Feline Fear of Other Species Except Humans

Introduction

Key Points

Uncontrolled exposure to fear-eliciting stimuli should be avoided, especially in the home. Restraint or coercion must not be used to force the cat to remain in the presence of an animal it fears. The cat should be provided with one or more safe and readily accessible places to escape to. These should contain food, water, resting places and latrines. The cat should be allowed to escape from any situation where a dog is present. If the fear is of a dog, then dogs must be properly controlled when in the presence of the fearful cat. Dogs must be properly trained and controlled so that the cat is not chased.

For general discussion on feline fear please see Feline Fear Overview. Apart from people, the species most commonly feared by cats is the domestic dog. Often cats have not been exposed to dogs during kittenhood, and therefore do not develop a tolerance of them. Since cats will generally show fearful avoidance of anything that they did not encounter and become habituated to during the sensitive period, many cats show fear of dogs. This is exacerbated by the fact that dogs are often inquisitive about cats, and will watch, approach, investigate or even chase them. Fear of dogs is therefore more complex to deal with than a fear of inanimate stimuli or people, because the fear eliciting stimulus is less controllable, and the dog is present in the household.

Prevention

Prevention of fear of other species (dogs):

• Cats that are expected to live alongside dogs should be well-socialised with them during kittenhood.
• Cats should be provided with a number of easily accessible escape routes: baby-gates, high perches etc. These enable to the cat to avoid contact with the dog.
• The cat should have at least on dedicated location where it can access food, water,a latrine, and resting sites away from contact with the dog.
• Introductions should be careful managed.
• Dogs should not be introduced to cats unless they are trained to respond to a range of basic commands that enable them to be verbally controlled.
• During all initial encounters the dog should be restrained.

As with all fear and anxiety problems, the key aspect of prevent is experience during the sensitive period; kittens that have had positive experience with dogs are more likely to become adults that are able to cope with living with a dog.

However, most cases of fear of other species involve the introduction of a dog to a household with a cat, or vice versa. Prevention therefore involves the first encounters between cat and dog. When introducing cats to unfamiliar dogs, it is important to allow the cat an escape route which allows it to get away from the dog without triggering a chase behaviour. Once dogs have learned how rewarding it is to chase a cat, it may be very difficult to get the animals to coexist.

Preparing the environment

If the dog is introduced in the cat's home, then additional escape opportunities should be provided in advance of the first meeting (high shelves or a baby-gate are ideal). These should allow the cat to get away easily but still remain in sight of the dog. The cat should also be provided with a dedicated room to which it can freely go to rest, eat, drink, go to the toilet and avoid contact with the dog. Having a completely secure location of this kind enables the cat to feel safe exploring its environment. Baby gates should be installed to ensure that no unplanned encounters occur between cat and dog.

If the dog and cat are to be introduced in an environment that is unfamiliar to the cat, the cat should be introduced to the environment and allowed to fully settle win before the first introduction. For example, the cat should be initially confined to a room of its own, with food, water, latrine and resting sites. Once the cat is familiar with this room, it can be allowed to have access to more of the home, with barriers such as baby gates installed to prevent accidental encounters between dog and cat. The cat and dog would then be introduced in a room within the house where the cat is entirely comfortable and has already learned to use hiding and climbing places, and exits. A synthetic analogue of the F3 fraction of facial and flank marking pheromones (Feliway) may be used to reduce underlying anxiety and stress. The distance a cat must move in order to escape is important. If a cat has to run a long distance it may panic, especially if the floor is slippery. Escape opportunities must therefore be very easily accessible within a few paces.

Preparing the dog

The dog should be trained to reliably respond to a range of basic commands, and in particular a "leave" command (the dog stops following or chasing a thrown ball, and returns to the owner on command). If the dog exhibits high levels of arousal or territorial behaviour when it encounters cat in its garden or on the street, then this training is particularly important ad can be tested in these other situations. If a dog cannot be controlled using verbal commands, then it is not ready to be introduced to the cat.

If the planned introduction of a particular dog is delayed by the need for it to be trained, it may be possible to use a stooge dog, that is know to be relaxed around cats, for initial introductions. This enables the cat to become used to introduction to a dog, which will help to increase the its confidence in preparation for the real introduction.

