Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
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Appropriate play refers to providing interactive (and safe) cat toys that kittens and adults can play with on their own, with each other, and with their owners. Without appropriate toys, kittens redirect their play toward other cats and/or owners' hands/feet—behaviors that should be avoided before they become learned. 6. Provide clean litter BoxeS In an outdoor environment, cats have plenty of room to eliminate, often digging down a good distance to do so. These considerations should be taken into account when teaching owners about ideal litter box setup. • Size: Boxes should be large—ideally the size of plastic boxes used for under-the-bed storage—and placed in areas that are easily accessible (Figure 6). • Number: The typical rule is 1 box per cat plus 1 additional box. However, owners can consider using fewer boxes if large boxes are chosen and their cats coexist peacefully. • Litter: Boxes should be filled several inches deep with litter. Research shows that cats prefer Figure 6. Litter boxes created from fine particulate large, under-the-bed storage boxes litter material— the standard scoopable variety—but each cat may have its own preference.5 • Cleaning: Boxes should be scooped out at least once a day and completely emptied and cleaned with mild soap and water every month. 8. Provide ScratchinG oPPortunitieS Cats scratch to communicate with other cats—if a tree or dirt isn't available, then a chair or rug will do. Indoor cats need a variety of scratching options—both vertical and horizontal (Figure 8). Share the following guidelines with your cat owners: • Scratching surfaces should be located in central, visible areas of the house because they serve as a form of feline communication. • If possible, include a surface that a cat would be naturally attracted to outdoors (ie, a log). • Increase the appeal of scratching surfaces by sprinkling or spraying them with catnip or Feliway (ceva.com), respecFigure 8. A well-used tively. scratching post • To prevent cats from scratching furniture, double-sided tape, such as Sticky Paws (pioneerpet.com) can be used as a deterrent. • If furniture scratching cannot be tolerated, nail covers, such as Soft Paws (softpaws. com), can be applied to the cat's nails. To help set everyone up for success, make sure your patients' nails are trimmed regularly. 9. realize that SoMe catS urine Mark While urine marking is a normal (though undesirable) communication behavior for some cats, no Provide one is exactly sure why cats comMultiple municate through this medium. resource A study in feral cats found that urine marking was more likely to locations occur on well-traveled pathways 7. Provide areaS for reSt in multicat rather than territorial In an older study by Panahouseholds, it is perimeters, which sugman,6 cats rested 22% (5.3 not uncommon gests that marking prohours) of the day and slept for 1 or more cats vides individual and 40% (9.6 hours), which to prevent access temporal information conservatively translates versus serving as a deto important to almost 15 hours of rest/ terrent to intruders.7 resources, such sleep per day. Spaying and neuterTherefore, cats need as food, water, ing decreases the inplaces in the house where and litter boxes. cidence of marking by they can "rest in peace," Make sure owners 89%8; however, spraying especially if there are cats Figure 7. A quiet, secluded provide several is likely to increase in of different ages in the enresting place locations for these direct proportion to the vironment (Figure 7). number of cats living in the house. resources in order • The goal is to provide as many resting places as posOne study found that spraying to prevent feline sible in various parts of the home. • Resting places include perches, individual beds, and increased from 25% in single-cat confrontation and designated furniture. Again, owners can search on- households to 100% in housestress. holds with more than 10 cats.9 line for ideas. May/June 2013 Today's Veterinary Practice 69 The 10 Commandments of Cat Management On YOur BesT BehaViOr |