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The first thing a cat owner should know about home d

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The most important thing to remember in analyzing the behavior of your cat
is that your pet is not a human. Cats are not rational beings and their
actions are not based on emotion. Changes in his behavior are not stemmed
from any repressed anger with you; your cat is not trying to get revenge on
you for being away from home too much or bringing a new baby into the house.

Negative changes in cat behavior are typically cause by stress or anxiety
for the cat. It is easy to see why pet owners tend to conclude that the
cat’s feelings toward them are causing the behavioral differences; it is
human nature to correlate two unrelated events. In reality, there is a
missing link: your behavior may cause the cat physical anxiety, thus the
cat’s behavior alteration is based on physiological changes in his body.

One common complaint among cat owners is that their cat has suddenly chosen
a new favorite place to deposit wastes instead of his litter box. This
could be a result of a few factors.

First, it may be a medical problem.
Cats are prone to urinary track infections that make it extremely painful to
urinate. Cats then associate the pain of urination with the litter box, so
they do not like to visit their designated urination station. If your cat
has stopped using the litter box, your first step should be to take him to
the vet and have a thorough check-up run on him. Cats also have natural
preferences for certain textures and smells, so if you have recently changed
the type of cat litter you use, the cat may be showing that he does not care
for the new feeling or smell of his litter. In avoiding the litter box, the
cat may have become attached to new textures and locations around your
household, perhaps the soft living room rug or bedroom closet.

The best
strategy is not to punish the cat; he will not understand. Rather, have a
medical check up, switch litters, and continuously reintroduce the cat to
his litter box. Reward him for using it, just like he was a kitten again.

To relieve any anxiety your cat may be feeling, carefully analyze any
changes that have occurred in his life as of late. If a new baby or
roommate comes into the house, your cat may feel threatened, so be sure to
give him extra attention. If you suddenly have to spend more time away from
home than normal, consider getting a second cat so that your cat does not
spend his days alone. Although the cat is not having emotional reactions,
his body feels different due to changes around him.

Be in tune with what may be causing your cat to feel anxious, analyze the situation, and do the
loyal owner duty of relieving his stress.

Keith Kingston is a professional web publisher who offers advice on cat health, cat supplies, and cat names

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The cat backs up to the door, lifts the tail and releases a fine spray of urine. Yes, your cat is spraying. You have a problem. But one you can solve.

Figures from the British Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors say that aggression in dogs and marking behavior in cats are the biggest behavior problems in the UK pet population.

Spraying is marking behavior, not a litter box problem. Sprayed cat urine contains pheromones, a substance that animals use to communicate. Combinations of pheromones work like fingerprints: they identify the cat.

A spraying cat marks his or her territory with cat urine. It simply says: ‘This is mine’. You may not like it, but getting angry doesn’t help. It may even have an opposite effect: more spraying.

Cats in heat are attracted by the odor of cat urine. For them, spraying is something like an invitation to love. The results may be there in 65 days: a nest of cute little kittens.

Cats do not only spray during sexual encounters. Some also do it during conflicts with other felines, or when they are stressed.

For people the scent is far from pleasant. Thankfully most cats spray outside. But what if you have a cat spraying inside? Do something about it! And yes, that is possible.

The most radical and effective thing you can do is neutering or spaying your cat. Most castrated toms stopped spraying from the day they were operated.

But maybe you have a reason not to neuter your cat. In that case try to find out why your cat sprays.

Maybe it sprays only when it sees another cat. Solution: block the view. Or it sprays because of a conflict with another pet. Keep them separated and problems might be over.

If you don’t know why your cat sprays, discuss it with your veterinarian. Chances are he will advice you to spay or neuter. But your vet can also check if there is a medical problem.

Anyway, do not leave this problem unsolved. Cat urine odor and stains can make your home a very uncomfortable place, and your cat will still remain a cat even when it doesn’t spray anymore.

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Journalist, site builder and cat lover Marc de Jong is the editor and owner of http://www.cat-pregnancy-report.com, a website about cat pregnancy, kitten care, cat health and other cat related subjects.

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