Moving with your cat

Posted on March 16, 2024March 16, 2024 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

“Moving with Your Cat” was originally published 9-26-21. This newer version has been updated and contains additional information.

Moving to a new home is stressful even when everything goes right! Imagine how confusing moving is to our cats – the boxes are fun when empty but soon they fill up with things and your cat can no longer jump in.

From the Feline Purrspective…

The bed you used to siesta on gets bagged up and taken away by strange humans. Your world seems to be coming to an end. Will you have enough to eat? Will you be safe from predators? Where can you hide?

Cats are territorial animals. An outdoor cat’s home range is the maximum area he roams and hunts in. Within the home range is a smaller area that the cat will actively defend – his territory. Inside this defended area is a smaller area called the “core territory”, where the cat can rest, has shelter, and feels safe from predators and other cats. Moving with your cat removes him from his core territory – the house or apartment he lives in.

How can we communicate safety and security to our cats when we move? Somehow, we cat owners have to provide what our cats need even though we are no longer “at home”.

What our cats need:

Resources : food, water, litter box, shelter
Safe access to resources
Belonging: territory
Human interaction: predictable
Playtime: predatory behavior

Moving with Your Cat

Getting ready

Resources: Stock up on your cat’s preferred litter and food – if you are traveling by air, perhaps you can ship some of this to your new address.
Safe access to resources: Create a “safe place” for your cat. When moving with your cat, this will most likely be her carrier. Make sure your cat is comfortable in her “home away from home”. In the weeks leading up to the move, leave it out for her to explore and nap in. Consider feeding her meals in it.
Set up a “mobile” territory: A lot of cat communication is by smell. Cats have some of the best noses -with 30 genetic variants of the V1R receptor protein in their vomeronasal organs, they are able to discriminate between a wide variety of smells (Reference 1). So, avoid laundering cat blankets or quilts that your cat sleeps on – the familiar scent of home can help reassure your cat of his territory when he is on the move.
Predictable, positive human interaction: Try to maintain daily feeding and grooming routines as you travel.
Predatory play: Don’t forget play time – try to set some time aside to play with your cat when traveling.

Other things to consider when moving with your cat:

Is your cat microchipped in case he escapes?
Consider a calming supplement such as Zylkene, Calming Care. It is best if you start these several weeks before moving.
Have copies of your cat’s medical records. Locate a cat-friendly practice in the new neighborhood.
Do you need a health certificate for travel?
Consider getting your cat accustomed to wearing a harness and leash. Even if not fully leashed trained, a harnessed cat can be more easily handled in an airport or at a rest stop if you have to change out soiled pads in the carrier.
Consider asking your vet for calming medication for travel.
Multi-cat homes: Identify the social groups in your home before moving. This can help you when introducing your cats to their new territory.

moving day

Although some cats travel well together, it is usually a good idea to have separate carriers for each cat in case some random event frightens one of the cats, resulting in a cat fight.

You may want to keep your cat(s) in their own room with their carriers while furniture, etc is being moved – you don’t want them to escape!

Arriving at your new home…

Establish a “safe place” for each cat or social group: Choose a room with a door you can close, that does not have places where your cat can hide (under the bed, behind a bookcase) and you can’t get him. Use one of your smaller moving boxes as a hiding space – put a comfy bed or blanket in this box.
The “safe” room should contain all your cat’s essential resources – food, litter box, water, scratching post.
Use pheromone diffusers in the “safe place”. You may also want to have them throughout the new house or apartment.
A gradual introduction to the new house is best for most cats. Pay attention to your cat’s body language – if she seems scared or frightened, allow her to stay in the “safe room”. Once she seems curious about the world outside her safe place, allow her to explore the rest of the house – you may want to accompany her (a harness/leash can be handy) on her first forays into the new space.
Maintain feeding and play/grooming routines as best as you can.

In a multi-cat homes, you may want to use a protocol similar to introducing cats. Assess how the different social groups are adjusting before allowing free access to everything. A move can disrupt the social order, giving a dominant cat an opportunity to pick on a more timid cat.

Moving with your cat is an adventure…

When your cat arrives at his or her new home, he/she must establish a “new” territory. We can facilitate this process by:

ensuring that your cat has familiar items with her – the food and litter she is accustomed to, beds/blankets that have her scent on them, and a carrier she is comfortable in
allowing him to establish a new “core” territory first in a “safe” room
allowing her to choose when she is ready to leave her “safe” place to explore the rest of the house.

