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Behavior Karen L. Overall, MA, VMD, PhD Diplomate ACVB, ABS Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Elimination concerns in cats - associations with aggression All client handouts in these notes are from: Overall, KL. Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats. Elsevier, St. Louis, 2010. Epidemiology of cat bites: Problem aggression is second only to elimination disorders in commonness of complaints about cat behavior. Given the multifaceted role played by scent in feline social systems, this should not be surprising. Unfortunately, the extent to which the interaction between feline aggression and elimination disorders is involved in tough problems is under-appreciated. Feline aggression is emerging as a common and worrisome problem, especially when viewed with regard to its potential to cause serious illness in people. Cat scratch disease: 22,000 cases - 1.8-10 cases / 100,000 people - of cat scratch disease are reported each year in the U.S.; 2,200 people are hospitalized, annually. The presumptive agent in cat scratch disease (CSD) is the rickettsial organism Bartonella (formerly Rochalimaea) hensalae, and a contributory role has been postulated for the bacteria Afipia felis. 38/45 patients with CSD had titers of >/= 1:64 for Bartonella hensalae. CSD is most commonly seen in the late summer and fall and coincides with seasonality in births of kittens (spring) and the entry of these kittens into the house in the winter. Fleas infestations may be associated with a higher incidence of the CSD and most patients have at least 1 kitten that has fleas. Patients with CSD are more likely to have a kitten less than or a year of age, or to have been scratched by a kitten than are non-patients. While patients in kitten-owning households are more likely to have been scratched or bitten than patients in non-kitten owning households, there appears to be no association with patients' cats and those of controls with regard to indoor / outdoor status, litter box use, and hunting behaviors. Cats transmitting CSD appear healthy although they have active B. hensalae infections that last months. People with CSD tend to have localized skin lesions that are followed by regional lymph node involvement 3 weeks post exposure. Lymph nodes remain enlarged for several months. Systematic illness is rare, but fever, headache, splenomegaly, and malaise are common. These are usually self-resolving; however, arthritis, neuroretinitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, osteolytic lesions, granulomatous hepatitis, and encephalitis, with coma and seizure, can be an unusual sequela. Individuals with AIDS or those immunosuppressed for other reasons are at risk for more severe disease, including bacillary angiomatosis. In addition to being a human health hazard, CSD is costly: the cost of treatment for ambulatory patients averages $5.2 million per year, and the cost of treatment for hospitalized patients exceeds $6.9 million per year, in 1990s USD. Cat scratch disease is an occupational hazard for those working in veterinary medicine. When cats are fearful or distressed, they try to escape and withdraw. As a precursor to withdrawal, or as a means to make withdrawal possible, cats will bit and scratch. Understanding how to better handle cats in veterinary settings and how to teach clients to better accustom cats to veterinary visits should reduce the number of injuries to humans. Aggressive behaviors: Survey studies indicate that, over their lifetime, 80% of cats hiss at each other, 85% swat at each other, 70% fight with each other occasionally, 25% hiss / growl at people and 60% of them scratch or bite people occasionally. 53.6% of the cats in this study exhibited hissing sometimes (1 time per month) or frequently (1+ times per week), 63.1% exhibited swatting sometimes or frequently, and 44.5% exhibiting fighting sometimes or frequently. Statistical examination of data collected by Borchelt and Voith (1987) indicate that cats are more often aggressive to other cats than people in situations involving defensive and territorial aggression (p<0.05; Gadj=32.627 and 11.442, respectively), but are more often aggressive to people when compared with cats in circumstances involving play aggression (p<0.05; Gadj=25.091). Their study did not evaluate a baseline of normal behaviors (perhaps cats are not involved in play aggression often with cats because they are corrected by the other cats sufficiently early in the sequence of play to avoid frank aggression), but suggests situations in which people might be at risk. The aggressive behavior of the cats may not be manifest the same way towards all people. There are few actual data on cat bites, and those that have been published generally provide no statistical examination of the data, but if authors publish their data, others can do I as have done, and provide the analysis. Careful examination of data published by Borchelt and Voith (1987) indicates that for cats that are deemed "frequently" aggressive, there is no difference between the frequency of growling or hissing that is directed towards strangers compared with that directed towards family members (ns; Gadj=0.209), but that family members are more frequently subjected to swatting, scratching and biting without breaking the skin, and bites that break the skin (p<0.05; Gadj=21.197,30.014, and 9.554, respectively). Closer statistical investigation reveals that family members are more frequently victimized than are strangers by cats that break the skin, only by cats that have inflicted 3,4, or more than 8 bites (p<0.05; Gadj=3.874, 4.179, 22.311, respectively). Categories of feline aggression - associations with human / cat aggression: It's important to remember that some of the circumstances in which humans will be injured by cats may involve "normal" aggressive behavior on the part of the cat. Cats who protect their kittens when there is really a threat are not showing manifestations of a diagnosis of maternal aggression. Likewise, cats who are afraid of a real threat are behaving normally and appropriately, rather than demonstrating manifestations of fearful aggression. Seen within this context, much of the aggression demonstrated at veterinary practices is normal aggression associated with fear. Accordingly, we can address this by either learning how to anticipate the problem, and lesson the result, and, or by preventing it. The easiest way to prevent such aggression is to acclimate the cat to the situation. Cats respond most plastically to novel stimuli between 5 and 9 weeks of age, and their ability to remain flexible in response to novel stimuli decreases greatly by 14 weeks of age, if they have not been previously exposed to novel situations. Although the data have not been completely collected, early exposure to a variety of stimuli that are not terrifying may be necessary for the cat to learn to learn. In other words, if the cat is "protected" from the world, they may have decreased plasticity in their responses to changes in social and environmental stimuli later in life. We can use this information to benefit the cat's overall "wellness" and mental health: simply, any client with a kitten should take advantage of the cat's natural curiosity and energy and stimulate the kitten to explore and interact with as many environments as possible. First, clients should fit their kittens with harness and light-weight lead and encourage the cat to go for walks outside of the house or apartment. If the cat is slightly nervous, he or she can just sit on the client's lap and be an observer until the cat decides to venture forth. Even if the clients have a back yard, it is safer, more humane, and more considerate for neighbors if the cat is kept on a lead or a trolley. For these to be safe, clients need to supervise the cat. If clients wish to give their cat the experience of the outdoors without supervising them, outdoor habitats can now be built with very little effort or custom made to encircle trees, branches, decks, and windows. Second, clients should be encouraged to carry and use treats for cats as they do for dogs. Most kittens will readily work for small shrimp, dried liver or bacon, or a dab of some of the salty, fermented spreads (e.g., Marmite, Veg-e-mite). The key is convincing the clients that their little balls of fluff are intelligent, cognitive, curious beings who can be trained to work with the client. If clients would interact with their cats in this manner both of their cognitive lives would be enriched. Third, clients should be encouraged to take the cat with them - temperature permitting - in the car whenever they can. Cats can be restrained in car harnesses, in an open crate, or using pet gates. Fourth, clients should be encouraged to take their cat visiting to the vet's multiple times during the cat's first year of life. If the cat visits the vet and all that happens is that the cat is petted, fussed over, played with, and given treats, the cat will learn that this is good place to visit. Routine exams will then become easier, if the vet continues buying into and encouraging the concept of positive rewards and interactions. For example, if the cat is not worried about getting into the carrier and going to the vets, then when he gets there he might be far more interested in the food treat that is smeared on the exam table than he is in fighting the vet. Getting vets to buy into the idea of using toys and treats at every visit is not a trivial problem. Most vets are concerned about their tightly booked appointments and the time / money conundrum. However, most of us fail to accurately account for all the time we struggle with patients and clients, all the times we need more hands than we have to restrain an animal, and for the real cost to us and the patient - in both physical and emotional terms - of such struggles. Were we to do an accurate accounting, we would be investing in any strategy that lowers our frustration time and our patients' stress levels. An easy way to get vets to start working with cats differently is to hold