Cats Home Alone
By: Dr. Nicholas Dodman
Americans have grown much closer to their pets in the last 20 years or so, coming to regard them more as fellow family members rather than simply keeping them for some utilitarian function (such as rodent control). As part of this “warming” trend, cats now tend to be kept indoors to keep them safe from the risks of outdoor living. An indoor-outdoor cat has hazards of traffic, dogs, other cats and wild animals with which to contend. If an outdoor cat is not killed or injured on the roads, shaken to death by a neighborhood dog, or injured by another cat or wild animal, there is still the risk of contracting some debilitating disease. Basically, it's not a safe existence out there and most owners now know that. But indoor life can be tedious for some cats. They lack the all-important aspects of daily life in the wild, including the freedom to hunt, mark, protect and defend, and to interact with others of the same species.
It is our duty as cat owners to enrich our cats' indoor lives to make good some of these deficiencies. Without gainful employment cats merely exist within boring but luxurious homes. Also, without some species-specific entertainment, they may get into trouble, psychologically or physically, leading owners to seek behavioral modification advice … or not. Below is a list of suggested means by which a cat's environment may be made more user friendly. The underlying principal is “think cat.” If you do this you may even be able to add a few conceptions of your own.The Big E's (Environmental and Managemental Enrichment)
Climbing Frames. Cats really appreciate a three-dimensional environment, as evidenced by their constant attempts to climb up on top of things. To facilitate this innate compulsion, provide climbing frames in strategic locations so that your cat can elevate his position with ease and obtain a panoramic view of the outside world. This is the closet thing to a cat newspaper. From their perch they can survey their immediate environment in safety and catch up on the latest comings and goings.
Bird Feeders. The instinct to watch and stalk birds still courses through cats' veins even though it may have been generations since they relied on catching prey for a living. The provision of window feeders for birds can provide cats with a lot of viewing opportunities at no risk to the birds.
Fish Tanks. For similar reasons, a fish tank (with its lid firmly attached) can be another great pleasure for cats. Even though they never catch the fish, that failure does not detract from the thrill of “fishing.”
Food puzzles. In nature, cats had to work for their food. Hunting consumed a great deal of their time and energies. Yet we simply put their food down and leave them to scoff in as little as 5 minutes. What do they do then – sleep? If you get creative regarding your cat's feeding opportunities you can spin out those meals and make the process of eating more entertaining. Ideas include: 1. Putting your cat's kibble inside a Buster Cube, a plastic cube with various compartments for food that falls out as the cat bats it. 2. Feeding kibble via a toilet roll tube, with the ends taped over and holes drilled in the sides to release kibble intermittently. (The tube rolls around and is fun to chase.)3. Ping-pong balls with a hole drilled in the side to allow you to put a single piece of kibble inside.
Non-toxic grasses. Some cats respond well to fresh catnip or cat grass grown especially for them. Along the same theme, some cats also enjoy lettuce or green beans. Other cats can be redirected onto pieces of thin rawhide coated lightly with fish oil or cheese spread. Owners should offer the rawhide chews only when they will be directly supervising their cat.
Predatory games. It is almost mandatory to have various feather wands or fishing poles with string attached to entertain your cat. You should probably put aside several minutes a day for this activity. This will exercise and mentally stimulate the cat, and help to dissipate otherwise undirected predatory tendencies. Some predatory toys are automatic and allow activation by the cat even in your absence. For those of you who don't want to spend much cash there's always the old milk-bottle-seal-on-a-string trick or a bunch of table tennis balls that you leave around on a smooth floor. Laser mice are at the high tech end of the spectrum of toys and there are new electronic toys in the pipeline.
Sourcer: PetPlace
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Cats Home Alone...Sept.12---2007
Cats Living with Dogs Sept 12---2007
Cats Living with Dogs
By: Dr. Nicholas Dodman
A lot of people ask, if I get another pet will it get along with my cat? The corollary to this question, if I get a cat will it get along with my existing pets, is also of interest to some folk. There is no simple answer to these two questions, but there are some facts to consider that might help forecast the results of such interspecies interactions:
The species of the housemate you intend for your cat (or proposed cat)
The temperaments of the individuals to be mixed
The early and later experiences of the individuals to be mixed
Which species is incumbent
Our own ability to monitor and manage the situation
The environmental setupWhile there can be some very harmonious marriages of species, sometimes the result of the mix can be damaging – or even lethal – to one or both animals.
Dogs and CatsPresident Clinton found out that bringing a dog (Buddy) into the White House where there was already a cat (Socks) was not as easy as balancing the U.S. budget. The two fought like, well, dog and cat. But do all dogs and cats hate each other? The answer is no. The relationship between these traditionally acrimonious species can range from good friends, to indifferent, to positively hostile. Dogs, by nature, are predators. Predators tend to chase rapidly moving and furry things smaller than they are, which is the job description of a cat. So, potentially there is a problem. But, dogs and cats, like humans, are not driven by nature alone. There is also a learned component to what they do. For a dog and cat, the most important time for learning who your friends are is the so-called sensitive period that spans the first two to three months of life. A puppy that is raised with cats during this time, and experiences no adverse consequences of the interaction, will likely grow up to regard cats as benevolent domestic fixtures. The reverse is also true. It may be slightly easier to introduce a new kitten to a resident dog than to introduce new puppies to a resident cat because of the highly territorial and antisocial nature of some cats. But you can also have your work cut out introducing kittens to a highly predatory species of dog. Both situations can sometimes be managed by proper chaperoning and protection of the most vulnerable species, and time can lead to mutual tolerance if not mutual admiration. If puppies and kittens are raised together, neither party should present a problem when integrating with the opposite species unless the incumbent is particularly mean. Cats should not be introduced to a home with dogs that have chased and tried to kill cats. These dogs will probably find it difficult to see cats as anything other than prey, and even if they do not actually manage to catch the cat they can make his life pretty miserable. Likewise, a puppy may have to be protected from a territorial bully of a cat that has, by virtue of his prior experiences, a lifelong hatred of dogs. Sometimes a dog in such a situation will learn to avoid a dangerous, unequable cat. In other instances, the cat may spend his life in trepidation of the dog. Neither of these situations is desirable or reasonable and they should, if possible, be avoided by prevention or rehoming of one or other of the feuding parties. That's what happened to Socks.If you are thinking of mixing species, ask whether they are predatory, aggressive, territorial, solitary, or gregarious. That will give you the genetic drift on what to expect. Then ask, how the species was raised, with whom, by whom, where, and when. Next you should probe for any information about prior interspecies interactions of the species in question (if that's not already moot). Finally, if you are still up for it, insist on a trial marriage before you commit to the newcomer. Not every creature gets along but then again, some do. Sometimes you just have to try putting future housemates together to find out how they interact together. But be safe. Their lives are in your hands. With the correct early socialization some seemingly miraculous unions can be achieved, like cats that allow birds to perch on their heads, cats that allow mice to run all over their bodies, even when they're nursing (there's another generation of mouse friendly cats in the making!), and cats who allow themselves to be groomed by non-human primates. It takes all kinds to make a world, and all kinds of (sometimes unlikely) unions to make it a happy place.
Source: PetPlace
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