Controlled exposure

Cats are not only alarmed by the sight of dogs, but also by their smell and the sounds they make. It is possible to habituate the cat to recordings of the noises that dogs make and their body odour. Placing pieces of the dog's bedding into the safe room occupied by the cat, enables it to explore, investigate and habituate to the smell. Sound desensitisation may be important in cases where the dog to be introduced is noisy and vocal.

First introduction

It can be very difficult to overcome memories of a first encounter between cat and dog that results in intimidation or chasing. From the dog's perspective, this first encounter can be exhilarating and frustrating; the dog becomes highly excited to see the cat and frustrated then it cannot approach or chase it. From the cat's perspective, there may have been feelings of intense fear or panic due to being barked at or purred. The first encounter must therefore be highly controlled, in order to avoid barking, chasing or other behaviours that indicate excitement for the dog and may be frightening for the cat.

The dog should be distracted and controlled; leashed, and positively reinforced for staying sat or down on a bed close under close supervision. The cat should be allowed to enter the room and approach to a position from which it is able to watch the dog. With repeated experience, the cat should grow in confidence entering the room. The dog must receive repeated reinforcement for not reacting to the cat, as it moves around the floor, climbs, jumps and plays. Once it is clear that the dog is well controlled, then the same exercises can be carried out with the dog on an extendable leash, and ultimately off leash. Baby gates should remain until it is clear that no problem is developing.

There is some evidence that a synthetic form of the F4 fraction of the feline facial and flank marking pheromone (Felifriend) can facilitate interactions between cats and novel social stimuli. When applied to the shoulder and neck area of dogs, it may reduce avoidant behaviour by cats. However, this is only safe when the dog has no history of harming or attempting to harm cats. Cats that have already had experience of being chased or injured by dogs may confused by the dissonance between the visual recognition of threat combined with an odour cue that implies safe familiarity. This can induce panic.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is based on observation of the behaviour of the cat: its facial expressions, postures and initial attempts at avoidance when in the presence of the fear-eliciting stimulus. However, given that the emphasis should be on prevention it should be assumed that a cat that has not been reared or previously socialised with a particular species is likely to experience fear when meeting members of that species. For example, cats with outdoor access will already have a substantial number of aversive experiences resulting from interactions with dogs. It is important to remember that experienced cats, or cats that feel cornered, may immediately resort to offensive aggression.

Where the fear is of dogs, the reaction of the dog to be introduced also forms part of the assessment of the problem. Dogs that are known to be hostile toward cats, or routinely chase wildlife and cats will need considerable training to bring their behaviour under command control before it would be safe to introduce them to a cat.

Treatment

Treatment involves three main elements:

• Improvement of the environment.
• Assessment and training of the dog.
• Controlled exposure of the cat (primarily desensitisation)

The cat’s confidence in its environment must be enhanced, especially if the animal it is fearful of is sharing the same dwelling. The cat should be given a dedicated room that contains all the resources it needs, and which has a baby gate that provides a barrier to the dog, but allows the cat to have free access. The cat should also be encouraged to explore, face/flank mark and utilise resources in the area that it will share with the cohabiting dog whilst that animal is not present. This also allows a gradual desensitisation to the odours of the dog. Introduction should not begin until the cat shows complete confidence in its environment; if the cat is anxious, inhibited or shows a fear potentiated startle response then introduction should be delayed.

Good indicators that the cat is relaxed and confident in the environment include:

• Restoration of normal levels of facial and flank marking of objects
• Resumption of normal affiliative and play behaviour
• Relaxed resting posture (front feet folded under the body whilst laying down)
• Confident movement around the environment without hesitation
• Low tendency to startle at sudden noises or movements

The primary means of controlled exposure used in these cases is desensitisation, because cats will rarely have the confidence to play or eat food when faced with a dog that they are afraid of. The composite stimulus of the sigh, sound and smell of a dog may be more than the cat can cope with, so it is often helpful to break down this composite of stimuli and treat each component individually. Although this may appear to make treatment more laborious, it will actually be quicker and produce a better outcome.
The cat can be desensitised to the odour of the dog by presenting items of used dog bedding to the cat in its safe room. After this initial desensitisation, a dog’s odour can also be presented in a counterconditioning procedure; a new tea towel or a pair of cotton gloves is used to collect body scent from the dog by stroking it all over. This item is then presented to the cat for the cat to sniff. Initially the cat may back away or even hiss, but after a number of presentations the cat should allow itself to be stroked with the cloth, and should hen begin to rub itself against the cloth. It is very important that the cat does not encounter the dog during this introduction process as this may cause aversive associations that delay success of behavioural therapy.