kitten classes. While many practices hold puppy classes, few practices in the US hold kitten classes (but many in Australia, do: see Training Your Cat by Kersti Seksel, Hyland House, Australia, 2001). These are ideal for kittens 8-13 weeks of age, and if conducted in 2 sessions allows the veterinary staff to cover all relevant preventative behavioral and medical topics, and also permits adequate time to teach clients how to play with cats, to encourage clients to watch normal cat behavior, and to teach the cats to sit, stay, come, do a trick, and to walk on lead and harness. Tables 1 and 2 contain a summary of information to discuss at the first appointments, or - preferably - in kitten classes. If it is impossible to cover all of this information during the first examination, a series of short-examinations, arranged as a package at one price, or a long first puppy or kitten visit (2 hours can be a realistic estimate) arranged as part of a package deal with all vaccinations can be options. Videos, client handouts, and support staff participation are invaluable. If the puppy or kitten is going to undergoing a series of three vaccinations, the information can be outlined at the first visit and a schedule of topics to cover at that and subsequent visits developed. There are many variants on this approach and ALL are somewhat labor intensive; however, that labor pays off. Clients want information and will pay for it and treatment later if they received it first. Also, pets that are killed because of later behavioral problems do not generate income and do not contribute to an attitude and bond that encourages the generation of income. What veterinarians should NOT do on the first visit, is rush the pup or kitten through in 5 minutes (because it is generally healthy) and quickly (and scarily - to the pet) vaccinate it. First visits may not even involve a vaccination - that activity may be better executed the next day (when it could be done quickly after a temperature check if the first visit included a thorough physical examination). The first visit should involve acquaintance with the staff, play, fuss, treats, a physical examination, and possibly, a vaccination sneaked in at the end of play. Encourage clients to return between appointments to just visit - this is great for the puppy or kitten and them. Of course they will ask your staff questions, but they can also be told up front, when invited to drop in, that if the staff is too busy for the visit they will say so. These activities are outlined in the checklists in Tables 1 and 2. Clients should practice these activities often, whether the pet "needs" them or not. Obviously, toe nails should not be clipped or filed unless needed, but the client can manipulate the kitten's toes and hold them in the way they would when they clip them. This will make the actual activity easier. Repeated exposure of the new pet to these activities will help the client in two respects: (1) they will help render then pet more tractable and less fearful of manipulation, and (2) they will familiarize the client with "normal" so that they can report deviations from this to you. When considering whether a cat's aggression is contextually appropriate or 'normal', it is important to bear in mind the evolutionary derivation of domestic cats, especially since this differs dramatically from that of dogs. Feline social systems differ from those of dogs in the extent to which solitary versus social daily activities are prevalent. Cats are primarily solitary hunters, ingesting prey that is smaller than they are, whereas most wild canids work in groups to obtain prey larger than themselves. These forces will act to shape social relationships within groups. Cats can hunt sufficiently for one meal alone, while dogs use this only as a back-up foraging strategy. Dogs are more aligned with the "binge and gorge" eating style than are cats. Because cats don't rely on running down prey and exhausting them before the group moves in to attack, stealth is much more important to cats than it is to dogs, and it may be associated with the cat's normal tendency to hide when stressed or distressed. Finally, it's really important to remember that the history of cats and humans is the history of disease control: cats were attracted to rodents who are always attracted to human garbage. Cats killed the rodents that carried diseases or vectors of disease. Consequently, there has been little artificial selection by humans on how cats behave. In fact, selection for how they look is fairly recent and only taken place intensely in the past 200 years. Dogs were selected because of their shared behaviors with humans to help humans in tasks in which both species engaged. Hence, breeds in dogs have their roots in the jobs the dogs did - not what they looked like. As a consequence of their evolutionary system, matrilineal social system, and skewed sex ratios for mating in free-ranging domestic casts, Most normal aggression between cats appears to occur in contexts involving territory and social rank which are complexly interrelated. It is not surprising that the types of inappropriate aggression witnessed by owners differ from those that we perceive in dogs, and that they are understandable given the evolutionary context of feline social systems and the developmental context of sensitive periods. Attention has been paid to the extent to which feline aggression is covert, rather than overt and defensive, rather than offensive (Table 3). These can be useful distinctions in understanding and intervening in the interactions between cats and other individuals involved in the aggressive circumstances. Clients must learn to read the signs of these behaviors to correctly interpret the ongoing interaction and to help us to treat the problem appropriately. Offensive aggression generally involves components that decrease the distance between the individuals. These behaviors can include approach (as a threat with subsequent flight of the other individual) and attack. Regardless, the aggressor controls the interaction through the use of threat or the escalation of violence. Defensive aggression involves passive behaviors designed to encourage avoidance and withdrawal. This serves to remove the stimulus for further aggression (Young, 1988). Spraying can act as a defensively aggressive behavior when it serves this purpose. Client often have trouble recognizing aggression within their feline household because they are only aware of overt forms of aggression. It will help them if you emphasize that cats are not small dogs: the most common form of aggression in cats is subtle, covert aggression that involves posturing on the part of the aggressor and deference on the part of the recipient of the aggression. Assertions that cats are not social have interfered with our ability to understand both these types of aggressions when they occur between cats and when they are directed by the cat to people (assertion or status-related aggression). Cats generally exhibit overt aggression when they perceive each other as equal rivals and neither cat defers to the other. This situation is more common in crowded situations like laboratory colonies, households with too many cats, or urban, stray groupings. Covert aggression is more likely to occur if cats know each other well, and if all cats involved either agree that they do not see each other as equals, or if some cat is not sufficiently confident to overtly challenge another cat. Spraying and non-spraying marking can play a role in both of these circumstances. Categorization of feline aggression is similar to that of canine aggression; differences in the manifestation of the aggressions may be attributable to differences in mating behaviors and differences in social hierarchies. Diagnoses of feline aggression that involve humans include: 1. - aggression due to lack of socialization 2. - play aggression 3. - fearful aggression 4. - pain aggression 5. - redirected aggression 6. - assertion or status-related aggression. These are the behavioral, functional, phenomenological classifications of aggression. It should be noted that cats, like dogs, can be aggressive because of or as a sequelae to underlying organic disease. Medical rule-outs for feline aggression include hepatoencephalopathy, feline ischemic encephalopathy, lead poisoning, hyperthyroidism, epilepsy, and rabies. To the extent that pain aggression is sometimes associated with illness, it should act as a flag for a possible underlying condition; however, in the sense that the term is used here, the aggression is the result of the pain, not of the underlying condition. 1. Aggression due to a lack of socialization: The effect of exposure during sensitive or developmental periods in young animals has been debated. In the 1950s Scott and Fuller investigated the role of developmental periods within the first few months of dogs' lives on their ability to develop appropriate social behaviors. While these periods, called "sensitive" periods by Bateson exist, they are best viewed in the context of risk assessment. Animals for whom all sensitive period requirements were met can still have problems, and animals who missed socialization for the relevant periods can do well; however, the risk of having problems attendant with the respective socialization or sensitive period increases if exposure during the that period is missed. For example, cats who have not had contact with humans prior to 3 months of age have missed sensitive periods important for the development of normal approach responses to people. Karsh and Karsh and Turner (1988) examined the extent to which the social environment experienced by cats affected their ability to interact with people. Among their findings, which are more fully discussed in the chapter on normal cat behavior, were that cats that were not handled until 14 weeks of age, were fearful and aggressive to people, regardless of the circumstances. These cats would not volitionally approach humans, and were aggressive if they could not escape. In contrast, cats handled for as little as 5 minutes per day from the day they were born until they were 7 weeks of age were quicker to approach and solicit people for interaction and gentle play, were quicker to approach inanimate objects, and were quicker to play with toys. This suggests that there are complex, far-reaching consequences of early interaction with people. Lack of such social interaction with other cats may result in the same lack of normal inquisitive response to other cats. This negative response can be augmented by sub-optimal nutritional conditions for the pregnant queen. Kittens born to such queens generally have a delayed developmental skills in addition decreased ability to learn, and increased (and usually inappropriate) reactivity to novel situations and stimuli, and an inappropriate response to other cats (this is more fully discussed in the chapter on normal feline behavior). The chance of such cats responding normally to most situations involving any interaction is diminishingly small. Furthermore, total isolation from cats can have negative consequences for future interaction with humans. This constellation of deprivation scenarios may be contributory to many of the aggressions seen in urban, feral cats. These cats will never be normal, cuddly pets, although they may attach to one person or a small group of people over a period of time. If forced into a situation involving restraint, confinement, or intimate contact, these animals may become extremely aggressive. 