"Can cats fake being nice in order to get adopted?" asks cat owner on social media

Image supplied by the cat's owner.

The cat owner explained what was happening:

After it settles into a comfortable environment, it may show a different side. I once adopted a stray cat, and when I met him, he came up to me and suddenly laid down. He obviously wanted to be with me, and so did I. I thought that a weak cat that likes to lie under people's feet must be very obedient, right? He was very obedient at first, and a year after I raised him, he started pooping all over the house...under my refrigerator and in some boxes. I took him to the vet who said he was fine; he was probably living in a safe environment. Anyway, I don't regret raising him, but my cat is really different than when I first met him.

My response on social media

This has nothing to do with being nice to get adopted. Sorry. It is to do with the environment in which he lives which has become stressful for him and he is marking his territory with feces to make it feel more friendly. Either that or he is incontinent and ill. Find out what is causing the stress.

Some more

I noticed that the person took their cat to a veterinarian who said that "he was probably living in a safe environment." That indicates that they discussed the environment in which the cat lived and it was probably described by the owner which may have misled the veterinarian.

I am convinced that this problem is caused by the cat perceiving the environment as unsafe which is making him anxious which is why he is defecating inappropriately.

It brings very much to mind my ex-wife (!) who lived with one of our two cats when we divorced. And she, after divorce, went slightly mad and started drinking a lot and smoking and going out in the evening. She was rarely at home and her cat became very anxious because she was never there. And he defecated on her bed in the middle of the duvet. This was clearly very upsetting to her. The reason is the same as this person is experiencing: stress.

In lieu of defecating, anxious cats can sometimes spray urine onto objects around the home for the same reason. They are depositing their scent around the home to make the place feel more friendly; to make it feel like their place, their home.

This is a very common problem by which I mean anxiety in domestic cats is a very common issue. And not infrequently it is caused by the owner being absent. It can sometimes cause cystitis which also results in inappropriate elimination with small drops of bloody urine around the home. The urine is not sprayed but the cat has an uncontrollable desire to pee because of a bladder infection caused by the stress.

Cat with a genetic predisposition to being obese or a self-deceiving owner?

Swayze is a domestic cat who weighs 16.8 pounds and has become a celebrity for it, which I find disturbing. We do not need to celebrate obesity in felines, please. It is completely inappropriate because, according to veterinarians, there is an obesity epidemic among domestic cats in line, apparently, with humans. Swayze is a five-year-old tabby cat living in America (northern Georgia). She's a lady and has 32,100 followers on her Instagram page

Obese Swayze. Photo: Jam Press.

To me, the interesting aspect of this celebrity cat is that her owner is not overfeeding her.  Abbe said: "I limit Swayze to very little food and I don't leave food in her bowl all day. She has been on a prescription diet that didn't work. I just limit her food and she has lost some but she is stuck at 16.8 pounds. I feed her half a can of wet food two times a day and sometimes feed her 1/8 cup of dry, but not on a regular basis. I don't give her snacks or treats except cheese but it is so rare that I give it to her."

So, we have a cat that is apparently fed properly with very few treats but her weight is stuck at the obesity level which is patently apparent in the photograph. This level of obesity clearly negatively impacts health quite substantially. As mentioned, feline obesity should not be celebrated and I strongly disagree with the fact that the owner has turned her into a celebrity cat. I'm sorry but it is not a good idea. The Instagram account should be closed down because it only serves to encourage others to make their cat obese and then become a celebrity cat. What kind of good can that do?

I have to conclude that Swayze has a genetic predisposition to being obese. This can happen in humans but my research indicates that this inherited predisposition does not necessarily mean that the body metabolises food in such a way that you become obese. It means that the individual - and I am presuming that cats can also inherit this predisposition to obesity - has increased hunger levels, increased calorific intake, reduced satiety, reduced control over eating and a tendency to be sedentary.

This implies that a person who inherits this problem is driven to eating more than somebody who hasn't inherited the problem. Is this what is going on with Swayze? It appears not because she does not eat more than normal, we are told.

Therefore, I have to be unconvinced about her owner's statement that she is fed a modest diet. I don't want to throw around accusations but people do tend to mislead themselves as to diet. Certainly, this applies to humans feeding themselves and I will therefore presume that it also applies to people feeding their cats. It is very easy to fool yourself as to the amount of food you are giving your cat.

