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My very first consultation for a cat behavioral problem
several years ago (1999), involved 3 indoor-only, Russian Blue cats
living in the same household with their owner. The owner,
Vicki, was a delightful single, middle-aged woman who loved her
cats. She had owned all three cats since they were kittens
and they were all between the ages of 10 and 13.
When I spoke with Vicki for the first time, it was by phone and
she was very distraught and didn’t know what to do about one of
her Russian Blues, a female, Violet, who had been urinating
everywhere but her litter box, for 13 years. She had tried
everything over the years, and one vet after another, and still
had most of her good furniture covered in plastic. She had
never heard of a feline behavior consultant until her
veterinarian referred her to me.
I asked if Violet had been checked out by a vet to make sure her
health was normal. She said that Violet had checked out
fine and her blood work showed there were no signs of a urinary
tract infection or kidney or liver problems either. Vicki
said that she had never reprimanded any of her cats or Violet
when she was caught urinating in a place other than her box.
She never even talked to her cats in a raised voice or even a
harsh “no” when catching Violet in the act.
I
congratulated her for this and said that there are many other
ways to apply negative outcomes (remote reinforcers) that
don’t need to come directly from her, at least from the cat’s
perspective. There are also ways to promote desirable
behaviors, one of them being “clicker training”. I
stressed how important it was to keep a positive and peaceful
relationship with her cats. Any stress in the environment
could lead to undesirable behaviors being exhibited.
I talked with Vicki on the phone for 1 ½ hours and obtained a
thorough history about each cat in the household, how they
related to her as well as each other, the layout of her home,
and a little about Vicki’s normal daily schedule and what an
average “day in the life” of her cats entailed. There were two
males and Violet, the only female. The owner explained that
Violet had always been the shyest of all three cats and was not
as outgoing as the two males. The males could actually be a
little rambunctious at times. Violet felt safest on the back of
the couch up and out of the way of the male cats.
All the cats
(or rather, the two male cats only!) shared an uncovered litter
box in one of the back bedrooms. There was a long narrow hallway
that led down to that bedroom. The cats were all fed and watered
in the kitchen that was at the other end of the long hallway.
Though the cats liked to look out the windows, there were no
outside cats or dogs that could be seen from the windows and
Vicki mentioned that she had never seen a stray cat in the yard
either. (cont'd "Lying in Wait" 2)
Go to Page:
Lying in Wait 1: Cat Behavioral Problem
Lying in Wait 2: Feline
Behavior Problem
Lying in Wait 3: Bad Cat
Behavior
Lying in Wait 4: Aggressive Cat Behavior
Contact The Cat
Behavior Clinic
to arrange for cat behavior
consulting for your cat (or cats!).
