February 1, 2012

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Say No to Declaw!

January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You have all heard the arguments against declawing. There must be something to them if cities and countries have made it illegal to declaw cats. Israel is the most recent country to outlaw this painful and unnecessary procedure. Although I am obviously opposed to declawing, today’s blog is not focused on the arguments against declawing. Instead it will cover why cats scratch objects and I will outline humane, alternative solutions that will keep both claws and furniture intact.

Cats have to scratch. In addition to giving themselves manicures, when cats scratch they mark their territory. They have scent glands on their paw pads that produce pheromones. So whenever they scratch, they leave information about themselves on the objects they scratch. They also mark visually through the physical scores and audibly through the sound. Think of it as a cat’s way of autographing objects. Cats scratch objects for other reasons as well. Scratching objects functions as an effective emotional release and is often a displacement behavior. Often cats will scratch when they are feeling stressed. Scratching also is an outlet for releasing excessive energy and after a nap, cats love to stretch and scratch. As you can see, cats have many reasons for scratching objects.

Scratching the Right Stuff

Scratching post

Sudan Scratching a Sisal Scratching Post

Cats can be trained to ignore the furniture and scratch designated objects. Start by making the targeted areas off limits to sharp little claws. If your cat is focusing her attentions on the sofa, then block it with either double sided-tape or cover the sofa with a fabric that is not satisfying to scratch. Sheets work great, tucked tightly around the sofa cushions.

Blocking areas is only half of the solution though. While making an area off limits to claws, put a sturdy scratching post directly in front of the now blocked area. The post needs to feel irresistible to the cat.  Some cats love the feel of sisal beneath their paws, others prefer cardboard or carpet. If your cat enjoys carpet, make sure that the scratching surface is a different texture then the carpet on your floor. Scratching posts need to be tall and stable—they should not tip over while they are exuberantly scratched. It is important that you positively reinforce your cat when she is scratching the post. My book Naughty No More! (link) has a chapter dedicated to training cats through clicker training and environmental changes to scratch the right objects and ignore the furniture.

The scratching post won’t have to live prominently in the middle of the living room forever. After the cat consistently scratches the post, move it a couple of inches each day, to another spot in the room. Don’t move it in back of the sofa or to a hidden area. Remember, your cat is scratching to mark territory, so the post still needs to be in a relatively high profile area.

Another effective alternative to declawing cats is fitting cats with Soft Paws®. These commercially available nail caps are placed on each claw and periodically replaced. Cats still scratch the furniture, but the nail caps keep the furniture protected. Although Soft Paws® are effective, they don’t train cats to scratch appropriate objects and avoid targeting the rugs and sofas.

Scratching is a natural instinctive activity that cats have to do. Even though cats have to scratch, they don’t have to target the carpets and sofas. Instead of declawing, furniture and rugs can become scratch-free through painless and humane methods.

Filed Under: Cat Behavior, Declawing, Training Cats

Senior Cats & Kittens 180° of Separation

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I frequently hear cat people say they are adopting a kitten to keep their older adult cat company. In some cases these older cats have been the king and queen of their households, enjoying the luxury of having their person all to themselves. And there are also situations that involve older, adult cats who have suffered the loss of a bonded or maybe not so bonded resident other.

Some cats enjoy the company of another cat—others prefer a solitary cat-free life. Before bringing home a new kitten for your cat, consider the needs of both your resident cat and the new kitten. Older cats who have lived successfully with other cats may appreciate a new friend—a cat friend who is similar in age. Kittens usually love to roll and frolic excessively with others—preferably another kitten with the same active, crazy life style.

180° of Separation
The activity levels for older adult cats and kittens are on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Older adult cats invented power napping whereas kittens are poster children for Energizer commercials. Senior cats prefer to nap and lounge by the window, entertained by the neighborhood viewed from the comfort of a safe perch. Kittens, by definition, don’t nap the day away—they prefer actively exploring their world instead of observing it. And there is nothing more fun for a kitten then to engage every resident animal and human in persistent, rollicking play. Understandably, senior cats are not on the same page. The constant demands from kittens annoy and can seriously stress them.

It is also unfair for the kitten. Kittens need every opportunity to rough house, play and chase another willing companion—preferably another kitten. It’s an important part of the physical and social development of kittens. Kittens learn vital skills from play—including how to hunt and survive. And play teaches kittens important social boundaries.

Cat Company
Choose wisely when searching for a cat to keep your senior company. If your cat had a friendly relationship with another cat in the past, then seek out a new cat-friend who is similar in age and activity level to your resident cat. The new cat should also have a history of successfully getting along with cats the same age and temperament as your senior kitty.

