Cat Behavior
WINN FELINE
FOUNDATION
Susan Little, DVM, DABVP
The most common behavior complaint owners have about their cats is housesoiling. Behavioral problems are also one of the leading reasons for euthanasia of cats in North America. The most typical scenario is a cat that both uses its litter box and also eliminates outside it. These cat typically housesoil with urine or stool, but not usually both.
It is very important to discriminate between medical and non-medical causes of this problem. Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD – formerly called FUS) is very common and can be associated with housesoiling. Cats with FLUTD may housesoil with urine or stool or they may spray urine. Some other diseases may also be associated with housesoiling, such as kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, constipation, and inflammatory bowel disease. It is important for the veterinarian to take a good history of the problem, and tests may be required to rule out medical problems. [Read complete article]
© Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker, 2008
Why would cats, which are almost universally characterized as finicky eaters, orally fixate on objects like fabric, string, and plastic…then proceed to suck, chew or ingest them?
Clea Simon, author of “The Feline Mystique,” says her longhaired, mixed breed shelter cat, Cyrus, was addicted to plastic shrink wrap. Forget a $3 per can delicacy served in a silver bowl. If Simon unwrapped a new CD, this ordinarily well-behaved cat would raid the trash looking for the stash of plastic wrap.
Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud theorized that people put their fingers or food in their mouths, not because of hunger, but because they missed their mamma’s teat. Dr. Rolan Tripp, founder of AnimalBehavior.Net believes that some kittens that are orphaned or weaned too early were never taught by their mom to stop nursing. Later in life the cat picks up where it left off, but with a synthetic mother-substitute. [Read complete article]
Articles
- Enhancing the Lives of Indoor Cats (Reprinted with permission: Pets Magazine)
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