San Francisco Cat Behaviorist, Kate Gamble, receives hundreds of phone calls each year from pet owners throughout the country in need of help.
Litter box problems, spraying, and aggression towards people or other animals are the three most common complaints she hears.
The first thing owners need to do when a behavioral problem crops up, says Gamble, is to bring their cat into a veterinarian to rule out any medical conditions. Once this has been done, her next step is to find out what has been going on in the pet owner's life. Job stress, a death in the family, divorce, or even remodeling your house can all have an affect on your feline.
"The reason cats have problems is very dependent on where their stress level is and how they cope with changes and anxious situations" said Gamble, who's been advising owners for eight years. "Some cats can handle a lot more than other cats."
Under stressful conditions a cat might be reacting normal for a feline, even though we perceive it as a misbehavior. "If they were in the (wild) they would react the same way." said Gamble.
In one case, a lady was complaining about her kitten urinating all over the house and scratching her seven month old baby. Gamble learned that the woman had another resident cat, a nine week old Rottweiler puppy, was expecting another child, and on top of it all, was getting ready to move. "She didn't have a clue that all that was stressful to the kitten" said Gamble.
Sometimes even simple things such as re-arranging the furniture can cause stress. "(It's) not unusual for cats to get real nervous if you start fooling around with their territory." Gamble said. You have to remember that a cat's whole life revolves around it's territory.
Territorial infringement happens frequently during mating season (February - October) when neighborhood cats start roaming. During these months especially, unwelcomed intrusions can really set off a cat causing them to spray or have litter box problems, says Gamble.
Besides behavioral problems, stress can also lead to medical difficulties as in the case of Gamble's own cat, Jeffery. It happened about three months ago when Jeffery and another one of her cats got into a fight, explains Gamble. Then two days later, there was a raccoon fight in her yard, followed the next day by two very sharp earthquakes. The day after the earthquakes Gamble noticed Jeffery having problems taking a nature break in his litter box and immediately brought him to the veterinarian.
It was "too many stresses, too close together." said Gamble, which resulted in a blockage of Jeffery's urethra.
"(Cats) are difficult to understand if you don't take the time to understand them." says Gamble. That's why educating cat owners has been a priority for her. At the San Francisco's S.P.C.A. she teaches monthly classes that show owners how to solve common cat problems and has also made a series of videos on the subject. In October, Gamble will be appearing on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet, showing how to teach kittens to scratch properly.
To Contact Kate Gamble call (415) 564-5555
To order the following videos call (415) 665-5559 1. What Makes Tabby Tick 2. Correcting Bad Habits 3. Home Introductions each video is $14.95 or all three for $34.95 *all proceeds go to the SF/SPCA
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