2. Play aggression: Cats who were weaned early and then hand raised by humans may never have learned to temper their play responses. Social play in cats peaks early and is replaced by more predatory activities by weeks 10-12 and by social fighting by week 14. Cats who, as kittens, never learned to modulate their responses may play too aggressively with owners. These cats may not have learned to sheathe their claws or inhibit their bite. 7/27 cats studied by Chapman and Voith (1990) were diagnosed with play aggression. The frequency of this aggression is likely to be directly related to the demographic environment of the cat community - urban practices may have more cats with a history consistent with the development of play aggression. It is not clear if there is a component of oral response associated with an owner who bottle fed the cat. Were the kitten to nurse too hard on the mother or hurt her in play, the mother would have swiftly corrected the kitten. This appears to be less common among owners playing the nursing role, possibly because they are concerned about injuring the kitten. This is a valid concern; however, if they mimic feline behaviors such as neck bites an growls or hisses, the kitten learns to respond and inappropriate play behavior and play aggression may not develop. Should these problems still ensue, they are treatable using behavior modification that interrupts the inappropriate behavior and replaces it with a more appropriate one. For example, the kitten that is playing roughly can be blasted with a water pistol or a compressed air canister at close range to startle it; this is most effective if the startle occurs as the cat is commencing the inappropriate behavior. Then, when the cat seeks out the owner's company, the owner can strike, massage, and provide the cat with food treats whenever it is acting calm. Owners must be vigilant for the first signs of any inappropriate behavior (pupils dilating, claws unsheathed, ears back, legs and shoulders stiffening, tail twitching) and correct the cat using a correction designed to startle as early in the sequence as possible. The startle technique, whether tapping on the nose, blowing in the face or using a water pistol or air canister, should be humane: this means that the lowest level of stimulus that gets the desired effect of aborting the behavior and moving on to another is the one that should be used. 3. Fearful, fear, or fear-induced aggression: Fearfully aggressive cats will hiss, spit, arch their backs, and piloerect, if flight is not possible. Flight, a defensive activity, is virtually always a component of fearful aggression in cats. As they are pursued with increasingly less escape space, cats will draw their head in, crouch, growl, roll on their back if approached (this is NOT a "submissive" behavior in cats - it is an overt, defensive behavior), and paw at the approacher. If the approacher continues his or her pursuit, the fearfully aggressive cat will try to strike at him or her, and follow this with holding the approacher, using the forepaws, while kicking with the pack feet and biting around the neck. Most people who have seen or experienced rough play from cats are also familiar with this sequence of behaviors. When fearful aggression involves other cats, the cats that are fearfully aggressive generally do not seek out the other cat for aggressive interactions. Fearful aggression usually involves a combination of offensive and defensive postures and overt and covert aggressive behaviors (Leyhausen, 1979). There are genetically friendly cats and genetically shy cats. It is unclear the extent to which shy cats have the potential to become fearfully aggressive, but there are cats who, despite the best socialization possible, become aggressive whenever fearful. These cats also may become fearful without an apparent stimulus. Regardless, if threatened, any cat will defend itself. Depending on the outcome of the treat, the cat can learn to become fearfully aggressive. This is particularly important if small children are involved, since they may not know how to appropriately respond to a cat that is crouching. Any animal that is cornered and cannot escape has the potential to attack. It is imperative that the cat not learn that his or her only recourse is aggression since this could lead to them becoming aggressive in response to any approach. Behavior modification can be very effective early in the development of the condition. Pharmacological intervention can be a useful adjuvant. It is not clear if any intervention can be successful if the condition is genetic. 4. Pain aggression: As is true for dogs, cats that are painful, either because of an injury or as a sequelae to an underlying medical condition, can be painful upon manipulation. Practitioners can often induce this type of aggression in injured or arthritic and dysplastic cats. It can often become fearful aggression if it is result of long-term painful treatment. It is a defensive aggression, and will respond to measures that alleviate the pain, and minimize the potential to be exposed to it. Companion animal analgesia is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Appropriate use of such analgesia can minimize painful aggression in any animal. Cats who have gotten their tails caught in doors are often very aggressive whenever anyone attempt to touch their tail. Some of this could be fear, but even when restrained they appear to become aggressive during manipulation. It is possible that they have some long-standing damage that is not apparent in medical and neurological work-ups. Behavior modification designed to teach them to relax and tolerate touching can be useful, as can anti-anxiety medication. The same phenomenon is infrequently reported for cats that have undergone declaw and who now will not use their feet. When their feet are manipulated these cats are, apparently, painfully aggressive. Full work-ups, including radiography, usually reveal no detectable abnormality, leading to discussions of "phantom" pain. Pain is a complex issue and probably under-appreciated in such circumstances. These cats also often respond well to behavior modification designed to teach them to relax and to anti-anxiety medication. If there has been no painful medical intervention and the cat appears to exhibit this behavior, consider abuse. Cats, particularly strays, are good victims for torture, and may represent the first sign that untoward events are occurring in a household where there are children. The role of pain aggression in cat-cat interactions has been under-explored, but, especially when cats are mismatched by size, health status, or temperament, is probably not a trivial problem. This would be particularly true for cats that have already been in fights and may have painful abscesses - any physical contact by another cat may cause them to react defensively in an aggressive manner. 5. Redirected aggression: Redirected aggression is seen in felines, as well as in canines; however, it can be difficult to recognize and may only be reported as incidental to another form of aggression. In redirected aggression, any interruption of an aggressive event between two parties by a third party results in redirection of the aggressive behavior to the third party or to another, uninvolved individual. It is important to realize that the interrupted aggressive event may only be a threat, so that the person (or animal) interrupting it may not realize what is occurring. Cats appear to remain reactive for an extended period of time after being thwarted in an aggressive interaction. Clients need to realize this and to be aware of the subtleties of their behavior that communicate their intent. Since redirected aggression is often precipitated by another inappropriate behavior, it is important to treat that behavior, as well. Treatment involves standard behavior modification techniques. If there is a socially mediated conflict within the household cats, some environmental modification may be necessary to decrease the extent to which the involved cats are capable of interacting. Owners should be encouraged to use inanimate objects (battery operated water pistols, buckets of water, foghorns, et cetera) to intervene between fighting animals. This minimizes danger to the owners and may have the benefit of aborting the behavior while teaching the cat that there are consistent, undesirable consequences to its inappropriate behavior. 