Cat Moods

Catty Characteristics - How to Pamper your Cat when She's in a "Catty"� Mood

You come home and you know that something is amiss. Your apartment looks like a whirlwind tore through it: papers are strewn all over the ground, pillows have been overturned, your potted plant is now sagging sadly on the floor, and long scratch marks grace your previously pristine doors. Your cat is eyeing you from her perch high on top of the refrigerator and you see her tail twitching back and forth vigorously. While you are hanging up your clothes you notice a rather pungent smell and realize that your little kitty has been using your pile of unfolded laundry as her litter box. You are exasperated. You love your cat. With a heavy sigh you wonder if there is anything you can do to soothe that ferocious little feline that has just made clear to you that an unhappy feline can indeed be a rather destructive feline.

As any cat lover can tell you, taking the cat and rubbing her nose in the soiled pile of laundry will not only be counterproductive, but quite possibly be met with hissing, spitting, scratching and an evil eye that only a cat can deliver with conviction. Similarly, telling your cat how naughty she has been will most likely only earn you the equivalent of a cat sneer. Fortunately cats are not usually vindictive, and destruction and sudden undesirable changes in feline behavior are most often the result of changes the cat deems to be undesirable. Rather than deriding the cat for her failure to comply with your rules and regulations, consider if there have been any changes in your cat's environment that may have upset her. For example, did you recently change her food, litter or bedding? Have you been spending a lot of time at work and neglected her usual playtime? Have you been on vacation? Have you added a new member to the family, or worse - a new cat? The latter alone is enough to cause a lot of friction and unhappiness. At this point your best bet is to find out what has set off your usually docile little feline and then undo the problem. If it is something as simple as a new kind of food or litter, you will be able to simply remedy this situation with a quick trip to the local mega mart to once again purchase the brand your cat has come to know and love. If it is something as big as a new family member, however, you will not be able to fix the situation that easily, and some pampering of your feline companion is in order.

If you find your unhappy feline perched on top of the refrigerator, it is probably best to greet her and let her know very briefly that her behavior is unacceptable. Then it is best to simply ignore her. Once she decides that your attention is better than her pouting on top of the fridge, accept her overtures as she leaves her high hiding place and cautiously comes to interact with you. You may consider stroking her to soothe her and speaking softly to her to reassure her. If you have a small treat you could give her, such as a bit of tuna fish or shrimp, you may wish to present it to her at this time. Obviously, you don't want to give table scraps to your cat, but unless she has specific dietary needs, a little special treat should not harm her. Once a truce has been established, you may wish to test the waters with a cat toy or two. Perhaps she will be in the mood to chase a little ball or maybe play with the string toy. Whatever you decide to do, if your cat is unhappy, it is important that you do take the time to see to her needs and reaffirm the bond that has been created between you and your feline companion. Sometimes it may be hard to do so, especially if you come home to an apartment that looks like a before screen shot for various home decorating and remodeling shows, but letting out frustration out on your cat will neither change her behavior nor improve the mood in your household.