All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

Why cats are destructive, and what to do about it

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Because destructiveness in pets can have a medical as well as behavioral side, I teamed up with my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, to help this reader out with her rampaging cat.

Q: My cat lives to tear up my stuff. She’s always scratching the furniture, eating houseplants and knocking things off shelves. She’s 2 years old and has lots of toys. Help!

A: With their sharp claws and teeth and active curiosity, cats — especially young ones — have the potential to be destructive. They exercise paws and claws on prominent pieces of furniture; taste-test plants (and then upchuck the greens); and bat a paw at that knickknack your Aunt Ruby gave you just to see what will happen. Sometimes cats are just being cats, but often a little sleuthing will help you figure out why they behave in destructive ways.

Consider setting up a “cat cam” to see what goes on when you’re not at home. It can help determine what time of day your cat is most active or if something’s going on that triggers her destructive behavior. You may discover that another pet chases or teases her, causing her to jump up where those breakables are, or soothe her injured feelings by scratching the sofa or nibbling on a plant.

She may not find her toys entertaining enough. Offer new ones with brainteaser capabilities. A window perch with a view of squirrels and birds outdoors is another option. Institute three to five minutes of playtime with her a couple of times a day. She’ll enjoy the attention as well as the physical and mental exercise. Place a tall cat tree next to the item she enjoys scratching, and reward her with treats and praise for using it.

A veterinary exam may be in order. Cats who eat plants or lick or chew fabric or carpet may have a gastrointestinal disorder. If she gets a clean bill of health, you may just have to give her time to outgrow her youthful enthusiasm.

Read more, including updates on pet cancer, in this week’s Pet Connection!

Bring joy into your life and adopt a shelter dog this month

Pet Connection, Rescue

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and my writing partner, Kim Campbell Thornton, shared the story of her recently-lost and much-loved adopted dog, Gemma, in our Pet Connection feature this week:

Last month we lost our little Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix, Gemma, to cancer. She was probably 16 or 17 years old, so she had a good, long life, but losing an old and beloved dog is always hard on the heart, even when you’ve had her for only four and a half years. She was not the dog we were expecting when she joined our family, but she soon let us know that she was the dog we needed.

Gemma came to us in January 2013, about two months after the death of our black-and-tan Cavalier, Twyla, who collapsed and died unexpectedly during a visit to my parents. That left us with only one dog, 6-year-old Harper. When we returned home, I told my friend Maryanne Dell, with Shamrock Rescue Foundation, which pulls and places dogs in shelters at risk of euthanasia, that we could foster a dog for her. She brought us Gemma.

This tiny dog — she weighed in at six pounds — walked into our lives and quickly took over, despite her unprepossessing appearance. She had a large bare patch on her back, and the rest of her fur had been trimmed short. She had a mouth full of bad teeth, all of which were removed except for a couple of fangs. The shelter estimated her age at 12 or 13 years. By the time we’d had her a few months, though, she could have been a poster dog for shelter adoption.

Except for a brief squat beneath our bird’s cage to mark her new territory, Gemma turned out to be perfectly house-trained. Despite her age, she set a rapid pace on our walks around the block. Sometimes she went so fast that I had to break into a jog to keep up with her. She demanded to go to nose work class with Harper and me and turned out to excel at the sport. Once it grew out, her coat was long and flowing. It was clear she was used to living in a home where she was spoiled, because she insisted on sleeping under the covers. I fought it for a while but eventually her persistence won out.

Read the rest, and more, in this week’s Pet Connection! And if you want to adopt a shelter dog of your own, visit www.theshelterpetproject.org to find dogs near you!

My top 4 tips for introducing a new cat to other pets in the home

Fear Free

In the bad old days, veterinarians offered zero advice for a client who was getting a new kitten or cat. Here’s what normally happened:

  • Person brings a cat who’s either frozen with fear, taking flight around a cardboard box almost ready to achieve orbital velocity, or hissing and ready to bring the fight like the fifteenth round of a Rocky fight into the house to meet the other occupants.
  • The other occupants of the house are all standing on two or four legs around the laundry basket, cardboard box, or towel holding the new kitty, ready to sniff, hiss, snap, or snarl at the new creature who they believe is either invading the territory or, at the very least, upsetting the status quo.
  • Fur fills the air with various animal body parts visible in a whirling tornado of welcome.

