Behaviour of cats and dogs Unlike cats, dogs are social animals living in packs. Dogs normally live in a group with a well developed social hierarchy and communicate by sight, sound, smell and use of body language. Dog behaviour Dogs have a number of typical behaviours. These include: exploring the environment eating and drinking body clearing its waste care and attention look for shelter being antagonistic group behaviour sexual behaviour. Each of these behaviours have related problems. Exploring the environment Dogs explore their environment using their senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Some breeds, such as sight hounds and eagles, have been specialised to use particular senses. Problems related to this behaviour include: Scenting dogs wander. Sight hounds stimulated by movement chase cats, birds, etc. Males and females look for mates. Pups mouth everything which leads to biting. Dogs jump up to investigate. 1
Dogs that are unable to investigate,eg on a leash or in a yard, may become aggressive or bored, leading to behaviours like digging, barking, running, chewing and pulling washing off the line. Eating and drinking Normal eating and drinking habits have developed from pack behaviour of gorging food when it was available and before other pack members could get it. Any extra foods were also hidden. Problems related to these behaviours include: scavenging digging holes to bury food dogs fighting over food overfeeding resulting in obesity or picky eaters eating faeces. Body clearing its waste It is natural for dog s bodies to be cleared of their waste. Some of the problems related to this include: house training fear or excitement induced urination male dogs marking territory and tracking females on heat. Care and attention It is normal for young dogs 0-4 months to want care and attention. Even older dogs are still dependent on their owners for company. Dogs learn this behaviour by conditioning from other members in the pack. Some of the problems related to this behaviour include: being overly dependent separation anxiety jumping up for attention constant barking and/or scratching at doors for attention. Looking for shelter It is normal behaviour for dogs to look for a safe and secure shelter from the environment. Problems related to this behaviour include: digging holes for cooling 2
barking to enter house if cold and wet. Antagonistic behaviour Dogs evolved as pack animals and gained their food by hunting. This makes them naturally territorial. Problems related to this behaviour include: aggression towards humans/dogs/other animals chasing cars or people out of their territory. Group behaviours Dogs like to have social interaction with other dogs and humans. Some of the problems related to this behaviour include: excessive howling/barking when left out feral dog packs co-defending home territory. Sexual behaviour It is natural for dogs to look for and find a mate. Problems related to this behaviour include: mounting behaviour of female dogs increased territorial aggression in females with pups females on heat attract males, triggering the males to wander unwanted pregnancy and puppies. Cat behaviour Cats are normally solitary animals. They are small predators and hunt small prey so it would be a disadvantage to hunt in groups you will never hear of our domestic cats hunting in packs like dogs do! Due to this lack of social interaction, cats that live in groups tend to have a poorly developed pecking order and their ability to interact can be difficult and involve constant fighting. It can be difficult to predict what might happen when two cats interact. The set rules of social interaction are not as obvious as for dogs. To form social bonds, cats need to be raised together. They show bonding by grooming each other, sleeping and playing together. 3
Another normal behaviour of cats is that they bury their urine and faeces to hide their presence from bigger predators that would like to eat them. Communication Much of cat communication is aimed at decreasing social interaction with other cats. They do this by warning of their presence before the other cats see them by: using scent marking urine spraying and rubbing their chin, which has scent glands on it, onto objects visible clues like post scratching to warn other cats away from their territory. Cats also use body language for communication. The changes can be quite subtle but by watching carefully an animal carer can learn how to read a cat. Territorial behaviour Every cat has its own territory which consists of a home base and home range. However, they only actively defend the home base area, as some cats can have a territorial range of up to 60 or more acres! A cat s territorial behaviour includes the following: Cats claim their territory by visible and olfactory marking, eg spraying, clawing, and scent gland marking. The size of the home base depends on the type and sex of cat. The lazy desexed male pet, for example, will have a much smaller home base than a wild cat. Cat territories unlike pet dogs territories do not have to obey the physical boundaries used by humans, eg fences. This means a backyard can belong to more than one cat. In every area there are also parts which are neutral. There has to be a neutral pathway system which allows cats to move freely around the neighbourhood. When an owner and their cat move in to a new house, the cat will probably have to spend the first few weeks establishing its territory by: - vocalising - scent marking - posturing - maybe fighting. 4
Factors affecting cat behaviour There are a number of factors that have an impact on the behaviour of cats: genetic best time for learning hormones previous experience medical disorders. Genetic Certain breeds or lines of breeding may display behaviours peculiar to that line or breed. For example, Siamese cats are much more prone to wool chewing and neurotic behaviour. Best time for learning The period when a kitten is 3-9 weeks of age is the most important for learning certain behaviours. For example, this is the best time for socialising kittens towards humans, dogs and other cats, and house training them to use a litter tray. Hormones Many behaviours occur due to hormonal influences. For example during breeding season male and female cats will spray urine, males will fight, females will exhibit increased affection to their owners and will call. Previous experience To be able to adapt to an ever changing environment, animals must learn, and cats are very good learners eg cats knows when the fridge door opens! Medical disorders If cats have a sudden change in their behaviour (eg aggression in a usually sweet natured cat), look for a possible medical cause disease or pain. Behaviour problems There are a few behaviours that are normal for cats that owners consider undesirable: urine spraying 5
aggression furniture clawing hunting not using litter tray vocalisation. Urine spraying This is a common behaviour problem and normal behaviour especially for entire males. Cats spray to: mark territory mainly entire males although, desexed cats will sometimes spray especially if they feel threatened (eg a new cat in the area) to attract a mate eg female in season anxiety the cat s own smell gives it a feeling of security. Aggression Aggression is the second most common behaviour problem. The two main forms of aggression are either towards humans or towards other cats usually entire males or a territorial dispute which can be towards any sex or a desexed cat. The following are causes of aggression towards humans: lack of human contact during kittenhood without human handling especially during the 3-9 week period, kittens will tend to grow up wild strange environment, eg a vet clinic or show ring. The cat is out of its territory and will feel threatened. during handling for procedures use the least amount of restraint possible as the more you tend to restrain a cat the more they resent it and will fight redirected aggression an aggressively aroused cat, eg just finished fighting with another cat, is best left to cool off before you handle it. Aggression towards other cats can be caused by: entire males new cat to household or overcrowding this will tend to cause territorial disputes. 6
In cases aggression could be a sign of a medical cause problem ie the animal is sick or in pain. This cause should be considered if a normally passive cat suddenly becomes aggressive. Furniture clawing Furniture clawing is normal behaviour as cats use claw marks as a visual territory marker to warn other cats away. This is why they tend to favour a prominent object in full view eg the sofa. Once started, furniture clawing can be hard to stop you must supply a substitute post and once a cat has a favoured scratching post DON T change it!! Cats learn by observation so use a post trained cat to teach another cat which post to scratch at in a multi-cat household. Hunting Cats are pre-programmed to hunt it is an instinctive behaviour. Even the most well fed cats will hunt. Attempts are being made to breed cats less motivated to hunt but so far this has met with little success. Responsible owners need to lock their cats in at night and in some parts of the world this is now a legal requirement! Not using a litter tray The burying of waste is instinctive where to bury it is a learned behaviour, eg usually from the mother. If it is only the urination part that is not being done in the litter tray the cause could be medical eg cystitis. If the cat stops using the litter tray for both urine and faeces then the cause is probably behavioural (eg litter tray is dirty, too many cats use it or you may have changed the brand of litter many cats do not like the perfumed variety). Vocalisation Some breeds are more vocal than others, eg the Siamese is often a very vocal breed. Also, female cats vary their vocalisation; they will call for the male when in season. 7