Moving is stressful for us and for our cats. Make sure to monitor your cat(s) for sickness behaviors. Reduced appetite, vomiting, or diarrhea can be signs of stress-related issues. Consult a veterinarian if these problems don’t resolve in a day or two or if your cat does not eat for more than 24-48 hours.

references

Kristyn R. Vitale Shreve, Monique A.R. Udell, Stress, security, and scent: The influence of chemical signals on the social lives of domestic cats and implications for applied settings, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 187, 2017, pp. 69-76, ISSN 0168-1591, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.11.011

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What do cats need?

Posted on February 17, 2024February 18, 2024 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

What do cats need to be healthy and happy? Whether you are a new cat owner or someone who has owned a number of cats, this is a question that needs some careful thought.

Your cat is not human; he/she is a different species. After all, if you were going to have a tiger as part of your household, you would need to learn something about how tigers live in the wild to set up an appropriate habitat. Zoos have found that providing an environment that allows animals to engage in behavior typical of their species reduces mental and physical health problems.

This post was originally published on 7/4/2021. It has been rewritten and updated with new references on 2/17/24.

What do cats need – Healthy Feline Environments

Let’s start with ourselves. Many philosophers and psychologists have come up with answers to what humans need for a happy and fulfilled life. One of the simpler models is that proposed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943 (Reference 1).

Needs and motivation

Maslow postulated that people are motivated by five types of needs (Reference 1):

Physical needs (food, water)
Safety
Love/belonging
esteem
self-fulfillment (be all that you can be)

As an individual satisfies needs in one of these categories, he is motivated to tackle the next level.

What motivates behavior at the most basic level is the need to survive. We need to eat and drink to stay alive.
Having satisfied these needs, the next step is to ensure that we will continue to have food and water. We need shelter and a job.
Once fed and secure, we can address the need to be part of society – to belong to a group.
The next level of needs is esteem: we need to value ourselves and feel that other people value us.
We are now at the top of the pyramid. We can work on reaching self-imposed goals: maybe become a writer or artist, nurture extended family, or climb mountains.

There is flexibility in this hierarchy- some needs are met at the same time; for some individuals, reaching your full potential may be more important than the esteem of others.

Let’s apply this thinking to cats. We’ll start with the wild cats – those secretive, un-owned cats that populate neighborhoods and barns.

what do cats need? wild cats

A wild cat’s needs begin with having prey to eat.
Once fed, he will find a safe place where he can sleep, eat and retreat from danger – like a den.
He must establish his territory where he can hunt regularly and have access to food.
A well-fed wildcat who hunts successfully has good prospects for mating.
As far as Nature is concerned, the wildcat has reached his or her full potential once he or she has ensured that there will be another generation to hunt and mate, continuing the species.

When food is plentiful, some cats will group together in colonies near the food source. The colony forms around breeding females with some unrelated male cats in the colony that help with kitten care and protection. A colony fulfills safety and belonging for a wild cat.

what do cats need? Domestic cats

Things are a bit different for the cat who lives with humans. Hunting and establishing a territory have become separate from getting enough food; our house cats are spayed and neutered, so do not have a drive to mate and reproduce. We can construct a hierarchy showing what do cats need for the cats that live with us.

the 5 pillars of a healthy feline environment

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) list five things that make a healthy environment for a cat (Reference 2).

A safe place
Multiple and separated key environmental resources
Opportunity for play and predatory behavior
Positive, consistent and predictable human-cat social interaction
An environment that respects the cat’s sense of smell and other senses

We can assemble these needs into a pyramid diagram:

At the bottom of the pyramid are the needs for survival: food, water, and litter boxes.
The next level ensures that these essential resources are available to each cat to use safely, without fear of competition or interference from other cats, pets or humans. The cat owner should provide multiple and separated feeding, watering stations and litter boxes.
One of the AAFP requirements is an environment that respects the cat’s sense of smell and other senses. Such an environment is the cat’s territory. Cats will mark walls and furniture in the home with facial pheromones and scratching posts with pheromones released when scratching. Your cat belongs to his territory.

Thinking about cats as aloof and independent would most likely consider the cat’s needs are met at this point.

the cat-human bond

Our cats share basic physiological needs with their wild relatives. But the domestic cat has chosen a different path and has some different needs because of his bond with his human caregiver. The two final levels of the pyramid are 4) positive and predictable human interaction and 5) the opportunity for predatory play.

