We can help you with your feline behaviour problems such spraying, soiling, aggression, clawing the furniture, and squabbles in the multi cat family. Email Christine on petsbehaving@aol.com with an outline of your problems, and your location.
The Cat Pack
Observations on a Spanish Colony.
When your cat uses your favourite chair to sharpen his claws or constantly rubs his face around your clean white shirt, you are understandably upset. Doesn't he know how much these things cost?
When seeking to understand our pets' behaviour, we must put our emotional reaction to one side, and focus clinically on the behaviour.
Feline pads and faces hold scent, and by imprinting his own scent on the boss, a cat is ensuring his place in the family group.
Many people associate the pack system with dogs, believing cats to be solo players. In fact this applies to only some breeds.
Should you holiday in Mediterranean Islands, take time to observe the local ferals.
Originating in Africa, and travelling to the Islands with the Moors, these cats survive and indeed flourish in groups.
When I had a boarding cattery in the Spanish Selva valley, I spent fascinated hours watching our own feral colony stake out the well. A meaningful look, or the flick of a whisker from the matriarch, and the siblings sprang into immediate action.
The matriarch, 'Black and White Jobby' (BWJ for short) was arguably the ugliest cat I have ever seen. She simply arrived one day, and decided to live in the chicken run, eating their food, sleeping in their beds and paying us scant attention. Soon enough she wandered down the lane to seduce our neighbour's pedigree toms, and continually produced the most amazingly beautiful cats ever seen!
Gradually, god-like green eyes contained in svelte black bodies took over the rodent control on our finca. Males and females alike were taught to hunt and bring treasures back for their younger siblings, and all were controlled by the looks and vocal commands of BWJ.
Growing males eventually wandered off to find new families, and occasionally came back to visit.
Females used to kitten en masse, and formed co-operatives to look after each others' babies, one joining the family hunt, one staying home on nursery duty.
BWJ soon worked out that her expanding pride required more food than hunting would provide, especially in the heat of the summer. She decided to take advantage of our open air kennels kitchen, and each morning would help herself to the left-overs whilst we were in the house for breakfast.
So effectively did she provide for her family, that on the very day that building had been completed for our cattery's 'Hilton Suite', she moved in a litter of kittens (her great-grandchildren) one by one, then promptly went off to provide a freshly killed rat for their dietary education.
These cats relied heavily on the pack system to survive, either not knowing or not caring that we would never have allowed them to go without a single thing they might ever need.
Two drives are particularly strong in both cats and people.
The survival or biological drive, which urges us maintain health and safety, and the family or pack drive, which urges us to stick together not only for comfort, but in order to survive.
When querying your cats' most irritating behaviour, take a moment to identify their most basic drives, and never discount their perceived need to belong to a successful family in order to survive.
email: petsbehaving@aol.com
Telephone: 01746 764332
News December 07
Dog Trainers 2-day workshops in Telford
Reiki attunements and healing with our ponies
Clicker training at The Wyke, Shifnal, Shropshire
Pony parties - find out more and book your children's party or corporate training event (much more fun than potholing!)