Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com
We all know: It’s exhausting to consider feline scratching as a optimistic factor, when our cat’s scratching exercise can shred our furnishings. And historically, cat professionals have thought-about scratching to be a conduct that makes an attempt to mark a cat’s territory, or possibly reply to stress and insecurity.
However a current UK-based research, printed within the journal Utilized Animal Behavioural Science, means that it’s time for cat lovers to re-think scratching. The research – titled “Undesirable Feline Scratching within the Residence: A Re-Examination of Its Relationship with Stress and Marking” – discovered that scratching appears to be associated to optimistic feline feelings. Perhaps we now have solely, nicely, scratched the floor of this feline exercise?
Jacqueline Braggs, who co-authored the research with Daniel Simon Mills, tells Cats.com that only a few analysis research of cat conduct have centered totally on scratching, both outdoors or inside within the house. She carried out this analysis with the goal to grasp scratching from the cat’s perspective, fairly than the angle of an irritated home-owner.
“The higher we perceive the feline behaviour, the higher we are able to handle undesirable scratching in a extra optimistic approach, to assist cats and their caregivers stay collectively in mutual concord,” Braggs, who owns UK-based Caspers Pet Behaviour and Coaching, writes in an e-mail.
No cat mother or father enjoys their furnishings or carpet getting scratched. But Braggs, who hopes to share extra analysis on the scratching topic within the close to future, was shocked to see that almost all of the almost 1,800 cat house owners surveyed within the research – principally ladies within the UK and United States – acknowledged that scratching is both not a lot of an issue or not an issue in any respect!
Melina Grin / Cats.com
“But we all know from different survey-based research that house owners intervene in some ways to attempt to cease their cats scratching within the house, a few of that are punitive for the cats,” Braggs says. “There’s a disconnect right here.”
The reason could possibly be, she says, that “what constitutes a ‘downside’ for home-owners is implicitly thought-about in a relative context.”
“Additionally, caregivers might not realise how their reactions to scratching would possibly have an effect on their cats,” Braggs says. “Once more, there’s a possibility to assist house owners cope with the issue in additional optimistic methods.”
The research respondents offered detailed accounts of the place in the home their cats scratch, like feeding areas, social areas, and spots the place cats would possibly really feel territorial possession. The outcomes surprisingly confirmed that cats most regularly scratch in areas related to resting, consolation, and mingling – like beds and couches, dwelling rooms, and areas the place cats greet their people, like by the door. These aren’t more likely to be locations the place cats are experiencing stress and eager to mark their territory.
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
One other attention-grabbing discovering is that the presence of canines, which may be worrying to cats, is negatively related to scratching conduct. The absence of canines, although, tends to correlate with extra frequent scratching.
All of this implies that scratching is usually an indication of a cat’s contentment and sense of routine and affection, fairly than anxiousness or stress. And – gasp – cats would possibly even get pleasure from having canines round! (OK, definitely not all cats, however some are canine-friendly).
Braggs says it is smart that scratching, as a pure feline conduct that stretches muscle mass and maintains claws, can be related no less than generally with a optimistic emotional state. However that isn’t at all times the case; cats can scratch for different causes.
“For instance, some cats would possibly scratch on the bed room door when it’s closed, however not when it’s open,” Braggs says. “We want extra analysis to discover the contexts during which cats scratch and perceive whether or not, and maybe why, unfavorable emotional states would possibly set off scratching.”
The takeaway lesson for us cat mother and father? We have to let cats be cats, and supply our cats scratching alternatives, Braggs says. In different phrases, don’t struggle scratching, however accommodate it.
“Cat house owners ought to observe the frequent recommendation to supply alternatives to get pleasure from scratching on acceptable scratch posts or pads,” she says. “When cats are scratching in different areas of the house, regardless of these provisions, cat-owners would possibly like to contemplate why their cat is scratching, fairly than merely assuming that their cat is marking its territory.”
Katelynn Sobus / Cats.com
So, how can we cat mother and father embrace scratching as a very good factor, albeit reluctantly? We’ve you coated right here, with many articles about scratching and methods to encourage your cat to do it appropriately. We focus on tips on how to cease cats from scratching furnishings, and tips on how to get your cat to make use of a scratching publish. What’s the greatest scratching publish to purchase? We assist you navigate quite a few choices in the marketplace with this listing of the 15 greatest scratching posts, primarily based on our testing.
And, what do you have to do if – ouch – your cat is utilizing you as a human scratching publish?