Human Interaction: To truly feel safe and secure in her territory, a housecat needs to know how the humans in the house will behave: when will she be fed? Will they approach quietly and greet her? Will they swoop down on her and pick her up when she least expects it and hold her dangling in the air?
Predatory Play: The need to hunt defines who your cat is – this is what he was born to do. We need to provide our cats with an opportunity to hunt – whether it is fishing kibble out of a food puzzle or chasing a stuffed mouse at the end of a wand toy.

These last two needs bring us to the heart of the cat-human bond.

Positive and predictable interactions allow us to communicate with our cats; predatory play helps us recognize the cat’s nature as a born hunter and allows us to share this essential part of his life.

We are one of the “5 Pillars of a Healthy Feline Environment”.

In return for helping our cats satisfy their needs, we humans enjoy the pleasure of our cats’ company, better heart health and reduced stress and anxiety.

references

Mcleod, Saul. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology. Updated January 24, 2024. Viewed 2/2024. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Taylor S, St Denis K, Collins S, et al. 2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2022;24(11):1133-1163. doi:10.1177/1098612X221128763

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Treating Pandora Syndrome in Cats: the Environment

Posted on January 14, 2024 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

An elevated perch allows this cat a good vantage point to survey her surroundings for other cats and people.

Pandora Syndrome refers to cats suffering from multiple medical ailments that do not resolve with appropriate medical treatment. Instead, the symptoms are chronic, waxing and waning in response to environmental stressors. These cats also share a history of traumatic experiences and exhibit an abnormal stress response, partly due to epigenetic changes resulting from the stressful events in their lives (Reference 1).

Pandora syndrome is an “anxiopathy” – a condition resulting from chronic activation of the central stress response system (Reference 1).

Treating Pandora syndrome in cats: the environment

Careful modification of the Pandora cat’s environment (in additional to medical therapies) can reduce the severity and frequency of the cat’s symptoms (Reference 1). One of the first studies to demonstrate the efficacy of MEMO (Multimodal Environmental Modification) studied the response of 46 cats with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) to MEMO. Cat owners were asked to reduce environmental and social stressors using the following suggestions (Reference 2):

avoid punishing the cat
change to canned food
change to unscented, clumping litter
improve litter box management
provide climbing structures, viewing and resting perches
provide audio/visual stimulation when the owner was gone
increase interaction with the cat
identify and resolve conflict in multi-cat homes

The most commonly followed MEMO suggestions were:

increasing the amount of time interacting with the cat
changing to a canned diet
adding another litter box

During the 10 months of follow-up, no signs of LUTS were observed in 70-75% of the cats. Owners also reported reduction in fearfulness, nervousness, respiratory signs, aggressiveness, and lower intestinal tract signs (Reference 2).

Treating Pandora Syndrome in cats: MEMO

Environmental modification for the Pandora cat needs to:

increase the security of the environment
allow the cat to feel in control of his environment

Treating Pandora syndrome in cats: choosing the memo that suits the cat

The basic blueprint for cats’ environmental needs can be found at https://catfriendly.com/cat-friendly-homes/what-your-cat-needs-to-feel-secure/. Treating Pandora syndrome in cats will be most successful when MEMO is tailored to the individual cat. Here is some additional information to consider once the basic environmental needs are satisfied.

The Fearful, Nervous Cat that Prefers to Stay Alone

For these cats, MEMO will focus on providing safe places and positive, predictable interactions with humans.

make plenty of hiding places available – these can be the top shelves of closets or boxes in the bottom of closets
increase the number of “vantage points” through the use of shelves, perches and cat trees (Reference 3)
increase the security of the floor space: minimize wide open spaces by positioning furniture to create places where cats can rest and hide (Reference 3)
use baby gates to limit the access of potential stressors such as dogs or small children to the cat’s area (Reference 3)
allow the cat to choose to interact with humans (https://www.felinepurrspective.com/touch-not-the-cat-interacting-with-cats/)

Treating Pandora Syndrome in Cats in the Multi-cat home

In a multi-cat house, Pandora cats may show aggression or become ill when threatened. Successful MEMO requires identifying the social groups of cats in the house and ensuring that plenty of resources are spread throughout the house. Be prepared to intercept aggression when necessary (https://www.felinepurrspective.com/managing-aggression-in-the-multi-cat-home/) – keep the peace!

Separation Anxiety

Some Pandora cats were orphans or abandoned. These cats may exhibit some separation anxiety due to a strong attachment to the owner. For example, some of these cats follow the owners around like a dog (Reference 1). MEMO can be adapted for these cats.

