What does the cat need from its environment? Flashcards
Meeting Basic Physical Needs
of the cat
Physical set up of the home and everyday activities between people and animals within the home can have a substantive impact on the both the behavior and health of the pet cat
Inappropriate home environments have been shown to contribute to both feline idiopathic cystitis and indoor urine spraying
Prevention easier than cure
The importance of providing the optimal environment for cats should not be underestimated
What do we mean by environment?
Encompasses both physical surrounding and its social world
Physical surroundings:
Home in which the cat lives
Outdoor space the cat may have access to
Must take into account both the space and structure of the home and all objects within
For the cat – litter tray, food bowls
For those not related to the cat – household furniture, household appliances
Outdoor Environment can vary greatly
Access only in the form of a view from a window
Outdoor pens
Complete freedom
Physical Environment contains things that cannot be physically interacted with but still form part of the environment that the cat perceives and can be influenced by
Sounds
smells
Social Environment = all individual’s the cat may have interaction with both directly or indirectly
May live with two people that physically intact with the cat daily; feeding stroking etc.
May come into contact with visitors to the house
May meet other cats, animals when outside
Some meeting may not be direct encounters but chemical messages
Pheromones contained in facial rubbings deposited on physical objects
People are unable to perceive these ‘messages’ but we can see visual clues of them
Brown marks at head height of a protruding corner often a sign of an area heavily facially rubbed.
Key Environmental Needs of the cat
Five key environmental needs identified as being particularly important in creating a healthy feline environment
Provide a safe place
Provide multiple, separated key environmental resources: areas for food, water, toileting, scratching, play, resting, sleeping
Provide opportunity for play and predatory behaviour
Provide positive, consistent and predictable human-cat social interactions
Provide an environment that respects the importance of the cat’s sense of smell
What makes a safe place for a cat
Safe places are needed everywhere: Home Garden Veterinary practice Catteries
They should be private, secure and where possible raised off ground level
They should provide: Enclosure Isolation Seclusion Control Perceived protection Opportunity for withdrawal As solitary hunters, risk of injury represents a serious survival risk
Avoiding all threats and confrontation where possible, is an effective strategy to aid survival
We need to understand that something we may not consider a threat may be perceived as one by the cat
An invited visitor to the house can be threatening to the cat
By providing an individual hiding place where the cat will not be interrupted, allows the cat a physical place it perceives as safe to which it can retreat to in times of real or potential threat.
Safe Place for a cat – Veterinary Practice
Can be difficult to observe a cat in practice when they have a ‘hide’ but……..
If they aren’t provided with such a place, they will attempt to find one
Behind the litter tray, in the litter tray or underneath it
Underneath any blanket that lines a kennel etc.
Can use their cat carrier as appropriate
Can cover half of the front of the kennel with a blanket
Use of the feline fort – ideal!
Why do this?
Reduction of stress
Less stress = more likely to eat, more relaxed, less aggressive etc. all positive outcomes
Provide multiple, separated key environmental resources: areas for food, water, toileting, scratching, play, resting, sleeping
Cats reply on themselves for survival
Need to have access to their key resources without feeling challenged by other cats
Privacy when eating, drinking and toileting particularly important to minimize distress
Separation of resources also prevents contamination e.g. from toileting to feeding
Food and Water for a cat
Food should be placed away from water bowls and litter trays.
Why? naturally, cats would keep eating, drinking and toileting separate, to prevent sources of drinkable water from becoming contaminated with waste
If food and water bowls are provided in the same room, ensure that there is at least some space between the bowls
Eating is a time of vulnerability for cats
Placing the food bowl in a corner or against a wall so that the cat has its back to its surroundings exacerbates vulnerability
Especially important in multi-cat households where there may be tension between cats.
Because of their solitary ancestry, eating is a solitary activity for cats (apart from queens and their kittens)..
Avoid ‘double’ feeder with two bowl, one for food one for water
Eating is a time of vulnerability for cats; with their heads down, their ability to remain vigilant is reduced
Place food bowls away from walls so a cat can position itself in such a way that it can still survey its surroundings while eating.
In multi-cat households cats should be fed apart from other cats, to reduce competition over food. Cats should be fed in separate parts of house, or if in same room, their feeding stations should be in separate place, or at different heights and visual access to one another during feeding should be reduced as much as possible.
Ceramic or glass bowls/plates preferable
Wide shallow bowls or plates are best
Due to the sensitivity of their whiskers, cats prefer not to have their whiskers constantly touching the sides of a bowl when eating (or drinking)
One example is the ‘Beco’ cat bowl. Wide shape and low sides are designed to avoid friction between bowl and whiskers
Furthermore, a shallow bowl will enable cats to see around them at the same time as eating
cat Toileting
Number of litter trays needed is ‘number of cats plus one’.
