Kitten wellbeing tips

29 Mar

What makes a cat a cat?

It’s imperative we consider who our feline friends descended from and what their natural behaviour is, so their essential ‘cat-ness’ can be nurtured and expressed when they live in our heart and homes.

Considering how we tailor their environment, how we and others interact with them can help to minimise stress and will cultivate their mental wellbeing. To do this it's important to know what makes a cat a cat.

Important cat facts:

The domesticated cat (Felis silvestris catus) evolved from subspecies of carnivorous, wildcats which included the near Eastern wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) [1].

Cats descended from small solitary hunters – as a species who preys and is predated on [2]. having vertical space for them to jump up on will help them feel safer. Play will help get instincts out.

Olfaction (sense of smell) is very important to a cat and they will make things feel more familiar by rubbing their head on items and transferring scent therefore not cleaning edges will help maintain scent continuity.

When born, a kitten is blind and relies on olfaction to locate their mother for milk [3].

How pheromones can help

Actionable tips:

· Don’t clean the edges of tables

· Invest in Feliway

· Use the double bed method. Have two blankets that your cat sleeps on so when you need to wash one they can have the other.

Pheromones are chemical signals and smells that a cat uses to communicate with other cats and themselves [4]. You may have heard of Feliway a synthetic pheromone which you can plug in. Cats have scent glands in their cheeks and paws and other parts of their body, when they bunt (rub) on items (including us!) this releases a pheromone called the F3. F3, in Feliway form can add comfort in the environment [5].

The cat has a vomeronasal organ in the roof of their mouth. They raise their lip, open their mouth half way and produce a flehmen response when this is activated by scent. The response means that the pheromone lands in the vomeronasal organ, stimulates it and eventually the brain receives it for emotional processing [6]. As F3 is a pheromone that a cat uses to make the environment smell more familiar and therefore safe then a synthetic pheromone device will help aid the transition into a new home. Pop the synthetic pheromone plug-in in the area your cat will spend most of their time – perhaps where they eat.

Help your kitten fulfil their natural behaviour

· Puzzle feeders can be a great way of allowing your cat to hunt

· Hiding food around the home (in places you remember can help them hunt)

· After they have caught a toy give them some food to complete the predation sequence

For mental stimulation it’s important that a cat can access their food in a predatory fashion which imitates their inherent need to hunt. This can be done by using puzzle feeders rather than a bowl. Puzzle feeders are a form of environmental enrichment – which stimulates the brain’s metal processes as the cat is foraging (searching for the food). It’s very important that the puzzle feeder is not too complex for them to begin with as this may cause frustration rather than enrichment. You can purchase commercially made ones or make your own with cardboard from toilet roll! As cats would have originally eaten multiple small meals a day after their hunting expeditions [7], ideally, they should fed 5 times a day via the puzzle feeders. If this isn’t possible because you’re at work then you could consider purchasing a timed feeder that opens automatically [8].

Talk to the paw - handling tips

· Do gentle handling pressure on the paws and pair with a treat.

· Encourage others to handle your cats paws carefully and pair with a treat – so they are getting used to handling.

· Place a small amount of pressure so their nails are retracted and they are getting prepared for nail trimming (that may be something of benefit as they get older so they don’t catch their claws on blankets).

As cats descended from a solitary species, who gained no advantage to group living it makes sense that cats prefer short, low intensity interactions with people [9]. To help cats become habituated (used) to handling that they will experience at a vets, it’s important that a cat has predictable and regular social interaction. They can become sensitive to handling if they’re not experiencing it enough. When handling your kitten it should be able to move away from the interaction at any time and not restrained, as this can cause stress. When your kitten is relaxed (perhaps after a play session), sit on the floor with them and have some tasty treats in a lock box container. Move your hands down the cats body and then give them a treat and repeat for 3 touches. Touch the top of their paw and give a treat. Squeeze their paw gently and give them treat. Repeat these steps on the ears, tail, and lift their lips and around their eye area. Do everything in slow stages. It’s a good idea to make a note of body items that you handle that the cat moves away from so you can work on desensitising (made less sensitive) to this.