Encourage Kitty to spend “alone time” in an enriched room or space (don’t force – maybe coax her into the room with some treats). Enrichment can be elevated perches near windows, a play tunnel with toys in it, food puzzles with snacks. Cats have a great sense of hearing and many like music – choose music designed for cats when you are not there.
Establish a routine – help your cat to have control of his environment by knowing what is going happen and when it will happen (https://www.felinepurrspective.com/routines-help-cats-reduce-stress-and-anxiety/).

Many cats cope with environments that are not optimal. However, Pandora cats have suffered traumatic events in their lives resulting in epigenetic changes. These cats exhibit an abnormal response to environmental stress. Consequently, they do not cope as well as other cats with changes in their environment and develop chronic illnesses. MEMO allows these cats to feel safer and more in control of their environments, reducing their stress, and, in turn, reducing the frequency and severity of their symptoms.

references

C.A. Buffington DVM, PhD, DACVN. Pandora Syndrome in Cats: Diagnosis and Treatment; Today’s Veterinary Practice. August 10, 2018, Issue: September/October 2018. viewed on 1/06/24 https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/urology-renal-medicine/pandora-syndrome-in-cats/
Buffington CAT, Westropp JL, Chew DJ, Bolus RR. Clinical evaluation of multimodal environmental modification (MEMO) in the management of cats with idiopathic cystitis. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2006;8(4):261-268. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2006.02.002
Ellis SL. Environmental Enrichment: Practical Strategies for Improving Feline Welfare. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2009;11(11):901-912. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2009.09.011

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Social Groups of Cats in The Multi-Cat Home

Posted on December 1, 2023August 19, 2024 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Social Groups of cats in the multi-cat home

This post was originally published 8/29/20. This newer version has been edited to incorporate new material and references.

If there is plenty of food around, free-roaming cats tend to form groups called colonies. The core of the cat colony are the females, typically a mother, her sisters, and her daughters. These females share the care of the kittens – they nurse each others’ kittens and even help each other give birth.

Male kittens are driven off by their mothers at maturity to avoid inbreeding. They can become solitary hunters like their wildcat ancestors or become attached to an unrelated colony if accepted by the females.

Smaller social groups of cats often form within the larger social group of the cat colony. These groups of 2 or more cats typically

sleep snuggled together
groom each other
rub against each other
“play fight”.

These cats are comfortable sharing resources: food, water, litter boxes, sleeping and resting places. Often these are cats that grew up together but that is not always the case.

social groups of cats indoors -managing the multi-cat home

In the multi-cat home, some cats also prefer to stay together. Identifying the social groups of cats in the home can aid in allocating resources and reduce conflict among the resident cats [Reference 1].

Identifying the social groups of cats

Members of the same social group may

sleep snuggled together
groom each
rub against each other
engage in mutual social play.

There are no hard and fast rules to affiliation: some cats will not snuggle together, but will groom each other and play together.

A Multi-Cat Household and its Social Groups

There are 3 social groups in this 4 cat household.

Social Group 1

Athena forms her own social group. She is a 15 year old spayed female. She recognizes her housemates but prefers to spend time by herself or with her owners.

Social Group 2

Marley (14 yr neutered male) will hang out with 4 year old Zelda. They will rest together and “share” snacks. They will occasionally “play fight”.

Social Group 3

Zelda and Gus (3 yr old neutered male) groom each other’s heads and play together occasionally.

Gus and Zelda also go on walks together with their owners.

Allocating resources in the multi-cat home to reduce conflict

One of the keys to harmony in the multi-cat home is to provide multiple resources and spread them throughout the house. The goal is to ensure that all cats have access to litter boxes, food and water without having to compete with another cat. Here is a simple diagram showing the location of litter boxes on the second floor of a multi-story home [Reference 1].

When locating resources, watch for “bottlenecks” such hallway doors where cats may have to pass each other. Try and place litter boxes, water stations… away from these areas.

House map cat resources — A simple sketch of your house can help with locating litter boxes.

tips for managing resources in the multi-cat home

# litter boxes = # social groups + 1
Feed cats individually and out of sight of each other.
Have daily play time for each cat
Have multiple sleeping, resting places – have secluded and elevated choices

monitoring interactions between cats to manage conflict

Once the social groups in the house are identified, it important for the cat owner to monitor how the cats are getting along and intervene, if necessary, to prevent conflict [Reference 1].

