Reasons for increased cat ownership

I prefer the terminology: cat caretaking rather then cat ownership. Although in law we "own a pet", in practice and ethically speaking it is not possible to own a living creature. We live with and care for a cat companion. I am not trying to be boringly politically correct, just accurate and fair to the cat.

Cats as companion animals are on the increase (2012). Cats have surpassed dogs in some countries and that applies to the United States, the "world leader in cat ownership".

Apparently 12 out of 15 countries that are considered key market places for consumer products related to keeping cats have shown increases in cat ownership over the period 1998-2002 (e.g. Brazil: 28% increase). One reason will be increased human population but I think you'll find that the domestic cat has increased in popularity because they fit in better to a modern, mobile and busy life. Or we think they fit in better or they are more convenient within our modern lives. Reasons given include:

• They are easier to care for. One aspect of this is the fact that cats use litter boxes and don't have to be taken out. This easy-to-care-for-reason is a little bit worrying because there may be misconceptions about cat caretaking or there might be misplaced expectations about it. This can lead to relinquishing the cat.
• They are generally smaller than dogs and small enough to be kept in "smaller living spaces". This includes apartments. Personally, this concerns me a little as well. Apartments are not ideal habitats for the domestic cat. It can cause stress in a cat. I don't know of any studies on this. There should be some. Cats are convenient but that should not undermine cat welfare.
• "They can endure long separations without apparent problems". Another concern for me. The word "apparent" should be emphasised. My experiences are different. Cats do have a problem with separation and indeed being separated for a single day can be an emotional problem for a domestic cat. Once again there may be misconceptions about cat caretaking that drives the cat market. We do have a world feral cat problem, you know. And that problem is wholly caused by abandoning cats that are unneutered or unspayed. The reasons for abandoning a cat are numerous but one is unrealistic expectations. Another would be trying to shoehorn a domestic cat's life into a lifestyle that suits the person but not the cat.

Note: quotes from The Welfare of Cats page 56. I have quoted a short piece verbatim for accuracy. Source for the reason for increased cat ownership comes from the same book.

Tame Cat vs Socialised Cat

There is a difference between tame and socialised. That might be obvious to a lot of people but I'd like to see it I can define the difference. I have just made a simple video called 'Jaguarundi Vocalisation' (see below). It is in the singular because it concerns the bundle of sounds jaguarundi kittens make when fighting over food. They remind me of the sounds F2 Savannah kittens make when play fighting. These are the sounds of wildcats - (turn the volume down on your computer!). Although F2 Savannahs are really domestic cats with a hint of the wild (F2 means: second generation from the wild serval). Read about jaguarundi sounds.

Jaguarundis are meant to make reasonable domestic animals. People have tamed them. I hesitate to say 'reasonable domestic companion animal' because I don't think a tamed wildcat, albeit a small one, can truly become a companion animal. I could be wrong but there is a barrier that prevents the kind of connection that you get between the domestic cat and the person. That barrier has been broken down by 10, 000 years or so of domestication. It takes a long time.

Which leads me to the difference between a tame cat and a socialised cat. A tame wild cat will be subdued and you can live with such a cat. The wildness has been more or less taken out of the cat. They become 'tractable' (capable of being controlled or led).

But a socialised cat has gone a step further to the point where he or she can relate and interact more with the human companion. There is a deeper connection. Socialisation takes place during the first 7 weeks of life of the kitten when the kitten gets thoroughly used to being around a person (and other animals if needed).

The difference is not black and white. They is a grey scale because a poorly socialised domestic cat will be similar to a thoroughly tamed wild cat.

I have met tamed servals (see: Morpheus and Penelope). One of the servals was socialised (neither Morpheus nor Penelope are socialised). However, you feel the wild character underneath the tameness. This is good. A wild cat should be that. They are at their best when magnificently wild; terrifying, aggressive, top rate predators and survivors. We are better off admiring them from afar. They are better off too.

If you socialise a wildcat in the same way you socialise a domestic cat, you get more than a tamed wildcat but less than a socialised domestic cat.

