Cat Behaviour Problems: Your cat's behaviour

Fears & phobias (new situations, cars, fireworks, thunder, going out etc):

Question: We've had our 8-year old rescue cat, Molly for three years. She is extremely shy and scared, especially around new people or if left alone.

We're going on holiday soon and we usually take her to stay at my parents' house. However, this is very stressful as she hates traveling in the car - she continually pants, gasps and meows and, when she gets there, she hides for three to four days.

We recently moved house, which has also made her very nervous and I'm worried that putting her in the car will be too much for her to handle. Is there any medication that I could get for her to relax a bit, or do you have any other suggestions? It's getting to the point where we dread going away.

Answer: You could try spraying her traveling box and the new room she is going into with a product called Feliway. This is a synthetic pheromone that is the same as that found in the cat’s cheek glands that they rub on things at nose height to make the place smell of them. If you spray and let it air for a few minutes before putting her in, this should help her to feel more at home.

However, it won’t cure her general nervousness and neither will medication. You could try homeopathic or Bach Flower remedies, but I have not found these to be very successful for extreme fears.

If the car journey is not too long and she settles down once she is at your parent’s house, this is probably a better bet than leaving her in a cattery. You could try getting her used to the car by taking her on very small journey’s everyday before she gets fed, but this would have to be done very carefully so as not to stress her more.

Alternatively, you could just accept that she is fearful of new situations and find someone reliable who will come in and feed her/change her litter tray for you while you are away. If you shut down the cat flap so that she cannot get out and others cannot get in, I think you may find that she gets used to this more quickly than she accepts traveling with you.

Question: I have just adopted my female cat who is 8 months old from a friend whose young children would not leae her alone. Because of this, the cat is very frightened and nervous. What can I do to help her get over this fear? Also, she has never been outside before, what is the best way to start introducing her to the outside world?

Answer: Time and gentle handling will help. She will need to learn to trust you and anyone that lives in your household and it is important that you do not put pressure on her by holding her or forcing her to be with you.

Give her escape routes and let her get up high or underneath things for safety if she wants to. Put her bed inside a cardboard box with a hole cut in it for access so that she can get inside and feel safe.

Let her approach you in her own time, sitting quietly while watching TV or reading and have a plate of food near to you so that her approaches are rewarded.

Avoid eye contact, but talk to her gently.

Make sure she stays inside until she is very friendly with you and all your family as, otherwise, she may run off and not come back. You could try to get her used to wearing a harness for her first visits outside, but if she is shy or nervous, this may not be possible.

If not, wait until she is hungry before taking her out for supervised visits to the garden. Let her explore a little before taking her back inside for dinner. Do this several times before letting her go out alone.

Don’t expect too much from her too soon as it may take many months before her confidence begins to grow.

Question: I have had my 2 year old exotic shorthair since January and he has only recently become relaxed in his surroundings. He is an indoor cat and only has contact with me; I have no other pets. He was previously with a family of two children and three other cats. He has been showing signs of immense stress, jumping at every little noise or movement, and is very wary of the windowsill and his mattress, both of which he loves. I have no idea what could have made him so nervous; there have been no loud noises or new people. He doesn't have fleas, but could this be a possible reason?

Answer: No, fleas won’t be the reason for his nervousness. It is very likely that the cause of his fear stems from his very early life with his breeder. Pedigree kittens are often kept in catteries until they are 12 weeks old.

Since the critical time for getting them used to everyday sights, smells and sounds is between 3 and 7 weeks, many pedigree cats grow up afraid of things that we take for granted such as everyday noises and movements.

Sadly, there is no real solution to the problem other than giving him plenty of time, patience and kindness to come to terms with things on his own.

Let him hide away if he wants to and give him selves to jump onto and boxes to hide in as this will help. Gradually expose him to things that worry him, always allowing him to retreat if he needs to and he will slowly overcome his concerns.

You may like to read What is my Cat Thinking? for more information on understanding keeping indoor cats happy

Question: My cat, Rodney is nearly 10-months-old. I live in a one-bedroom flat and have had a cat flap fitted for him. However, he has still not got used to the cat flap and because of this spends all day in the house, sleeping, until either myself or my girlfriend return from work to let him out.

We try to keep him shut in the sitting room at night, but during the past month or so he won't stop scratching the bedroom door and meowing. I get up to let him out, but sometimes he doesn't want to go. What can I do to stop him from waking us up at least three times during the night?

