Behavioural problems...

I'm fostering a cat for a friend right now. He split with his wife,
she's suddenly developed severe allergies to the poor creature, and I
offered to look after him (the cat) while he sorted his life out or
found another home for him.

Well, the cat has displayed some disturbing behaviour (he's been here
since first week of January). He's a 3 year old neutered male, in good
health. He has a habit of humping in the middle of the night, on my
duvet with me under it! Every night. The first night I thought he
was getting cuddly, jamming his face into mine and kneading the
blanket. Then I cottoned on to what was happening. If he jumps on my
lap when I'm on the sofa, same thing. If he were doing it to a
stuffed toy, I wouldn't mind so much, but he's depriving me of my
sleep because I have to get up and put him out of my bedroom and block
his way back in. The humping has been going on pretty much since the
start.

Then he defecated on my bed last week. He uses his litter box and
covers well, almost obsessively.
This night he came to his box and started covering, but hadn't done
his business, or so I thought till I went into my room and smelled the
gift. He eats only wet food, so it was a lot stinky! My friend then
divulged that he had done this in the past when he couldnt' go outside
because of the weather. A fact that would have kept me from having
him at all.

Finally, he lunged at and bit my mother with no provocation on
Friday. When I say no provocation, I mean he wasn't being petted and
getting annoyed, because this has happened frequently (and I pet
gently) and when it does I simply say "no" and stop touching him.
This time, he launched at her at the top of the stairs, bit her arm
and broke the skin and left a bruise.

I am really upset. I lost my own cat about two months ago. I wasn't
ready for another permanent animal, was doing something to help a
friend, and now I feel like I"m saddled with a problem cat who may
never get better ( I believe this all stems from a lack of proper
training). I can't in good conscience let someone else adopt this cat
without telling them about these issues.

Any advice on how to retrain this cat? I realise the biting is
probably due to stress or anxiety. But the humping and the pooing?
Please help!

On Feb 2, 9:58*pm, missToni wrote:

Any advice on how to retrain this cat? *I realise the biting is
probably due to stress or anxiety. But the humping and the pooing?
Please help!

You are getting a great deal of displacement behavior - and no
surprise at all given the amount of stress this animal has been under
these last few months. He is pretty much trying everything to get
security and attention.

Kneading: That is how kittens "start the milk" when they nurse. He is
reverting to kittenhood in hopes of getting the same attention he got
from his mother - affection and licking (cleaning). He wants to be
petted, probably somewhat roughly. After which he very likely go a
kick/bite reaction. That is, grab you with his front paws, bite and
kick with his hind paws. This can be quite a painful surprise if you
are not prepared for it, and often it is taken for an attack. It
really isn't at all - it is what kittens do when they are happy.

Now, what happens is when he is at his most kittenish, you reject him,
which raises his level of anxiety even more, which causes more
displacement behavior - and so forth.

As to the pooping on the bed - AGAIN, he is *looking for mother* in so
many words - Mom would clean him and give him a special bath when in
the nest.

One last thing as part of the displacement behavior spectrum: he sees
your mother as another one of your kittens - and therefore potential
competition as well as a potential playmate. Kittens play rough.

The litter behavior is pretty obvious - cats are no more fond of their
poop than you are, the exception being intact males who use it as a
territorial marker. Keep his litter clean, and make sure there is
enough of it so that he can cover properly. Scoop it as quickly as
practical and change the litter as often as practical.

