Miscellaneous
In this episode, I continue with part 2 of my review of Dr. Sophia Yin’s book. Low-stress handling, restraint and behavior modification of dogs and cats. If you missed last week’s episode where I talked about recognizing fear in cats, you might want to go back and check that out first. Dr. Yin was a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, author, and lecturer. Her book was written in 2009 as a training guide for veterinary procedures. There are plenty of techniques that cat sitters can take from this book as well. Because proper handling of cats is essential to building trust and developing a bond with the cats in our care. Dr. Yin was one of the pioneers in the low-stress movement which has moved even further into the fear-free handling since her tragic death in 2014. While some of the terminology might seem outdated in light of new research into animal behavior and learning, she makes it clear that handling should reduce stress and promote positive emotional states in animals. And the tips and ideas in this book shouldn’t be overlooked. Dr. Yin’s progression away from old school dominance-based training, which was all that was available at the time, to a leading advocate for positive reinforcement, was amazing. And the reason I chose to talk about this book. Here’s a quote from her book. “at home and in specific training sessions, the category that generally works best for humans interacting with animals is positive reinforcement…we should focus…on how to reinforce an alternate appropriate behavior and how to avoid reinforcing the undesirable behavior” This is where training and handling of cats is finally going; more and more into positive reinforcement. And creating a stress-free and force-free learning environment. This is a movement that rejects punishment and embraces positive reinforcement. Because this model has been shown scientifically to be more efficient in behavior modification.This book is just one from a giant stack of books on my desk. I freely admit that I’m a book geek. Especially when it comes to behaviorology, cats, and business. In college, I studied biology and animal behavior because I’m fascinated with these subjects. So, I guess I’ve put all my favorite things into my business and my podcast. I’m so grateful for this movement to fear-free training and handling because it was very different when I was younger. Where cats were thought of as untrainable and they suffered a lot of abuse because of that. Now we have tools that we can use and share with our clients to keep everyone safe and happy.I’ve been a pet sitter for 16 years and in that time, I’ve learned a lot about cats. as I said before, research into animal behavior and care is always evolving. And that’s why I study these subjects a lot! I’m sure you’ve found in your work with cats many learning experiences that caused you to change how you behave. Like the one I had with a little cat named, Cara. Cara was a sweet little cat. All black except for a cute patch of white on her face and four adorable white paws. She loved her playtime with me, so she was one of my favorite clients and I cared for her for years. Her people went away every year for Christmas. And every December I looked forward to the gift box filled with delicious home-baked cookies and squares they left for me. Don’t you just love being a cat sitter at Christmas time! Cara visits were always fun. After the first time I looked after Cara, I wanted to do something special for her so I bought her a wand toy as a gift. She loved it and we had a blast playing together with me pulling it around and Cara batting at it with those little white feet. Sometimes she would roll over on her back and paw at it as I dangled it above her. It was a time she was doing just that when everything went wrong. I was holding the wand loosely in my hand. Cara reached up, grabbed the feather and yanked the wand right out of my hand. Not only did the wand hit poor little Cara hard in the tummy, it bounced away and went clattering along the wood floor. Stunned, I stepped back and kicked a recycling box filled with tins. Adding to the horrendous noise. She was up and gone in a flash! I stood there calling after her, “Sorry, Cara!” “Sorry baby. It’s okay!” But she had disappeared. It took me half an hour to find her crouched far under the bed in the master bedroom. I lifted the corner of the bedspread and there she was, staring at me like I was the creature from the black lagoon. She refused to come out for the rest of that visit. And the next. I was heartbroken. She hates me now, I thought. Nothing I did could coax her out. Not her favorite foods or treats. I kept the wand stashed in my car; no way was I bringing that back inside. Happily, her appetite was still good. But she waited for me to leave before she would eat. And I was hired to visit her twice a day. I felt terrible. But I kept talking to her gently while I kneeled on the floor. On the evening visit of the second day, she finally came out and let me cuddle her. I kept my movements slow and quiet. We only played with familiar toys after that. She eventually returned to the normal fun-loving Cara. But it sure taught me to keep a tight hold on those wands. And how to rebuild trust afterward.It also hammered home how far-reaching a negative experience can be for a cat. And how these negative experiences can easily be associated with something or someone