Cats make great pets for so many reasons.
They are small in size and don’t occupy a lot of room. They
preferentially use a litter box so don’t have to be walked.
They can often be left at home alone for the day without getting
lonely. Sometimes, they even enjoy the occasional cuddle in bed at
night. What’s not to love?
Ever since their domestication by the ancient Egyptians,
feline companions have been an important element in our societies.
Their peculiar behaviour, so different from dogs, has been a subject
of interest for many. By observing their feral counterparts, it may
be possible to deduce just why cats act the way they do.
By nature, domestic cats are considered to be asocial
animals, in comparison to dogs which are social creatures. Due
to unselective breeding, their behaviour has been inherited from
their feral ancestors, and is still observed today in “wild” felids
of all sorts. Asocial animals (not to confused with antisocial)
live mostly solitary lives, but come together in groups for two reasons:
breeding and raising their young. This can be contrasted with
antisocial animals which are solitary, aggressive when mating, and
spend a very short period of time raising their young.
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Because
cats are asocial, there is no hierarchy and fights are therefore
common. The results of these conflicts are often not
predictable. As a result, communication is important
between cats to avoid interaction with each other, thereby
reducing the number of fights.
The feline social system is actually quite flexible, ranging
from solitary individuals to large colonies. At which
end of the spectrum a cat will sit depends highly on the
resources in the area, including food, shelter, and breeding
females available. Cats that hunt for their food often
live alone because of the small portions of their prey (for
example, mice). However, those that have a constant
source of food, such as those that are fed by humans, often
live in groups.
In general, a solitary cat has a home range consisting of
favorite spots and regularly traveled paths. Home
ranges may overlap between neighbouring cats. On the
other hand, an individual’s territory is usually smaller
than the home range (or often the same size in the case of
house cats), and this is an area that is actively defended.
Cats can also be found living in colonies, an example
readily seen in barn cats. In these cases individuals
adapt to living with each other and generally act indifferently
towards each other. Colonies can consist of a group
of related females, in which case they may form a closer
social relationship. There may also be one dominant
male in the area. After they are weaned, young male
kittens go off on their own to settle in an area not occupied
by a dominant male. Female littermates, however, stay
nearby, and are more likely to form social bonds with each
other than if a stranger were introduced to the colony.
In the household, domestic cats act similar to their feral
counterparts. Though asocial by nature, they can adapt
to living in groups. Often to resolve conflicts, a
threat is made by one individual and met with a withdrawal
by the other. The house is often divided into zones (“home
ranges”), which is why the addition of a new cat or
removal of a resident can be disruptive to the established
social environment. Intact male cats are often aggressive
towards each other and castration is usually necessary before
two males can live with relative ease in the same household.
The big question is then, that if cats are loners, why
are they social towards humans? The current theory
is that while dogs view and greet humans as other dogs, cats
treat humans like a kitten would its mother. It is
believed that years of domestication has selected for this
kitten-like behaviour in adult cats. Evidence for
this is seen in the every-day antics of our own feline companions,
such as wanting to be groomed, rubbing of the face against
a leg, and kneading of the paws as if it was kneading its
mother while nursing.
Understanding feline behaviour is of huge importance to
training a cat. Behavioural issues deemed unacceptable
to us are better dealt with when the purpose of the behaviour
is understood. For example, cats do not interact with
people as if they were a part of a social hierarchy. Therefore,
punishment of a cat is useless because they will not be instinctively
submissive. Instead, they will choose to either escape
the situation or stay and fight.
Normal behaviours of feral cats, such as tree scratching
and urine spraying, often manifest at home as undesirable
behaviour problems. It is important to realize that
these are forms of communication between cats, and management
of such issues requires an understanding of what they mean.
Scratching vertical surfaces is a behaviour with dual purpose: it
is a form of communication and also a way to remove loose
claw fragments or old claws. In the wild, cats have
favourite trees within their home ranges that they will scratch. The
scent left from the foot glands and marks left on the trees
announce their presence to others. At the same time,
this behaviour allows the removal of old nails, in essence, “sharpening” their
claws. This knowledge of the behaviour can be applied
to modifying scratching problems in household pets. If
a piece of furniture is being preferentially scratched by
a cat, move the object and place a cover over it. Because
cats favour materials with longitudinally-oriented threads
to aid in the removal of nails, a knobby fabric would work
best. In the place of the object, place a scratching
post and encourage the cat to use it with rewards.
Another undesirable behaviour in some cats is urine spraying. This
is especially prevalent in intact male cats. Feral
cats are known to spray vertical objects with urine in order
to alert other cats of their presence. The freshness
of the urine allows neighbours to tract the movement of the
cats in the area, and this may be used by males in the mating
season to locate females. It is also used to mark home
ranges, and cats will often spray if encountering familiar
scents or if anxious. As a result, there are several
ways to manage urine spraying in the house. Castration
of an intact cat is the first step as this can reduce spraying
in males by up to 90%. At the same time, look for situations
that can produce anxiety, such as the presence of neighbourhood
cats at the window or a household that is too crowded. Reducing
the chances of anxiety will likely decrease the amount of
urine spraying.
By understanding the behaviours of the domestic cat, we
are able to form a closer bond with our feline friends. Their
unique behaviour, although somewhat deciphered, still consists
of many mysteries yet to be translated. Although cats
are asocial towards each other, they are wonderful companions
because of their friendly social behaviour towards humans. |
