The cat’s welfare is directly and forcefully impacted by routine and environmental events. A ground breaking study done in 2011 found that disruption to routine resulted in sickness behaviors (which are defined as vomiting, diarrhea, decreased food or water intake, elimination outside the litter box, lethargy, fever, decreases in grooming and decreases in social interaction) in healthy cats and that providing an enriched environment to sick cats resulted in a significant decrease in the number of sickness behaviors and/or symptoms exhibited. The study found that keeping the time the same every single day for each feeding was paramount to stress reduction. Other factors were providing for the same caregiver, playing classical music (no rap or heavy metal please) offering playtime including the interactive kind, keeping clean litter boxes in the same locations and avoiding manual restraint.
A separate study published in May of 2017 by the Journal of Feline Medical Surgery compared the behaviors, including inappropriate elimination, excessive grooming and aggression, of cats that had been de-clawed compared to cats that not been de-clawed, the de-clawed cats significantly demonstrated more of these behaviors. 63% of the de-clawed cats were found to have bone fragments left in their digits, these cats were more likely to have back pain, inappropriate elimination, biting and aggression. de-clawed cats without retained bone fragments were found to have increased biting and inappropriate elimination. Introducing a new cat into an existing cat household can also generate house soiling and litter box issues.
The work is in figuring out what is stressing the cat so very much that this is what they feel they have to do in their cry for help to reach us to do something about it. Start with trying to determine first what has changed and what change would be most upsetting from the cat point of view. Again, a two pronged approach, where litter box basics as noted above needs to be reviewed and implemented at the same time as working on behavior, in order for the most effective solution.
Once the stressor is identified, remediation and mitigation and of course, enrichment, need to happen. Allow for a period of latency, for a time when the cat will continue or attempt to continue the prior behavior while you are making changes. In cases where a new cat is being introduced reconsider introduction strategies, including revisiting them from step one.
Remember, part of changing your cat's behavior is changing your behavior with your cat. Should your behavior include punishment, no matter what the form, even verbal or body language you want to remove it. And spraying water or shaking a can of pennies or rocks? Stop doing that, definitely out. Punishment creates fear, increases stress and makes behavior problems worse not better, especially with cats. For what will make things better- adding in the following changes will help:
Do apply management initially along with addressing the causes of stress. With cats that have been de-clawed the use of gravel type litters or clumping litters is probably not a good idea. These cats have compromised abilities to manipulate litter so the softest possible litter is the kindest. With a cat that is targeting the bed, placing the litter box on the bed might shift placement but is definitely not palatable from a human standpoint, in this scenario, placing unwelcome objects from a cat point of view on the bed or temporarily prohibiting access to the bed or bedroom would be a more workable strategy. Another example of a management strategy for outdoor intruders is blocking the view to cut down on visual stimulation think of taping paper over window panes. Additional strategies would have to be employed to deter the outdoor visitor as well because even if they cannot see the intruder they can smell them -mothballs, placed outside, are an excellent deterrent. Although not always effective, a plug in pheromone diffuser that has been tested specifically for marking behavior can be tried. Add in overall soothing (tested and approved) scents such as lavender oil (a few drops on flannel, tucked close to the cat's preferred resting place). Catnip and Valerian root sprinkled on to toys, scratch pads and in on resting areas have been shown to be preferred scents for cats and are beneficial and stress reducing.
An enriched environment is essential for these cats to alleviate stress and allow for necessary and natural behaviors that are intrinsically rewarding. For multiple cats, you want to make sure resources are adequately distributed, including your attention and careful integration strategies observed for newcomers (more on that here).
Provide opportunities for of satisfying cat activities like foraging and hunting with puzzle feeders for meals (rolling feeder or tray feeder -especially good for more than one cat) instead of food bowls. Add in daily interactive play with their humans with fishing wand toys. Consistently offer the right sort of petting to stand in for allogrooming (cats grooming each other). Make sure the appropriate cat furnishings are available such as beds with at least three sides to offer containment, raised resting spaces (shelves and towers) for safety and retreat (this is vital to multi cat households), scratch posts or boards rubbed with catnip or valerian root (because they need to scratch) and plenty of toys (fur mice that rattle are a must) with the most important aspect of play, again, being with you -unpredictable, bonding and way more engaging.
The key here is looking at the whole entire picture from a human and cat point of view to solve and address things that are troublesome. That a cat would think we have the power to solve the problem gives us some big shoes to fill, it is also amazing and motivation enough for us to do just that.
References: -Martell-Moran, NK, Solan M., Townshend H.G.G. (2017). Pain and adverse behavior in declawed cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, (published online May 2017)
-Stella, J.L., Lord, L.K., Buffington, C.A.T. (2011). Sickness behaviors in response to unusual external events in healthy cats and cats with feline interstitial cystitis. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 238, 1, 67-73
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