Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth: Why and How Part 2

Posted on January 29, 2023 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

In Part 1 of Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth: Why and How, we learned that brushing your cat’s teeth with a pet toothpaste such as the PetSmile or Virbac CET brands can help reduce the bacteria in your cat’s mouth and improve her dental health. But how do you convince your cat to let you brush her teeth?

The answer is to find something she likes (a Greenies dental treat? head rubs?) that you can use as a reward and break the tooth brushing into small steps that she can master while she becomes accustomed to the process.

brushing your cat’s teeth: Step by Step

To brush your cat’s teeth, your cat needs to

sit still and have her head held
accept the toothpaste
allow you to apply some toothpaste onto to her upper cheek teeth with your finger
allow you to gently brush her teeth

Step One

It is important to watch your cat’s body language and proceed at her pace. Break these steps up into smaller ones if you need to. For example, it will be helpful if your cat knows to sit on cue reliably before asking her to let you hold her head.

step two

In step two, we will offer her the toothpaste. Cat toothpaste is available in several flavors including chicken and seafood. Choose the flavor you think she’ll like best. Offer her the toothpaste on your finger and then on the toothbrush.

step three

Once she indicates which toothpaste she likes, move to step three: put some tooth paste on your finger and try gently rubbing her teeth.

step four

Go slowly with the toothbrush and use a very light touch. Remember, when you brush your own teeth, you can feel how hard you are pressing – you don’t have this feedback when brushing your cat’s teeth. The first few sessions will be short – try to end on a positive note, before she starts to struggle or wants to leave.

Make sure to reward her after each step. It may seem counter productive to give her a dental treat – after all, you just brushed her teeth! However, you have disturbed the biofilm with brushing and the saliva now contains the toothpaste with its antibacterial components.

It may take your cat several weeks to master all these steps. Above all, go at your cat’s pace. Don’t move to the next step until she has mastered the step before.

To see how it’s done, check out the two-part video series, “Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth: Why and How” in the video gallery at www.felinepurrspective.com. Part 2 features video of cats having their teeth brushed.

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More on Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth

Posted on January 22, 2023 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Cat with Human toothbrush — Human toothbrushes are not designed for cats’ smaller mouths.

Good dental care for people centers on regular dental cleanings once or twice a year. This is supplemented by home dental care – twice daily brushing and daily (or more) flossing. Our cats should have periodic professional cleanings done under anesthesia but what about home dental care? How about brushing your cat’s teeth?

Brushing your cat’s teeth

The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) has a list of accepted products for cats. On this list are several dental diets including the over-the-counter Hills Oral Care, a water additive, oral spray and oral gel made by HealthyMouth, in addition to Greenies treats. The list is a bit outdated with the most recent entries dated 2012. Nowhere are toothbrushes or toothpaste.

Having tried the diets, the water additive, and brushing teeth, I have found that hands-down brushing your cat’s teeth is the most effective. Tartar accumulates most frequently on the outside of the cat’s upper premolars and those are the teeth we can target.

The benefits? Brushing reduces the amount of bacteria in the mouth more effectively than water additives and sprays. Cats are prone to developing tooth resorption which is similar in some ways to human cavities. However, where filling cavities works in human teeth, these feline resorptive lesions just get bigger and bigger once they start and filling them does not work – they need to be extracted.

While we don’t really know why tooth resorption occurs in cats, bacteria is thought to play a major role. (“Microbiome analysis of feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL) and feline oral health”, Thomas et al., J Med Microbiol. 2021; 70(4): 001353.)

For dogs, VOHC recommends the PetSmile brand of toothpaste, that works by dissolving the biofilm that forms on the teeth using hydrogen peroxide. The PetSmile website indicates that this toothpaste can be used for cats also.

Virbac makes the CET brand of dog and cat toothpastes. CET toothpaste contains lactoperoxidase and is designed to boost a naturally occurring anti-bacterial process in the cat’s saliva. Watanabe and colleagues measured bacterial counts on dogs’ teeth and found that simply applying the toothpaste to the teeth reduced bacteria, although not as much as brushing with the toothpaste. (J Vet Med Sci. 2016 Jul; 78(7): 1205–1208. “Inhibitory effect for proliferation of oral bacteria in dogs by tooth brushing and application of toothpaste”)

So, consider brushing your cat’s teeth. To learn more, check out the two-part video series, “Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth: Why and How” in the video gallery at www.felinepurrspective.com. Start with Part 1 to find out which teeth you need to brush, what you need to do this, and a strategy to encourage your cat to accept the toothbrush.

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Domestic Cats have Short Noses and Rounder Eyes Than Wildcats

Posted on January 15, 2023January 15, 2023 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

The big eyes and round heads of kittens may elicit a caregiving response in humans.

It is often said that cats are not fully domesticated. There is that streak of wildness in them – they can be aloof and take care of themselves. We don’t control the breeding or hunting habits of the cats that live in the shadows of our neighborhoods and cities.

