Cats Behaving Badly!
By
Colin Tennant
| This article has
been reproduced with the kind permission of Colin Tennant for the CFBA, the CIDBT, and their students
of Animal Behaviour |
Cats are the pets we love to love, but only when they allow it. So what kind of relationship do we have with our cats and why do they at times drive their owners mad ? What sort of problems do cats bring compared with dogs ? you can at least tell a dog to sit, come or teach him a set of rules because he truly is a group animal - in other words designed to live with a family, cats conversely are natural born loners and do not take kindly to being treated like a dog. Shouting or forcing a cat to do something provokes an adverse reaction, if you really get upperty with a cat it may simply pack its bags and be off, gone, end of relationship. Dogs mistreated will still hang about and take the good with the bad not unlike some people.
Cat Videos
Colin has made 7 education videos on cats which are presented by Roger Tabor. Cats still challenge their wishful thinking when the camera rolled on the latest video BRAKING BAD HABITS FOR CATS . Unlike Colin dog education videos filming cats was much more difficult, a favourite Joke by John Bowe the camera man was “ Point the camera at any cat and a big bum is the view I get as the cat disappears from sight, dogs can't wait to be a star, Slobbering down the camera lense, “Film me “ they yelp, while cats can't stand the attention from the unfamiliar. Crew patience is important for success.
Colin Tennant the Director and producer of Cats On Film videos series describes the mischief that our pet moggie's get up too whilst he filmed the series.
Terrible Twins
Colin's own cats River and Meadow were certainly candidates for mischief- they starred in the video as the terrible twins - when they were kittens one of Meadow's bad behaviours was chasing River about the kitchen surfaces and in so doing knocked of a brand new Cappuccino machine damaging it badly. Colin was not impressed so began to make the kitchen surface a disagreeable area for the cats adventures. He left small ashtrays filled with several moth balls or Orange peel on the surfaces, oranges and mothballs smelt disgusting to the cats. On day one meadow leapt onto the counter only to be met by the c foul smells, she leapt back down to ground level both cats soon found more pleasant play grounds for their gymnastics.
Dagger Claws
Marcie a Burmese cat often scratched its owner Charles when he tried to tickle its tummy. The claws would immediately embed into Charles hand. Charles would naturally pull his hand away because of the intense pain, he shouted at Marcie thereby exacerbating the confrontation. Any form of aggression to a cat damages it's confidence.
Colin's advise to Charles was to keep his hand still even though it would hurt initially, hurt being the understatement, Colin wisely, did not offer a fee demonstration, he does not necessarily lead by example were cats claws are involved. By Charles keeping his hand motionless the cat became less stimulated by the touch on the belly, Charles also had to also gently move his hand, this seemed to provoke less counter reaction scratching by Marcia. In time Marcie became less agitated and benign and could be stroked.
My House Keep out
Cats fighting; cats by nature are solitary creatures. Tiger a big male Tabby did not like the new arrival of Snowy a 5 mth old kitten that had been rescued by Tiger's owner Andrea . She tried in vain to get the cats to like each other but as so often is the case war broke out, Tiger relentlessly attacked Snowy at every opportunity. Colin's advised Andrea to purchase a small indoor cage for Snowy and allow the cats to meet in safety. Snowy was placed in the cage when the Tiger the established cat was present. Tiger eventually approached the cheeky Snowy through the bars and in time got used to his scent, over a few more weeks Tiger began to except Snowy on his territory. However some cats will never except a new friend and that is that some will leave home.
Bedroom Wildlife
Getting up in the morning to find a plethora of dead Voles rats and mice strewn about your bedroom floor is a sight to open wide those sleepy eyes. Maureen's cat Ginger often left decapitated rodents for her inspection. Maureen is phobic about such animals and getting from the bed to the door was a skip and jump with the odd scream. Even worse; and Colin has experienced this with his own cats - is live animals brought in which subsequently are released by cats and then race around the living room with a cat in full pursuit. How can I stop this she asked?
Cats are hunters and their wild side is part of being a normal cat. Ginger was simply bringing back the nights food shopping in the same way as Maureen does from Tesco's only Ginger's is less packaged and sometimes alive. If a live animal is brought in use a wellington to catch it, place it along a wall were the animals is scooting along, the cat or you will get the animal to move and the dark hole of the boot will appear an escape, when the prey it runs in hold the top shut and release the lucky creature in the garden. A card board cereal box or long bag will also work. As for stopping them well that's not really possible unless you keep the cat in during the night, this can be achieved by feeding early evening and then securing the cat flap. Though many people believe cats devastate the local bird populations this is untrue, cats have little effect on any of the garden species except in keeping the healthy birds on their toes.
My Cat Hates Me.
Sheba a rescue moggie as brought home by Linda as a gesture of kindness. Unfortunately Linda is convinced that Sheba hates her and all humans and feels that whenever she wants to cuddle Sheba she has to chase and catch her. Sheba then cannot wait to get away from its fawning owner. Colin deals with these type of cats and knows as with dogs that if the initial socialisation as kitten or puppy normally between 3 and 8 weeks is not managed well the result can be a cat that is not habituated to humans. Advice: Linda should now alter the cats entire routine, manipulate Sheba's feeding, encourage Sheba to work for tit bit of her meal trail the food bowl to say a low chair and as Sheba follows hungrily Linda can offer Sheba small amounts from one hand whilst her other hand gently stroked her back. Sheba will over several weeks associate food time with touch and become less feared. In time the tit bit can be placed on Linda lap and hopefully Sheba will leap up to receive the reward. The cat will now be following and seeking out Linda. In conclusion never pursue any unfriendly cat for cuddles it only re-enforces the fear. I hope that this new video will help many cat owners not only stop bad behaviour but help understand the cat.