What to do:

I am assuming that this is a 100% indoor cat.

a) Establish that he his thorougly healthy, has no worms or other
parasites, and is up-to-date in his shots.
b) Taper him off of a wet-food-only diet. This is not as difficult as
it seems as cats won't starve in the presence of food even if you
think they might. Start with leaving dry food beside his wet food, and
start to reduce the amount of wet food by a small amount. If that does
not work, try mixing a bit of wet with the dry during that transition.
At the end of the process, you should have him about 1:1 by volume wet
to dry. This also has the benefit of keeping his teeth clean. Look for
low-magnesium, low-ash dry food to avoid kidney stones as you do not
know his entire history.
c) Provide a natural source of roughage - "Kitty Greens", or sprout
some popcorn or some such thing. The cat will very much enjoy this and
generally eat better and feel better because if it.
d) Establish a routine of play and attention so that he knows that at
certain times he will get your exclusive attention. Wear gloves if
necessary but also _VERY_ gently correct him when he goes into his
kick/bite reaction. More pets, not rejection and slaps. For play, try
an laser pointer and see if that gets him going.
e) Provide additional stimulation for when you are not paying
attention to him. Our cats have a 'squeeky-mouse' toy hanging from a
door-jamb on an elastic cord. When it is whacked it has an electronic
squeek that gets them all fired up. Even the old guy gets into that.
f) As a last resort, there are drugs for this that your vet will
discuss with you. Buspirone is the most common, but there are others.
Note that such drugs are *NOT* a life-sentence, but typically used
only to re-establish the cat into a healthy and happy routine, after
which they should be fine without it.

Good luck with him.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

b) Taper him off of a wet-food-only diet. This is not as difficult as
it seems as cats won't starve in the presence of food even if you
think they might. Start with leaving dry food beside his wet food, and
start to reduce the amount of wet food by a small amount. If that does
not work, try mixing a bit of wet with the dry during that transition.
At the end of the process, you should have him about 1:1 by volume wet
to dry. This also has the benefit of keeping his teeth clean. Look for
low-magnesium, low-ash dry food to avoid kidney stones as you do not
know his entire history.

Please don't take him off of wet food! There are many health benefits
to feeding a wet-only diet. If his poo is stinky, try feeding him a
higher-quality brand of food, preferably one without grains, such as
Wellness, Nature's Variety or Innove Evo 95. Here's a great article
about feline nutrition: http://www.catinfo.org

I applaud you for taking this poor cat in. He's been through a lot
emotionally, and needs a stable household with a routine. Keep in mind
that at 3, he is very much an active youngster with a lot of energy.
He needs stimulation and play to release this energy. Play with him at
least twice a day. This will also help him trust you and bond with
you.

As for the defecating problem, how many boxes do you have and how
often do you clean them? Some cats prefer to urinate in one box and
defecate in another. Scoop 1-2x/day and keep the boxes very clean. I'd
recommend taking him (and a stool sample) to the vet for a check up.

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about the humping problem.
It might be something related to his anxiety/stress levels. Best to
ignore the behavior. One of my cats did this at about that age and
eventually 'outgrew' it.

On Feb 3, 9:16*am, "Rene S." wrote:

Please don't take him off of wet food! There are many health benefits
to feeding a wet-only diet. If his poo is stinky, try feeding him a
higher-quality brand of food, preferably one without grains, such as
Wellness, Nature's Variety or Innove Evo 95. Here's a great article
about feline nutrition:http://www.catinfo.org


Well... yes and no. Yes, if the alternative is a poor-quality dry
food. Yes, if the cat is a poor-or-no drinker and cannot be trained to
drink ordinary water. Yes if the cat already has complications due to
urinary tract infections or kidney stones *due to poor diet*.

And, the website you suggest does give accurate (if incomplete)
information on dietary requirements for cats. But, consider a few
other very real health-related issues that are addressed by a mixed
diet (an exclusive-dry diet is as incomplete as an exclusive-wet diet,
by the way):

Dental and gum health: Wet-food only diets do still and most often
contain considerable vegetable protein and fillers, gluten and gluten
meals being the biggest sources. And very often in about the same
proportion-by-percentage as dry food - the difference being the water
content. Which means that without sufficient roughage and hard bits
(the equivalent of rodent stomach content, bones, hair and skin)
tartar *WILL* build up in the cat's mouth leading to all sorts of
health problems. And I would posit that 99-44/100ths of cat (or dog)
owners simply do not brush their pets' teeth regularly - even at all -
leaving that to the vet perhaps once a year or so. Properly designed
dry food acts as a tooth-brush-in-passing for cats much as apples do
for people - not a complete solution but far, far better than wet
food.

