feline behavioral disorders

1. Feline behaviour and
behavioural disorders
Submitted to :
Submitted by : Mohammad iliyas zargar
Regd no. VB-2014-1329

3. Four main modes of communication used by all species
have special resonance for cats.
1. Visual signals are most useful over short to intermediate distances and for information that
is to be used
and acted on immediately.
2. Auditory signals, including signals involving vocalization, are longer distance signals.
Because of the
manner in which sound moves, they can coordinate
group movements over distances where a visual
signal would be lost. These signals work best in the
present.
3. Olfactory signals are complex because they can be
used by animals separated in time and space, in contrast to the other classes of signals.
Because of the
manner in which odorant molecules disperse, olfactory signals can contain information that
speaks to the
passage of time and so may render understanding
some social interactions more diffcult. Olfactory
signals are most pronounced in the frst 24 to 48 hours.
4. Tactile signals are seldom examined or considered
for dogs and cats, but they are an essential part of
social signaling that may act as an early warning
system for the group or as an assay of risk or comfort
for individuals

4. Understanding Visual Communication
Cats have acute visual capabilities.
• Cats can discriminate elimination at one fifth the threshold of
humans,
but their resolution is only one tenth that of humans (Ewer, 1973
■ Completely round pupils are associated with fear, full oblong pupils
are associated with offensive aggression, and slightly off-round/ un
dilated oblong pupils are associated with a relaxed state.
■ Size of pupil correlates with intensity of underlying state.
• Visual communication in domestic pet felines
involves the use of the eyes, ears, mouth, tail, and
coat

5. • Ears are fluid and move quickly in domestic pet felines.
■ Erect ears are apparent when the cat is alert and focusing on a stimulus.
■ Slightly relaxed ears are indicative of a calm cat who is not focusing on any stimulus
but could focus instantly.
■ Ears that are swivelled, displaying the inner pinnae sideways, are indicative of
increased passive aggression or of offensive or actively assertive activity.
■ Ears that are swivelled downward and sideways or that are rotated downward are
associated with more deferential signalling or associated with increasing defensive
aggression.
■ Ears that are pulled all the way down and to the back/rear of the cat so that the inner
pinnae are not at all visible are indicative of extreme, defensive postures and active,
overt, defensive aggression as a last resort, after all other choices have failed. For such
cats, the outer pinnae are flattened in a mask-like moulding against the head.
■ If the inner pinna is visible and flat against the head, as if sculpted in a mask, this is
indicative of extremely offensive behaviour and active, overt, offensive aggression
should the target of this aggression fail to defer or leave.

6. • Pupillary changes can be extremely informative, but clients will not watch
for the useful changes unless taught how to do so. Cats read cat behaviour
better than people read cat behaviour and so may use these signals to
modulate their own behaviours.
■ Miotic pupils are correlated with autonomic parasympathetic responses.
■ Mydriatic pupils are correlated with sympathetic, fight-or-flight response.
■ It is important to evaluate pupil size in conjunction with ambient light
conditions because many pupils could dilate even in a relaxed cat if the
room is dark.
■ Regardless, a direct stare is a challenge or threat in cats and is usually
exhibited by assertive, forceful, confident cats, including cats exhibiting
offensive aggression
■ The more defensive the cat, the more round and dilated the pupils.

8. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviors Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic*
Behavior/Signal Description/Characterization
Watch Direct observation of the focus and circumstances by moving the head and the
eyes; the cat can be distracted and attend to activity elsewhere because there is
no strict focus on any one individual or object
Note that although the cat is looking over his shoulder, his body is relaxed—his back,
neck, and feet are clearly not tense and his tail is curved but not actually wrapped
around his feet
Stare Watchful gaze where the cat is not easily distracted; blinking and head movements
decrease and face tenses; gaze may follow the individual who is the focus of the
gaze as that individual moves
Pupils are vertical Normal, attentive state; size affected by ambient light
ovals
Continued

9. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviors Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic—cont’d
Behavior/Signal Description/Characterization
Pupils are round Reactive, agitated state; both level of reactivity and ambient light affect
size
†
Ears back Pinnae pulled against skull; if ears are also pulled down, the inner pinna may
not be
visible (see the cat on the left)
Ears flat This is a more extreme version of ears back with pinnae flush with the skull;
ears may
lie close to the top of the head; if pulled close to the top of the head, the inner
pinna may be visible (see the cat on the right)
Ears erect and Pinnae vertical in the classic cupped feline triangular shape rotated and
moved
forward directly forward; may flick and move to orient to sound

10. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviors Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic—cont’d
Behavior/Signal Description/Characterization
Tail up Tail is vertical to the cat’s spine and may be still, wave gently, or just wave at the
tip. If the tip only waves, movement can be gentle or agitated. This is an affiliative
signal, and cats use it only when they wish to interact (and not all interactions are
friendly) and are confident
Tail quiver Tail rhythmically agitates, vibrates, or flickers in small waves; seen when cats
are
engaged in the spraying posture, whether or not urine is released
Tail under Tail is tucked tightly under the body against the abdomen; generally
accompanied
by crouching; seen in fearful or defensively aggressive contexts
Tail wrap Tail is wrapped around the feet and/or legs of the cat; this posture is commonly
seen
when cats are wary and cannot escape but are not open to interaction
†
Continued

11. Behavior/Signal Description/Characterization
Lie Cat’s body is flush with and supported by the surface; a variety of postures
possible
depending on how secure the cat feels, the social situation, and the thermal
environment
Follow One cat travels closely behind another cat, human, or other animal and takes
directional cues from that individual
Knead/tread Alternating movements, by hind feet for treading and front feet for
kneading,
against some object, surface, or individual; claws may be in or out
Social rub Cat rubs another cat, human, or other animal using his or her:
Head—rubs dorsum of head/ears/side of cheeks/chin over focus of attention
Flank—rubs side of body against or over focus of attention
Tail—rubs tail against or over focus of attention
Continued

12. Behaviour/Signal Description/Characterization
There can also be social rubbing not associated with direct social interaction where
cats exhibit these same behaviours against a sofa, a corner of a wall, a tree, et
cetera, as part of scent and visual marking. As with all scent marks, the behaviours
are sufficiently characteristic that if a conspecific (or one who knows that cat well)
observes the behaviour they know that a scent mark may accompany the visual
display. The visual display itself is also important

13. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviours Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic—cont’d
Behaviour/Signal Description/Characterization
Object rub Movement of head/neck/body along any horizontal or vertical surface or object.
Note that the cat can show all the behaviours associated with spraying and not
spray. The cat rubbing the cedar bench did so with his tail base as he moved back
and forth. At the time, he was eyeing another male cat many meters away across a
garden. Females who are sexually receptive will also rub objects, accompanied by
plaintive vocalization including yowls and howls
Social roll Cat moves around on his or her back on the ground/surface, moving back and
forth, exposing the neck and belly, and possibly moving limbs and tail against or
in the close presence of another cat or any other individual with whom the cat is
socially comfortable
Continued

14. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviors Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic—cont’d
Behaviour/Signal Description/Characterization
Social play Chasing, pouncing, grabbing, batting, sucking, and pushing against another
individual involved in similar behaviours. It’s not unusual for participants alternately to
pull and push at each other using their paws
Arch back Back formed into a curved, upside-down “U” while the cat stands rigidly; often
accompanied by piloerection; tail may also be piloerected and moving briskly or
held straight up
†
Crouch Defensive posture where cat lowers body so that only feet, not legs, may be visible;
cat folds inward on itself and may become small in a self-protective manner or in a
covert, attentive manner (remember, cats are sit-and-wait predators and are also
small enough to be prey in some environments)

15. Behaviour/Signal Description/Characterization
Lordosis Mating behaviour in a female cat where she crouches down and then raises her hind
quarters, while pressing her belly to the ground and turning her tail as part of the
solicitation for mating
Mount Cat climbs over the back of another cat while aligned in the same direction;
forefeet of the mounting cat are in front of the mounted cat’s hind legs, and hind
feet of mounting cat are behind the hind feet of the mounted cat. Cats may
also mount pillows or non-feline individuals. Thrusting may or may not occur. If this
behaviour occurs during mating or masturbation, the mouthing cat will grab the
other cat by the nape of the neck, or an object, and hold firmly with the teeth while
treading with the back legs. Intromission of the penis may or may not occur
Sniff Movement of air during inspiration through nostrils as cat moves over the surface of
interest. When interacting with other cats, cats frequently and carefully examine by
sniffing each others’ noses; anal, perianal, and tail base areas; and bodies
Notice the closed nostrils associated with beginning of inspiration cycle and the
forward movement of the whiskers, both characteristic of the process for obtaining
olfactory information
Lick Movement of the cat’s tongue over his or her own body area, a surface, or his or
her own nose and mouth area
Continued

