Cat Preying A Priority Over Eating

People who are involved in wild bird conservation are eager to quote unsupported statistics that suggest that the domestic cat is responsible for a mass slaughter of birds (misleading see this) and that cats breed like flies and as a consequence the domestic cat as a feral cat should more or less exterminated. An example of the antagonism between bird conservationists and cat lovers is seen in a Los Angeles court ruling regarding the city's funding of trap-neuter-return programs: Feral Cats of Los Angeles.


Photo by Michael Broad of PoC - licensed to be used as is and with a credit please!

The bird conservationists are also incensed by what they see as the wanton and murderous behavior of feral cats in killing prey for what seems like the pleasure of it. Cats catching and playing with prey but not eating it are cited as another reason why cats should be dealt with more strictly.

I write this to try and put a bit of balance back into the discussion. Firstly, there are an endless number of articles on the internet about the breeding capability of cats - they are nearly all wrong. Please read this article: How Fast Do Cats Breed?

However in this short post I want to see if I can explain why cats do seem to catch prey for the hell of it.

A study presented on Science Direct seems to help: The interaction of hunger and preying in the domestic cat (Felis catus): An adaptive hierarchy? - author: Robert E. Adamec Psychology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1

In this study - and I read from the abstract only - the commercial food preferences of six domestic cats (Felis catus) was assessed. Their preferences in ascending order of preference was given to them as well as a live rat! The cats where allowed 45 seconds eating time of the commercial food before the rat was presented to them nearby.

In each case the cat stopped eating, chased and attacked the rat, killed it, brought the dead rat back to the commercial food area and recommenced eating the commercial food! And neither did the cats change their preying behavior when commercial food was not presented to them.

What does this tell us? The scientist who conducted the research says this: "These data suggest that eating is not a terminal “consummatory” component of preying as a food-getting response"

I interpret that as follows. A cat does not prey on animals to necessarily eat. The ultimate goal of preying on animals is not to consume the animal but to get the food in the store and maintain an adequate food supply. A cat is motivated by hunger to prey.

Isn't the cat's behavior then wholly acceptable and normal. Wouldn't you as a person do the same thing if you were trying to survive under extremely difficult circumstances? Cats can't pop down to the supermarket or buy online. And in any case we buy food for storage.

Lets try and equate our behavior to the domestic cat - i.e. place outselves under similar cirmcumtances.

Recently when there were floods looming in certain areas of England people began to panic shop. The supermarkets were cleared out of essential foods. People had foreseen a shortage and planned to create a store.

Isn't this exactly what the cat does or is programmed to do. Yes, domestic cats don't have to kill prey because we feed them but they are hard wired to follow wildcat behavior and have wild cat instincts. They kill to store food against a rainy day.

We should not punish cats for that. If we do we must punish ourselves too.

See also: Domestic Cat Hunting and Cat Behavior



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Barbary Serval

It seems that the Barbary serval may still exist, but only just. Today in 2011, the serval largely inhabits that area of the African continent that is below the Sahara desert - sub-Sahara Africa.



The Barbary coast is that area of Africa that is on the Mediterranean Sea. A part of Morocco's coastline is on the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that the serval inhabits Morocco in low numbers. In short it is rare in that country and described by the IUCN Red List as endangered under their classification system. The Barbary lion was made extinct by human activity many years ago.


View Larger Map

On that basis there is a wildcat called the Barbary Serval. This state of play will inevitably change for the worse for the cat and it will in due course be extirpated from the Barbary coast as the human population grows in Morocco, as it surely will. This, though, is my personal opinion, a rather negative and pessimistic assessment you might think. It is based on the general trends in population of all the wildcats.

See a map of the serval's distribution in Africa: Serval range.

There are no figures available as to the likely numbers of servals there are on the Barbary coast - see Serval Population Graph.

The Barbary serval is not a subspecies of the serval according to the IUCN Red List. There is only one species of serval: Leptailurus serval (Schreber, 1776). However, the Wikipedia authors quote the book, Mammal Species of the World in stating that there are 18 subspecies one of which is the serval inhabiting Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. They name this species of serval: Leptailurus serval constantinus. This is almost certainly incorrect.

The science of the classification of the species (taxonomy) is evolving and in the past (19th and early 20th century) there was a tendency to over classify meaning sub-divide the species based on appearance of the animal. Modern DNA testing has rationalised the subspecies and reduced their numbers in finding no real differences. I would not rely on this piece of Wikipedia text.

See more: Serval.

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Honeysuckle Cat Toys

Photo by samatt (Flickr)
Honeysuckle cat toys have similar properties to catnip toys and other play objects. If your cat does not like or is not turned on by catnip you might like to try honeysuckle. You can see them in some pet stores, in the USA at least.