Avoid adopting a kitten as a friend for your senior cat. Most likely both the kitten and the elderly cat will be unhappy with the pairing. Instead of becoming best buddies, the kitten will be frustrated with not having a friend who can keep up with him. And the older adult cat will become annoyed and stressed by the kitten’s natural need for constant play and attention.

Both cat & kitten have valid points.

Filed Under: Animal behavior, Cat Behavior, Senior cats Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Every Month is Senior Cat Month

November 13, 2011 By 2 Comments

Maulee helping me write

I love senior cats. OK, I love all cats, but there is something special about senior cats. Maybe it’s their grey-around-the-whiskers-look or their fragility, maybe it’s the purr. I don’t know, there is just something very special about elderly cats.

Maulee is my special senior cat. She is overseeing today’s blog entry about senior cats. This isn’t unusual, because she loves to keep herself warm, napping on the hot modem next to my monitor when I write. Maulee is an 18.5 year old Bengal Cat who is in relatively good health. Although she still loves to play, napping next to me is probably her second favorite activity—eating is her first. She is a food hound.

We share a special bond. Although I am bonded with all of my cats, the bonds Maulee and I have are different. She is constantly at my side, on my lap or napping next to my monitor. She prefers purring, chortling and talking to me over wandering the house and interacting with her younger cat companions.

Like many senior cats, Maulee occasionally has cognitive challenges. Sometimes, late at night she finds herself lost and confused in the house. I know, because she will start howling and screaming for me to help her. I will follow the calls and find her sitting, facing a corner yowling. Other times she’s standing in the middle of a room. Her calls of distress, although heart wrenching, quickly change to purrs and nose kisses when I sweep down, pick her up and carry her into the bedroom.

Maulee’s cognitive challenges have dramatically decreased since I made a few changes. The first two involve changes to the environment, the third increases mental stimulation. I am limiting the areas she and her cat buddies can go at night. Hall doors are closed—keeping the cats in the back of the house. The area they can roam is still large, but now all of the cats are more inclined to sleep in my bedroom. I have also increased the number of night lights around the house. Although, these two simple environmental changes have helped Maulee, I found that using clicker training to mentally stimulate her has vastly improved her cognitive state.

Yes! You can teach an old cat new tricks

At twelve years of age, Maulee was no spring chicken when her clicker training career started. She quickly caught on to the concept and became my clicker star. When Animal Planet’s Cats 101 filmed her for their Bengal and clicker training segment she was 17.5 years of age. Before the show she had never jumped through hoops. It took her only five minutes to learn the new trick. Just because a cat is a senior, doesn’t mean the cat can’t learn new things. Maulee is proof.

Clicker training is more than teaching tricks. Since increasing the frequency of Maulee’s clicker training sessions, I’ve noticed a decrease in cognitive challenges. She hasn’t gotten lost in a corner in many months and our nights haven’t been interrupted by her howls of distress.  I have also observed that Maulee is more alert, interacts and plays a little more with the younger cats. Clicker training is mentally stimulating. Maulee is thinking through problems. She is highly food motivated and likes to figure out what she needs to do in order for me to click that clicker and toss her a coveted treat. Clicker training is one of her favorite activities. I know because she purrs and chortles throughout the sessions. Clicker training is helping to keep her young in mind and spirit.

November is Senior Cat Month. Every month is senior cat month—every day senior cat day. If you are looking for a new cat companion, I urge you to adopt a senior cat. Just because they are old, doesn’t mean they don’t have many fulfilling years ahead of them. Look at my Maulee—18.5 years young.

Maulee sometimes enjoys napping on her back

Filed Under: Cat Behavior, Clicker Training, Senior cats, Training Cats Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Uniquely Human

November 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Marc Bekoff recently wrote a blog post for Psychology Today titled What Makes Us Uniquely Human? It’s a really good read. I am a Bekoff fan. He has made a big impact on my life and is one of the main influencers for my becoming a cat behaviorist. I grew up hearing how humans are elevated above other animals because animals couldn’t reason/think or have emotions or use tools like humans do. I never bought into this thinking. Based on the relationships with the animals in my life and on my observations these commonly held beliefs didn’t make sense to me. As a child I watched a crow take a twig and stick it in a hole. Supposedly, animals didn’t use tools—tool making was an activity reserved for humans… I had heated discussions about it, but had no proof or facts, other than my own observations, to back up what I was saying. Dr. Bekoff’s research contains the facts. I was elated and felt in some ways vindicated for my own observations and beliefs when I first read Dr. Bekoff’s papers and heard him talk.