6. Assertion or status-related aggression: Assertion or status aggression has been described as the 'leave me alone bite' and most frequently occurs when being petted. The most similar situation in canines is impulse control aggression; however, the divergent evolutionary history of canine and feline social systems argues that these are not homologous situations. These cats share with dogs with similar problems the need for control of the situation. Nothing the owner did provoked the cat; rather the cat demonstrates a desire or need to control when the attention starts and when it ceases. Some cats do this by biting and leaving, while the occasional cat with take the owners's hand with its teeth, but not bite. Fortunately, owners can be taught observe signs of impending aggression (tail flicking, ears flat, pupils, dilated, head hunched, claws possibly unsheathed, stillness or tenseness, low growl) and interrupt the behavior at the first sign of any of these by standing up and letting the cat fall from their lap or abandoning the cat and refusing to interact until the cat is exhibiting an appropriate behavior. Clients should be discouraged from direct physical correction of the cat, since the cat may view that as a challenge and intensify its aggression. If the cat does not respond to passive control or redirects its aggression, it is safer to counter the behavior with a fog horn or a battery operated water pistol. Corrections must occur within the first 30-60 seconds of the onset of the inappropriate behavior to insure learning; corrections within the first second are best. Clients having such cats should be aware that their cats are never going to be hugely cuddly, although, if the client can refrain from petting them, they may be willing to sit quietly on the owner's lap for extended periods. A few words on intercat aggression: Intercat aggression is common between toms. In most wild, feline social systems, few males mate with most of the females. The skewed sex ratio in the breeding population is induced and maintained by vigilance and aggression on the part of the males. There is an additional olfactory component of spraying and non-spraying marking that contribute to the rank aggression. The aggression is classic and involves flattened ears, howling, hissing, piloerection, threats using eyes, teeth, and claws an combat. Early neutering (prior to 12 months of age) decreases or prevents fighting by 90%. It is not clear if very early spaying and neutering programs would further reduce this, but given the hormonal facilitation of the aggression one would hypothesize that this would be the case. Intercat aggression is more commonly based on conflicts within social hierarchies than it is with sex. Cats begin to become socially mature some where between 2 and 4 years of age. At this time, some cats may begin to challenge others. Problems arise when one cat will not accept lack of engagement by another cat. Responses include passive aggression (staring and posturing), active aggression, and marking. Cats that consider themselves as more equal are less likely to participate in overt aggression - expect covert aggression. Intercat aggression is extremely complex, often subtle, and under-appreciated. Elimination disorders, stress, and environmental enrichment: The social system and extent to which olfactory communication factors into it, may create some potential conflict when cats have little control over their social and physical environments. In free-ranging situations, most of the cats with whom domestic cats associated are known to them, raised with them, may be more related to them than is true for the average cat household, and, when unrelated, may become more known to them over a longer time than is true when additional cats are introduced into standard pet households. Also, behaviors that free-ranging domestic cats exhibit (e.g., spraying on frequently used trails, scratching within home ranges, et cetera) may not be tolerated within the enclosure of a home environment. Because of differences in our historic and evolutionary relationships with dogs and cats, we have to remember that humans never exerted any selection on cats to shape behavior. This contrasts dramatically with out relationship with dogs where virtually all of our selection was on and for specific behaviors or suites of behaviors. It's important to repeat and remember that the story of our relationships with cats was a fortuitous one associated with disease control. Our relationship with dogs was a deliberate one associated with almost identical social and signaling systems that allowed us to select behaviors and breeds on the basis of work. Given this, we should not be surprised that when cats are given less space and less freedom, events that we perceive as behavioral problems occur, and many of these involve olfaction. This is not to say that some cats are not truly "abnormal" and that no matter what the environment is, they will have problems. These cats exist, but the threshold for stress-related behavior problems should be different than that for dogs specifically because of our historic relationship with them, and the extent to which we have not selected for or modified their behavior over time. The most common ways that environmental stress or distress appears in cats is in elimination disorders. Feline elimination disorders: The most common feline behavioral problems involve inappropriate elimination behavior. This inappropriate behavior can take the following forms: substrate or location aversion, substrate preference for urination, defecation, or both, location preference for urination, defecation, or both, and spraying. This is one set of behavioral problems that requires a substantial medical work-up and rigorous follow-up. 1. Aversions to substrates or location can be difficult to distinguish from preferences, and invariably lead to the cat choosing another location or substrate for elimination. It may never be clear why the cat has developed an aversion to one location or one substrate; when this occurs it becomes apparent because of the cat's total avoidance of the offending area or surface. In cases involving aversions that have developed in response to an horrific experience, some owners have reported that the animal will hiss, growl, slink, or piloerect when found in proximity to the substrate or area. Declawing coupled with premature return to gravelly kitty litter has been implicated in the development of some aversions to substrate. For ultra fastidious cats, vomit or diarrhea, either their own, or a house mate's, may induce the same response. Location aversions are more often coupled to fearful or painful situations, such as injuries caused by doors or torment from another cat or a child. If a cat is absolutely avoiding a specific area or substrate for elimination, they will find another until they are presented with suitable options. This is discussed below in the specific preference categories. 2. Substrate preferences for elimination are extremely common, particularly among long haired cats. This means that the cat prefers some other substrate than its litter for elimination. Although the substrate preferred is usually softer (sheets, underwear, bath mats, plastic trash bags), this does not have to be so, and some cats prefer open, reflective areas such as linoleum, wood floors, tiles, and bathtubs. The ancestral and wild condition for elimination in felids resembles the latter. This problem can develop spontaneously or be induced. Many owners complain of the problem after an extended vacation where someone fed their cat, but would not change the litter. The cat is repulsed by the filthy litter, seeks another area from desperation, and discovers that it prefers this substrate. Illness can also be implicated in the development of a preference; a cat with cystitis or diarrhea may not be able to make it to the litter box and in the process of covering up the urine or feces on the carpet, discovers that it likes carpeting. Cats who a reintroduced to hard litter too soon after declaw frequently develop a substrate aversion and subsequently identify a new preference. Treatment involves environmental and behavioral modification and may require pharmacological intervention. First, a physical exam is essential. This must include a complete urinalysis or fecal, depending on the nature of the problem, and might include blood work. A large number of cats (estimates hover around 1/3) with substrate preferences who either do not respond, or start to respond to environmental and behavioral modification and then relapse have apparent or occult UTIs. If the fecal/UA is positive, treat and suggest environmental/behavioral modifications, also, since as a result of the illness the cat could have shifted his preference. 3. Location preferences require many of the same strategies as for substrate preferences, especially since many location preferences appear to be mixed substrate preferences. In a true location preference, the cat prefers one or a few areas for urination or defecation; none of these is generally its litter box. Cleaning and covering should be done as above. Then, a litter box with a litter the cat likes can be placed in the area. If the cat starts to use it, terrific. After a week or two the box can be slowly (1-2 inches per day) moved to a more appropriate area. The client should watch for relapses or sneaky elimination in new spots. If this doesn't work, the cat may respond to counter-conditioning: food dishes can be placed in the affected areas. Generally, cats will not eliminate where they are fed. Some will. If the number of locations is great, this will not work. If it is possible to rearrange the furniture so that the cat's favorite spot is covered, this should be done. Sometimes the cat shifts its spot; often this is suggestive of a mixed substrate preference. An in depth history of every area ever used for elimination is essential. Confinement and the protocol above should then be implemented. A note on cleaning: all layers must be cleaned. If the problem has been ongoing for some time the odor has soaked through the floor. In some cases floor boards need to be replaced, as does carpeting and padding. This is especially true if subfloors are involved. 