\u201cThe Active Cat: Environmental Enrichment\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in the October 6 The Vet Is In column). What we need to accomplish is an \u201cextinction\u201d of behaviors: the pacing, vocalizing, trying to zip out an open door\u2014all demonstrations of the agitation of a cat accustomed to going outside and who really wants to keep doing it. The problem is, every time the cat gets out, it reinforces all of these behaviors associated with trying<\/i> to get out. If the cat goes out only 5 percent of the time, this still has a reinforcing effect, and the undesirable behaviors usually continue.<\/p>\nSince cats do not adapt to change well, should we try to extinguish these behaviors gradually or all at once? Making this behavior change all at once has the best chance of success, since it eliminates the unwanted behavior of \u201ctrying to get out.\u201d If the outdoor cat is being shifted to your indoor environment from somewhere else, it\u2019s important that he or she be kept strictly inside after the move, since the cat won\u2019t be familiar with the territory outside and has a much greater chance of getting lost or coming to grief.<\/p>\n
Cats are enchanted by new things, such as a cardboard box, paper bags, a collapsible nylon tunnel (such as little children at preschool might use\u2014and they do make them for cats!), and even their own carriers put in different locations.\u00a0Favorite toys put away for a few weeks and then brought out again can attract their attention, and some cats really respond to occasional exposure to catnip. A feline pheromone in the product Feliway in spray or diffuser form can be very helpful in calming stressed or agitated cats.<\/p>\n
Cat carriers can be turned into fun attractions by moving them to a new spot, leaving the door open, and putting something\u00a0new and exciting inside. A wadded-up piece of paper (they love the crackles), a new fuzzy toy, and catnip toys are good choices. Then, put the carriers away after a day or two, and take them out a couple of days later with some new treasure inside.<\/p>\n
If the cats are not very keen on the carriers, you can try feeding them only<\/i> inside the carriers for a week or two, and they\u2019ll come to look forward to the carrier and see it as a good place to be. If my cats get very rambunctious and noisy, I put them in the carrier with a blanket over the top so it looks and feels like a cave. It\u2019s not punishment, it\u2019s just trying to replicate a natural situation like hiding in a cave, and it has a calming effect.<\/p>\n
Just remember that if you give in and decide to let a restless, pacing cat outside \u201cjust for a little while,\u201d this will simply reinforce the whole idea of getting outside and won\u2019t do you or the cat any good in the long run. As an indoor cat, the avoidance of viral diseases, cat-fight abscesses, dog attacks, poisons, being hit by a car and countless other dangers will do your cat a world of good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pets who live indoors, particularly cats, will live a longer and safer life if they spend all their time indoors. Training cats to be indoor pets from the very beginning tends to work best, since the cats never have the experience of being outside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":66591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","pmpro_default_level":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","footnotes":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[388],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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