that happened to be there in the same time and space. For Cara, seeing me standing there was a possibility of very scary things. Thankfully, I saw what happened. And took steps to repair the damage by removing the toy and changing my own behavior around Cara. Sometimes, we do things that leave a cat with a negative experience unintentionally. They suddenly disappear or peer at you suspiciously from behind a chair. Since they were fine just a minute ago, you’re left wondering what caused the reaction. In her book, Sophia gives an example of classical conditioning in the story of a cat with a liver shunt which makes her feel sick when she eats. So, the poor cat now associates food with nausea and avoids it. You’ve probably heard of Pavlov and his experiments with dogs. He used the dog’s unconditioned response to salivate at the sight of food and paired it with the sound of the bell. Each time the dogs were presented with food, a bell was rung until the sound of the bell alone could cause the dogs to salivate. Salivating on hearing a bell became a conditioned response. This is called classical conditioning. Cats are constantly making these kinds of associations with everything in their environment. And that’s an important thing to keep in mind. We all know what happens when we stand in the kitchen opening a tin of cat food. Or any other kind of tin for that matter. My own cat, Teeny, was disabled with a condition called Cerebellar hypoplasia. This means his brain didn’t develop properly in the womb, leaving him wobbly and slow. But he would get up from wherever he was in the house and start making his way downstairs to the kitchen whenever he heard the can opener. I’ve was impressed with his range of hearing. It was stunning. What Teeny lacked physically, he made up for in personality. Let me tell you! Cats’ reacting to can openers is well-known, but many of these associations are quietly emerging all the time. This is a source of confusion for people trying to guess why a cat is behaving the way she is.We often get it wrong when we don’t understand the function of the behavior. Because behind every behavior there’s a reason. For instance, cats can suddenly start refusing to use their litter boxes. Once all medical causes are ruled out, you can ask your clients some questions that might shed light on the behavior. One of the most common reasons that I’ve seen for cats not using their box is conflict with another cat who is stalking and attacking them in and around the box. Unless you directly observe it, you wouldn’t know the cause. Which makes it difficult because you’re not there when this activity is going on. And cats can intimidate each other in very subtle ways. Such as one being stretched out across the only pathway to the box, looking innocent. The victim gets the message, but we humans may not. Making it even more difficult to determine the cause. If you have a client with house soiling problems and the cat has been cleared of possible medical reasons you could ask your clients to keep an eye out for any signs of intimidation going on around the box. Furthermore, we don’t know if the client is making things worse with their own reactions. Chronic house soiling can be a very frustrating problem. And sometimes people react angrily. For instance, someone in the house screams and throws a shoe at a cat who they see peeing on the new rug. The cat might develop a fear of that specific person rather than making a connection between the punishment and soiling the rug. And that fear can develop into an aggressive reaction toward the shoe thrower in future interactions. From the cat’s perspective, the presence of the person means scary noise and pain. And of course, the poor cat gets labeled a bad cat. Worst of all, once these associations are formed, they are harder to eliminate. And they don’t usually go away on their own. If you can’t prevent them in the first place, you will need to find a way to replace them. Through methods such as desensitization and classical counterconditioning. In Cara’s case, she had long associated me with fun and treats. So, it was easier for me to reverse that unfortunate experience and regain her trust. But if she’d been a new client, and this was her first experience with me, that would have been very bad indeed. Operant conditioning is the other major mechanism for learning. To put it simply, a behavior is either strengthened, weakened or suppressed based on the consequence of the behavior. For instance, a cat bats at a lever that opens a door to a room he wants to enter. The lever moves down and the cat gets access to the room. Batting the handle behavior is more likely to increase now. This is also known as learning by trial and error and Sophia talks about this type of learning in chapter 4 of her book. I’m not going to dive too deeply into the learning theory in this episode, because I’m just trying to give you an overview of the book. So, I’ll just briefly review what’s covered in the remaining sections. Operant conditioning has four categories: positive reinforcement; negative reinforcement; positive punishment; negative punishment. When talking about positive and negative it’s important to understand that we do not mean good and bad. The common meanings of these words can cause confusion when you’re thinking of animal behavior. In behaviorology we use the terms added or subtracted instead of positive and negative which