A cat fight can result in injuries to the fighting cats and the humans who try and manage the fight.
Aggression does not need to cause physical injury – psychological stress resulting from one cat guarding resources from another can result in illness and undesirable behaviors such as house-soiling.

signs of conflict – signs of play

It is important to be aware of potential conflict in the multi-cat home. Signs of conflict not only include chasing, running away, howling and hissing, but also more subtle, seemingly harmless behaviors such as staring and blocking doorways. To make things more confusing, chasing and running away can be play behaviors! For more information, visit “How Do Your Cats Get Along – Conflict Behaviors”.

Cats are socially flexible and can form social groups with unrelated cats, although the strength and intensity of these social bonds can vary. A few aggressive interactions between cats who sleep snuggled together, groom each other and share resources may not point to a deterioration in their relationship [Reference 2]. However, cats whose affiliation is weaker and whose inter-cat interactions are frequently punctuated with hissing and growling may warrant a call to your veterinarian or a cat behaviorist.

The next post, “Managing Aggression in the Multi-Cat Home“, will look at identifying aggressive behaviors in more detail and what interventions are available to the cat owner.

references

Ramos D. Common feline problem behaviors: Aggression in multi-cat households. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2019;21(3):221-233. doi:10.1177/1098612X19831204
Gajdoš-Kmecová, N., Peťková, B., Kottferová, J. et al. An ethological analysis of close-contact inter-cat interactions determining if cats are playing, fighting, or something in between. Sci Rep 13, 92 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26121-1

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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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An Outdoor Safe Place for your cat

Posted on March 20, 2022 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Cat fence with rollers — Cat in fenced yard with Oscillot roller system. Courtesy oscillotamerica.com

It has become more and more 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. An outdoor safe place is a great way to enrich your cat’s life!

The compromise: Outdoor Safe Places

Do you live in an apartment? Or in a house with a backyard? There are many options available to you and your cat for an outdoor safe place.

systems with netting – flexible

In these systems, a sturdy net or mesh is attached to rope or wire rope that forms a frame. The wire rope versions have turnbuckles to tension the mesh. Although some more nimble cats can climb this mesh, most cats seem to leave it alone. These systems can be customized to fit apartment balconies and porches, and enclose areas next to your house.

Cat enclosures

A commercial cat enclosure kit has access from a pet door in the sliding glass door.

These are basically outdoor cages. They range from portable to larger dog-kennels to elaborate enclosed systems with walkways linking cat doors to larger enclosures.
You could repurpose a standard freestanding dog kennel to be a cat enclosure but be aware that you have to secure the top with netting or mesh to keep the cat from climbing out and extend the fencing below ground to keep more adventurous cats from digging under the kennel.
Purrfect Fence sells enclosures consisting of a box-style frame with net stretched over it.
Purrfect Fence also markets a freestanding cat yard using supports, gates, and netting. This cat yard could enclose your entire back yard or just part of it. The netting forms a fence and there is no “ceiling”.
Each fence support has an arm that forms an overhang. Each arm is spring-loaded and buckles if a cat tries to climb over the netting fence, dropping him to the ground. Other vendors sell similar systems.

Have a backyard with an existing fence?

There are systems to cat-proof your fence by making it higher (6 feet or more) with an overhang that is difficult for cats to scale. The fence extensions are covered with sturdy netting. The Purrfect Fence extensions come with their spring-loaded arm. Deerbusters also sells fence extensions that are covered by netting.

Cons of netting

net can rip
clog with leaves or snow
trap birds or squirrels?

roller systems

If there is already a tall (6+ feet) fence around your yard, the Oscillot system could fit the bill! Oscillot is designed for fences 6’ and higher and can be adapted to a variety of fence types: wood, chainlink, masonry, wrought iron. The Oscillot System features x-shaped rollers at the top of the fence, that spin and prevent the cat from gaining traction to get over the top of the fence.

So far, we have been concerned with keeping our cats in but what about keeping other animals out?

Other critters….

You don’t have to live out on the range to have problems with raccoons and coyotes. These animals are increasingly becoming urban pests. Raccoons can climb as well if not better than cats and are not above viewing your cat as a snack. Coyotes are capable of jumping 6’ fences, so if you are concerned about coyotes or raccoons, a tall fence is in order and one of the roller systems can be effective.

Purrfect Fence observes that netting is difficult for predators to climb and once inside, they are trapped. They recommend giving a cat-free trial of a new outdoor enclosure for a few days and see if any predators get trapped. Once trapped then freed, predators are unlikely to come back. Purrfect Fence does not recommend allowing your cat out in the fenced area at night.

Fully enclosed spaces (enclosures) should not have issues with predators although sometimes bats can find their way inside. Bats carry rabies so make sure your pets are up to date on their vaccines.