4. Spraying can be done by male or female, intact or neutered animals. Clients often confuse spraying with urination. Encourage them to describe postures and note locations. If the cat is standing, wiggling its tail with a look of bliss on its face it is spraying. Sprayed urine hits vertical surfaces and drips down. Cats can also stand in the middle of a horizontal surface, such as a bed, a spray, in which case they will leave a long, thin wet area, rather than a puddle. Have clients crawl on their hands and knees over every inch of carpet; if there is urine in a puddle in the middle, but no where else, the cat is not spraying. Spraying can be triggered by hormones, in the affected cat or another in the household, by the addition of a new animal, by the visitation of a strange cat to windows or sliding glass doors, by partial obstructions, by seasonal changes, and by events only understood by cats. The above protocol for cleaning and litter box care should be followed. Many cats will spray against the inside of covered boxes. Regardless, the key to treating spraying is pharmacological. First, any underlying medical cause (FLUTD, cystitis, UTI, obstruction, anatomical abnormalities) must be ruled out. Should there be no apparent medical cause treatment can proceed with diazepam (1.0-3.0 mg per cat q 12-24 h.). Diazepam, when used correctly, will control spraying in 75-90% of all cats. Generally, cats for whom it is successful will stagger mildly, with impaired depth perception for a few days; staggering should resolve spontaneously by the end of the week. Some cats may need to be on diazepam for a few weeks, some seasonally, some forever. The lowest effective dose should be used. Some cats who do respond to diazepam require a benzodiazepine with a longer half-life. Clorazepate dipotassium (Tranxene SD) at 0.55-2.2 mg per kg prn can be used; however, if the cat did not respond to diazepam, it may not respond to this. A few cautionary notes regarding benzodiazepines. Clients should be cautioned that this is a humanly abusable drug. Clearly, some clients should not be given diazepam for their cat since it provides them with ready access to a controlled substance. While the cats do not get "hooked", a fear of many clients, blood work should be instituted on a regular basis to check for iatrogenic disturbances if the animal is on any drug for any length of time. There is some recent concern that the exceptional cat may develop hepatic failure when exposed to benzodiazepines. This needs to be more fully investigated and clients should be advised to watch for any signs of hepatopathy. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) act to inhibit serotonin re-uptake, and can be useful for some cats that spray, some who are averse to or anxious about their litter box, and cats who are experiencing anxiety about heir social situation. Drugs of choice include amitriptyline and its active intermediate metabolite, nortriptyline ( both at 0.5-1 mg/kg po q. 12-24 h). Clomipramine (Anafranil) (0.5 mg / kg po q. 24 h x 6-8 weeks to start) can be an excellent drug for spraying, and is more specific in its serotonin re-uptake properties, as can the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors including paroxetine (Paxil) and fluoxetine (Prozac) [both at 0.5 mg / kg po q. 24 h x 6-8 weeks to start). Buspirone (BuSpar) is a newer non-specific anxiolytic. In cases where benzodiazepines and, or progestins fail it has been successful in controlling spraying, even in cats for whom spraying is associated with intercat aggression. It appears to have comparable side effects of many anti-anxiety drugs and owners should be warned that potential side effects include inappetence, lethargy, and possible interference with thyroid medication. If the symptoms are not transient, the drug should be withdrawn. The dose is 2.5-5 mg per cat q. 8-12 h.. The rationale for trying this drug latter, rather than earlier includes its cost and the fact that we just don't know as much about it in small animals as we do the other drugs. This will change in the next few years and the cost is not prohibitive for an animal a small as a cat. The new treatment involving a synthetic analogue of feline cheek gland secretions (e.g, pheromones) (Feliway™; Abbott Laboratories) may show some promise for spraying that either has recently started and is related to the introduction of a new individual (human or animal), or to disruptions in the colony scent. No double-blind studies have been conducted, and the need for such studies is more critical in this situation than in those involving some oral medications because of the manner in which the pheromone is applied and the need for clients to be cautious in their interpretations. One study that has examined the use of Feliway for the treatment of spraying found that in many cases there was a statistically significant reduction in spraying, but few to no cats stopped spraying all together. That's to be expected if the problem is about anxiety and not about the actual pheromonal environment. In some cases the concomitant use of pheromonal agents and anti-anxiety medications may produce a quicker resolution than would be produced by either alone. The neurochemical mechanism by which such pheromonal sprays may work is unknown, but it might be worthwhile, given the data, to explore the extent to which pheromones can act as aerosolizable anxiolytics. Environmental enrichment: In part, because of the associations between elimination disorders and intercat aggression, a critical part of treatment should be to 'expand' and enrich the cats' environment. Even indoor cats can have their environment 'expanded' by adding 3-dimensional surfaces, interactive toys and scratching areas, and by the creating of food puzzles. Because cats will time- and space-share the extent to which the environment is made more complex is limited only by the client's imagination. Given that in a free ranging situation cats will use between 0.5 and 990 hectares in the course of normal social interactions, it is incumbent upon clients with indoor cats to insure that the cats have a similarly challenging home environment. Ladders, boxes, kitty condos, outdoor or window enclosures, and interactive food toys can also help. Because domestic cats are largely solitary hunters getting one or two small meals a day, our way of feeding cats is tremendously abnormal, and may be responsible for the obesity epidemic in household cats. Food puzzles can be very easily created using large trays and rocks or flower pots and hiding the food within them. If the food is kibble, it can be located in small piles in a variety of areas for which the cat must work to get it (e.g., in a flower pot on a windowsill, under a "toad hole" on an upper ladder or book case, et cetera). The only caveat for the latter is that the clients must remember when the food is so that they don't have a problem with rodents or freshness, and they must insure that caching food does not create a behavioral problem. References:
Real behavior mod Introduction Behavior modification is nothing more than the process of altering an animal's behavior. The classic client and veterinarian response to having "behavior mod" recommended as part of a treatment plan is to exclaim that they "don't have time for that". What is not understood here is that we engage in behavior modification either actively or passively every hour of the day and in everything we do. The basic tenets of behavior modification treatment are not complex, and are put into action whether or not we consciously acknowledge or recognize that this is so. Accordingly, clients are often unconsciously and accidentally employing principles associated with learning and behavior mod, and inadvertently doing an excellent job of reinforcing the behaviors about which they are most distressed!! Our focus should be to help clients understand that learning occurs all the time and that we can shape the direction, rate, and complexity of the learning process with conscious effort. This does not mean that the clients 'must' engage in complex active behavior mod. It does mean that they can use small, relatively passive techniques to effect huge changes. Clients' fears People are also afraid of the terms used in behavior mod: desensitization, counter-conditioning, conditioned stimulus, et cetera. These are jargon - anyone who is competent can teach clients to change their pets' behaviors without having to resort to these terms, and while implementing the concepts. The key to clear communication is to lose the jargon and concentrate on content. Potential problems The problem with changing any behavior is 2 fold: (1) inertia is a powerful force, and (2) breaking behaviors down into elements that require change and understanding how to change them can be difficult to do. This difficulty lies in understanding exactly what is called for in the behavior modification technique of choice and in the timing of the client's response to the dog's behavior and communicatory gestures. Before any client can change any animal's behavior - or their own - they MUST recognize (1) what normal signaling is (1), (2) what signals are associated with the problem they wish to change, and (3) what signals precede # 2. Although we ask clients to 'intervene' and - minimally - interrupt the behavior in step (3), intervention is deliberately left undefined. In any situation there are three environments available for intervention which can be potentially modified: the physical environment, the behavioral environment, and the pharmacological environment. These environments are not independent. The key to understanding how dogs learn is to appreciate the complexity of interaction between these environments, and the importance of factors affecting temporal and intensity changes and interactions within these environments. Keys to success Keys to successful implementation of behavior modification include the following (2): (1) The clients must cease their own exhibition of any behaviors or behavioral sequences that promote, trigger, cause, encourage, or correlate with any of the behaviors in the dog or cat that they wish to change. (2) The clients