16. Ethogram for Visual/Tactile Behaviors Based on Cats Who Are Not Domestic—cont’d
Behaviour/Signal Description/Characterization
Touch nose Touching of a cat’s nose to any object or another cat’s nose. Cats tend to touch
with their nose objects sticking out and directed toward them (like a human finger or
another cat’s nose)
Nuzzle Pushing of one cat’s head against the head or body of another; this behaviour
involves pushing without rubbing
Paw/pat Using forepaw, repeated touching of another individual or object; claws are
retracted
Pounce Leaping of one cat onto another or onto a toy; the cat need not stay attached
Cuff Strike at one cat by another using a curved or angled forepaw with claws extended

18. Undesirable, Problematic,
and Abnormal Feline
Behaviour and Behavioural
Pathologies

19. FELINE BEHAVIORAL CONCERNS INVOLVING PLACEMENT OF URINE/FECES AS PART
OF INAPPROPRIATE OR UNDESIRABLE ELIMINATION BEHAVIOR
The most common behavioural complaint that clients have about their cats
involves the location where the cat urinates or defecates. Some
veterinary behaviourists divide complaints into those involving concerns
with litterboxes (e.g., “toileting”) versus those involving some form of
marking.
The key to resolving all elimination concerns—even those involved in
marking—is to recognize and be able to identify the pattern in the choices
the cat makes about elimination. The pattern involved in the cat’s behavior
tells us what the cat’s needs are
If clients can meet the cat’s needs, the problem will resolve. Otherwise, the
biggest reason why cats are relinquished or euthanized involves elimination
that the clients view as problematic

20. Cats Who Do Not Use Their Litterbox
Concerns about litterbox use generally involve one or
more of the following client complaints:
• The cat doesn’t use the box at all.
• The cat uses the box for either urine or feces but not
both.
• The cat eliminates right next to or on the box but not
in it.
• The cat uses the box but doesn’t cover urine or feces.
All of these could be normal behaviors, but when they
represent a change in former behavior, they generally
flag a behavioral problem

24. Complaints about litterbox use are almost always related to one of four
diagnostic categories:
• substrate preference for elimination,
• substrate aversion for elimination,
• location preference for elimination, and
• location aversion for elimination.

26. • Clients should try to identify the types of substrates that the cat uses and mimic those.
Treatment
• Management:
• Clients should be encouraged to watch cats use litter. If the cat scratches and digs in the litter and
gets into it to do so, the cat likes the litter
• Litter must be kept clean.
• Behaviour modification:
• If the problem involves a strong, innate preference, behaviour modification is not likely to be
successful
• Medication/dietary intervention:
• If the cat has developed an aversion or a concern about any aspect of the litter or box, he or she
may be difficult to convince to use a litter everyone can agree on without using an anti-anxiety
medication.
• Clients should try to identify the location that the cat is willing to use and put a litterbox in that
location.

28. CONCERNS INVOLVING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN CATS
As unique “sit-and-wait” predators, cats must be able to go from prolonged periods of quiet,
hidden, inactive behaviour involving covert monitoring to sudden and profound arousal with
accompanying reactive behaviour.
• Offensive aggression generally involves behaviours that decrease the distance
between the individuals, including approach (as a threat with subsequent flight of
the other individual) and attack. The aggressor controls the interaction through the
use of threat or the escalation of violence.
• Defensive aggression involves more passive behaviours that encourage avoidance and
withdrawal, and the recipient to, or respondent of the aggression, controls the interaction,
removing the stimulus for further aggression. Spraying can act as a defensively aggressive
behaviour when it serves this purpose.
Cats are more likely to exhibit overt aggression when they do not know each other or when they do
know each other but perceive each other as equals and neither cat defers to the other. Covert
aggression is more likely to occur if cats know each other well but do not see each other as equals.
This dichotomy of offensive (including predatory) versus defensive aggression has been well
explored for cats in the neuroanatomic literature, especially for responses produced by the
ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and the amygdala.