Roughage: Cats get their natural roughage from grasses and the stomach
contents of their prey. House cats seldom have access to fresh greens,
never get 'stomach contents' and wet food is typically _very_ low in
any sort of fiber. A well-balanced dry food provides a good source of
fiber for a cat.

Digestive Health: In part, another reason for fiber, in part better
management of secondary dietary issues such as hairballs and the like.
Properly designed dry foods aid in passing small hairballs or
collecting for regurgitation larger ones. Much as the skin-and-hair of
natural prey performs this function. Wet foods simply do not do this,
nor can they just as skinned, gutted and deboned mice would not do
it.

Obesity: Yes, wet food is less concentrated protein than dry food, but
at the same time, a balanced diet will provide additional fiber and
roughage that only wet food will not. This will tend to satisfy
appetite better, and also allow cats to be demand-eaters rather than
scheduled eaters. Habitual demand eaters as a group tend to be slimmer
and more active than scheduled eaters as the latter will eat
everything they can, not knowing when their next meal is coming from
by their standard of measure.

Bottom-line: A well-designed, well balanced dry food is an important
tool in managing a cat's overall health. This is most important when
we are managing exclusive-indoor cats which do not get exposed to
natural prey and the benefits from it, and who are very limited in
their activities by the nature of their environment.

And, lastly, on the drinking-water problem: Cats have an acute sense
of smell - far better than ours and as-good-or-better than a dog's
albeit on a different section of the olfactory curve. Most water we
attempt to give them, put bluntly, tastes and smells like crap as far
as they are concerned. Chlorine, plastics, chemicals, or worse. Why is
it that cats (and many dogs) prefer to drink from toilets? It is
pretty obvious - that water has been sitting in a tank, and now sits
in a nice ceramic bowl with a wide surface exposure. So, the nasty
volatiles evaporate, the metals and particulates settle to the bottom
and the water taste (to them) much cleaner. It is also at room-
temperature - something they prefer.

Writing for ourselves, we 'age' tap water in the winter for our
animals in glass bottles. In the summer, we collect rain water (mostly
for gardening, but the cats also benefit). We also keep the toilets
quite clean and do not use harsh/harmful chemicals to do so. So what
if they use them? As long as they are drinking - and they do. We also
keep fresh (OK, aged) water all over the house for them - which does
get used.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

"missToni" wrote in message
...

I am really upset. I lost my own cat about two months ago. I wasn't
ready for another permanent animal, was doing something to help a
friend, and now I feel like I"m saddled with a problem cat who may
never get better ( I believe this all stems from a lack of proper
training). I can't in good conscience let someone else adopt this cat
without telling them about these issues.

Any advice on how to retrain this cat? I realise the biting is
probably due to stress or anxiety. But the humping and the pooing?
Please help!


Hi ....I've used a product called Feliway. You can buy it as a diffuser
that you plug into the wall and a spray bottle that you can spray on bedding
or any area where there's a problem. My cat got upset when we went on
vacation even though someone was here to check on him everyday. He started
peeing on the floor. This product is like a tranquilizer to the stressed
cat and calms them down. I plugged in the diffuser in the room where he was
having the problem. No more problems.
My daughter has a cat that is jealous of the other animals in the house and
this product worked wonders. No more peeing on my grandson's bed and a much
friendlier cat. Feliway contains cat pheromones.
It's cheaper to buy Feliway online but most pet stores or Vets keep it in
stock. I've heard it doesn't work on all cats but it has made a believer
out of me.....June

On Feb 2, 9:58*pm, missToni wrote:
I'm fostering a cat for a friend right now. *He split with his wife,
she's suddenly developed severe allergies to the poor creature, and I
offered to look after him (the cat) while he sorted his life out or
found another home for him.