There is no scientific evidence behind this advice, but it is the consensus of many feline behaviourists
Ellis et al 2017 - Cats in multi-cat households should be provided with enough litter trays to allow them to avoid using dirty ones, and frequent scooping out of obstructions is vital.
Trays should be placed in quiet areas, away from busy thoroughfares, so the cat does not get disturbed or feel more vulnerable whilst toileting.
Litter trays should be placed in separate locations to each other, so that cats that are not in the same social group can avoid each other while toileting.
If a cat lives with a dog that invades the litter tray, then placing the litter tray(s) in a room protected by a baby gate can give the cat quiet uninterrupted time in the litter tray.
Disturbing the cat whilst toileting may lead to the cat avoiding this site in the future.
They should also be placed away from food and water, as cats do not like to toilet in the same area that they eat and drink, and away from any loud noises or vibrations such as those produced from household appliance like washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers. Other areas that should be avoided are near cat flaps and full-length glass windows as these are also areas where cats may feel more vulnerable due to potential threats from outside.
Scratching behaviour in the cat
Why do cats need to scratch?
Claw maintenance
Exercise the muscles and maintain the system that allows claw extension and withdrawal, used in hunting and climbing
Territorial marking
If appropriate facilities not provided cats may find areas to scratch undesirable to the owner. Providing appropriate scratching facilities important for cat’s welfare, but also to protect the cat-owner relationship.
Research has shown that when a scratching post is provided in a cat’s environment, the cat is likely to use it (Mengoli et al 2013). But consideration must be paid towards suitability, location and attractiveness of the scratching facility
Scratch posts and boards attached on a vertical surface eg, a wall, enable cats to scratch vertically, scratch boards and mats allow cats to scratch horizontally.
Vertical scratch posts need to be:
Tall enough for a cat to fully stretch up while scratching
Sturdy enough to support the cat’s weight while scratching.
made of a material which provides resistance when scratching (see below).
Play and Predatory Behaviour in the cat
Despite the provision of food from humans for pet cats, their instinct to display predatory behavior is still very strong
In cats with freely available outdoor access, such predatory behaviours can take up a significant part of the day and therefore requires significant physical activity and mental engagement
Reduced or no opportunity for such behavior can result in obesity and/or boredom and frustration
The latter can display as over-grooming, stress associated disease or misdirected aggressive behavior
Providing the opportunity for predatory-like behavior on alternative sources can help keep the cat in good physical and mental condition
Two ways that owners can provide outlets for predatory behavior in the home
Play with the cat
Change feeding practices
Play in the cat
Prevents and treats obesity
Treats anxiety and fear related problems
Provide cognitive stimulation
Enhances the human-cat relationship
Three types of play
Object play- cats can play singly with objects such as manmade toys or natural objects such as feathers or leaves
Solitary play – less common in adults’ cats. No objects are involved, cat partakes in high level locomotor activity. Often referred to as ‘Zoomies’
Social play- cats can play with others. With those of their own species (intra-specific social play) or with other species (inter-specific social play). Such social play involves highly complex signalling, posturing and behaviours.
Such play behavior also very important within the hospitalized cat, condition appropriate. Good for the last three mentioned benefits.
Owners can enhance their bond with their cat, with object play.
Feeding Practice
Domestic cats often fed commercial cat food that is presented in an unnatural, prepared from
Often meal fed i.e., often fed two meals per day
Food presented in the same format, in the same location day in, day out
Does not encourage natural feeding behaviours; locating, capturing, killing and processing food source
Unowned free-ranging cats can spend up to 50% of a 24-hour period searching for food
No artificial selection has taken place amongst pet cats for feeding behaviour, it is highly likely that pet cats also have a high motivation to spend large periods of time searching for food
BUT feeding a cat in the same place every day means a cat has no opportunity to search for its provided food at all
Predatory Behaviour Through Feeding in the cat
‘The Five a Day Felix Plan’ created for iCatCare by Dr Sarah Ellis and Dr Lizzie Rowe to promote feeding practices that help cats to live healthier and happier lives
The plan recommends:
Giving cats five or more small portions of food a day (rather than feeding fewer, bigger portions) Using home-made puzzle feeders Changing food location regularly Monitoring cats’ behaviour and weight Making sure cats have plenty of water
Puzzle Feeders
for cats
Homemade or commercially produced
Designed to make the cat think and work out how to access food
Mental stimulation
Human-cat Social Interactions
Between unowned, free ranging cats, the demonstration of affiliative behaviours to each other are pertinent to the maintenance of a positive relationship
Our interactions with cats should therefore mimic such affiliation to promote a positive human-cat bond
Genetic dispositions and early environment can greatly influence a cat’s perceptions towards humans in general and such information should be carefully regarded when considering how much interaction a cat perceives as positive
All cats are different and need to be considered as individual
