Solving The Mystery – What’s the Problem?

Become your own detective and let’s figure this out!

The first step is pin pointing the problem so that appropriate behavior modifications can be made.  The following questions will help provide a good basis for solving a behavior problem,  document the answers to the questions for a good look into assessing what’s wrong:

• Look at the big picture about your cat (or other animals) involved including the sex, age, is the cat spayed or neutered, declawed?
• How long has the problem been going on?
• What exactly is the problem (what do they do wrong)? When and where does it occur? Under what circumstances?
• Are there any people or animals present when the behavior occurs? What do you do before, during, and after the problem happens?
• How often does this behavior occur? Is there any pattern or regularity to it?
• Have you noticed anything in the cat’s environment that could trigger the behavior?
• When and under what circumstances did the first problem occur? Observe subsequent occurrences.
• What treatment methods,have you tried to correct the problem?
• When was the cat last seen by a veterinarian? Work with your vet and describe to them whats happening , rule out any medical problems before you move forward.  Does your cat have a history of health problems? Are they currently undergoing any form of medical treatment?
• Think about your cat’s personality? Are they outgoing, friendly to strangers, curious about new things brought into the house, or shy, nervous, afraid of loud sounds, new people?
• Observe your  cat’s daily routine? Are they an indoor cat or do they have free or limited access to the outdoors? Is there anything in your cat’s environment that regularly frightens them? (For example, the vacuum cleaner, the doorbell, animals outside, etc.)
• What are the dymanicts of your household? Are there other pets? Kids? What are the behavior and attitudes of the rest of the family towards your cat? How much attention does the cat get on a daily basis, and from whom?

Decide what is specific to the particular behavior problem–whether it is housesoiling, aggression with people, aggression with pets, etc.

After you determine exactly what the behavior problem is, seek out the appropriate articles located on our web-site.  Now that the problem is diagnosed, you can read as to what actions to take next.  Get yourself and your cat on the right track.  It will be worth it in the end.

 

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