The Cat Behavior Answer Book - Arden Moore [1]
I finally got my first cat, Shasta, when I was an adult. Alas, my happiness was brief because my landlords insisted that Shasta depart. I mustered the courage to speak to them because, although I’d only had her for a few days, I was smitten. My landlords and their beagle hated cats, so I promised they would never see Shasta because she would be kept indoors. I begged them to let me keep her, and they finally agreed.
Two years later I prepared to move across country. My landlords asked if I was taking Shasta; they were afraid I would leave her in the apartment. The only thing I left in the apartment was a decrepit old chair. Its springs were protruding when I moved in, but now the chair was in shreds — evidence of my failure to provide a scratching post for Shasta.
I was 28 years old when Shasta and I arrived in California and 30 when I earned my credentials as a registered veterinary technician. I worked in a veterinary hospital for the next 12 years and brought home more cats. I also convinced my friends and family that their lives weren’t complete without a feline friend.
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about keeping cats healthy and caring for sick ones. I noticed that although veterinary clients and staff were likely to talk about annoying dog behaviors, discussions about cat behaviors were rarely part of the office visit. Cats have suffered as a result. They have been labeled as unfriendly, spiteful, mischievous, and worse. They have been abandoned, given away, brought to shelters, and euthanized, when all they have done was behave like cats.
I made many mistakes with my first cats because I just didn’t know any better. I wish I’d had this book to help me prevent, manage, and understand my cats’ behaviors. And although I’m much savvier today, Arden’s book has taught this “old dog” some new tricks about cat behavior. Arden and her team of animal-behavior experts will educate and entertain you page after page. Start reading your way to the best relationship you can have with your cat!
— NANCY PETERSON, RVT
Feral Cat Program Manager,
The Humane Society of the United States
President, Cat Writers’ Association
PREFACE
Face the feline facts. Cats put the C in clever, the A in attitude, the T in tenacious, and the S in “so what.” Don’t expect them to apologize or to grovel — leave that to those gotta-please dogs. Cats pride themselves on being candid about what they want, when they want it.
Without a high-priced marketing team or a publicity-generating headline act in Las Vegas, cats have steadily and quietly overcome man’s so-called best friend in terms of numbers and popularity worldwide. In the United States alone, cats outnumber dogs at 90.5 million to 74 million. People may say, “My dog really loves me,” but they absolutely gush when they declare, “I’m crazy about my cat and I think she adores me too.”
We live for their full-throttle purrs, their warmth in our laps, and their amusing antics. Still, felines can be funny, fussy, frustrating, and even a bit freaky. You may wonder why your cat digs her claws into your lap while she’s cuddling. Perhaps you are stymied by your Persian’s preference for using your pillow instead of her litter box. What’s the deal on hairballs, bringing home dead birds, and nibbling on earlobes, anyway?
You may be puzzled and perplexed as you try to figure out why cats do what they do. That’s why I wrote this book. Please regard The Cat Behavior Answer Book as your guide to unlocking the mysteries behind how cats think and act. I’ve collected the questions presented here during appearances on television and radio pet shows, at public speaking presentations, as the editor of Catnip, and as a former pet columnist for Prevention. Once people discover what I do for a living — and that two cats manage my home — they unleash their questions. Why does my cat . . . ? How can I get my cat to stop