makes it clear what is actually happening and reduces confusion. Positive means something is being added and negative means something is being removed.When you encounter undesirable behavior in a cat, you try to determine what’s causing it so we can avoid unintentionally reinforcing it. Then try to find an alternative behavior that is more desirable. For example, a cat begins scratching the corners of a client’s antique cabinet. Since scratching is a way to maintain her toenails and leaves her scent mark in the environment, the behavior is highly reinforcing. Knowing that we can train the cat to get these benefits from scratching something else, such as a vertical piece of driftwood instead. Then arranging the environment in such a way to make the driftwood more accessible and desirable, perhaps with some catnip spray. Each time the cat chooses the driftwood over the cabinet, this behavior should be reinforced with treats, toys or praise until this behavior is well established. Understanding that every behavior has a reason behind it helps us find a solution. Unfortunately, many people think that cats misbehave out of spite or anger, but that isn’t the case. Their behavior is meeting a need. Sophia stresses the importance of good communication when training animals. And the need for consistency with our verbal and visual cues to avoid confusing and frustrating the cat. For instance, say a woman is having a dinner party and wants to set a plate of food down on the counter when the cat jumps on the counter, too. Frustrated, because the guests will be arriving any minute, the woman starts pointing to the ground saying “get down, get down” but the cat just gives her a blank stare. So, she picks him up and puts him on the floor only to have him jump right back up. Now she is really annoyed and tempted to yell at him. But what if she had taken the time beforehand to train her cat to jump down and go to his mat on command? Then she would never have to stand there begging her cat to get off the counter again. And she won’t have to listen to her mother in law complaining about her “bad” cat. The point is that we must be mindful of our actions and observant of the cats’ responses to our actions. This is demonstrated in the videos showing examples of how animals care more about your actions than what you say. The important takeaway here is that training a cat properly needs to be done correctly, using modern, fear-free methods in order to clearly communicate what you want. So why should you as a cat sitter be interested in the training of client’s cats? You might think that training seems complicated or too time-consuming and I’m only there for a half-hour a day. I get that, I felt that way too at first. But by expanding my education about cat behavior and fear-free training, I vastly improved my service to my cat clients. If you hone these skills in your business, it will be noticed, and you’ll be rewarded for your efforts. With more clients and income. Being knowledgeable about how cats learn to behave and misbehave gives you an advantage. This will benefit you, the cat and your business. Getting your clients on board can save the cat from being surrendered and, in some cases, from being euthanized. So yeah, it’s worth it. If you want some basic cat training tips for beginners, a good little book called Clicker Training for Cats, by Karen Pryor is an excellent starter guide for cat training. But back to Sophia’s book, Section 2 finishes up with a discussion on habituation, which is the gradual decrease in response to a stimulus that once caused fear. Habituation has two categories: flooding, which involves full exposure to something the cat finds frightening. Such as forcing a cat to be in a room full of barking dogs at the vet clinic. The cat is in a carrier and can’t escape being flooded with all kinds of scary stimuli. The other type of habituation is desensitization. This involves gradual exposure to fearful things without allowing the fear response to arise until the cat longer reacts to it. Many trainers see this as a better way to change a cat’s response to something they fear and it’s even better when it’s combined with counterconditioning. Counterconditioning gives the cat a positive association with the once feared stimulus. For instance, if you have a cat that needs liquid medication, but he’s terrified of the syringe. You could counter condition his response by using the end of the syringe to scoop up some tasty soft food and let him eat it. Another counterconditioning method is to leave a towel with a spray of Feliway, dash of catnip or treats hidden in the folds on the cat’s bed or perch. When you need to wrap her in it, it will be a lot less stressful for her. Section 3 of Dr. Yin’s book gives tips on how to crate train a cat to reduce her stress when you need to transport her to the vet. I’ve taken many cats to different vet clinics over the years. Some places are far better than others when it comes to being cat-friendly. Or not. Sadly, I’ve come across clinics that were downright terrible for cats in terms of handling and care. I don’t hesitate to steer clients away from them. And recommend clinics who do right by cats. I’ve learned that towels are a cat sitters’ best friend. I carry clean towels in my car to gently bundle a cat or cover a crate if necessary. Keeping the crate covered helps the cat feel hidden from snoopy dog noses and curious kid