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| Structuring Your Cat's Day: The Four Points of Contact |
Disclaimer
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Dr Kim Kendall
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 Have you ever thought how different our world is today for our pets? We often complain about our ‘speeded-up’ lives, and the loss of community and recreational spaces.
Well, it’s even harder for your pets. If many of us can’t cope, then it’s not really surprising that as many cats are having difficulty coping.
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Cats then
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For Millennia, cats lived in small communities of related females, with males visiting seasonally to do what men do. Kittens were raised communally, and not many survived. Life was pretty short and brutal (wild cats only live to around 5 years of age), and filled with parasites (internal and external), poisons, predators and other dangers.
On the upside, it was a mile between cats, males covered the territory of three to ten female colonies, plus interaction between ‘outsider’ cats was infrequent and usually made via smell (urine and facial pheromones).
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Cat's today
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Today, our cats are confined, castrated and made to interact with lots of humans and other cats. Their lives have been radically changed, and I think the thing to remember is how well most cats have adapted.
However, I see many of the ones that can’t cope, because they get their owners attention by ‘peeing’ around the place (including on their owner’s heads in rare instances...that’s guaranteed to get a reaction!). Alternatively, they fight with other cats or people, spend their lives hiding, or ‘pee’ blood in the bathtub.
I sometimes wonder whether there is an earlier stage that these cats go through trying to get their message across, but we don’t get the message until the signs are blatant!
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Therapy for the ‘stressed out kitty’
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Fortunately, we are getting cluier about cats, and there are a number of ‘behaviour-modifying’ drugs and techniques to help the ‘stressed out kitty’.
Antidepressants are the big step forward, but we are actually moving in on the ‘smell’ front as well. Returning to the ‘natural state’ of cats, most messages came via the nose, so triggering ‘happy thoughts’ via good smells (e.g. pheromones) is starting to get a look in.
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Behavioural modification
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These days for cats, instigating a bit of behavioural therapy also helps. Structuring playtime and feeding times into regular and reliable events reduces anxiety that a lot of cats feel when their owners are away or have irregular timetables.
Our cats are much more likely to spend the majority of their day indoors now, and this promotes longevity and physical health. However, it does place a greater burden to care for the mental health of the cat on the owner rather than the environment.
All that energy that was used up in running and playing outside has to be redirected. Some cats redirect appropriately, some don’t. Some breeds of cats cope better with a sedentary existence than others. However, all of the cats that have problems are much loved, and it is nice to be able to modify the environment so the cat can cope or modify the cat’s response to stress by raising their anxiety threshold (with drugs). I’ve observed that no cat has ever changed – there has to be a change around the cat so that it can cope! It was ever thus – dogs get trained but cats train their owners.
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Structuring your cat's day
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It has been shown that antidepressants don't work nearly as well if there is no effort applied to changing the environment and routine for the cat so it can cope better. Cats, especially stressed ones, need guaranteed structure in their day. They need to know that they will get your FULL ATTENTION four times a day - two feeding times and two playtimes.
More specifically, the feeding times need to be at the same whether it is during the week, the weekend or holidays, and they need to be when you are 'leaving' the house so the cat looks forward to your departure rather than being anxious about your return. Thus, breakfast is put out when you leave for work (not when you get up in the morning - this stops most of the 'cat as alarm clock' also), and in the evening when you go to bed (rather than when you walk through the door).
Your cat will then have a few more 'cues' about feed time and won't be anxious that you have forgotten. Remember, cats pee in strange places when they are anxious or need to get our attention badly, so effort put into the 'timetable' will have many unseen rewards also!
The two playtimes, especially for indoor cats, should be 20 minutes long, and pairs of cats should have individual games with you at least some of the time. Remember, they selfishly want full and undivided at least sometimes. The two playtimes need to be at approximately the same time each day also. That way, the cat saves up energy for it rather than pestering you ALL the time.
If your cat likes grooming (and most cats do if it doesn't hurt them - some will even 'self groom' against a comb you hold for them), then you can use some of the playtime as 'bonding time' with grooming, especially for older cats who think you are nuts if you want to play with toys for 20 minutes!
One of the essential things to remember is you don't have to get it completely correct all of the time. It is amazing how much pressure is relieved by even being aware of the cat's needs - for structure, routine and affection - and that by instigating even little changes, a great deal can be achieved for your cat's mental and emotional health.
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Author: Dr Kim Kendall BVSc MACVSc (Feline Medicine) graduated from the University of Sydney in 1982 and established the East Chatswood Cat Clinic in 1994, a dedicated cat-only Veterinary Clinic. The practice does everything for cats and is a full service veterinary clinic.
www.catclinic.com.au
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