Once the dog’s odour has been introduced, it may be appropriate to desensitise the cat to dog vocalisations, especially if the dog is likely to bark at it. This may be achieved using commercially-available recordings of dog barking and growling, played at low levels. Sound volume is increased over a number of sessions until the cat is tolerant of playback levels that are close to real levels. Some dogs will bark at a cat in order to intimidate it into running. A cat that has been thoroughly habituated to canine vocalisation is less likely to be startled, so that the dog’s behaviour does not gain the reinforcement of a chase. Desensitisation is likely to be slower if the cat has already learned that dog barking precedes a chase or attack.

Finally, the dog should be introduced as a visual signal. This depends upon the dog being relaxed, quiet and well trained. At no time should the dog lunge or bark at the cat, so it must be easily controllable. This also follows a desensitisation process, with the dog being introduced initially at a distance that produces little or no fear in the cat. In a domestic environment this may be difficult, which is why the cat must first feel completely secure in the introduction environment. An alternative to keeping the dog at a distance is to provide a partial visual barrier such as a screen. For example, a child gate or glass door may be adapted to provide a partial visual barrier by applying strips of tracing paper. Glass etch spray can be applied to a glass door to produce the same effect. This enables gradual exposure to the dog as a visual stimulus. In some cases, it may even be necessary to use a realistic stuffed toy dog as an initial stimulus because the cat is too frightened of the real thing. The cat may be introduced into the room on a harness and extending leash or in a carry box, or the dog may be brought in quietly on a leash.

Initially these introductory sessions should be brief, not longer than 10-15 minutes, to avoid undue stress to the cat. This also avoids the dog becoming bored and disruptive during training. The owner should always try to terminate the session before the cat reaches a point of high arousal and fear.

Sessions should become longer and progress to include movement and activity on the part of the dog. This should take the form of controlled activities, such as obedience training, and then short bouts of calm play. The aim is to make these activities controlled and repeatable so that the cat’s response can be monitored and the range of activities expanded without triggering fear. This assumes that the dog is being actively trained to participate in the sessions. As stated earlier, F4 may be used to enhance introduction to a new dog, but should be used with caution where the cat already has an existing intense fear of a specific dog.

In some cases, the cat will continue to mount an escape response because this has become habitual rather than motivated by intense fear. The escape response of these cats may be slowed or delayed using a harness and trailing line, with the cat being rewarded for non-escape or when it returns after having attempted to move away. Pressure is placed on the line as it drags along the floor so that the cat’s escape is slowed down. Methods like this are not routinely required and should only be used if escape or avoidance behaviour superstitiously persists after desensitisation, psychoactive drug therapy and counterconditioning have all been used.

Summary of Treatment: Fear of other species (e.g. dogs)

• Provide the cat with a safe environment, with readily accessible resources.
• Consider the use of F3 to increase familiarity and security of the environment.
• Allow the cat to feel secure in the environment, so that it can make use of all resources and escape routes, before introducing specific therapy for the fear problem.
• Desensitise or countercondition the cat to elements of the stimuli it fears separately: sight, sound, smell and movement of the animal.
• DO NOT CARRY THE CAT INTO A SITUATION WHERE A DOG IS PRESENT FOR TRAINING AS THIS MAY TRIGGER AGGRESSION. Instead, bring it in in a carry box or allow it to enter from another room on a harness and flexi leash.

Prognosis

The outcome does not depend solely upon the cat’s response, which makes prognostication impossible without a complete behavioural history, including details of the dog’s (or other animal’s) behaviour towards the cat.

Placid dogs that have no interest in chasing or persecuting cats are much more likely to contribute to a good prognosis. Unless the dog, or other animal, can be relied upon not to antagonise the cat, then they may never be left alone safely and there is a significant probability that the cat’s welfare will be impaired or the situation may progress to overt aggression. Clients who expect to be able to leave their pets together alone without consequences will be disappointed.

Likewise, cats that show intensely fearful and avoidant behaviour may never develop sufficient confidence to utilise space and resources in the way that is a necessity for them. These cats also suffer a reduction in welfare and may be better re-homed away from the animals they fear. Part of the judgement when investigating a case has to be whether the client’s demands can realistically be met whilst preserving the animal’s quality of life.