I hope that Dr. Bekoff’s research is changing people’s perceptions of animals. I hope more people read his work and look at the animals around them with new eyes and a fresh understanding. I hope that his books, articles and talks about his work result in people treating animals as thinking, feeling beings. Maybe people will think twice before euthanizing an animal with fixable problems or abusing a cat or dog… I can only hope…

Filed Under: Animal behavior, Cat Behavior Tagged With: , , , ,

One Month + of Cat Behavior Bits and Still Byting

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I am giving myself a virtual pat on the back for continuing to write my semi-new feature, Cat Bits & Bytes, on my home page every Tuesday. I have imposed my own rules for my Cat Bytes. My rules have made my Cat Bytes both fun to write and at times turns them into a challenging game. Rule number one is obvious. Cat Bits & Bytes have to contain information that focuses mainly on cats. No surprises there. The second rule is that they are understandable, as well as informative. Rule number three is more challenging—Cat Bits & Bytes can’t be more than four lines long. I broke rule number three in this week’s Halloween Fryte Byte. Its five lines long though the last line is only one word. Rule number three can be a challenge since I can be a bit expansive in my descriptions. Rule number three forces me to simplify. Some of the bytes take lots of rewrites, until they are the obligatory length, informative and hopefully understandable. Rule number four takes the Bytes to a different game level—word and letter play. Whenever possible I play with words in the title. Halloween Fryte Byte, my Byte for this week is a good example of word and letter play. I had fun with that one. You can read it on my home page. All of the Cat Bytes, to date, can be read on the Cat Behavior Bits & Bytes page.

Filed Under: Cat Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Making Sense of Scent

October 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Scent exchange

Maulee checking out a sock that has another cat's scent on it

Cats have an acute sense of smell. Scent is one of the ways that they relate and understand their environment. Scents can make or break new relationships. I preach scent exchanges when introducing cats to each other. Scent exchanges can either encourage friendships, or if forced upon cats can lead to violence and stress.

There are some sources on the internet that counsel forced scent exchanges by applying the scent of one cat directly on another when introducing a new cat to the resident cat or when working with inter-cat aggression.  I highly recommend not exchanging scents in this fashion. Doing so can stress the cat wearing the other’s scent and result in their hating or fearing each other—they cannot retreat away from the other’s scent. There is a more peaceful way of conducting scent exchanges. Instead of forced scent exchanges, gently pet each cat’s cheek with a different sock or soft towel and then put the scented towels or socks in the other’s confinement area, while the cats remain separated from each other. That way the cats have the choice of checking it out on their own schedule. If the cats don’t feel secure to venture near the scent-laced objects, then they don’t have to. They can wait until the smell dissipates in strength and then investigate it. It’s about choice. And it’s about reducing stress.

Not only does this pertain to cat scents, but also to calming collars and scents that well-meaning people sometimes put on their cats. Cats often find the scents and calming collars annoying or threatening but have no way of escaping them since they are wearing them.

Filed Under: Cat Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Soon Back in the Racks–Naughty No More!

October 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Naughty No More!

Naughty No More! by Marilyn Krieger, CCBC

My book Naughty No More! has not disappeared. My publisher sold about 1/3 of the inventory to Pet Smart last August and then ordered a second reprinting. The book is scheduled to be back in the warehouse around October 20th. I have no idea how that equates in Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble time. Meantime it has been kind of fun as well as somewhat disturbing to see someone trying to sell a used copy of Naughty No More! on Amazon for $900… that’s just weird. The good news is that soon, it will be back on Amazon for a reasonable price. Thankfully, it is available in all flavors of e-book. After my book is back up on Amazon, I wonder if that used, dog-eared copy will still be offered for $900.

Filed Under: Cat Behavior, Cat Case, Training Cats Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Being Green is Good… but

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This blog entry is not for the faint of heart… if you are sensitive to issues pertaining to cat excrement, you might want to not read this.

I support the green movement whenever possible. I’m glad to see people are concerned about what they are throwing away and how it impacts the environment. Having said that, sometimes the implications of being green has some disturbing consequences. Recently I’ve noticed a trend that is causing many cats to avoid using their litter boxes.