must commit to clear signaling and a humane and possible set of rules by which they can interact with the cat or dog. (3) The signals in (2) must have a canine or feline equivalent so that the dog or cat both can understand and have the mental space to understand what the client wants. For example, sitting in dogs and cats is a 'stop' behavior, and in dogs this is a deferential behavior that functionally passes the job of giving the next signal back to the individual who engendered the 'sit'. (4) The behavior mod - which is a true rule structure - should be sufficient either signal to the dog or cat what they can expect to happen next or to teach them that they can look to the client for all cues about the appropriateness of their behavior if they are concerned. (5) The reward structure - which is another rule structure - should be clearly defined and appropriately reinforced at all times. Clients need to understand at their gut level that we teach best by rewarding every instance of appropriate behavior and that we retain what we have learned best by rewarding intermittently. Clients also need to understand that intermittent is NOT synonymous with 'seldom". (6) Unless the client's intent is to teach the dog or cat to fear them, to teach the pet what will only engender dissatisfaction, or to confuse the pet, clients MUST stop all punishment, shrieking, yelling, throwing things, et cetera, no matter how good it feels to them. Important points about behavior mod that should go without saying, but don't The following important points regarding behavior modification exercises are those which are most frequently misunderstood by clients and vets, alike. 1. Behavior modification exercises are NOT, repeat NOT, obedience exercises. At the very outset clients should be disabused of the notion that this is fancy obedience. First, while sitting is part of obedience training, the goal of these programs is not just to have the dog sit, but to relax and be receptive to changing his or her behavior while doing so. It is critical that clients understand and appreciate this difference. Dogs that are stressed or anxious cannot successfully learn a more appropriate behavior and they certainly cannot associate that behavior with having fun or with good things happening. Second, if the client perceives that all we are doing is trying to teach the dog what he or she has already learned in training class they will not see the need to comply. If we offer nothing different, what is the point of behavior modification? It is the practitioner's job to teach the client that behavior modification is about changing the way the dog thinks about interactions by rewarding the physical cues associated with the underlying physiological state. Obedience training, while sharing many similarities with behavior modification, differs in the premise, interactive reward structure, goal, and outcome. Most of the dogs that undergo behavior modification have been through some form of training and most know how to sit. For a dog to do this successfully in a class (or even a show) situation, the dog does not have to be relaxed. For behavior mod to work as well as it can the dog MUST be relaxed. 2. Relaxation is key here - the sitting and staying is merely a facilitator for the relaxation response. There is no sense to having the dog sit and stay if it is panting, salivating, its pupils are dilated, its ears are back, and it is clearly distressed. What on earth is the dog learning? It's simple - the dog is learning to be more distressed - while sitting - and also teaching his- or herself to become refractory to complex learning because of arousal of the HPA-axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) (4, 5). This is why old-fashioned, out-moded, and simplistic 'sit-stay' programs so often fail: the dog sits, but is still distressed. 3. Clients will have trouble with appropriate timing of rewards and 'corrections'. 'Corrections' should be restricted to walking away from the dog or a quick, low vocal signal that the dog is behaving undesirably. The point of the 'correction' is to interrupt the dog - not to 'get even'. If clients are doing any more than this, they are at risk for potentially - albeit accidentally - exhibiting abusive behaviors that will make the dog worse. Dogs read non-vocal or body language far better than do most humans (6-8). It is easy for them to 'subvert' the exercise and shape the behavior of the client. Problem dogs have been doing this already, and such behaviors are NOT malicious. They ARE, however, behaviors that logically are exhibited by a confused, uncertain animal in an attempt to gain information about what can be expected - and what their response should be - within that context. Because clients so often attribute uncharitable 'motivations' to their pets someone from the outside of the relationship needs to be able to comment on timing problems and to instruct the clients when to change their posture, their tone, or their quickness of praise or reward. Most clients are quite good at learning to do this, but they need help. After the initial demonstration they may even need to be able to show you what they are doing to see if it is correct, or if you can make recommendations. This can be done in a quick 10-15 appointment (and support staff can be responsible for this), or the client can send a video, and an appointment - in person or by telephone - can be set for a critique. If the clients are not seeing an improvement, or are having an actual problem either:
3. The practitioner and, or the staff must work WITH the client. In the case of a very fearful or very aggressive dog the practitioner may not be able to demonstrate the exercises or fit a halter during the first visit. In such cases, after fully cautioning the client about possible risks, the practitioner can ask if the client feels comfortable attempting the first round of the behavior modification protocols while the practitioner talks them through it. For reasons of liability it is important to explain that this is not the desired technique; however, if the client cannot eventually work with the dog, or if the client is perpetually afraid of the dog, the situation will be hopeless. If the practitioner is able to work with the dog, they should do so both to teach the dog the appropriate behaviors and to demonstrate to the clients what is desired. Again, making a video that can be played back and critiqued after the session can help. When the dog works well with the practitioner, it is the client's turn.It is not sufficient to demonstrate the behavior modification without then giving the client the chance for emulation. It is of no use if the dog is perfect for the practitioner, but a horror for the client. -- the practitioner does not have to go home and live with the dog. The clients must be able to accomplish the suggested modification, hence it is inappropriate to just send them home with sheets of paper. If the client's dog cannot or will not work with the practitioner, the practitioner should have another dog available that can be used. This dog should be able to work with the client so that the client understands what an appropriate response is. Everyone who is serious about veterinary behavioral medicine should have a demo dog who will teach the clients and staff to hone their observational and functional skills. Alternatively, these tasks can be farmed out to someone more likely to have a good demo dog and who is uniquely equipped to teach the practical implementation of behavior modification: an Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) (www.apdt.com). 4. Finally, if there is the potential for a dangerous behavior that will need to be altered or avoided, it would be optimal if the client doesn't discover this when there is no one to help them. A run-through of the program will minimize, but not ablate, this chance. A few words about rewards: Most commonly used behavior modification programs employ praise and food treats or other rewards. The higher the quality of the treat the better the dog's response. A dog who might work for American cheese while on the property, might need dried liver when out in traffic. No one goes to hell for using food treats, but to hear people's reactions, you'd be certain this was the case. The approach to behavior modification discussed here does not use hand signals or clickers. Clickers are unforgiving with respect to timing, and to ask a client to read a problem pet's signals, monitor them constantly, teach them to sit and relax, and incorporate the clicker system of secondary reinforcement into behavior mod, is not kind to the clients, and can further confuse the dog. Hand signals are commonly used in obedience and can be useful for dogs and clients, but behavioral patients need every bit of help that they can get. Hand signals, here, will be a needless distraction. Once the dogs master the programs, they will have no problems coupling the learned vocal cues to visual ones. Until then, these dogs should work in calm, quiet circumstances, without distraction, for vocal cues, and a consistent reward structure. Dogs can learn all the words for the 'commands', signals, or requests that they will need for these programs. Most importantly, hand signals at this stage will only ask the dog to distract their attention from the behavior modification process, and, for very aggressive dogs, such signals will put the person using them at risk. Without exception, dangling body parts in front of an aggressive dog is not recommended, and will make the animal more anxious. In a worst-case scenario, hand signals can be seen by the dog as threats. Tips for incorporating behavior mod into everyday life for ALL of your clients: (1) Don't single out only your problem patients for behavior mod. Wouldn't ALL of them benefit from learning to be calm as a way of seeking information from you or the client? (2) Cats should learn behavior mod, too. (3) At every single visit, teach the pet something behavioral. This is simple: ask them to sit, cock their head, and look at you for a food treat. Voila! Magic! (4) Practice 