Some people might be tempted to see if their cat likes honeysuckle but there are dangers because some varieties of honeysuckle are toxic to cats. Unless you are absolutely certain then don't go down that route. Ask what type of honeysuckle is used in products or sold and check that the vendor is aware of the hazards. Check the labeling etc.. And note that Japanese honeysuckle vine is toxic to cats.

Also if you produce a chunk of raw wood honeysuckle for your cat to play with it can be dangerous to a cat - think jagged edges and your cat might like to try and chew it. This has a very good chance of causing injury requiring a vet. If buying raw honeysuckle the advice is to place it in a thick cloth material to protect the cat.

An additional concern is that in order to bring out the smell of honeysuckle it is advised to moisten it. This can cause mold to grow on the honeysuckle and some mold is toxic to cats (e.g. bread mold called Aspergillus niger). See what I mean about the hidden dangers! The wood should be "lightly misted" using a water spray bottle.

In general it is said that cats respond less to honeysuckle than to catnip but as cats are individuals it is a nice potential alternative provided precautions are taken.

With the warnings etc. out of the way here are a couple honeysuckle cat toys from Amazon:





You can also buy Honeysuckle Spray for Cats (2 oz.) which can be used on, for example, a cat scratch post to encourage your cat to use it.

Enjoy honeysuckle cat toys but take care.



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Cat In Pain

Perhaps the most significant thing about a cat in pain is that they hide or mask it. It is said that they do this is as an act of survival. It is also said that the domestic cat is small and therefore vulnerable to larger predators and so hides pain that would give a signal to a predator that the cat might be easy prey being weakened by an illness that causes the pain.

That makes sense in one way but not in another. Do lions and tigers mask pain? They are top predators and they are cats! They probably do mask pain or at least it won't be obvious that the lion or tiger is in pain.

There is no doubt that it can be difficult to tell if a domestic cat is in pain. But it is not all that difficult. A domestic cat in pain will become quiet and more passive. He or she will find a quiet corner or place that is well protected, curl up and keep out of the way. If a cat is fatally injured he or she will find a quiet spot to die.

I am not sure that this is a survival strategy. It is more to do with a simple and logical reaction to feeling ill and pain. Humans go to bed and are passive when in pain and feeling ill. We don't want to do anything. We feel depressed and demotivated. I am sure that cats feel the same way.

A cat in pain will feel poorly and become inactive. If we notice a change in the routine of a cat towards being more passive and quiet,  or demonstrating a "do-not-disburb-me" behavior we might assess that our cat is in pain and go to the vet.

Other possible signs of a cat in pain might include:

• inappropriate elimination - although the cause is more likely to be stress or other causes
• eating habit changes
• eating litter
• weight loss
• sleep habit changes
• more vocal

These, though can also include general symptoms of feeling ill.

Many years ago, when my lady cat got a grain of wheat stuck in her eye - a sharp and painful object - she went to the bottom of the garden and kept quiet. She had not gone to that spot before. There were two changes in routine - quiet and a remote, new place to rest.

I noticed this, checked her out and spotted the object in her eye. I stopped her, held her still and between the nails of my thumb and finger grabbed the end of the grain and yanked it out. I was lucky to get it. She yelped and immediately looked more comfortable. A lot of gunge had built up around the grain to protect the eye but it must have been painful.

At the time, I was about to take her to the vet. Look for changes in routine and quietness if assessing whether a cat is in pain or not and when there is no obvious reason why your cat should behave differently. However, when pain is acute the cat will probably be vocal and try and relieve it. In short the cat might move.

But please don't administer pain relief without a veterinarians supervision. Pain killers can kill cats - feline pain relief.

See the story behind the picture heading this post.




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Coughing In Feral Cats

 The reason for the white cat coughing is strangulation! Photo by aylaujp (Flickr)

The reasons for coughing in feral cats is going to be the same as for domestic cats only the feral is obviously more exposed to viral and bacterial infections and serious ill health so you are more likely to see a feral cat coughing than a well cared for domestic cat.

As it happens, I have a page on the website about the cat cough, which may help concerned people to diagnose a possible cause...Cat Cough.

That said the only way to deal with a feral cat that has a cough that looks like something serious (and not all coughs are serious) is to trap the cat and take him or her to a vet and there are very few people who are prepared or who have the equipment and know how to do that.

Most coughs that require no action are due to foreign objects in the throat and which can be removed by coughing.

All the other causes will require veterinary treatment. If a cough lasts more than 5 days it requires veterinary treatment¹.

Note:

1. Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook - Drs Carlson and Giffin




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