29. Aggression Caused by Lack of Socialization
Diagnostic Criteria and Description
• The effect of social exposure of cats to other cats and
other species during sensitive periods (Bateson,1979) is best viewed in the context of risk
assessment. Animals for whom all sensitive period requirements are met can still have
problems, and animals who miss “socialization” for, or exposure to, the relevant periods can do
well; however, the risk of having problems attendant with the respective sensitive period
increases if exposure during that period is missed
• Cats who have not had contact with humans before 6 to 12 weeks of age have missed
sensitive periods important for the development of normal approach responses to people.
• If forced into a situation involving restraint, confinement, or intimate contact, these animals may
become extremely aggressive
Common Non-Specific Signs
• Even if these cats learn to accommodate some specific people, if a stranger appears, these cats
usually disappear.
• If approached and unable to escape, these cats become extremely aggressive using their claws
and
teeth to avoid or escape handling.
• Approach distances tend to be extremely long.

30. Treatment
• These cats will never be normal, cuddly pets, although they may attach to one person or
to a small
group of people over a period of time. Avoidance of the aggression is best. Gestures that
would be considered solicitous by normal cats may be considered provocative by these cats.
Passive attention should be encouraged through the provision of food and shelter and the
use of kind words.
• Management:
• If forced into a situation involving restraint, confinement, or intimate contact, these
animals
may become extremely aggressive. Management should focus on avoiding such
circumstances
while minimizing risks to nutrition and physical safety.
• These cats require protection that minimizes the chance of their victimization by humans
and other
animals.
• Behaviour modification:
• With time and in a very protected environment, these cats may learn some patterned
behaviors
that can be reinforced positively through desensitization and counter-conditioning.
• The expectations for these cats must be extremely generous and realistic.
• Clicker training may provide a uniquely suitable reward system for these cats and may

31. Play Aggression
Diagnostic Criteria and Description
• Consistent aggression that occurs in contexts where play behaviours (chases, pounces, grabs
using feet, etcetera) could normally be the appropriate response in the social interaction.
• The hallmark of the condition that makes this a diagnosis is that the behaviors are out of context
with the stimulation and/or cues received.
• In true play, if one cat shrieks or freezes, the other cat stops. In play aggression, the
normal “stop” signals are insufficient to stop the play and may even induce rougher play
Common Non-Specific Signs
• Kittens and young cats generally stalk the objects of their focus (which could be human or animal) and
stare, pounce, grab, and bite, and/or scratch.
• The grabbing, biting, and scratching intensify throughout the bout regardless of disengagement
signals.
• Rather than exhibiting the classic bounce-and-flee behaviours common in social play in cats, the
behaviours exhibited here have more in common with social fighting, but the object of focus and the
stimuli that initiated the bout are not contextual.
• Movement of any kind can be sufficient to elicit the pounce if the cat is already exhibiting the related
behaviours.

32. Treatment
• Management:
• The best treatment for play aggression is management and early intervention.
• Any cat who plays too roughly or exhibits play aggression should be stopped from doing so by
blocking them with a blanket, broom, piece of cardboard, baby gate, or cardboard box—all of
which can quickly be put between the cat and the human if they are available.
• Clients must be vigilant for the first signs of any inappropriate behaviour (pupils dilating, claws
unsheathed, ears back, legs and shoulders stiffening, tail twitching) and interrupt or re-direct the
cat as early in the sequence of his increasing reactivity as possible.
• Behaviour modification:
• The most commonly omitted step in “fixing” these cats is to tell them that they are good when
they are not doing anything involving arousal. If these cats are sleeping or lying down calmly
they should be told they are good. If they will tolerate slow, deep pets, they should receive
them. If the cat will not tolerate physical handling without becoming aroused, he may be able to
be rewarded for being quiet with a food treat or a toy tossed to him.
• These cats respond wonderfully to behaviour modification. They can learn to sit when
requested for a treat (which can be offered on a long spatula or paddle).
• If the clients are worried about reaching toward the cat, these cats clicker train well. The
cat sits and is rewarded with a paired “click and-treat.”

33. Fear Aggression
• Aggression that consistently occurs concomitant with behavioural and physiological signs of fear
as identified by withdrawal and passive and active avoidance behaviours associated with the
sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.
• Fearfully aggressive cats choose avoidance first. Failing this, they will become more overtly
aggressive and will hiss, spit, and arch their backs, and piloerect.
• Cats with fear aggression exhibit a combination of offensive and defensive postures and overt
and covert aggressive behaviours (Leyhausen, 1979).
• Flight, a defensive activity, is virtually always a component of fearful aggression in cats.
Common Non-Specific Signs
• Cats will hiss, yowl, arch their backs, put their ears back, piloerect, and attempt to back up or
leave as they become fearfully aggressive.
• As the cat is pursued with increasingly fewer escape opportunities, he will stop, draw his head in,
crouch, growl, roll onto his back, with his feet over his belly and paw at whomever is threatening
him.
• If the approacher continues pursuit, the fearfully aggressive cat will attempt to strike, using the
forepaws, and hold the approacher while kicking with the back feet and biting (Young, 1988).