3. (5) Have the clients practice 3 with all of their dogs and cats: if any pet wants love, food, affection, water, grooming, to play fetch, to get into the car, et cetera - encourage them to sit and look at you or the clients first. In turn you - and the client - must be quiet and look at the pet. Acknowledge the signaling relationship and be clear (this works for spouses and kids, too). Then give the pet access to that which they requested. (6) Every member of your staff should already be practicing 3. If they are not doing so, why not? (7) Fit all pets with head collars and harnesses. Stock and sell these AND the know-how that goes with using them. Throw out: chain leashes, choke chains, prong collars, slip collars, et cetera. (8) Teach clients how to pet their dogs and cats. It's so simple it will just plumb elude them. Ask them what they want: a jazzed, reactive pet, or a calm one.......logic will carry them from here. (9) Reward spontaneously wonderful behaviors and teach your clients to do so by example. [Thanks for paying attention to these notes!] (10) Encourage gentle walking on a leash by engaging the pet in conversation....encourage your clients to avoid learning that which must be unlearned later (for them and the pet). This translates to the over-used concept of preventing - not treating - problems. While a bit overused, the concept is valid: all management related problems can be prevented by telling the animal what you want in advance and encouraging those favored behaviors. (11) Be reliable, signal clearly, be compassionate and humane, and let your patients make you a better person. Then pass it on to the clients. Dogs and cats are highly cognitive animals (9,10). If you realize this and incorporate behavior modification designed to take advantage of their cognitive skills at each and every routine appointment, you may have no real behavior cases in your practice. References:
Understanding normal feline behavior Feline social systems: The story of domestication of dogs is work, service, and vanity. The story of domestication in cats is about disease control and predation on rodent vectors. Accordingly, cats may be "more ancestral" in their behaviors than are dogs, since we did nothing to alter them: the behaviors they already had were the behaviors that we wanted. It shouldn't be surprising that given this, and the fact that most cats are "obligate carnivores", we live with the smallest of the cats - the range in the wild, unlike that for dogs, is huge. This pattern reversal should not be surprising. In dogs, we specifically derived and enhanced behaviors that were appropriate for certain tasks. Feline social systems, regardless of the feline discussed, are based on female (matriarchal) family packs in large cats and solo, paired, or extended families of cats in smaller cats. In both wild and domestic cats there lone bachelor males or male groups are not uncommon at social maturity (~2-4 years) and there tends to be one primary male within breeding group, if the group is small. In larger groups there may be more breeding males, but there is still a skewed sex ratio with females greatly outnumbering males. New DNA research produced by groups like Sharon Crowell-Davis's at Georgia suggest that there is actually quite a bit of sneaky copulation ongoing, but that because so many of the males are related, there may be little genetic "cost" to this. Because of the skewed sex ratio and the matrilineal system there are frequent copulations in a short period, many males may have a short tenure, and there is the potential for demographically structured infanticide. The latter is true because cats are induced ovulators and killing the kittens of a nursing queen can cause the question to re-enter estrus and be mated by the new male. Finally, there is communal care, females may be the primary hunters, and since cats are sexually mature by 6 months of age females can be polyestrous within the same year, given resource conditions. It's important to realize another correlate of "domesticating" an animal from progenitors designed to hunt vectors for disease. Most small cats do not have to work co-operatively to hunt; they can make a good meal from animals caught alone. Large cats and most canids need to hunt co-operatively because, if available, they target animal that are large and cache food. Such strategies require co-operative hunting. These differences have far reaching consequences on social behaviors and structures. They also have profound influences on modes of communication for and between animals not within their social group. It is in this context that marking behaviors become so critical. We should now be able to see why so much feline marking may be undesirable, but normal. Cats are also subject to the concept of developmental periods that are best viewed in the context of "risk assessment and reduction of cost of error", as described above. The appropriate periods for cats follow.
The concept of a critical period with respect to social development was modified by Bateson in 1979 when he described a "sensitive" period: a sensitive period represents an age-range during which particular events are especially likely to have long-term effects on individual development [1]. This concept is particularly relevant for developing parts of the nervous system (i.e., the visual cortex) that rely on stimuli to direct their development. Experiments designed to test whether there are sensitive periods in the development of the visual cortex elucidated that exposure to contours of only one orientation can have long-term effects on the propensity of the visual system [2]. While the concept of a sensitive period when applied to the ontogeny of neural development can be useful, it has been grossly misapplied when discussing the development of kitten and puppy behavior. This concept has been transferred, almost without critical thought, to be synonymous with a socialization period. It is perhaps most valuable to use the concept of a sensitive period in terms of risk assessment. Animals are not behaviorally or developmentally able to respond to all stimuli when they are born. They can begin to respond to certain stimuli within certain broad time periods. There is a considerable amount of variability in behavior both within and between litters. Missing the appropriate stimuli (those to which the individual is now capable of responding) during these periods certainly does not guarantee a "poorly socialized" animal; however, the risk of inappropriate contextual responses increases with increased deprivation. Animals should be exposed to all relevant social stimuli early and in a non-traumatic manner. When the individual is developmentally ready to learn from the stimulus, they will, so it is important that it be present. No harm will be done by the presence of any stimulus (i.e., other cats, humans) prior to the time that the animal is best able to attend to it, as long as no undue trauma or fear is involved. Animals experiencing all of the appropriate "socialization" can still have behavioral problems. Although sensitive periods have been less emphasized in the importance of the development of good pet cat behavior than have sensitive periods in the importance of good pet dog behavior, feline sensitive periods may be shorter, more discreet, and more frequently legitimately implicated in the development of behavioral problems such as play aggression, inappropriate play behavior, and fear aggression. The best experiments designed to delineate "sensitive periods" and to define the specific behavioral changes that can occur within the time frames outlined above, have been executed by Karsh and her colleagues [3-5]. Kittens who were handled by people for only fifteen minutes a day from birth through 12-14 weeks of age spent more time exploring the person, giving head rubs, and would leave and return several times. Home-reared litters that were held one to two hours a day, if brought to the lab, would go directly to a person and climb onto their lap and purring, go to sleep. These behaviors were not seen in the lab kittens, although lab kittens certainly were not fearful of people. The home-reared kittens were handled four to eight time longer than were the lab kittens, but they were also exposed to a more varied and unpredictable environment than were the lab kittens. It would be inappropriate to overinterpret these results, but it would probably be fair to say that the earlier the kittens are handled and the more they are handled, the more friendly they are likely to be. There are a series of experiments that show how tricky the assessment of roles for social stimulation can be [3-5]. In the first experiment, cats were kept in maternity cages and divided into two groups. In Group 1, the kittens were petted for 15 minutes a day from 3-14 weeks of age. The kittens in Group 2 were also petted for 15 minutes a day, but were petted from 7-14 weeks of age. The control group (Group 3) experienced no handling at all for the entire period, from 3-14 weeks of age. Cats were evaluated starting at 14 weeks of age and remeasured every 2-4 weeks until they were 1 year of age. The results indicated that early-handled cats stayed twice as long as the non-handled cats (41 seconds versus 15 seconds; p ? 0.001) and longer than the late-handled cats (24 seconds; p ? 0.025). The results for the latency of approach indicated that early-handled cats would approach within 11 seconds, whereas non-handled cats approached within 39 seconds (p ? 0.025). There was no statistically significant difference between the late-handled and the non-handled cats in terms of latency of approach (42 seconds versus 39 seconds). A larger study would be required to determine whether the direction of the difference (late-handled have a longer latency than non-handled) is real and indicative of age-dependent learning about avoidance. The results of experiment 2, below, suggest that, regardless, if the effect is real, it is not insurmountable (Table 2). Table 2. Effects of handling on staying and approach latency for cats handled 15 min/day [5].
