Behavior Disorders in Cats

What are 4 signs of behavior problems in cats?

• Fear, anxiety, and phobias

• Compulsive disorders

• House-soiling and marking

• Aggression problems

What are 5 fears/phobias cats can experience?

• Fear of species other than humans (dogs)

• Fear of people

• Fear of inanimate objects and stimuli (noise)

• Phobias

• Attachment problems

What are the 4 most commonly documented fear-inducing stimuli?

• Animals (cats, other species)

• Strangers (unfamiliar humans)

• Noises

• Unusual experiences (traveling, going to the vet)

What are the 6 potential causes of feline fear?

• Lack of appropriate socialization and habituation

• Genetic influence on timidity

• One-off traumatic incidents

• Anticipation of unpleasant experiences (attacks by neighboring cats - “agoraphobia”)

• Old age - loss of competence and an increase in general fearfulness

• Unintentional owner reinforcement of fearful responses

When cats experience feline fear, they can experience/show what 3 things?

• Self-defense (aggression)

• Withdraw from the environment, both socially and physically

• Show a decreased threshold of reactivity to stimuli —> reactive behavioral manifestations of the fear

What are 2 treatments for feline fear of inanimate objects?

• Identify all stimuli/elements of compound stimuli that evoke fear

• Find some means to present these stimuli at lower intensity

The stimulus is repeatedly presented below the threshold that evokes fear, the intensity of the stimulus is gradually raised over a number of sessions until the animal is fully habituated to it

Desensitization

The stimulus is presented in association with something that the cat unconditionally enjoys (play, food); after repeated presentation, the previously fear-eliciting stimulus begins to elicit the same emotional state as the pleasant event now associated with it

Counterconditioning

Repetitious or exaggerated self-maintenance behavior; more commonly associated with a lack of ability to carry out normal behavior, combined with the social stress of perpetual competition and conflict

Feline compulsive disorders

• Breed predispositions: Burmese, siamese

• Hyperesthesia (twitchy cat syndrome)

• Psychogenic alopecia (over-grooming)

• Self-mutilation

• Pica

• Wool-sucking

Characteristics of feline compulsive disorders

Punishment or attempt to physically prevent FCD

Misguided

What is one contributing factor to wool-sucking?

Abrupt or too-early weaning of a kitten from the mother (when adopting a 6-8 week old kitten, you become their surrogate mother)

Possible mis-wiring within the hypothalamic region leads to what 2 things?

• Errors in the detection of potential prey items

• Redirection of hunting responses onto unsuitable items such as fabric

Excessive physical sensitivity especially of the skin; a sign of underlying medical or behavioral problems

Hyperesthesia

• Skin along the lumbosacral area may twitch or ripple

• Excessive self-grooming

• Hissing or biting at the back or flank

• Intensive tail wagging

• Some may cry, dash away, or defecate

Signs of feline hyperesthesia

Feline hyperesthesia episodes arise when the cat is ____ ____ and may be incited by physical contact or external stimuli

highly aroused

Medical causes such as neuropathic pain, dermatologic conditions, myopathies, and focal seizures can also present with similar signs as what?

Feline hyperesthesia

• Litter box is used infrequently, if at all

• Litter box is used only for defecation but not urination or vice-versa

• Large amounts of urine are deposited in the inappropriate area

• The cat exhibits a definitive urinating posture (squatting to eliminate)

• Carpets and rugs are often targeted

• Only 2 to 3 locations are used

Inappropriate elimination

• Fairly normal litter box use, along with the strategic location of urine marks

• Urination is mostly on vertical surfaces (though cats that are doing this may sometimes urinate on horizontal surfaces as well)

• Only small amounts of urine are deposited in the inappropriate area

• The cat displays a typical posture while urinating: backing up to the object, lifting and often quivering the tail, treading with the back feet

• The locations of urination are many and varied

Urine marking

• Lack or privacy in latrine location

• Inappropriate substrate: pine or wood-pulp based litters

• Competition and excessive latrine use

• Despotic control of entry/exit points

• Specific fears: noise, stressful environment

• Negative litter box association

• Inability to use or find litter trays: older cats

• Medical conditions: FLUTD

• Punishments

Potential causes of inappropriate elimination

• Loss of core territory facial or flank marks: home redecoration/change

• Loss of maintenance of group odor: cattery

• Failure of odor recognition of a specific individuals: vet

• Introduction of a new cat

• Excessive population density outside the home

• Unfamiliar odors brought into the house

Potential causes of indoor marking

Feline aggression is usually (under/overestimated) compared to canine aggression

Underestimated

Only 25% of dog bites will contain pasteurella multocida compared to ____ of cat bites

50-74%

Should you attempt to handle a cat when it is in a frightened or aggressive state?

No

Aggression towards ____

• Fear/anxiety related

• Frustration related

• Misdirected predatory behavior

People

What 7 aggressions are associated with feline aggression?

• Aggression towards people

• Aggression associated with human interaction

• Aggression towards other cats

• Aggression due to lack of early handling

• Maternal aggression

• Play aggression

• Pain aggression

The resolution of a conflict by performing a seemingly unrelated activity

Displacement activity

A type of displacement activity when an animal cannot perform a highly desired instinctive behavior: excessive sucking or licking; these activities have no useful purpose

Vacuum activity

• Furniture scratching

• Attention-seeking behavior

• Inappropriate play behavior

• Mounting, masturbation

• Predatory behavior

• Tree-climbing behavior

• Reintroduction after hospitalization

• Travel problems

• Plant-eating problems

• Eating problems

Behavior management problems

• Aggression

• Excess vocalization

• Destructiveness

• Waking at night/house soiling

• Stereotypic/compulsive behavior

• Noise phobias

• Separation-related issues

Geriatric behavioral problems

Canine/feline cognitive dysfunction are behavioral disorders in what age of animals?

Geriatric

• Age-related neurobehavioral syndrome

• Leads to a decline in cognitive function

• Degenerative process similar to Alzheimer’s

• Not very familiar; as many as 85% of cases go undiagnosed

• Dogs are living longer; cases are becoming more apparent

Canine cognitive dysfunction

• Not well-known

• Sticky proteins called beta-amyloids accumulate around neurons, creating plaques

• Neurons breakdown and result in neurofibrillary tangles

Causes of canine cognitive dysfunction

Symptoms of CCD (DISHAA)

• Disorientation

• Social interactions

• Sleep-wake cycles

• House-soiling, learning and memory

• Activity

• Anxiety

• Diagnosis of exclusion: must rule out medical conditions contributing to symptoms, then can consider CCD

• No cure: must learn how to manage diagnosis

• Can be provided prescription medications, supplements, or adjusted diet

Diagnosis/treatment of CCD

• Usually seen in cats 10+ years old

• Affects more than 55% of cats aged 11-15 and over 80% of cats aged 16-20

• Spatial disorientation

• Wandering

• Altered sleep-wake cycle

• Loud vocalization

• Forgetting the location of feed bowls and/or litter box

Symptoms of feline cognitive dysfunction