FOREWORD by GWEN COOPER, author of "Homer's Odyssey:  A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat"
 

INTRODUCTION:  ON CATS AND HOW I LEARNED TO SEE THROUGH THEIR EYES

My Animal Family
On The Farm
Cheshires in The Canyon
The Vet Tech Years
Putting It All Together
The Cat Behaviorist
What “Good Death”? The Crisis of Feline Euthanasia
Why I Wrote This Book
 

CHAPTER 1:  MIND-THROWING: INSIDE THE BEING OF THE CAT
 

Anthropomorphism and Its Pleasures
Modesty in Anthropomorphism
The Anthropomorphic Trap
No Punishment, No Reprimand
What Works: Withdraw Your Attention and Even Your Presence
You Have the Power to Solve Your Cats’ Behavior Issues
The Seven Classes of Behavior Problems in Cats
   Cat-to-Cat Tension
   Aggression
   Litter Box Issues
   Spraying
   Excessive Meowing
   Destructive and Unwanted Behaviors
   Compulsive Behaviors
The Elements of an Effective C.A.T. Plan
   Cease the Unwanted Cat Behavior
      What Works: Mastering the Act of God and the Art of Cat Distraction
   Attract the Cat to a Desirable Behavior, Location, or Time
   Transform the Territory
 

CHAPTER 2:  LIVING WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Cats: Self-Reliant, Highly Territorial, Champion Survivors
Dogs: Motivated to Stay in the Pack
Cats: Still Wild and Highly Territorial, Somewhat Tamable by Early Socialization
   Socialization of Kittens
Dogs are from Mars, Cats are From Venus
   Forget Alpha
Cat Etiquette: How to Make an Introduction (or a Reintroduction)
   First impressions: habituation, desensitization, and counter-conditioning
   Before the new cat comes home: The Safe Room
   The Happy Scent Sock: Allogrooming
   Confident Explorers
   Play Under the Door
   I Can See You!, or The Art of Smooth Transactions
 

CHAPTER 3:  TRANSFORMING YOUR CATS’ TERRITORY
 

The Mating Instinct: Humane Sterilization Reduces Many Cat Behavior Problems
Feelings of Safety and Familiarity
Looking Through 3-D Glasses to Increase Territory Without Remodeling Your Home
   Scratching Posts and Other Stimulating Gear
Friendly Pheromones!
Should He Stay or Should He Go?
   Go Outside
   Stay Inside
Dispersal, Time-Sharing, and Choice of Paths
   Food and Water
Prey Targets, or Toys
The Prey Sequence
Safe, Attractive Places to Eliminate
   Maintenance Litter
   Litter Box Cleanliness – The Grasshopper Test
   Enough Litter Boxes? Add More
   A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
   Box Size and Type
   Litter Box Placement
 

CHAPTER 4:  PSYCHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY: DOES YOUR CAT ALSO HAVE A MEDICAL ISSUE?

Good Veterinary Hygiene
Original Medical Causes versus Habituated Behaviors
Better Living Through Chemistry? Don’t (Automatically) Drug That Cat!
The Dearth of Expertise in Feline Behavior
 

CHAPTER 5:  FELINE AGGRESSION: ACCEPTING AND MANAGING YOUR CAT’S INNER WILDCAT

What Not to Do: Punish, Reprimand, or Reach For
Understanding Feline Aggression
   Prevention
   Play Aggression
   Predatory Aggression
      C.A.T. Plan for Play and Predatory Aggression
          Cease the unwanted behavior
             Avoid and Anticipate Provocative Situations
             Distract and Redirect
             The Snub of the Queen: Discouraging Play Aggression
             Aversion Therapy: The Act of God
   Redirected Aggression
       Initial Management of Redirected Aggression
   Territorial Aggression
   Fear-Induced Aggression
   Cat-to-Cat Aggression
       Treatment of Territorial, Fear, and Cat-to-Cat Aggression
   Petting-induced Aggression
   Status-Related Aggression
       Treatment for Petting-induced and Status-Based Aggression
 

CHAPTER 6:  YOU’VE GOT TO ELIM-I-NATE THE NEGATIVE:  THINKING OUTSIDE YOUR BOX TO GET CATS IN THEIRS

Too-Frequent Urination
Urination or Defecation Outside the Box
Behavior Plan for Unwanted Elimination
   Cease the unwanted cat behavior
       Step 1: Clean the Scene
       Step 2: If there are many soiled areas, temporarily block your cat’s access to some
       Step 3: Consider changing your cat’s diet
       Step 4: Re-associate the inappropriately targeted areas with a new behavior
   Attract and retrain your cat back to the desired alternative: litter boxes!
       Enough Boxes
       Box Location
       Clean – two scoops a day keeps the behaviorist away
       Re-training Litter
   Transform the Territory
 

CHAPTER 7:  “X” MARKS THE SPOT!:  URINE MARKING

Sasha’s Curtain Call
Marking for Communication
   Facial-marking, rubbing, body-rolling
   Friendly Marking, or, The Cute Stuff
   Types of Marking We Don’t Like So Much: Three Blinded Mice, or the Three Forms of Cat Urine
Spray-Marking - Not-so-good vibrations
   The Great Cover-Up
   Serial Sprayers and Graffiti Artists
   Associative Marking
   It’s Not Just for Intact Toms and Estral Queens Anymore: The Non-Sexual Politics of Spraying Urine
   Marking Territory, Avoiding Conflict in Shared Territory
   Spraying and Conflict
   I’m Feeling Worried
Case Study of Babytat: The Cat That Wanted to Come Home
   The House Call for Babytat
C.A.T. Plan for Spraying, Middening, and Other Forms of Urine-Marking
   Cease the unwanted behavior
       Step 1: Remove Marking Triggers
         Outside cats? Block and Deter
       Step 2: Gradual Re-acclimation
       Step 3: Clean the Scene
       Step 4: Interrupt the Pending Behavior
   Attract your cat to new behaviors to replace the marking behavior
       Cease re-marking
       Facial-Marking
       Claw-Marking
       Body-rolling
       Prey sequence
       Strategically placed food
   Transform the Territory
       Create calm in the environment
 

CHAPTER 8:  YOWL!—EXCESSIVE MEOWING
 

CHAPTER 9:  DESTRUCTIVE AND UNWANTED BEHAVIORS
Shredders and Snaggers
   Counter crawling and table hopping
 

CHAPTER 10:  THE COMPULSIVE CAT
 

MEDICAL ALERT: Compulsive Behaviors and Oral Fixations
   C.A.T. Plan for Overgrooming (Psychogenic Alopecia)
      Cease the unwanted behavior
      Attract the cat to a new behavior
      Transform the Territory
Wool-sucking
   C.A.T. Plan for Wool-Sucking, Chewing, and Pica
   Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome
 

AFTERWORD
 

APPENDIX A:  CLICKER TRAINING FOR CATS

Step 1: Click marks the spot (or the action)
Step 2: Promote a behavior to be performed
 

APPENDIX B

Checklist for Curing Outside-the-Box Elimination