fingers poking through the holes. And that’s safer for all involved. When the cat is on the exam table, I use a towel or the cat’s own blanket to wrap them in. This creates a feeling of security for the same reason. Nothing is sadder than a scared cat sitting on a cold metal table in a strange environment.The better you make this experience for the cat, the fewer problems you and your clients will have bringing him back for future visits. Before you ever need to take a client’s cat to the vet, you should get yourself comfortable with the crate too. Take it out of its dusty storage place in the basement, letting the client know what you are doing, of course. Make sure it’s clean and free of cat smells. Sometimes people don’t notice the cat threw up or peed in there the last time they were at the vet. The cat is not going to be comfortable traveling with those little mementos. Make sure there are no harsh cleanser odors in there either. Get familiar with opening and closing the door and removing the top, if possible. You want to make sure it’s in good repair and usable before an emergency. Like the time I had to rush Max, a long-haired black cat to the vet. I’d discovered a burst abscess on his backside which the elderly client hadn’t noticed before she left. I also discovered, at the worst possible time, that the door to his carrier didn’t close properly.It was Christmas eve and the clinic was closing in an hour. There was also a foot of snow on the ground. So, there I was, slogging my way through the parking lot trying to keep my balance on the ice and snow while desperately trying to prevent Max from busting out. Some pet sitters keep an extra carrier in their car in case of an emergency. Which is great. But nothing compares to having the cat’s own carrier. One that can be left out before vet visits. This allows the cat to climb into and relax with catnip, treats, and toys. If you are unfamiliar with the area in which the cat lives or the location of his vet, map out your route before starting visits. Drive over there to get an idea what traffic is like. Believe me, its much better doing this in a non-emergency. It even gives you another networking opportunity to pop into the clinic. Tell them who you are and why you’re there. This is the best way to set yourself up for a stress-free vet visit, as well! Section 4 is all about low-stress restraint techniques. Many are photos of dogs in clinic settings for various medical procedures. But there are lots of demonstrations of cat handling in the book and in the videos that would be of interest to cat sitters, too. Including tips for giving cats injections and sub-q fluids which many cat sitters offer as a service add-on. Just know that you don’t have to do any of those things. It’s your business and your choice. Only you know your comfort and skill level. This section also gives some alternatives to scruffing cats which Sophia advises should not be used as an automatic method of restraint. Because scruffing causes fear and anxiety in some cats and can even cause an aggressive response. This increases the chances of a cat and the handler becoming injured. Many experts working in the veterinary field are moving even further away from scruffing now because of the distress it can cause. Even towel wrapping should be individualized. Most cats are perfectly fine with it and find it calming. But it’s not intended to be a straitjacket restraint to hold an agitated, hissing cat struggling to get out. Some cats are completely calm just having a towel draped over their head to feel hidden and safe. Practicing how to wrap a cat in a towel to make him feel secure is worth the effort. The point of this section and the book overall is to go with what is the least stressful for each individual cat. I found that many cats like to sit in a box of some kind when they get their pills. Even the bottom half of the carrier can be used. Give high-value treats if you can. Having a supply of Feliway spray for towels and boxes you use will help. This section includes a chapter on handling difficult cats. In other words, cats that have had previous bad experiences with handling. The last chapter of the book is titled “Preventive Behavioral Health for Kittens”. This is where it all needs to start. Get kittens used to everything they’ll encounter in the future. Being handled for medications, toenail clipping, harnesses, leashes, and more. Adult cats can certainly be counter conditioned, but it’s much easier if they’re prepared properly in the first place. It’s a big job getting people to change their ways. You can encourage clients by giving them easy step-by-step guidance to improve the lives of their cats. The book isn’t cheap because it’s a reference textbook, but for the cat sitter who likes to have a well-stocked resource library, it’s good to have. You can find a copy of this book at my amazon affiliate page which I will post in the show notes here. Well, that’s it for this episode. Please note that the information in this podcast is presented for educational purposes only and listeners should seek professional advice for all specific cases. If you have any questions for me about this podcast or any other topics about cat care and the cat care business, reach out to me at Procatsitter.com or my Facebook page, @cathyhamm. I’m also on Instagram @procatsittercathy Until next time Thanks for listening And I hope you have a puuurfect day!