(a,b,c)Pairwise comparisons that are statistically significant at the 0.05 level or better. In a follow-up experiment [5], the same design was used, but the exposure time per day was increased to 40 minutes from 15. In this case, the cats were still handled from 3-14 weeks of age (Group 1), but they allowed themselves to be held for 77 seconds compared with 41 seconds when they were only handled for 15 minutes a day in experiment 1. Those cats handled from 7-14 weeks of age (Group 2) allowed themselves to be handled for 70 seconds as opposed to 15 seconds when they were only handled 15 minutes a day (Table 3). It appears that increasing the amount of time is most critical if one is going to start to handle a cat between 7 and 14 weeks of age since the magnitude of the change is greatest here. Table 3. Effects of handling on staying and approach latency for cats handled 40 min/day [5]
Again, the same pattern is apparent for the cats handled between 3-14 weeks of age in terms of latency. These cats experienced a latency of approach of only 9 seconds as opposed to 11 seconds for the same age group of cats, but who were held for only fifteen minutes in experiment 1 instead of 40 as in this experiment. This is not a statistically significant difference. Cats handled from 7-14 weeks of age, who were only handled for 15 minutes a day in Experiment 1, had a latency of approach of 42 seconds. In this experiment we see again the magnification effect of more time spent handling these kittens at slightly later ages: these cats now have a latency of 13 seconds, which is statistically indistinguishable from that of the very early handled cats. In addition, both of the age groups (those handled from 3-14 weeks of age and those handled from 7-14 weeks of age) spent approximately the same amount of time (1.5 minutes) with a foreign individual. The results of the second experiment augment the effects of the first that early handling is important, and indicate that increasing the amount of time has the greatest effect for the slightly older and more coordinated kitten. In the final experiment discussed here [5], the kittens were handled for 4-week periods. Kittens were divided into four groups representing cats that were handled from weeks 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, and 4-8. In this experiment, cats were only handled for these discreet periods and not through week 14. In this experiment, the mean holding scores of cats handled from 2-6 weeks of age and 3-7 weeks of age were significantly greater than those for cats handled 1-5 weeks of age and 4-8 weeks of age (Table 4). There are no statistically significant differences between the handling scores for weeks 2-6 and 3-7, or for handling scores for weeks 1-5 and 4-8, but the handling scores for the former versus the latter groups are statistically significantly different from each other. Table 4. Mean holding scores (duration of stay) in seconds of kittens in certain age groups [5].
(Seconds rounded to nearest integer.) These differences were exaggerated for cats classified as non-timid cats, with the same statistical patterns being apparent [6]. For cats classified as genetically timid or unfriendly, two major results become apparent. First, while the general pattern of the changes is similar to that for both the non-timid cats and the group composed of all cats lumped, there are no statistically significant differences for the handling scores between any of the four periods. In part, this is because the sample sizes are quite small. Regardless, the second result indicates that, even were the curve not relatively flat, the magnitude of the differences in handling scores for any of the periods, when one compares the timid cats to either of the other cats for those periods, is huge. This is probably an indication of a gene ? environment effect. This strongly suggests that not only should cats be handled early and often, but that if the cat is genetically predisposed to being timid or less friendly, handling may modulate their behavior to some extent, but that these cats are never going to respond to the same extent that non-timid cats will. This finding has profound implications for people wishing to choose cats as excellent pets. Signaling: Feline tail postures (Adapted from Bradshaw, 1992).
Interpretation of feline vocalizations from Moelk (1944) and McKinley (1982).
References:
Appendix: Survey questionnaire about general feline behaviors - to be used at all visits:
Understanding normal dog behavior The uniting feature that connects all social vertebrates is the extent to which they signal non-verbally. Communication involving ritualized displays or graded signals is used to confirm or reject information received from others in social interactions, to indicate species, sex, and sexual receptivity, to signal about issues pertaining to status, and to otherwise negotiate all social interactions. As such, communication can involve such instantaneous behaviors as tactile and visual displays. These are relatively "short-distance" signals. Vocal communication is also instantaneous, but may reach over longer distances. Verbal communication is only one variety of vocal communication, and both of these may pale when the full story of olfactory communication is written. Certainly, olfactory and pheromonal signals provide information that can be assessed over distances and across time. When assessing any communicatory structure it is important to realize that signaling involves a set of rules that will be shaped by the evolutionary history of the species. The story of canine domestication is the story of work and work-related tasks. The story of feline domestication is the story of rodent and vector borne diseases and their prevention. These 2 divergent paths to domestic life-styles have been shaped by, and in turn have continued to shape factors like reproductive schedules, fecundity, age at first reproduction, age at sexual and social maturity, composition of family or group units, and social interactions within these units. To understand such behaviors it is critical to understand the component signals as they are used to communicate with conspecifics. The following tables provide an introduction to this topic. CANINE SIGNALS
A comment on early intervention and prevention of behavior problems: routine screening for behavioral problems: Most veterinarians obtain a routine history about physical complaints and concerns when they examine any dog or cat regardless of whether that pet is newly adopted or has been a beloved family member for a decade. We are all getting better about screening for geriatric health problems as we learn more about keeping pets happy and healthy for longer times. But the single biggest "health" problem faced by pet dogs and cats is still associated with behavioral pathologies or unmet behavioral expectations. Modern veterinary care should include routine screening about specific behavioral complaints in addition to routine questions that alert veterinarians to potential somatic medical problems. If we can ask "Any vomiting, diarrhea, changes in appetite?", we can also ask "Any inappropriate or undesirable chewing, any growling, any odd behaviors?". If we do this we accomplish the following goals: (1) We initiate a dialog with the clients about behavior. This lets them know that not only is behavior important, but it is central to good veterinary care. Clients will then feel comfortable asking their veterinarian about behavioral issues. Such dialog represents our best chance for learning of a client's behavioral concerns before these concerns threaten the pet's life. (2) We establish a baseline of the particular pet's behaviors. Such a behavioral profile will allow us learn "normal" for that pet so that we have a context in which to evaluate behavioral change or client complaints about behavior. This is exactly what we are doing when we recommend routine laboratory evaluation for healthy pets … if we never knew when the pet last had a creatinine within the reference range it is difficult to know how long the creatinine has been elevated. Length of dysfunction - whether the dysfunction involves a "medical" or a "behavioral" complaint - can affect prognosis, and the extent to which this is true in behavioral medicine is profound. Basic questionnaires for dogs that can be completed at each visit are attached below (From: K.L. Overall, Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Mosby, St. Louis, 1997; revised for 2nd Edition, 12/00 & Overall, K.L. Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Elsevier, St. Louis, 2006.). The questionnaire below is a survey questionnaire that can be used at any and all visits to check if the clients have any questions or complaints. You have to remember that the clients might not even know that they have questions or complaints because they do not know what "normal" is. Also, if anything, myths about breeds, behavior, nature, and nurture are far more insidious in the client community than in the veterinary community. This questionnaire, when used at each visit, together with the other more detailed and specific tools found in the references, above, will tell you if further information is necessary and hint at some of the underlying factors contributing to the problems. Finally, it's important to remember that the clients may not know what normal behavior is, or that they may be uncomfortable with a behavior, but not know how to ask if it is abnormal. These questionnaires will give clients the vocabulary and opportunity to discuss their pet's behaviors with their veterinarian in an efficient, consistent, and meaningful way. (1) Survey questionnaire about general canine behaviors:
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