The low-tech Option…

Perhaps you can join your cat on a morning or afternoon walk in your backyard or neighborhood. After all, getting outdoors is good for us too! It never hurts to have your cat harnessed even in a fenced backyard – this way you can clip the leash on as needed. If you walk your cat in public places, make sure to have kitty in a harness with leash and have a mobile “outdoor safe place” – stroller or backpack – with you.

A final word…

There is no substitute for supervision or training. It is a good idea to keep an eye on your cats while they are in an outdoor safe place. Teach your cat to come when called. Remember, any time you call and your cat comes to you, make sure to reward him – no recall should ever go unrewarded!

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Cats and boxes: If it fits, I sits

Posted on November 21, 2021 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Cats and boxes are a purrfect combination. An enclosed space like a box can be a safe place, help keep a cat warm and give him a vantage point to ambush “prey” (unfortunate insects, catnip mice…). Boxes are also popular with other animals – big cats are often given boxes for enrichment at zoos and refuges; dogs also like boxes to play in but some may tend to chew the box up!

Cats will also sit on just about anything, comfortable or not. Anyone who does craft projects well knows that once the fabric is out to be cut, a cat will be sitting on it soon enough. Years ago, cats sat on newspapers if you tried to spread the paper out on the table – nowadays, they park on computer keyboards. Some of this is attention-seeking behavior – Zelda only lets me type so long Sunday mornings before she gets up on my desk and threatens to contribute to the post if I don’t take her for her morning walk.

In 2009, the USPS came up with the Christmas slogan, “If it fits, it ships”. A few years later, a variant of the slogan became an Internet cat meme: “It it fits, I sits”. This gave rise to posts of cats in all sort of places, from egg cartons and shoeboxes, to bowls and sinks.

The Internet exploded again in 2017 as people used tape to outline squares on the floor for their cats to sit in. Cats were “trapped” in all manner of taped shapes, with cat experts offering explanations ranging from cats reacting to new smells (from the tape) to survival instinct, where the cats must investigate something new (the taped square) to determine if it poses danger to them. Some felt that the taped square offered the cat a sense of security, much like a real box.

The phenomenon did not stop here – in 2020, during the COVID pandemic, a woman in the Philippines photographed stray cats practicing “social distancing” – the cats sat on circles painted on the ground 6 feet apart outside a food market.

cats and boxes: optical illusions

It is not surprising that cats in taped squares became the subject of a research study investigating cats’ responses to optical illusions. In a two month study in June-August of 2020, researchers at Hunter College enrolled over 500 cat owners to participate in a study to assess cats’ responses to a taped square, a Kanizsa square (which gives the illusion of a square), and a control figure.

Enrolled owners were sent booklets containing pairs of these shapes that they affixed to the floor. The owners then took videos of their cats’ responses to the shape-pairs and submitted the videos to the research team. They were to do this once daily for 6 days.

The results found that of the 30 cats that completed all six trials of the experiment, only nine of them “participated”, that is, sat in one of the shapes. These cats were just as likely to sit in the taped square as the Kanizsa square. Only once did one of the cats choose to sit in the control shape.

What does this tell us about cats? Are they susceptible to the optical illusion of a square? Do they recognize it as a square? I think more research will have to be done:

Only 9 out 30 cats actually sat in the shapes.
Cats are not as tall as we are and don’t see well close up. Can they see the squares from their vantage point?
I, for one, would like to know how many cats will voluntarily sit in a taped outline – I tried leaving a hula hoop out on the floor to see if any of my four cats would voluntarily sit in the circular outline. I did not have any takers!

This study is the first to use “citizen scientists” (the owners) to observe the cats in their home environments, thereby avoiding stress-induced behaviors that cats can exhibit in unfamiliar settings, such as a laboratory.

Back to cats and boxes…

Cats are practical. They prefer their owners to their owners’ T-shirts. I feel that they would prefer a physical box to a taped outline. A box is a great source of enrichment – it can be a bed, a den, it can be place to hide while ambushing a toy mouse going by. Shelter cats acclimate to their surroundings more quickly when provided a box to hide in.

Boxes that are too small to allow a cat to hide may make him feel good by putting physical pressure on his body, like when we wedge ourselves in the corner of the sofa watching a favorite TV program. Pressure on soft tissue has been shown to promote relaxation and reduce anxiety in both humans and animals.

So, make sure your cat has a safe place – a place he can call his own, a place that is secure, secluded, a hiding place to retreat to, warm in the winter, cool in the summer. It can be a cardboard box in a closet or in a secluded corner!