To some, this offers an opportunity to study the process of domestication. Some of the easy to see hallmarks of domesticated animals are the changes in their faces and shapes of their heads. In selective breeding of foxes, rounder heads, white pigmentation, and droopy ears became apparent after 10 generations of allowing less aggressive animals to mate [“Changes in Cat Facial Morphology are Related to Interaction with Humans”, Hattoi et al, Animals 2022, 12, 3493].

Domestic cats have short noses and rounder eyes

These changes in face and head make the animals look more juvenile. The noted ethologist, Konrad Lorenz, defined these traits (the round face and big eyes) as the “baby schema”. The “baby face” of human infants is said to stimulate the premotor cortex and activate the basic emotion of CARE in human adults. Likewise, animals with round heads and big eyes are “cuter” and more appealing to humans.

A research group in Japan [Hattoi et al. see above] compared the facial structure of 1) feral mixed breed cats, 2) owned domestic mixed breed cats, and 3) owned domestic purebred cats with the facial structure of 4) the African Wildcat, the ancestor of our domestic cats. They hypothesized that cats that interact with people would show changes in their faces, and this could be a marker of the process of domestication.

The team mapped facial dimensions to find a measure of the “baby schema” they could use. Since the size of the cat’s eye is dependent on brightness, the researchers chose the nose length and the angle of the eyes to compare the faces of the 4 categories of cats.

The nose length (B) was reported relative to facial size, the distance between the inside corners of the eyes (A). Eye angles measured the slant of the eyes, from the inside corner to the outside corner.

Analysis of 3295 photos revealed:

Domestic cats have short noses and rounder eyes.
African wildcats and feral mixed breed cats have longer noses and slanted eyes when compared with domestic cats.
The study also found that people preferred cats with shorter noses – they were “cuter” than cats with longer noses.

	Nose Length(B/A)	Angle of Eyes
African Wildcats	1.34	25.61
Mixed Breed Feral Cats	1.32	25.10
Owned Mixed Breed Cats	1.23	25.31
Owned Purebred Cats	1.14	22.77

Humans prefer cats with shorter noses and eyes that are not so slanted. These features may elicit caregiving behavior in humans. Domestic cats have short noses and rounder eyes; this suggests that domestication or interaction with humans has changed the facial structure of domestic cats.

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Tips for Managing The Cat With Pica

Posted on January 8, 2023 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Have 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.

Keeping 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:

Have things changed in the home – furniture moved? Home remodeling?
Changes in the scent profile of the home?

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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How Cats Get Along with Other Species

Posted on December 18, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

In 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.

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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A Catio is a Safe Place Outdoors for Cats

Posted on December 11, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

In the U.S., it has become common to keep cats solely indoors. Indoor cats live longer – they are not run over by cars, hunted by coyotes, or injured in cat fights.

However, there is a cost to this safety and security. Indoor cats have fewer opportunities to exercise and don’t receive the mental stimulation from hunting and exploring the outdoors.

Both cats and zoo animals are captives in the environments we provide for them. Like zoo animals, cats need enrichment to maintain their health and welfare. A safe place outdoors can provide cats with enrichment from the scents, sounds and views of the outside world.

a catio is a safe place outdoors for cats

I lived in a townhome for 13 years. The common grounds in the complex were spacious and like a park. I was able to walk my cats daily; I also built a small cat enclosure (footprint was 3′ by 6′) that the cats could access by a pet door in the sliding patio door.

I moved about a year ago to a larger, two story house and had plans for a grander cat enclosure. A catio is a safe place outdoors for cats that is large enough for some humans to hang out in. There is a deck on the back of my house which was not being used very much and seemed to be a purrfect place for a catio for me and the cats to hang out.

Due to finances and the desire to get an enclosure up quickly, I chose a pre-fabricated cat house. The Aivutuvin-AIR52 is a frame structure made up of galvanized mesh panels. The footprint is about 6′ by 10′. It has a peaked roof (height about 6′) and has a door for human access in the front.

I had assembled the smaller cat enclosure at my townhome myself. This time, the size of the project was intimidating, so I hired a professional handyman to help with the installation. This proved to be a good idea as assembling the panels that make up the sides, back and front were a 2-person job.

The catio opened for use yesterday. Here are some snapshots of the construction process.

The location: south-facing porch. A “sail” has been put up to offer some shade.

An insert with a pet door is put in the window adjacent to the catio.

Construction phase: note the shelves for the cats to sit on and the swinging bridges.

Construction is complete. A tarp will go over the rear half of the catio to provide more shade.

The catio is open for business. The cats have successfully negotiated entering the enclosure using the pet door in the window insert.

Time for a break and a snack. Gus comes inside using the pet door in the window.

A catio is a safe place outdoors for cats. I will still leash walk my cats daily, weather permitting, but the catio will allow them to choose to go outside when they want to. It is large enough for some deck furniture and I am looking forward to spending time outside on the porch with my cats.

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Purrsonality and How Cats Get Along

Posted on December 4, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

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)

Neuroticism
Extraversion
Dominance
Impulsiveness
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

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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How Do Your Cats Get Along – Conflict Behaviors

Posted on November 27, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

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:

hunting
fighting
cats playing together

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

end of play

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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How Do Your Cats Get Along? Affiliative Behaviors

Posted on November 20, 2022June 16, 2023 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

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 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

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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Giving Your Cat a Chance to Play

Posted on November 6, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Cat with toy box — Gus investigates a cardboard box with cat toys. Holes cut in the box allow him to pull out the toys.