34. Etiology, Epidemiology, and Risk
Groups• When fearful aggression involves other cats, the cats who are fearfully aggressive
will actively avoid the other cats. Fearfully aggressive cats monitor for the presence
of other cats and at the first indication (noise, odour) that the cat may approach they
withdraw to the extent possible.
• Fear aggression is a common sequela to introducing new cats into a household.
This outcome is not surprising given the evolutionary history of cats, where cats
lived in extended, matrilineal family groups.
• Depending on the type of threat, any cat can learn to become fearfully aggressive.
This phenomenon is particularly important when small children are involved
because they may not know how to respond appropriately to a cat who is crouching
and attempting to hide at their eye level. Any animal who is cornered and cannot
escape has the potential to attack.
Treatment
• Management:
• Avoidance is key. Environments should be designed to avoid startling these cats
and to allow them to hide.
• If the fear aggression is restricted only to grooming and/or veterinary care, as soon
as this behaviour is noticed, efforts should be made to teach the cat to offer body
parts for examination and care . Giving animals choices over when to offer a
behaviour or a body part can mitigate their fear and panic.

35. Treatment options:
• Behaviour modification can be very effective early in the development of fear aggression. Emphasis
should be placed on desensitizing and counterconditioning the cat to the circumstances that induce the
fear. To make this successful, cats have to learn some basic behaviour modification—sitting, staying,
and not reacting—at home and in a variety of novel circumstances.
• Clients should remember that cats can remain reactive for quite a long time after an aggressive event.
• Cats who are calm enough to accept a food treatn can be helped with behavior modifcation

36. • Aggression (threat, challenge, or contest) exhibited in contexts associated with injury, illness, or
treatment/intervention that could potentially cause adaptive (nociceptive and inflammatory) pain or
exacerbate maladaptive (neuropathic, functional, and central) pain (sensu Hellyer et al., 2007).
• The aggression exhibited is in excess of that required to indicate concern and to effect cessation of the
offending stimulus.
• Because all aggressions have a learned component, if a cat has learned that he is made painful for a
specific treatment/manipulation, he may exhibit signs of pain-related aggression before the actual
treatment/manipulation. For example, the cat may splint and guard his abdomen before he is actually
touched or reached for .
Pain-Related Aggression
Diagnostic Criteria and Description
• Evaluation of pain is difficult but increasingly possible
• Common signs of pain in cats include guarding/ protecting body parts, withdrawal from social and physical
interactions, growling, hissing, and anorexia.
• Pain scales suggest that these behaviours may move from intermittent to more continuous
behaviours as pain worsens (Hellyer et al., 2006),and aggression may be part of a normal progression until
the cat is quite ill, at which point aggression may diminish

37. Treatment
• Management:
• Behavioural assessments of pain may be more
helpful than pain assessment scores or physiological measures in terms of possible interventions
(Hansen et al., 1997; Hellyer et al., 2007; Holton
et al., 1998a, 1998b; 2001).
• Investing in a practice standard that encourages
calm, humane, behaviour - centered care may minimize the likelihood of this condition developing
because of associations made.
• Environments that are less noisy and where movement can be anticipated may have an effect on
this condition. There are no data.
• Miscellaneous interventions:
• Cat muzzles are available, but most cats can be manipulated more humanely using a number
of wrap techniques with blankets (Rodan et al., 2011).
■ If the cat is sufficiently distressed that she needs special handling and a wrap, she would
benefit from anti-anxiety medication and some behaviour modification
Other types of Aggression
Territorial Aggression,Maternal Aggression,Re-Directed Aggression,Predatory Aggression
Inter-Cat Aggression

38. PATHOLOGIES NOT RELATED TO AGGRESSION
Fear/Fearful Behaviour
Separation Anxiety
Cognitive Dysfunction/Cognitive Dysfunction
Syndrome
Depression
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/Compulsive Disorder with Special Emphasis on Feline
Hyperesthesia
BEHAVIORAL CONCERNS THAT DO NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF A DIAGNOSIS BUT THAT STILL
WORRY CLIENTS
Eating Plants
Scratching Behaviour
Hunting and Caching
Rubbing
Nocturnal Activity
Roaming and Cat Enclosures