Most people understand the importance of scooping litter boxes on a daily basis. Cats do not like soiled litter boxes because the smell can theoretically attract predators and scare away potential prey. This means boxes need to be scooped daily. When cleaning cat boxes, the excrement is typically scooped into plastic bags and then thrown away. Before people started living green, the bags were removed immediately after each scooping. Times they are a-changing…

Some people, in their efforts to preserve the environment and not drown it in plastic bags are collecting the excrement in containers, dumping only after the containers have filled up. Typically, the containers are placed either next to the cat boxes, for convenience, or in the same room as the boxes. Some of the containers are open waste baskets lined with plastic bags—others are semi-closed boxes or bags. The containers are dumped when they are full—sometimes once a week, others once a month. One client was dumping every three months. The cat boxes are immaculately clean, but the rooms smell terrible.

From the cat’s perspective, there is no difference between a dirty cat box and a cleaned cat box that has an open container of excrement sitting next to it or nearby. They both smell and they both have the same consequences—cats choosing to not use their litter boxes.

And yes, there is a solution that will make both cats and people happy. There are environmentally friendly bags available from pet stores, specifically manufactured for this purpose. They can be thrown away every day. Litter lockers can also work, but only if they have good seals on them that prevent odors from escaping. So people, please think through what it means to be green. How is it impacting your cat?

Filed Under: Cat Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Cat Bits & Bytes

September 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I have started a weekly feature on the home page of my Cat Coach site. It is called Cat Bits & Bytes. In theory, I will be posting a cat behavior tip every week on the home page. The older cat tips will be moved to a separate page, so they won’t be lost forever when they are replaced each week with a new tip.

So far I’ve posted one tip. With a little bit of luck I will post a new one every week…. I should be able to do this…  Blogging about my new Cat Bits & Bytes tips will hopefully give me the incentive. In theory, I shouldn’t have a problem writing a tip every week since like clockwork, I’ve written one column a week since 2007 for www.catchannel.com. The difference between my new Cat Bits & Bytes tips and my catchannel.com columns is one I’m paid for the other I’m not.

Check it out! The first tip is focusing on a popular subject: Litter Box Maintenance.

Filed Under: Cat Behavior, Events

Animals Repeat Behaviors…

July 10, 2011 By 2 Comments

There is a short video posted on my site of sweet, little Olivia, one of my Bengals, closing the door. This behavior has earned her a little publicity. Animal Planet’s Cats 101 filmed her shutting the door for the Bengal segment that aired for the first time last fall. People are curious about how I trained her to do this behavior. Although clicker training was used to capture and shape shutting the door, it originated as a natural behavior.

Years ago Olivia did a less refined version of the behavior before meal times. It started with a simple headbutt on the door of the bathroom where she and two of her siblings enjoy their meals. Her headbutt always moved the door a couple of inches. Because she always headbutted the door right before being fed, I consistently reinforced the behavior by feeding her immediately after. When I realized this was a step toward learning other fun behaviors, I decided to use clicker training to capture, shape and build this into a cued behavior.

It was easy. Olivia was already being reinforced for the abridged version of the behavior, and she was also fluent in “Clicker Speak”. I stocked my bathroom with her favorite dehydrated chicken treats and a couple of clickers. I was ready. With the aid of the clicker, I captured the natural headbutting movement and then gradually  changed it (called shaping in Clicker Speak)  to the desired behavior of standing on her back legs and pushing the door closed with her front paws. Every step was marked with a click and reinforced with a treat. After she performed the behavior correctly a number of times upon request, I added the verbal cue “door” as I gave her a visual cue.

Sessions were short as it had to be fun for Olivia. If it wasn’t fun for her; it wasn’t fun for me. She started adding her own special touches. One of my favorites is a chirp. She always chirps when she closes the door. Her chirps are always reinforced. I love her chirps; her chirps reinforce me.

As a Bengal, Olivia is highly motivated by attention. She is what I call in my book Naughty No More! an “Attention Seeker”. She will do just about anything for praise and attention. Since I take advantage of bragging rights, I show my cats and their neat behaviors off whenever the opportunity presents itself. My cats love an audience and will happily repeat behaviors for a little praise and attention. Olivia thrives on admiration. People come over to visit Olivia. They call me on the phone and ask if Olivia is in the mood for visitors. Then they come over just to see her close the bathroom door.

Olivia is trying out new variations of the behavior. She rushes into the bathroom when she sees anyone entering and closes the door behind them. Yesterday she followed me into the kitchen. When I opened the refrigerator, she stood on her back legs, chirped at me and closed the door. Of course Olivia is always reinforced for her new, creative approaches to her old standard door behavior.

Filed Under: Bengal Cat Rescue, Cat Behavior, Training Cats Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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