Veterinarians Dealing With Cat Euthanasia

A really good and experienced veterinarian is essential during the time when decisions have to be made about the possibility of euthanising your cat companion. Whereas on rare occasions a person may have to deal with the death of their beloved cat, a veterinarian will be routinely involved in advising clients about euthanasia. People don't have the experience of dealing with euthanasia because we don't euthanise people, or at least it is extremely rare.

My darling girl about to be euthanised.

These are big decisions as almost everyone who losses a cat companion will be sad and some will be devastated. In fact in an Australian survey it was found that 40% of people who had lost a pet were devastated.

You can imagine therefore the great difficulties that pet owners go through leading up to euthanasia. It might be a period of months while efforts are made to recover the health of the cat or dog, with the constant threat of euthanasia hanging over every decision.

The process of euthanasia being a new process for some pet owners, an experienced vet is essential to advise when best, in the interests of the cat companion, euthanasia should be considered. It is a decision that depends on the cat's health but the decision is also made upon the life experiences of the vet. That is why I believe the best vet to advise under these circumstances is not a young vet.

I am sure that veterinarians have a wide range of perspectives on euthanasia. It is a question of timing. There is a lot of emotion involved and the client (the cat's human caretaker) may ask the vet to euthanise a cat that is healthy. How does a vet deal with that?

Many people are frightened to discuss their sadness due to the loss of their pet or discuss their anxieties leading up to the death of their cat companion for fear of being ridiculed. Once again a good and open minded vet will be helpful.

People appreciate vets who can provide clear information on euthanasia and also provide the options available whilst listening to the client.

A sensitive vet will ask if the client would like to leave the consultation room while euthanasia takes place. The vet will also, perhaps, bill the client later by post rather than in the usual way on leaving the clinic.

There is also the question of how to proceed immediately after euthanasia. A good veterinarian should have a business relationship with the nearest good crematorium and be able to make arrangements on behalf of the client. Those arrangements should include the option to individually cremate the cat while the former cat's caretaker waits. If you want to keep you cat's ashes you need to ensure that you are keeping her ashes and not the ashes of something else.

The only way to find to a good veterinarian is to suck and see. You simply have to try someone else if you can see euthanasia on the horizon and you are unhappy with your current veterinarian.

Associated: Humanely Euthanize A Cat -- How can I tell when a cat is in pain?

Children and Companion Cats

I believe that it is widely recognized that a child's relationship with a companion animal is of great benefit, actual and potential, to the child. The animal will also benefit provided the child interacts in a proper way with the animal. In fact the better the child interacts with a companion cat the better it is for both parties to the relationship as cats respond to circumstances. Create a good environment and you'll receive the rewards. Children also gain from relationships with symbolic animals.

The benefits to a child of interacting with animals is so well established that there are professionals who treat children with "behavior problems" using therapy animals. By the way I think there are a lot of professional misjudgments made regarding so called behavior problems in children. A lot of normal behavior in children is considered problem behavior because it does not fit in with modern adult perceptions as to what is acceptable. That strikes a cord with what I call expectation management in respect of adopting a cat and cat caretaking.

Examples of the "skills and values" that can be gained by a child through a relationship with a cat companion are:

Learning about mutual respect.
For me, this is very important. One reason for the breakdown in modern society in Britain is the lack of respect some young people have for others: people and animals. A major factor is the breakdown of the family unit. Through good parenting children learn respect. Knowing the benefits that a companion animal has to children, I would argue that good parenting should include providing a child with the opportunity to interact with a companion animal. The domestic cat is the most popular companion animal (just over the dog) in the modern age.

If a dislike of cats is handed down through generations within a family it is the child who is prevented from having the opportunity of the benefit of interacting with a companion animal. Although controversial, I would argue that a dislike of cats is due to an ignorance of cats. Ignorance is at the root of the problem. Education, as usual, is at the root of the solution.

All children should learn to respect animals. That leads to respect of people and to a generally better society for companion animals and people.