39. Cognitive Dysfunction/Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome
Diagnostic Criteria and Description
• CD is defend by changes in interactive, elimination, sleep-cycle, navigational behaviours, and/or related
cognitive behaviours, attendant with aging, which are explicitly not due to primary failure of any organ
system.
• CD is a potential animal model for the age-dependent cognitive changes that occur in humans. The
affiliated behaviours may be associated with Alzheimer's like (senile dementia of the Alzheimer type)
lesions (Gunn-Moore et al., 2007).
• It is unclear if this condition in dogs or cats is associated with age-dependent changes in dopaminergic
(suggested because selegiline, a MAO inhibitor with large effects on dopamine, is used to treat CD) or
other neurotransmitter function, micro-embolic events
• There are three main contributors to problematic, age-related brain aging changes, all of which interact
to compromise brain function:
• Oxidative changes associated with processes such as free radical formation, formation of lesions
including those composed of amyloid, and shifts in oxygen and energy availability.
• Aging is associated with increased expression of genes associated with stress and inflammation,
especially
in the brain region primarily involved in associational learning, the hippocampus.

40. Common Non-Specific Signs
• In this condition, the signs are extremely variable and non-specific and may include:
• Nocturnal vocalization—this may be the most frequently noticed sign in cats, but it can also be a
common non-specific sign of hyperthyroidism.
• Disorientation, including getting stuck in corners or going to the wrong side of a door
• Alterations in social/interactive behaviours; early in the condition, this may appear as a form of
increased “neediness”; late in the condition, this appears as a truly disengaged cat.
• Changes in locomotor behaviour
• Changes in sleep cycle—this pattern is tricky in cats because their sleep schedules so depend on
stimulation that many clients will have difficulty accurately assessing change, but sleep cycles are
profoundly affected by changes in hypocretin neuron density and function.
• “Loss of housetraining”—cats either miss or do not even seem to go to the litterbox.
• Increased anxiety in situations in which the cat was formerly comfortable

41. Treatment
• Management:
• Helpful management changes include the following:
■ Ensure that the cat has easy access to simple cat doors and/or has multiple litterboxes within
easy walking distance of where she spends most of her time and that the box is easy for her
to enter and exit.
■ If the cat is not getting a lot of exercise, stimulate his muscles with a range-of-motion exercises
and/or massage daily.
■ Cats can learn to use swimming pools, heated baths, and underwater treadmills to help
ameliorate alterations in mobility, but most people are reluctant to try such interventions if cats
did not engage in such activities when young.
■ Food toys that move a bit but are still relatively easy for arthritic cats to use or toys that allow
the cat to problem solve without having to be so physically robust (Fig. 9-22) may stimulate
activity
• Ensure that the medications the cat is taking are the medications he or she needs, and review
all potential and present side effects every 3 months or earlier, if needed
• Behaviour modification
• Medication/dietary intervention:
■ PUFAs, especially arachidonic acid (ARA),DHA, and EHA, play roles in maintaining neuronal
integrity and enhancing energy use by neurons.

42. COMPULSIVE DISORDERS
Definition
Compulsive disorders have been defined as repetitive
behaviours in excess of that required for normal function, the
execution of which interferes with normal, daily activities and
functioning. The behaviour is exaggerated in form and duration.
Pathophysiology
The aetiology of compulsive disorders is not well characterized
but likely involves stress, genetics, and/or central nervous
system mechanisms.
These problem behaviours may be triggered or exacerbated by
physical trauma and/or environmental and social stressors (e.g.,
moving to a new home, separation from the owner, introduction of
a new pet to the household, death of an animal companion, etc.),
although owners of cats, with compulsive disorders are not
always able to link a stressor to the onset of the behaviour

43. less is known about brain mechanisms involved in
feline compulsive disorders. It has been documented
that in other mammalian species,
opioid systems are involved in grooming, and it is
theorized that there is an endogenous endorphin-
mediated reward of the grooming behaviour.
Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, has been shown to be
effective in decreasing excessive grooming in cats.
Opioids are known modulators of dopaminergic activity,
and haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist, has been
shown to dramatically decrease time spent grooming
within 24 hours of injection.

