Dr Chris helps solve the bad habits of our felines
Fighting
Forget Las Vegas and Madison Square Garden. Your garden could very well be the venue for the next big “Fight Night”. Territorial tension can force two seemingly placid creatures to breaking point and their quest for respect will ensure this scrap goes the distance. Blood will be spilt, an entire suburb will lose sleep, but one cat will command that little corner of Australia. For one night at least.
How you can stop it
You’ll have to overcome instinct as well as, at times, aggressive intent. But by combining communication as well as some good old fashioned inventiveness you could find success. Here’s how you pave the path to peace:
- Indoors means out of trouble: The fact is the only place your cat is safe from territorial trouble is inside its own home. While keeping your cat indoors at night is a smart place to start, an all day curfew is always going to be the safest. And, once they get used to it and you enrich their environment with toys and games the inside won’t seem so dull. But indoors doesn’t have to mean ‘indoors’. A netted cat enclosure could provide the perfect, yet ‘safe’ outdoor experience with all the benefits of fresh air, sunshine and playtime without the risks.
- Do some investigation: All too often, one cat is responsible for all the neighbourhood’s nastiness. So by observing which cats are wandering into your yard, you can get a picture of who the punishing puss is. If you can connect the cat with the crime then it might be worth talking with their owner and coming to some sort of ‘restraining order’. And the fact is that if your cat is receiving injuries there is a fair chance their cat is too.
- Work shifts to avoid ‘biffs’: If you do identify that your cat has a nemesis that seems intent on causing trouble, then maybe a compromise could be the best solution. Formulating a roster system between that cat and yours will ensure that the two won’t ever be seen together and trouble can be avoided. Alternate nights might be a good place to start.
- You do the marking: Since cats live in a scent dominated world, there’s no harm in employing a few of your own to get across the message you want. Marking the periphery of your backyard with unappealing odours such as citrus peel (lemon, orange), peppermint oils, mothballs or commercial preparations like “Get Off My Garden” might work well to create a barrier to your cat leaving and to other cats arriving.
- Be blunt: There are more direct ways of ensuring neighbours cats don’t consider your yard home. Use of a garden hose (but check your local water restrictions), a set of car keys tossed in their direction (but not at them) or even the blast of an air-horn will have them thinking twice before making a return visit. If you have a water tank, you could consider a sprinkler on a timer that comes on intermittently.
Ending night-time neediness!
With that busy working week, you might have had plans for some early nights. That was until someone’s neediness got in the way of your sleepiness! But you’re not alone. In fact, over a third of all complaints about pets centre around their noise at night preventing neighbours from getting their sleep. Thankfully however, there are ways to ensure everyone rests peacefully.
Why they do it:
While it all might seem like an irrational racket, there is a message in amongst those seemingly endless barks and meows. Work it out and you might just find yourself enjoying wonderful, uninterrupted sleep. But be prepared to be surprised. Here are the most common reasons for that restlessness:
- Body clock shock! Sleeping the day away while you’re at work might seem relaxing but it does have a downside. When you get home and want to rest, they’re ready to rock! After all, your 7pm is like their 7am! This body clock shock means that while you try and sleep, they’re wired and all too keen to get busy around the backyard.
- We give bribes! Food might seem like the quick fix to that early morning miaowing or barking. But giving in, even just once to that pestering, will establish a pattern that all but guarantees the wake-up calls will continue. The whole house must take a stand against these demands and not negotiate!
- Cry for attention! Sometimes you can’t blame our pets for feeling a little left out. After all, many petowners rush off to work in the morning only to return in the evening and retire to bed, leaving them wondering whether they’ll ever find the affection and attention they’ve been waiting all day for. In fact, often the only true one on one time is feeding time. So while it might seem like they’re hungry, that crying might be more about feeling loved that feeling ‘full’.
Fixing it:
Sure it’s a complement that they crave your attention around the clock. But there are ways to make night-time quiet time. Here’s how you do it:
- Re-set their body clock: When you get home, you want to make sure your cat’s as tired as you are. So rather than letting them sleep the day away, keep them awake and working. Try setting alarms on the TV and stereo, calling the home phone, providing plenty of toys and even hiding their food around the house. That way they’ll not only enjoy the quiet of night as much as you do, they might even respect it.
- Play early in the night: Pets need their fix of fun and exercise. But the last thing you want to do is ‘rev’ them up when they should be relaxing. So instead of playing just before bed, try to let them have their fun soon after you get home. You might just find it helps you relax too!
- Feed them late: To eliminate hunger as being a reason for an early wake-up call, try feeding them dinner just before you go to bed. You’ll find they’ll sleep a lot deeper.
- Ease the anxiety: Night time can be a tough time for pets that don’t like to feel alone. This is especially the case for very young and very old animals. But by leaving a night light or the radio on can have a calming influence.
- Ignore the noise: It’s a plea for company and occasionally food, so don’t give them what they want when you get woken up – this can turn a short term ‘thing’ into a long term habit. If the noise becomes totally unbearable and you get neighbour complaints then you could try moving them into a well insulated room like a laundry.
Scratching the furniture
While you can keep most of your cats bad behaviours a secret, this one is a little hard to sweep under the (frayed) carpet. Yes when those weapons of mass destruction are unleashed, only the toughest furniture will survive.
Why they do it:
- Instinct: Cats do possess a strong instinctive drive to care for their claws. And whilst ‘care’ isn’t a word often used to describe their clawing, it does serve to condition and sharpen those weapons!
- Mark territory: The visible marks not only say that a cat lives here, but the scent left on the furniture from rubbing their toe pads provides an even more powerful reminder.
What to do:
- Cut the claws: It’s simple science really. The shorter and blunter the claws are, the less carnage they can inflict on your couch.
- Protect with the scratching post. The idea is to redirect that scratching onto something that isn’t worth half your yearly wage. Start the post next to your furniture and slowly move it to a more practical location!
- Do the marking for them. Consider using a pheromone diffuser (called “Feliway”) that spreads their cat smell around your house; eliminating the need for them to do it for you.
- Get hi-tech: Deterrent devices can now keep vigil on your prized possessions when you’re trying to get some sleep! These use a motion sensor to detect when your cat is approaching and then releases a harmless spray of air that scares your cat away.