There can only be two possibilities as to why Swayze is overweight and they are that she is not exercising enough and that she is eating too much. It's a simple formula of too many calories going in and not enough calories being burnt. Therefore, her owner is fooling himself or herself. And this ridiculous celebration of obesity must stop, please.

A Quarter of UK Pet Owners Would Give up Their Pet If They Had a New Baby

It may surprise people that today, December 25, 2015, a quarter of UK pet owners would surrender their cat or dog if they had a new baby on the way. This clearly means that a very large percentage of pet owners in the UK believe that a cat or dog is dangerous to a baby. It may be true for a dog because there are, rarely, cases of babies being attacked by dogs. Although I'm sure these attacks are ultimately down to careless dog ownership.

However, I don't have an example of domestic cats hurting babies. It is a fallacy that the domestic cat presents a danger to a baby. The opposite is nearer the truth. Some people believe that a cat's faeces are a hazard to the unborn baby. I have written an article about that sometime ago which can be read if you click on this link. The hazard is extremely slight and can be protected against quite easily. The danger is certainly exaggerated.

If a person wishes to adopt a cat while at the same time carrying an intention to have a baby in the not too distant future then they should not adopt a cat. Surrendering a cat to a rescue centre should be the very last option and only taken under very severe conditions. Cats are not throwaway creatures to adopt and discard at a person's whim. We know that.

A study also reported that 30% of UK dogs are abandoned in the months just after Christmas. This once again is another aspect of the rather careless, throwaway mentality of some cat and dog caretakers.

The same study reported that 8% of the 2000 pet owners participating had admitted that they had surrendered a cat or dog in the past when they had a newborn.

About 40% of people in a relationship stated that they had not made any plans as to what would happen to their cat or dog if they split up and went their own way while only 34% said that they would try to keep their cat or dog if they separated from their partner. That does not indicate a fantastic attachment between person and pet.

According to the UK's main dog adoption website, 67% of rescue centres said that the surrender of dogs was on the increase.

The famous London animal shelter, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, said that there been increase in people wishing to surrender their pets to their rescue centre in order to go on a summer holiday because they were unable to afford a boarding kennels or find someone to look after their cat or dog. Clearly this is shocking once again and indicates a lack of proper connection between pet and person. These people should not look after a cat or dog. That is obvious. Today there are too many people in the UK and I suspect anymore else in the world who are not suited, if we are honest, to be a responsible caretaker of a cat or dog.

The research comes from Co-op insurance and a poll conducted by One Poll.

Cost of keeping a cat?

The cost of keeping a cat over the lifetime of the cat assuming that you have pet insurance and buy decent quality cat food, use cat litter and provide to a good level will be in the order of $10,000 - $20,000 (USD). USD (American dollars) can be converted to the same figures in the UK as sterling (GPD) as things are cheaper in the USA and the UK is a rip off country. For other countries a normal currency conversion will be about correct.

Of course it depends on many factors. The biggest is what quality of care you provide. A lot of people try and steer clear of the vet! Too expensive. I am sure some people cause a cat's death because of this. That will obviously reduce the lifetime's cost because the life is shortened.

Also it depends of the cat's lifespan. Some say that purebred cats live shorter lives than random bred cats. In general this is true. The average for a purebred might be around 12-15 years while for a moggie it might be around 15-20 years, all things being equal.

It might be arguable that keeping a black moggie is the cheapest type of domestic cat to keep. Black cats are healthier than other cats and so are moggies because of genetic diversity. The gene that makes a cat black aids in disease prevention. That's a little tip!

It is a lot cheaper in India. See also pet care costs.

Cat Heaven

Cat Heaven, a photo by Caza_No_7 on Flickr.

Here is a cat in cat heaven; in front of a warm fire on a nice carpet in a nice home, well fed and cared for.

What would consider to be cat heaven? It has to be good food first. Nice calm non-hostile environment with plenty of opportunity to behave normally and express normal desires etc.

Cat heaven above all should be safe from danger such as cars and predators and disease.

Cat heaven must be a place where you get medical treatment when required.

Lastly there is plenty of love and interaction between cat and human. The human in cat heaven loves cats and understands cats.

The human in cat heaven knows that you can't force a cat to do something and that punishment is not a good idea but positive reinforcement is much better.

Lastly cat heaven is a place where the cat gets to keep his claws.