tray to where they are eliminating; placing food down at the spot is also an idea as cats should not normally eliminate near a food resource.  This is not a simple fix and will take time to resolve; there could be numerous reasons for this behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Looking for more attention – change in behaviour\/character<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gosh, you\u2019re gorgeous; do you want a treat or some food?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time to start thinking about and looking at how we feed our cats. How many of us have cats that follow us to the kitchen as they think that room is only to give them food!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So, you are going to be around less. However, this doesn\u2019t need to mean the cat will not know when its next meal will be. A suggestion would be to start introducing puzzle feeders. This is not only a great way for your cat to start working for its food and it also stimulates its mind. Cats get great stimuli when hunting, searching out their food, eating small meals and not always often, similar to that in the wild. In fact, cats can spend most of their day hunting for food. They do not always know how many kills they will achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think we are being kind giving food when they are cute or miaow, however cats get bored having their food just given to them. It\u2019s a good idea to make them \u2018work\u2019 for their food, especially cats restricted to indoors only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with a puzzle mat or a slim ball\/treat ball and get them used to playing and when they get a reward i.e. treat or dry food this stimulates them to continue. It promotes great welfare. The treat ball does not just need to be filled with treats as that would be unhealthy, therefore while you are out, you could make all free-feeding food more of a challenge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a miaow no longer gets them what they want again could lead to unwanted behaviours just to get a reaction. A solution to help with this would be to no longer respond to all miaows. Give them a treat when they are quiet; re-train them and start doing things on your terms and not theirs. Get them out of the habit\/behaviour you have allowed and created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Recall – I will come home when I want!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your cat may start going out more and staying out longer as they are unhappy that you are not at home the same.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time to make sure when your cat goes out you call them back in regularly. Calling their name or shaking treats gets them used to a recall system; shake treats and reward them when they come home. Make a fuss of them when they come back and play with them giving them positive reinforcement for good and welcomed behaviour. This will communicate to them that they are loved and will give them confidence to accept that routine has changed for all, and they still have a happy home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Miaow, please let me out!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your cat does have a cat flap, however through lockdown you have created a behaviour of providing them access, they will not understand why they are no longer getting out the window or front door!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This may create stress for your cat, they miaow more, scratch at doors, carpets and curtains. They may even start more undesirable behaviours as discussed in earlier posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is now time for you to re-train your cat and get them used to their own door\/cat flap. Cut down first and then cut out, responding straight away to what the cat is wanting. Change your behaviour; get them used to the cat flap again. If you refrain from opening windows and doors they may ultimately get bored and if they really want out they will use the cat flap. Give them praise when they go out and come back in. At this point you can reward them. This will show good and desired behaviour. The cat should start looking at you less for a reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When will I get back in?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you don\u2019t have a cat flap. While you have been at home you have encouraged letting your cat out as discussed above. You are no longer at home or you are going on holiday. Plan getting your cat used to staying in. Slowly decrease the number of times you let them out.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Instead, introduce more play, puzzles or interactive toys to show them there are alternatives for stimulation. Re-introduce and show them being indoors is fun. Get them used to the litter tray again and give high praise when they use it. Make sure you plan this in advance of going on holiday as you do not want to leave your unhappy, perhaps stressed cat behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Holiday!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The time has come! We are finally getting to have a holiday!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how are you feeling?  Worried about leaving your cat after this length of time? Bring your cases out early so the cats can get used to a change that is coming.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watch their behaviour over the next few days. Some cats may not be bothered however others may start displaying unwanted behaviours. Re-assure them through praise and play that all is ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a year of being famous for bombing your teams meetings, this attention and situation will be changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cats are unique, individual, territorial and all very different and respond differently. Behavioural problems can be common. Triggers can be different. Behavioural stresses and anxiety can be displayed in multiple ways as touched on throughout these posts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Citywhiskers is here for all your cat sitting needs, and behaviour advice. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for reading!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does this mean for our feline companions who do not react well to change? It is time to prepare and plan to help our cats adapt before any change to house, or enviroment takes place. Perhaps your cats will … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=560"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":680,"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/560\/revisions\/680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citywhiskers.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}