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My Cat Meows at Night

Posted on May 23, 2021May 23, 2021 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

It’s 1:50 am – you know by the red numbers on your alarm clock. That darn cat meows at night and has woken you up once again.

What is happening?
If this is a new pattern, it is time for a vet visit to make sure that there is not a medical cause underlying the nocturnal activity. High blood pressure and hyperthyroidism are two conditions that can contribute to meowing at night. Treating these conditions may solve the tendency toward night-time activity and meowing.

If your cat has had a physical exam recently and has no untreated health issues, there may different things underlying the “feline nocturnes”. In the wild, cats hunt at dusk, nighttime and dawn when their prey, small rodents, are foraging.

Our indoor cats usually adapt well to being active during daylight hours and snoozing at night.
If this is not the case, what can you do to reset your cat’s internal clock?

Perhaps your cat meows at night because he is bored and awake. He may be seeking your attention.

Make sure your cat is active during the day. Give him some play sessions during the day; engage him in foraging behavior with food puzzles.
Establish a night time routine. Cats thrive on routine – it lets them know what is going to happen. Pets can be as good as a clock when reminding you for dinner. Let’s come up with a sequence of activities that signal that the household is slowing down and ready for sleep.

Bedtime Routines when your cat meows at night

Play/Treat time: My cats look forward to treats before bed every evening. After dinner and TV, the litter boxes are scooped and then – IT’S TIME.
All 4 cats proceed to the hallway where they take up their stations and wait to have treats tossed to them. After that, it is time to settle down and they each go to their sleeping place and tuck in.

Your cat might enjoy a play session before treats. This session does not have to be long – 10-15 minutes should do the trick. After that – IT’S TIME FOR BED!

Foraging toys: Try leaving some foraging toys (food puzzles) out and turn in. Again, this is a bedtime routine – you put the toys out and you turn in.

You can try closing the bedroom door. Of course, for many cats, if you close a door, this is the place they have to get into and will shake and rattle the door for access.

My Cat meows at night – Does he need a room of his own?

You have tried more play during the day and you are putting out food toys at night – still your cat meows at night.

This may be time for some “tough love” – after all, you need your sleep. If you have the space, give your cat a “bedroom” at night. This could be a spare bedroom or walk-in closet, someplace where you can close the door. Put all his resources (litter box, toys, water) in this room. Put a “calming” pheromone diffuser in this room.

When you are ready for bed…

Take kitty to his bedroom
Give him a snack.
Close the door – do not respond to crying at night once the cat is in the room.
He will be safe in there until you get him out in the morning.

While this may seem “cruel”, remember that cats are “socially flexible”. They are able to live socially with humans and other animals but do very well on their own. They don’t get “lonely” the same way we do.

to have a quiet night…

Be sure to give your cat regular, daily playtime and activities. This may be a good time to review how you are feeding your cat – leaving out a food bowl filled all the time is like having a bowl of potato chips out all the time. Feeding can be self-soothing behavior for a bored cat.

3-4 smaller meals gives kitty something to look forward to – you can put one of these meals in his room for the night.

The Takeaway: if your cat meows at night, try giving him something to keep him busy – some extra play during the day and a bedtime routine just might silence the “kitty nocturnes”.

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Space Cats Vertically to Manage Inter-Cat Aggression

Posted on May 9, 2021 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

Sometimes there is trouble when we house a group of cats together in our home. How do we reduce the number of inter-cat squabbles?

Cats are socially flexible

they do fine on their own
they can live with other cats IF there are enough resources.

This is the sticking point – cats are territorial. Territory is all about resources – food, water, litter boxes, resting places. Cat fights are frequently about territory and resources!

Cats of the same social group can often (but not always!) use the same resources at the same time. If cats do not belong to the same group, then they will often time-share, taking turns to use that heated bed every cat likes.

But sometimes even cats that are “BFF”’s have a spat. One answer is to “space” them – make sure there are enough resources spread throughout the house or apartment.

Space Cats Vertically > more space for everyone > Less fighting>less stress

Many cats like to perch up high. They have a great vantage point and can see who’s coming. Your apartment or house may have a small footprint but have you thought about the unused “cat space” up toward the ceiling?

cat tree access to high beam — A tall cat tree gives this cat access to a high resting place.

Vertical places can be valued resting places or alternate feeding stations.

