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

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.

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.

Cats may panic if they are unable to quickly get away from something they fear.

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.

Critical to this is the cat’s initial response. Remembering that cats recognise familiarity through odour signals, it is sometimes very effective to use F4 (Felifriend) to mark the unfamiliar dog around the head and flank areas. To the cat, the dog appears to be marked as ‘familiar’, which may inhibit escape behaviour by the cat so that the dog’s desire to chase is not reinforced. Obviously, this is only safe when the dog has no history of harming or attempting to harm cats. It is also important to remember that cats that have already had experience of being chased or injured by dogs may be greatly confused by the dissonance between the visual recognition of threat combined with an odour cue that implies safe familiarity. This can induce panic.

The cat should be allowed times when it is able to watch the dog and approach from a position of security. It needs to have food, water, resting places and latrines that are freely accessible without having to approach close to the dog. If the dog has any tendency to chase or approach the cat too boldly, it should be trained to sit and then be kept under control using a leash during initial encounters.

Prevention of fear of other species (dogs):

• Cats that are expected to live alongside dogs should be well-socialised with them during kittenhood.
• Provide the cat 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 several locations where there is food, water and a latrine so that it at no time feels confined and vulnerable because it cannot access resources.
• Pheromone products such as F3 diffusers (Feliway) may be used to reduce overall anxiety or stress. F4 (Felifriend) applied to the dog’s head and flanks in order to convince the cat that the dog is familiar and non-threatening may be useful if the animals are meeting for the first time.
• Manage introduction carefully.
• During all initial encounters the dog should be restrained. It should also be reliably trained to come to the owner and sit on command.

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. This is usually a strategy for regaining access to an escape route so that, once successful, the cat will flee.

Treatment

Fear-related aggression to dogs or other animals outside the home is unlikely to be reported as a problem because the cat is able to avoid these situations and the owner may not even be aware that there is a problem. However, fear of other animals resident on the owner’s property is a common issue.

The first step is to re-establish the cat’s confidence in its environment, especially if the animal it is fearful of is sharing the same dwelling. The cat should be allowed 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. If the cat is insecure in the environment, perhaps because of a series of previous encounters with the dog, then the use of F3 diffusers may help.

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

Specific treatment of the fear problem involves desensitisation and counterconditioning methods. Since the cat is fearful of the compound stimulus of the sound, sight, smell and movement of the dog, it is sensible to break down this composite of stimuli and treat each component individually. Although this may appear to make treatment more laborious, it will probably make it quicker and produce a better outcome.

It is beneficial to try to associate the odour of the dog with activities that the cat enjoys, such as feeding or play. This is a counterconditioning-based procedure. Initial reactions to presentation of the dog’s odour, on a cloth or pair of clean gloves, may cause alarm. After a number of presentations the cat may begin to rub against the cloth. At this point, the dog’s odour may be rubbed onto the owner’s clothing (such as trousers) so that, when the cat sniffs and face/flank marks against the owner, the scent of the dog will be picked up. 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 or may make it hazardous.

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.