Well, the cat has displayed some disturbing behaviour (he's been here
since first week of January). He's a 3 year old neutered male, in good
health. * He has a habit of humping in the middle of the night, on my
duvet with me under it! *Every night. *The first night I thought he
was getting cuddly, jamming his face into mine and kneading the
blanket. Then I cottoned on to what was happening. If he jumps on my
lap when I'm on the sofa, same thing. *If he were doing it to a
stuffed toy, I wouldn't mind so much, but he's depriving me of my
sleep because I have to get up and put him out of my bedroom and block
his way back in. *The humping has been going on pretty much since the
start.

Then he defecated on my bed last week. *He uses his litter box and
covers well, almost obsessively.
This night he came to his box and started covering, but hadn't done
his business, or so I thought till I went into my room and smelled the
gift. *He eats only wet food, so it was a lot stinky! *My friend then
divulged that he had done this in the past when he couldnt' go outside
because of the weather. *A fact that would have kept me from having
him at all.

Finally, he lunged at and bit my mother with no provocation on
Friday. *When I say no provocation, I mean he wasn't being petted and
getting annoyed, because this has happened frequently (and I pet
gently) and when it does I simply say "no" and stop touching him.
This time, he launched at her at the top of the stairs, bit her arm
and broke the skin and left a bruise.

I am really upset. *I lost my own cat about two months ago. *I wasn't
ready for another permanent animal, was doing something to help a
friend, and now I feel like I"m saddled with a problem cat who may
never get better ( I believe this all stems from a lack of proper
training). *I can't in good conscience let someone else adopt this cat
without telling them about these issues.

Any advice on how to retrain this cat? *I realise the biting is
probably due to stress or anxiety. But the humping and the pooing?
Please help!

You dont say if this cat has been spayed and neutered. Has he? If
not, he needs to be. You indicate that your friend told you he gets
wild when he cant go outside because of the weather. So right away we
have 2 potential issues that need research.. "Humping" is a strange
word to use. It usually refers to sexual activity. Is that what you
mean? Most cats "knead" as though they were making bread when they
are getting comfy. That is normal. But "humping" is something that
dogs do frequently to the odd leg that comes into their vision if they
have nothing else to "hump." If the cat poops on your your bed, then
it would be wise to keep the door closed and not let him in the room.

Hi Peter
Thanks for the comprehensive replies! The cat eats one can of wet
food a day, with dry food available for free feeding. He's not got a
weight problem. One thing he does not do is drink water, so I don't
want to take him off the wet. I age my water 24 hours then filter it
through a Brita filter, and serve it up fresh in a ceramic bowl. Short
of getting one of those continuous recirculating fountains, I don't
know how to get him to drink. His poo doesn't smell in the box,
because he covers it. It just smelled really gross when I had to
gather it off my duvet, still warm. He's really fastidious about his
box, and I scoop it twice daily and keep it topped up with fresh
litter frequently. As my friend neglected to tell me, he has done
that in the past when annoyed at not being able to go outside, so I
think it's an emotional thing, rather than not liking his box. It
only happened the once, so far, and fingers crossed it won't again.
Cheers
Toni

On Feb 3, 4:56*pm, "June" wrote:
"missToni" wrote in message

...

I am really upset. *I lost my own cat about two months ago. *I wasn't
ready for another permanent animal, was doing something to help a
friend, and now I feel like I"m saddled with a problem cat who may
never get better ( I believe this all stems from a lack of proper
training). *I can't in good conscience let someone else adopt this cat
without telling them about these issues.

Any advice on how to retrain this cat? *I realise the biting is
probably due to stress or anxiety. But the humping and the pooing?
Please help!