We’ve all seen the videos and posts of those amazing cat houses but your vertical cat world does not need to be so elaborate or require as much work. It can fit in seamlessly to your decor.

cat trees

Cat trees, true to their name, have small footprints and utilize vertical space. Some have “hide boxes” for an undisturbed nap. A cat tree also can give a cat access to a high place or offer an alternate path to another part of the home. Placing a tall cat tree next to a stair case might allow a cat to climb up and through the railing, avoiding another cat on the stairs.

book shelves

Whether actually used for books or storage, the tops of book shelves can be a cat highway. “Step” bookcases can provide tasteful storage for you but give your cats a ladder to a valued resting place – perhaps the top bunk of a bunkbed.

access to stair landing — A “step ” bookcase gives a cat a different route to access a stairway landing.

the top shelves of closets

Often unused space – after all the shelves are hard to get to.
Good place for a secluded nap.
A step ladder may get kitty up there. Baskets that hang on the underside of the steps can give you storage.
Stack storage bins in a step configuration so your cat can climb to that top shelf
An inexpensive single pole cat tree may provide access.

“Thinking vertically” allows you to provide your cats with additional resting places and feeding stations. There will be less conflict if each cat can find his own space.

A stairway landing provides a feeding station, heated bed, and cat cube.

Release your inner cat and space cats vertically – spread out resting places and feeding stations!

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Is my cat sick from stress?

Posted on April 23, 2021April 26, 2021 by felinepurrspective_u3q4o6

For a time, I lived in the Florida Keys, about 50 miles north of Key West. Half of the island where we lived was owned by the Nature Conservancy and was a natural habitat of mangrove swamps, alligators, snakes and raccoons. There were some feral cats in the Conservancy reserve.

One summer, there was a litter of 4-5 kittens that we saw playing with their mother near the side of the road. In a few weeks, these cats had disappeared with the exception of one little female kitten, who continued to return to the side of the road. We used a Havaheart trap to bring the small kitten home. It was October so we named the orange and black kitten Pumpkin.

Throughout her life, Pumpkin was prone to bouts of bloody urine and not using the litter box. Antibiotic treatment was palliative at best; x-rays and ultrasounds did not reveal any medical causes. She was affectionate but she did not like the other cats. She seemed happiest when my son took her with him when he moved.

Cats’ health and stress…

Veterinary medicine for cats has advanced in the past few decades. If Pumpkin were alive today, she might be diagnosed with FIC, or Feline Idiopathic Cystitis. Idiopathic means that although we recognize the condition we don’t know the cause of it; cystitis refers to inflammation of the bladder.

Cats that suffer from frequent FIC episodes handle stress differently than other cats – they do not release stress hormones such as cortisol in the same way “normal” cats do.

Cats prone to FIC

have lower levels of cortisol in their bloodstreams compared to “normal” cats.
have higher levels of the “fight-or-flight” hormones.

Like interstitial cystitis in humans, stress contributes to flare-ups of FIC, making a cat sick from stress.

Cortisol is a potent anti-inflammatory hormone – the lack of cortisol can result in increased inflammation in the body, in this case, the bladder.

Ways to Reduce your cat’s stress at home…

Cat napping on dresser — Gus takes a break on a blanket on a dresser.

Make sure each cat has a safe place – a place that is secure and secluded, a hiding place to retreat to.

Safe Place

Feeding stations for cats — Gus is much more relaxed when eating away from the other cats.

Have several feeding stations, water stations, and litter boxes spread through out the house or apartment.

Draw the paths a cat must take to get to her food, water and litter boxes in your house. Is there plenty of room for cats to pass other pets and humans?

cat with wand toy — Zelda plays with a toy mouse on a wand toy.

Good kharma with humans.

Greet your cat before handling him or her.
Have a daily routine for grooming and play.

Positive cat-human interactions

Marley marks the corner wall at the top of the stairs.

Cats communicate by smell.

Use pheromone diffusers in the safe places.
Don’t use of strong smelling cleaners.
Scoop litter boxes daily.

The Colony Scent

Outside the home – what can make a cat sick from stress

Your cat may view neighborhood cats or other animals coming to the windows and into the yard as threats to his territory. Territorial threats can make your cat sick from stress. Consider…

A cat fence can keep other cats from entering the yard
Have scratching posts at doors and windows so that the resident cats can mark their territory.
A motion-activated sprinkler can help deter animals from coming into your yard.

There is no substitute for appropriate and timely medical care. However, increased stress contributes to flare-ups of not only FIC, but other conditions such as chronic diarrhea and overgrooming.

Pumpkin lived to be 17 years old. She was euthanized due to complications of chronic kidney disease. I wish I knew then what I know now – her life may have been less stressful and more comfortable.