As part of the Fear Free movement, we now know a lot more about how to reduce or remove the triggers that cause fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) in pets. Here are my top four tips for welcoming a new cat into a home — something we’re about to do ourselves:

1. Safe room. I’m not talking about the type that millionaires create for vault-like protection in case of a robbery or attack, but a spare room with only one entry and exit, where the cat is not going to be disturbed as she eats, drinks, and settles in for the long haul. So don’t use your master bedroom or the bathroom everybody uses, but instead a spare bedroom or bathroom.

2. Use pheromones. I recommend getting two plug-in diffusers of a product called Feline Multicat (CEVA) and plugging one on in the safety room and another in the room on the other side of the door (or the main room the cats spend time in). These pheromones can help set the mood for a joyful meeting.

3. Meet me at the door. If you have other pets, dogs or cats, feed the family pets and the new pet on either side of the door so they get used to each other’s smells. For at least one day before you decide to let them actually check each other out—up close and personal—feed a food that is a tasty as possible (like chicken heated up in the microwave) on both sides of the door; half way through the meal, switch bowls so that they literally get a taste of each other.

4. Smell ’em up. The day of the meeting, take a towel and rub down all of the pets with the same towel, spreading the mutual scent to all animals.

Why cats spray and mark in the house

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine,

Cats who mark the house with urine present a huge problem to even the most loving owners. When a reader recently wrote asking me about this behavior, I asked my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, to help explain.

Q: My cat is spraying in the house. It feels like he’s trying to protect us from the other cats, and occasionally coyotes, that come into our yard. If we keep him inside all the time, he gets antsy and will spray. When we let him out, he does fine much of the time, but then cats come into the yard and they fight. He is 9 or 10 years old and is neutered. Any advice?

A: Spraying, or territorial marking, is a feline form of communication. It’s most common in unneutered cats, but any cat is capable of spraying, including neutered males. Cats deliver messages to each other with their stinky pee; your cat may be attempting to ward off other cats and coyotes from his territory — your yard and home.

Your cat may also be marking space inside the home to help himself feel more secure. Making your home smell more like himself helps to relieve stress that may occur when he sees, hears or smells other cats or predators, such as coyotes in his yard. If your cat is spraying items that carry your scent, such as clothing or bedding, or items where you spend a lot of time, such as a favorite chair or sofa, he’s doubling down on that feeling of security. Combining his scent with yours is a way of increasing his feeling of comfort.

Ways to improve the situation include changing the environment, instituting a behavior modification plan or administering pheromones or medications to help decrease anxiety. Try blocking your cat’s view of the animals outdoors. Eliminate odor from previous marking episodes by thoroughly cleaning the area with an enzymatic product. Feline pheromone diffusers or sprays can increase his comfort level as well. A Fear Free-certified veterinarian can help you with a behavior modification or medication plan.

Read more in this week’s Pet Connection!

Remember Me Thursday: Honoring the joy an adopted pet can bring

Rescue

Last year at this time, we were eagerly waiting to  welcome yet another adopted pet into our home. We only had Quin’C for a few short months before cancer took him — a cancer we knew he had before we adopted him. A decision we wouldn’t change no matter what!

We also lost another adopted canine family member, sweet 14-year-old Quora. We had a dog lifetime with her, and she gave us so much joy that not even the pain of loss can stop us from adopting again — we’re about to bring an orphaned kitten named Punk’N Lunk’N into the “pack”!

These experiences are why Teresa and I feel powerfully moved to ask you to participate in Remember Me Thursday on Sept. 28.

This is an annual event asking everyone who has ever loved a pet to lend your voices to support pets in shelters and rescue groups right now, by finding a pet and sharing him or her on your social media, tagged with #RememberMeThursday and #RememberTheRescue. You can search for pets near you at www.theshelterpetproject.org.

We’d also like to ask you to share photos and/or stories of your own adopted pets and the joy they’ve brought to your lives here, and to share any of these social media ideas and invite others to share the light and beauty of pet adoption on Remember Me Thursday. And be sure to tag your rescue pet’s photo on Twitter or Instagram with #RememberTheRescue +#RememberMeThursday for a chance to win life-saving funds and food for a pet adoption organization you love!

They give us so much. Please give back today.