Hi ....I've used a product called Feliway. *You can buy it as a diffuser
that you plug into the wall and a spray bottle that you can spray on bedding
or any area where there's a problem. *My cat got upset when we went on
vacation even though someone was here to check on him everyday. *He started
peeing on the floor. *This product is like a tranquilizer to the stressed
cat and calms them down. *I plugged in the diffuser in the room where he was
having the problem. *No more problems.
My daughter has a cat that is jealous of the other animals in the house and
this product worked wonders. *No more peeing on my grandson's bed and a much
friendlier cat. *Feliway contains cat pheromones.
It's cheaper to buy Feliway online but most pet stores or Vets keep it in
stock. *I've heard it doesn't work on all cats but it has made a believer
out of me.....June

Hi June
I've heard of that. I think I'll try it. I'm going away for a week in
March, and that might help calm him as he will be alone a lot of the
time (a couple of ppl will be dropping by to spend time with him).
Thanks!
Toni

Kneading: That is how kittens "start the milk" when they nurse. He is
reverting to kittenhood in hopes of getting the same attention he got
from his mother - affection and licking (cleaning). He wants to be
petted, probably somewhat roughly. After which he very likely go a
kick/bite reaction. That is, grab you with his front paws, bite and
kick with his hind paws. This can be quite a painful surprise if you
are not prepared for it, and often it is taken for an attack. It
really isn't at all - it is what kittens do when they are happy.

This is more aggressive than the normal kick/bite reaction. He'll lie
back with his teeth bared, almost as if he's panting. I just stop
petting him when I see the tail start twitching. Waiting for the
scratches to heal!



One last thing as part of the displacement behavior spectrum: he sees
your mother as another one of your kittens - and therefore potential
competition as well as a potential playmate. Kittens play rough.

Although my mother would be flattered to be thought of as a kitten,
this wasn't a play thing. I wasn't home at the time, but she said he
had been racing about the house, then suddenly lunged at her and sunk
his teeth into her arm.



I am assuming that this is a 100% indoor cat.

No, he goes outside, though I didn't want to let him out until he was
secure here. I started letting him out after the bed pooping
incident. He's up to date on shots.


c) Provide a natural source of roughage - "Kitty Greens", or sprout
some popcorn or some such thing. The cat will very much enjoy this and
generally eat better and feel better because if it.


Sprout some popcorn? Sounds neat...I'll have to look that up. This
cat doesn't like catnip!

d) Establish a routine of play and attention so that he knows that at
certain times he will get your exclusive attention. Wear gloves if
necessary but also _VERY_ gently correct him when he goes into his
kick/bite reaction. More pets, not rejection and slaps. For play, try
an laser pointer and see if that gets him going.

he doesn't like the laser pointer either, nor does he jump into every
box you put on the floor. The cat's not normal, I tell ya! :-)
Though he retrieves rubber bands like a dog. I can shoot one around
the room for hours, and he'll bring it back and lay it at my feet like
a dead mouse. I thought he would make a terrific barn cat, but he has
been declawed (NOT by me, I would never do that), so that's not an
option.

Thanks for the ideas!
Toni

You dont say if this cat has been spayed and neutered. *Has he? *If
not, he needs to be. *You indicate that your friend told you he gets
wild when he cant go outside because of the weather. *So right away we
have 2 potential issues that need research.. *"Humping" is a strange
word to use. *It usually refers to sexual activity. Is that what you
mean? *Most cats "knead" as though they were making bread when they
are getting comfy. *That is normal. *But "humping" is something that
dogs do frequently to the odd leg that comes into their vision if they
have nothing else to "hump." *If the cat poops on your your bed, then
it would be wise to keep the door closed and not let him in the room.- Hide quoted text -


Yes, he has been neutered. He'll be sleeping at the foot of the bed,
then the minute I turn on my back he'll climb up on my chest, then
position himself so his butt is against my arm or whatever and start
going at it. I know that look of ecstasy! Plus he has an erection.
When I shoo him off, he'll go off and lick it. It happens during the
day too, if I'm stretched out on the sofa. He's not going to be a lap
cat, that's for sure!