All About Cats

By Bill Ignacio, DVM

I don’t think I’ve yet come across a cat that hasn’t definitively let me know just what kind of personality I was up against. There are three basic feline personality types I’ll meet on any given day in practice: the extroverted social butterfly, the shy kitty, and Satan incarnate. Which of these behaviors are innate, and which are a result of environment? I’ve found that it’s certainly a mixture. But it does seem that once a cat has chosen a persona, our only option is to get used to it. While I believe any dog with patient and consistent guardians can adjust his or her temperament, a leopard’s spots don’t change as easily.

As I’ve said before, anyone who claims to understand what happens between a cat’s ears is probably selling something you don’t need. By the very nature of their independence, cats are unpredictable and inconsistent. But this mystique is what endears the species to us—we can surely see a lot of ourselves in them, can’t we? While setting out to “change a cat” is usually a doomed venture, there certainly are key areas where we can influence a cat’s behavior and development. A little overview of what we know is important to a cat may help. At the very least, we may be able to avoid environmental pressures that can create an unruly feline.

Cats are by nature solitary animals. Just like their full-sized cousins, the domestic cat has very little use for companionship outside of procreation and, in some cases, group hunting. Close association with humans over the last eight thousand to ten thousand years has affected this very little. Seriously, if you didn’t show up twice a day shaking a bag of kibble, would Mr. Kitty really suck up to you so much? It therefore shouldn’t be a surprise that multicat households can be a venue for constant turf wars. Cats have very little use for one another, and yet do have an instinctive drive to protect their own territory. In fact, the more cats I meet, the more surprised I am that so many can coexist under good terms! Remembering that the image of domestic tranquility we associate with cats is an anthropomorphic projection is vital.

Sticking with the evolutionary line, diet can have a huge impact on a cat’s behavior. Cats are carnivores. I repeat, carnivores . They eat meat. They lack the required enzymes to digest carbohydrates. Leading dietary research shows that cats will eat until their brains give them the message that they’ve had enough protein. That’s why lions, who eat high-protein diets, only need to eat every few days. A client once showed me a video of her cat eating raw broccoli. Man, I felt sorry for that hungry, hungry cat. But, time-out—I’m not giving you permission to leave a rump roast on the counter once a week. Indoor cats, all things considered, can have life spans four to five times those of wild cats. A pure protein diet is sure to create a cat with irreparable kidney damage and can easily shorten life by a decade. The point is, there’s no one diet that’s perfect for all cats, and your veterinarian is really the person to ask. From a behavior standpoint, animals who are highly motivated by food can be aggressive to other cats and to people when they’re hungry. And, we’re finding that traditional weight-loss diets (high in indigestible carbohydrates to make a cat feel full) aren’t working the way we’d like. They can exacerbate these temperamental stresses. A tip: canned diets are relatively higher in protein when compared with dry, and may assuage a cat’s hunger with lower calorie intake. Again, talk to your vet; he or she knows your cat best.

Ever smelled cat pee on your couch? Kind of makes Days of our Lives less dramatic. Inappropriate elimination is the number-one complaint of owners who surrender their cats to shelters or rescue groups. Surprisingly, medical causes account for fewer than half these issues. The rest are nearly all the same scenario: multicat households with inadequate space for everyone, insufficient number or unhygienic litter boxes, or stress related to food availability. And it’s not only in the litter box that these cats are unhappy. We all notice the “Tootsie Roll” we may find on our pillow when we get home, but we may not notice that we really aren’t getting much snuggle-time with our cats. Behavioral marking is the sign of an unhappy household, and unhappy cats.

So, putting it all together, we can get a better idea of how to promote feline harmony in the home. It’s great when cats do get along—they can make a house so much more complete and entertaining. Usually, the secret is introducing cats at a young age. Kittens are much more pliable and can bond with other cats for life. Even a mature cat is more likely to be accepting of a new kitten than of another adult feline. Be smart about space; we’d all love to shelter as many homeless cats as we can, but there is a point at which we’re not doing them any favors. Feed cats meals at set times; I recommend twice daily. It helps with behavioral training patterns. Having trouble regulating who gets what, and how much? Feed cats in separate rooms—I have to do it! Clean litter boxes daily, and be sure that multiple cats have multiple options. Problems can be difficult to correct once they’re established behaviors. Don’t skip yearly veterinary exams—behavioral changes can signal pain or medical disease. And you know what? When all else fails, Prozac can be a cat’s best friend!

Whew! Who said cats are low maintenance? But you’ll probably agree that all this is common sense. It’s little things you can do to ensure that you’re happy, your cat is happy, and that your veterinarian gets to keep all his fingers.