44. Psychogenic Alopecia
• Cats spend up to 50% of their awake time grooming
themselves, which functions to keep them clean, control body
temperature, and remove ectoparasite
• When this behaviour becomes excessive so that hair loss or
lesions are noted, medical problems are the most likely culprit
.Adverse food reaction was the most common medical cause of
clinical signs with other causes including atopy, flea allergy
dermatitis, parasitic dermatosis, bacterial dermatosis, and
hyperthyroidism
• Grooming has been shown to activate an area of the brain
associated with compulsive disorders.
• In a study investigating compulsive disorders, the most
common category for cats was excessive grooming or self
mutilation,

45. • The first step in treating cats with excessive grooming is to
identify and treat all contributing medical problems.
• Even when the cause is behavioural, a mechanical barrier
(such as an Elizabethan collar) may be necessary to prevent
excessive grooming if the animal is causing self-trauma while
environmental and behavioural modification is implemented
• Ways to enrich the environment and avoid boredom include
food-dispensing toys, puzzle boxes, bird feeders outside of
windows, crickets for the cat to hunt, scheduled play
sessions with the owner, clicker training, playing with wand-
type toys, fetch games, and walks outside on a harness or
in a pet stroller
• Long-term antianxiety medications, specifically those that enhance
serotonin (e.g., fluoxetine and clomipramine), are an integral part of
treating compulsive disorders

46. Pica and Wool Sucking
• Pica is the ingestion of non-food items with wool sucking
being a form of pica, in which the cat sucks on the material
but may not ingest it
• Medical problems including nutritional deficiencies, diseases
of the GI, oral, metabolic, and central nervous systems as well
as restrictive diets, electrolyte imbalances, toxins, and
conditions leading to polyphagia should be ruled out but are
uncommon• Behavioural differential diagnoses include boredom, play or
exploratory behaviour, attention seeking behaviour,
displacement behaviour, and compulsive disorder.
• Cats with compulsive pica will seek out the item(s) whenever
possible• Treatment for pica is important to prevent repeated foreign body
surgeries and damage to expensive household items.
• Although all medical problems should be treated, behaviour and
environmental modification should also be implemented

47. ZOONOTIC CONCERNS RELEVANT TO PATTERNS OF FELINE BEHAVIOR
• There are four main zoonotic concerns that are germane to cat behaviour: rabies,
cat-scratch disease (CSD), toxoplasmosis, and toxocariasis.
• Clients are often willing to tolerate some behavioural inconsistencies on the part
of the cat (e.g., not always using the litterbox), and clients may adjust to some
undesirable behaviours that the cat exhibits (e.g., never playing with the cat when
he is on his back). However, these minor behavioural issues become major ones
when any human health concern is raised and will become the reason that the cat
is relinquished or euthanized
Cat-Scratch Disease
• The presumptive agent in CSD is the rickettsial organism, Bartonella hensalae. An
occasional contributory role has been postulated
for the bacteria Afipia felis
• CSD is most commonly seen in the late summer and fall everywhere it has been
studied and coincides with seasonality in births of kittens (spring) and the entry of
these kittens into the house in the fall/ winter
People with what is viewed as traditionally conceived CSD tend to have localized skin
lesions and regional lymph node involvement 3 weeks after exposure
Lymph nodes remain enlarged for several months. Systemic illness is rare, but
fever, headache, splenomegaly, and malaise are common

48. Toxoplasmosis
• Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an infection that may be mild or
asymptomatic in adult humans but can be congenitally induced when pregnant females
become infected with T. gondii. In adult humans, infection is usually, but not always, mild
and may result in malaise, joint and muscle pain, transiently enlarged lymph nodes, and
other non-specific signs of inflammation. Infants born with toxoplasmosis may have a range
of profound problems primarily affecting the nervous system.
• Maternal and foetal infections are treatable, but from the standpoint of the behaviour of cats,
most of these infections are preventable.
Toxocariasis
• Toxocariasis is a zoonosis caused by accidental human ingestion of the embryonated eggs of
the roundworms Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati, which routinely affect dogs and cats.
• Especially in urban areas, cats with large—and likely untreated—worm burdens may use the
same sandboxes and grassy areas in which human children play as areas to eliminate
• If children ingest the eggs, the larvae hatch and migrate through the lungs and liver, causing
inflammatory responses and clinical signs (visceral larval migrans), and/or the nervous system,
potentially becoming stranded in the eye (ocular larval migrans) and causing blindness.

49. THANK YOU