A cardboard box can help your kitten feel safer

· Have an uptured cardboard box so they can hide in there

· Have a place under your bed they can relax and get away from noise in

· Have a place that people do not disturb and bother them in so they can rest and relax and realise they can get away from people if they want to

In the wild, cats would have hidden from predators. An upturned cardboard box, is an inexpensive way of providing your cat with a hiding place. It’s important that the box
is upturned so the cat can’t get stuck inside it. You can also look at options such as an igloo bed. Other cats looking through large glass windows can be intimidating so having a box to hide in can help regulate stress and even make a cat more likely to interact with a new person that comes into your home [10]. To make the box even more appealing and comfortable resting location you could pop a pillow inside it [11].

"Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us"(Winston Churchill)

An elevated surface can help your kitten feel secure

Giving a cat choice and control over their environment will help them feel safer. Providing cat friendly shelving, cat trees or vertical spaces means they can retreat and move away from an unknown person or trigger. They will utilise an innate behavioural response by climbing away from the trigger and can use emotional valence to investigate it [12]. Many cat trees have soft, pillowed surfaces which can be comfortable for a cat and increase their use [13]. Cat trees should ideally be placed against a wall so that they can see everything in front of them and have a wall for protection. If the cat shelving material has scratching options such as corrugated cardboard or sisal rope then the cat can also scratch the shelf area, making it feel like an even safer place to be as cats have scent glands in their paw pads too [14].

Socialisation

· We want our cats to be handled by a range of different people so this can help them when experiencing the groomers and vets.

· We want them to maintain a healthy fear of traffic

· We want them to experience different toys

Allow your cat to have handling experience from children and men. Allow them to hear sounds such as fireworks, noisy shoes, and household appliances. Look at the following sound guide for information (make sure they are not startled by the sounds – build up the volume gradually). https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/pregnancy-and-kitten-care/kitten-socialisation

REFERENCES

[1] Driscoll, C A. et al. The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication, Science, 317, 519-523 (2007) pp.519.

[2] Bradshaw, J et al, The behaviour of the domestic cat, 2nd edition (2012) pp.95

[3] Raihani, G et al. Olfactory Guidance of Nipple Attachment and Suckling in Kittens of the Domestic Cat: Inborn and Learned Responses, Developmental Psychobiology, 51, 662 -671 (2009) pp. 669

[4] Shreve, K. & Udell, M. Stress, security, and scent: The influence of chemical signals on the social lives of domestic cats and implications for applied settings, Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 187, 69–76 (2017). Pp. 69

[5] Shreve, K. & Udell, M. Stress, security, and scent: The influence of chemical signals on the social lives of domestic cats and implications for applied settings, Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 187, 69–76 (2017). Pp. 70

[6] Pageat, P. & Gaultier, E. Current research in canine and feline pheromones, Vet. Clin. Small.Anim. 33, 187–211 (2003). pp. 192

[7] Bradshaw, J.W.S., Thorne, C., 1992. Feeding behaviour. In: Thorne, C. (Ed.), The Waltham Book of Dog and Cat Behaviour. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 115–129.

[8] Rochlitz, I. The Welfare of Cats p.241 (2007), in chapter NUTRITION AND WELFARE By Kit Sturgess and Karyl J. Hurley

[9] Proctor, Lita M. Oceanography, 20 52-57 (2007) Pp. 56

[10] Casey, R & Kry K. Animal Welfare 16, 375-383 (2007) The effect of hiding enrichment on stress levels and behaviour of domestic cats (Felis sylvestris catus) in a shelter setting and the implications for adoption potential p. 380

[11] Crouse, S et al. Contemporary topics in

laboratory animal science 34, 94-97 (1995) Soft surfaces: a factor in feline psychological well-being.p.96

[12] Carlstead K. et al. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 38 143-158 (1993) p. 144

[13] Crouse, S et al. Contemporary topics in

laboratory animal science 34, 94-97 (1995) Soft surfaces: a factor in feline psychological well-being. p.96

[14] Mills, Daniel S., et al, Stress and pheromonatherapy in small animal clinical behaviour, [Internet], Wiley, 2012, [15.12.2020] Available
from Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ed/det ail.action?docID=4035541.

Lisa Sinnott