Answer: Since he cannot use the flap properly or could be to apprehensive to go out by himself during the day, he stays inside and rests. Since he is asleep all day, he is wide awake and active at night and it is natural for him to try to get to you.

A simple solution may be to tape the cat flap open (do this carefully so that it doesn’t swing shut and lock him out) for a while so that he gets used to using it. If this solves the problem, prop it open later and gradually reduce the size of the hole over a period of time until he learns to push it open for himself. If he is too apprehensive to go out, you may need to escort him into the garden yourselves when you are there to give him confidence.

If you cannot get him to go out by himself, you will need to put in a lot of effort during the evening, playing exiting and exhausting games with him so that he is tired when you go to bed. Don’t reward the crying and scratching at the door if he wakes up in the night as this will encourage him to do it again.

Ignore any disturbance and play as much as you can the following evening. Gradually, he should begin to settle down and give you some well-earned sleep at night.

Question: We are about to relocate some 300 miles away. We have foreseen two difficulties we may have with our cat and would appreciate your advice.

Firstly, our cat salivates and is often sick when travelling in the car - is there anything we can do to prevent this?

Secondly, our cat always seems sensitive to changes in our routine, probably attributable to the fact that she came to us as a stray when she was 7 months-old. Do you have any advice on making the transition as easy as possible for our cat?

Answer: You can get drugs from your vet to help with car sickness, but I have not found these to be very effective as the after-effects seem to be more unpleasant for the animal than the car sickness itself. Car sickness is usually caused by fear and anxiety, so do whatever you can to minimise this, e.g. turn corners carefully, pack the travel basket in so it cannot slide around, partially cover with a blanket to deaden noise and shut out unwanted sights.

Moving house will probably be quite traumatic for her, so it may be best to keep her in one room of your old house for a few days while you pack to save her running away during all the commotion.

When you arrive at the new house, confine her to one room for the first few days with litter tray, bed, food and water, visit her often and let her get used to that first while you sort out the house.

Later, when you are settled, allow her access to another room for a few days and continue, one room at a time, until she knows the whole house. Always give her access to the first room at all times if she wants to go back. Keep her inside for at least three weeks and have her microchipped before you go just in case she gets lost at any point in the transfer (don’t forget to put your new address on the register rather than your old one).

Question: My young male cat, Simba is petrified of the vacuum cleaner and will not go anywhere near it (on or off). When I need to vacuum the house, he runs outside and sometimes doesn't come back for hours. He will only relax when he is certain that the vacuum is nowhere to be seen. What can we do to help him feel more secure and realise that it poses no threat to him?

Answer: It is natural for animals to be scared of loud noises and this trait will help to keep him safe when he is outside. It is likely that Simba had a bad experience with a vacuum cleaner when he was younger.

It isn’t necessary for one to have hurt him, but enough for one to have been turned on when he wasn’t expecting it, leaving him badly scared. It is not important that he relaxes when you are vacuuming, but it is sensible to stop him leaving the house which may put him at risk if he runs off in an anxious state.

I suggest you shut him in the room furthest from the one you are vacuuming and leave him there until you have finished. Once he has learned the routine, he will realize that the vacuum cleaner stays away from him and doesn’t ‘come to get him’ when you have put him somewhere safe.

Put the vacuum cleaner away before he comes out so that he is not scared by it and he will be pleased that his ‘monster’ has been tamed!

You may like to read What is my Cat Thinking? for more information on understanding fears & how to help your cat feel safe

Question: My rescue kitten is nearly 6 months old now and is very playful and affectionate. However, he shows no interest in going outdoors and will not go out when we leave the door open or try to encourage him. Should we leave him until he is ready to venture out or try and force him?

Answer: No, don’t try to force him. There may be a very good reason for not doing so from his point of view and taking him out there against his will may cause him to be more anxious than ever.

It is better to try to encourage him. Begin by feeding him beside the open back door. Gradually move the dish further out over several days, always standing with him while he feeds so that he can feel more confident. If he doesn’t eat, try again later, but always feed him his daily ration in the safety of his home if he isn’t brave enough to go out.

As his confidence begins to grow, accompany him on short tours of the garden, always leaving the back door open so that he can run back inside if he wants to. Play with toys outside with him and give him tasty treats so that he begins to enjoy the experience.

Gradually, as he matures, you will probably find that his confidence increases anyway and he begins to want to go out and explore.

If not, don’t worry too much and try to be satisfied that you have provided a lovely comfortable home where he can feel safe and where he is also safe from all the dangers that lurk outside.

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