Cat Behaviour Problems: Your cat's behaviour

Sudden or recent changes in behaviour:

Question: Clemmie is approx 1 year old and is a rescued torti. She appears to have a dual personality. One half is cute, cuddly, affectionate and very loving, and the other half is completely manic! Every so often her pupils dilate so that her eyes appear totally black, and she tears around the place like the devil is on her tail.

She won't respond to any overtures and will bite and scratch if an attempt is made to touch her. She also appears hyperactive - constantly on the prowl looking for something to do or some trouble to get into. I play with her as much as I can but although I am home all day with her, I work from home and cannot play all day!

Clemmie has a catflap and likes going outside as long as I go with her - if left to herself she soon gets bored, or gets panicked by two local cats who are terrorising her and comes racing inside. I don't know how to control her - is this something she will grow out of in time?

Answer: As she gets older, she will have less energy, but this will only happen slowly! What you are experiencing is typical for a cat that cannot go outside, whether access is denied or, as in your case, because she is too afraid. As she gets older, her confidence may increase a little, but she is still likely to be intimidated into staying inside quite easily.

What you will need to do is to make life more interesting for her at home. Look at your home from your cat’s point of view and think what may make it more entertaining. Cats like to climb, jump, walk along high ledges, play with things that move, hunt and find food.

There are a number of products on the market which can help, e.g. cat activity centres, balls in which dry cat food can be placed so that it falls out slowly as it is rolled around the floor, toys with moving parts or feathers. Or you could make your own activity areas with branches, dangling strings with sweet papers attached to the ends, ledges and shelves.

Be inventive and keep adding new things every so often and you will find she is more contented and nicer to live with.

Question: My cat has terrible mood swings. One minute she's happy the next she goes black-eyed and jumps at me, biting my arm or leg and scratiching it. I've tried spraying her with water but I don't always have the water spray on me so this is not always possible. Any advice?

Answer: Usually, this type of aggression is a result of the cat directing it’s hunting/play behaviour at its human owner instead of onto prey or toys. Any punishment usually doesn’t work as, at best, it confuses the cat and, at worst, makes it more aggressive by making it fearful.

The answer lies in giving your cat an outlet for her energies. If she doesn’t go outside, consider whether she should do so as this will give her interest and stimulation far exceeding anything you can give her.

If this is not possible, it will be necessary to give her a more stimulating environment indoors and to play more satisfying games with her.

Think of your house from your cat’s point of view.

They like to climb, jump, attack small moving things, hunt for food, go in and out of things etc. Toys that allow her to use up her hunting energies, such as those with a prey-like object on the end of a elastic string attached to a wand are ideal.

Play little and often throughout the day, particularly at times when she is likely to be most aggressive to you, and you should see a marked reduction in her problem behaviour.

Question: Another cat is currently living in the house we are buying, but he will be moving with his owners. As we will be keeping the same carpets, will my 12 year old cat who becomes traumatised by change, be able to sense this?

If so, how will this be evident and what can I do to put him at ease? We have bought him beds and cushions over the years but he will not use them, preferring to sleep on our sofa or on the floor under the radiator.

Answer: Your 12 year old cat will be traumatised by the move and the carpets which smell of another cat will be an added problem to him.

If you can have them commercially cleaned to remove some of the smell, this will help. Put him in a cattery while you move and get settled before you bring him home so that there are no further movements of furniture. Keep him in just one room at first with his bed and litter tray. He may ‘spray’ or soil this room, so be prepared. Clean any ‘accidents’ with biological washing powder solution and visit him often.

After a few days, allow him supervised visits to the rest of the house so that he gets used to it gradually. Allow him to sniff and look around to reassure himself that the other cat he can smell is no longer present. You may find that he wants to spray to make the place smell like home.

Try not to overreact to this and clean up the area as before.

Wiping a soft cloth on his head and cheeks and at the base of his tail and wiping this on the furniture at his head height will help to make the place smell of him and reassure him.

Question: My 1-year-old cat, Winston, has taken to sitting by the front door of my flat and meowing loudly. Although he can get out at the back of the flat, he seems to want to be let out of the front to sit on the stairs, which I don't want to allow. I've tried ignoring him, but he continues to meow at the door. Can you help?

Answer: This is a difficult one because I need more information. You need to find out why he wants to go there and then it will be easy to stop him.

To give you some ideas on things that may be causing this, look at what may be lacking in his life. Is attention from you in short supply and, by meowing at the front door, does he get more of it – i.e. do you stay with him out the front whereas you leave him alone at the back.

Does he meet other people on the stairs and enjoy their company? Has anyone fed him or played with him out there? Is there something new at the front that is interesting him, new cat, new tennants etc? Is he neutered and is there a female in that direction?

Once you have found out what is tempting him out there, it should be a simple matter of giving him more of what he needs in your flat so that there is no need to go out for it.

Question: I have had my nine-year-old rescue cat for almost two years and she seems quite content in most ways. She has always been an indoor cat and, in order to make her environment more interesting, I left cupboard doors open for her to explore, cut holes in cardboard boxes and hid food for her to find.

However, recently she hasn't been interested at all and seems to spend most of her time lying on her bed. She doesn't seem depressed or off-colour, nor is she getting fat. Has she just, at the ripe old age of nine, grown out of playing?

Answer: No, nine is no age at all for a healthy cat and she should be just as active and playful as she has always been. Ageing is a gradual process and you shouldn’t notice any sudden reduction in activity.

I would take her to your veterinary surgeon and have her checked out thoroughly. If there is nothing physically wrong with her, think through any changes you have made to her life since her new routine of laying in her bed started.

Have you introduced a new person, pet or decorated?

Sensitive indoor cats can find that sort of thing too much to take and may prefer to lay low for a while. Have you changed your routine lately and do you spend the same amount of time with her?

Try spending more time with her for a while, coaxing her out to play with a tasty treat and spending time using toys to exercise her and encourage her to be active.

Question: Why does my cat's behaviour change so rapidly? Sometimes when he meows he lets you stroke him but other times he meows and nearly scratches or bites your hand off. He is 7 months old and has just been neutered.

Answer: It is difficult to know which seeing him do it, but unpredictable aggression like this could have a number of reasons and, hence, a variety of cures. It could be that, at 7 months old, he is full of energy and ready to explore the world.

If you are still keeping him inside, he may be directing that energy at you. The answer to this is to consider letting him have more freedom and giving him more exercise in the form of play with toys. Play little and often several times a day and at other times keep your contact with him calm and gentle so that he has no cause to get excited and react aggressively.

Make sure he has been neutered, otherwise sexual frustration could be adding to the problem. Alternatively, some cats react defensively when they realise they are being touched in vulnerable places.

If your kitten become aggressive when touched in the belly area and between the legs, avoid these sensitive areas for the time being until he settles down.

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