Kindness
Companion animals are vulnerable in the human world. We need to be kind to them. Dealing with them responsibly and properly teaches kindness. Kindness is a great quality in a child.

Humane treatment of others
With companion animals the human has choices. We create the environment under which our cat companions live. We can treat animals well or badly. Often we don't have choices about how we are treated. A child interacting with a companion animal can learn how to treat others humanely.  The benefits of humane treatment can be learnt. The impetus for treating companion animals humanely comes from a child's parents and to a lesser extent teachers.

Giving and receiving love and affection
Everyone who has cared for a cat in a responsible and caring manner has received the beautifully simple and uncomplicated love and affection that comes from the human/cat relationship. Children should feel that. It makes them better people.

Caretaking skills
All children need to learn these skills; caring for others. It builds a better person. Caring for a companion cat or dog is a very rewarding and an ideal way to pick up these skills.

Responsibility
Children need to gently take on the burden of responsibility for others and their own actions. When they are adult they will be burdened by it on all fronts. What better way to learn responsibility than looking after a companion cat.

The pain of loss
Companion animals have much shorter lives than ours. It is likely that a child who has cared for a companion cat throughout his or her childhood will have to deal with the pain of the loss of his friend.  It is a very painful experience. It is unfortunately, necessary to learn how to come to terms with it.

On the other side of the coin, a post on children and cats cannot overlook the abuse of cats by children. This is a complicated area of child psychology. I am layperson but common sense dictates that if a child abuses animals it is something he or she has learned from watching others or through suffering abuse himself. This is likely to happen in the family home as that is where interpersonal behavior takes place most often for the child.

Associated pages: How to tell cat abuse -  Kids killing cats.

Definition of Feral Cat

The definition of a feral cat might be a little more complicated than I first thought. It warrants a short discussion. The great Wikipedia (Google thinks it is great) says that a feral cat is a domestic cat that has returned to the wild or is the offspring of that cat. Not a bad definition, but a bit elastic.

Think about the domestic cat that is in the process of becoming wild. At what point is that cat considered wild or stray or in between? How do you accurately assess a cat as being wild or domestic? If you approach a stray domestic cat he or she may react with defensive aggression while a feral cat may even react less defensively. It is hard to assess a cat's character through behavior if you are a stranger to the cat. It's a bit grey, isn't it? And if that cat has offspring whilst she is not yet fully wild are the offspring feral kittens?

A fully domesticated cat allowed outside might give birth outside and the kittens might become feral. But under these circumstances the kittens don't fit neatly into the Wikipedia definition.

Margaret R. Slater in The Welfare of Cats (a really useful book incidentally) says there are a number of terms used to describe feral cats. Apparently in one study on feral and stray cats the researchers differentiated between strays and ferals by saying that stray cats were those taken from "dumps, residential or industrial areas" and feral cats were "remote from those locations". That sounds incorrect to me.

Sometimes people refer to feral cats as barn cats or alley cats. These cats could be anything from outdoor/indoor domestic cats to full blown feral cats.

Strays are sometimes described as cats that are reliant on people for food and shelter while ferals are independent of people.

These definitions describe cats that "have escaped" domestication as Margaret Slater says. I think Margaret Slater has a better handle on how to define the feral cat. She bases her definition on "the status of an individual cat at a particular point in time".

A feral cat is one that cannot be handled and is not socialized. The cat is therefore not suitable as a cat companion in someone's home at that time. That definition gets over the grey areas mentioned above, it seems to me. Feral cats can sometimes be socialised or tamed with patience. Taming is slightly different to socialisation, I believe.

So feral cats are unsocialized cats. Socialisation is the process that takes place usually in the first 7 weeks of life, during which the kitten interacts with other domestic animals and people so that he or she is confident with them and can get along with them; an essential part of being a domestic cat.

Socialisation depends on the individual cat and I think care has to be exercised in assessing whether a cat is socialised or not; or even well socialised. Stress in cats will mislead an assessment. Cats in shelters are often stressed.