Cat Behavioral Problems

If your cat is behaving strangely, look for the reason.  When something is wrong, your cat will use various ways to try to let you know there's a problem.  Your cat may be urinating all over the house, destroying furniture with his claws, yowling loudly not to misbehave, but because something is wrong with him.

Watch the cat closely to see what has changed.  Try to understand what might be causing him to cause these problems rather than assuming that he is a "bad cat".  Most common reasons are:

1. A medical condition. You may not be aware of this, but many cats who display behavior problems are often suffering from some type of illness.  For example, a cat with diabetes will drink lots of water and urinate almost constantly without looking for a litter box.  Though this may seem like a behavior problem to a pet owner who is not aware of his cats medical issue, it is a serious medical problem that must be properly treated.

Does your cat bite at you or others in the house? Believe it or not this can be another problem stemming from a medical condition.  A cat that lashes out and tries to bite or scratch is doing so in order to protect himself.  This is very confusing to the owner because the cat is not really being attacked. However, unknown to the owner, his cat may have a urinary tract infection. 

When this happens, it is very painful for a cat to urinate.  He associates this pain as being attacked, especially when he is near the litter box.  He may then lash out at people whenever he feels the need to urinate. Once the cat has been properly diagnosed and treated and the the infection goes away, he will immediately stop trying to “protect himself” by biting and clawing.

2. Are you placing unreasonable demands on your cat? Sometimes it is not necessarily the cat that needs to be looked at as having an issue causing the behavior problem.  Many times it is the owner who may be pushing his pet to behave badly.  By being open minded to looking at your own role as a possible cause of your cats' destructive behavior, you may discover that it is simply a problem of you placing unreasonable commands upon your feline friend.

Ask yourself this question: Are you asking something from your cat that he may not be able to deliver? For example, are you asking your cat to use the bathroom in a dirty litter box? Many times owners do not clean the litter box as much as it should be cleaned. This causes their cat to not use it and go elsewhere in the house.  Cats have individual personalities and some will refuse to use a dirty litter box.  Can you blame them?

Are you raising your voice and displaying angry behavior when your cat jumps on the couch or scratches on a piece of furniture?  Though you mean to teach the cat "don't go there", your own actions may be translated as an attack in the mind of your cat.

If a usually standoffish or especially independent cat begins wanting to spend hours on your lap or gets under your feet when you are walking, he may be telling you "something's wrong with me".  Any time a cat undergoes a noticeable change in behavior it may well be an indication that he is trying to communicate to you that he has pain or a health problem.