Giving your cat a chance to play is one of the essentials of a cat-friendly home. In this instance, we are not talking about the social play of affiliated cats – you know, where the cats wrestle and chase each other. This post is about allowing your cat some “hunting practice”.

Giving your cat a chance to play

Object Play

Kittens start to become more interested in playing with objects around 10-14 weeks of age, although they will certainly continue to chase and wrestle with each other. Object play helps develop problem-solving skills they can use in getting food – if they are wild, it will help them hunt. Object play also helps them hone and practice the skills they need to catch prey.

Object play is what it says it is – the cat engages in exploring and manipulating an object. Even if you are holding the “Da Bird” wand, your cat is playing with an object – “Da Bird”. Most of the play that we engage in with our cats is not social play. It is “object play”.

We humans can easily mistake fluttering our fingers and wiggling our feet as invitations to social play with our cats – don’t be fooled: our cats see our hands and feet as objects, and will attack with unsheathed claws and sharp teeth.

Giving your cat a chance to play – toys

Cats are born hunters. In the wild, they spend most of their waking hours seeking food. The object play that they engaged in as kittens helps them pounce and trap mice with their paws.

Crinkly balls, catnip mice, plastic rings – these provide opportunities for exploration and manipulation. Try to arouse your cat’s predatory nature through textures, scents and sounds. Consider the tactile appeal of the toy – is it mouse-sized?

Change toys out regularly to keep kitty’s interest.
“Marinate” sets of toys in plastic boxes with some catnip, silver vine or tartarian honeysuckle sawdust to stimulate your cat’s sensitive sense of smell.
Bells and chirping toys can get your cat’s interest.
Some cats like pulling toys out of boxes.

Games we can play with cats

When giving your cat a chance to play, mimic how prey moves. Watch a video on the Internet of mice – they move in short spurts, zigzagging around.

How to Play the Game

If you are using a wand toy like “DaBird”, attach a mouse toy to the clip at the end.
Pull it past your cat in spurts; zigzag a little.
Avoid flicking the mouse toward the cat – a mouse runs away from a cat!
Once your cat grabs the mouse, stay still.
He should let up after a while – that’s when the “mouse” makes a run for it and the game is on again.

Giving Your Cat a Chance to Play – Food Games

Food puzzles elicit foraging behavior from cats. It may take your cat a while to engage in this if he is free-fed. You may want to consider meal- feeding and making puzzle time a meal.

There are many puzzles you can make or buy. Pick one that suits your cat’s personality.

Tossing treats or your cat’s dry food encourages him to use his sight, hearing, and smell to locate the food item. Be sure to include this in his daily calorie count.

If you have more than one cat playing treat toss, assign each cat a “runway”. This will avoid scuffles and ensures that everybody, from young active cats to seniors, successfully hunt down the food.

the emotions of play

Physical play is fun. Your cat enjoys her catnip mouse – it smells good and it is just the right shape and size for her to toss and dance around with. Food puzzles are more like us playing games – they are still fun but depend on some learning and memory. It is still satisfying to get the treat or pull the mouse out of the hole.

Frustration

Play should be challenging but not impossible to get the prize! If the task is too hard, cats, like people, become frustrated, give up, or may become obsessed with trying to get the unattainable prize.

A recent survey-based study looked at the use of laser light pointers for play and the occurrence of “abnormal repetitive behaviors” linked to feline compulsive disorders. The abnormal behaviors included:

chasing lights or shadows
staring “obsessively” at lights or reflections
spinning or tail chasing
fixating on a specific toy

The research team found significant links between frequency of Laser Light Play (LLP) and these behaviors. However, only half of the cat owners surveyed actually used a laser pointer to play with their cats and those that did, spent more time playing with their cats using other toys. (Kogan, L.R.; Grigg, E.K. Laser Light Pointers for Use in Companion Cat Play: Association with Guardian-Reported Abnormal Repetitive Behaviors. Animals 2021,11, 2178. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082178)

LLP is thought to be frustrating for cats as they can’t catch the light. In my experience, the laser light is interesting initially and then cats grow bored with it – after all, they can’t catch it.

If your cat enjoys playing with a laser pointer, be sure to end the session with the satisfaction of catching the prize – direct the light to target a favorite toy or treat.

Using a laser pointer to target a treat — The laser guides Gus to a treat at the end of the play session.

Computer games for cats and videos of mice and birds fall in the same category as LLP. The cat cannot physically catch the prey on the screen and finds this frustrating. Some comments on these videos often remark that the cat is obsessed with the video!

Giving your cat a chance to play is important for his mental and physical welfare. Engage your cat with toys at the end of a wand or give him the whole body experience of toys he can lick, kick, manipulate and smell. Ditch the computer games and videos – let your cat have the satisfaction of using his touch, scent, vision, and hearing to catch the prize!

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