Can clicker training improve the welfare of shelter cats

Can you clicker train a cat and what are the implications of clicker training shelter cats

Do you think you could train a cat? What about a cat in a potentially stressful environment? And can old cats learn new tricks?

US-based researchers recently published their Assessment of Clicker Training for Shelter Cats(Kogan et al., 2017) in animals to determine if clicker training was viable. They recruited 100 healthy shelter cats, male and female, ranging from 6 months to 12 years old, with varying lengths of stay at the shelter, to perform four behaviours: touching a target, sitting, spinning and the good-old “high-five”.

The rationale for assessing clicker training is that it is regarded as behavioural enrichment, and enrichment is known to have some mitigating effects on stress. As the authors write, “being housed in a shelter is likely one of the most stressful living arrangements these cats have ever encountered…”

Yet those cats were able to learn: 79% learned to touch a target, 60% learned to spin, 31% mastered the high five and 27% learned to sit. This does not include the cats that almost mastered these skills, for example the cats that motioned to sit but didn’t achieve bottom-to-floor contact.

To find out how they did it, you can read the paper and email the authors for their clicker training manual. But it wasn’t too hard. All cats were pre-assessed for their baseline skills but also, which food was their favourite, as this was chosen as the reward (ultimately 62% got canned tuna and 38% got chicken baby food). All cats who wanted it had ten minutes per day of contact with a person. In addition, twice a day they had five- minute training sessions.

There are some useful lessons in here for those interested in training cats. 

Promisingly, cats who initially didn’t seem that interested in food could still learn the behaviour. And some “shy” cats who didn’t want to leave their cages warmed up after a short period.

The great news was that age and sex didn’t impact learning, though cats that were food motivated did perform better at high-fiving and targeting.

Why is this such a big deal? The study didn't prove that clicker training improved feline welfare or the rehoming rates of trained vs untrained cats (nor were these looked at in the study). But, the authors argue that clicker training may be an inexpensive, viable way to enrich the lives of cats in shelters, reduce stress and thereby make them less vulnerable to diseases like upper respiratory tract infections. It relieves boredom that they may experience with confinement.

And some of these behaviours involve approaching and engaging with humans, and other studies show this makes cats more appealing to potential adopters. That is critical, given that in the US around 3.2million cats enter shelters – and around 70 per cent of these are euthanased.

REFERENCE

KOGAN, L., KOLUS,C. & SCHOENFELD-TACHER, R. 2017. Assessment of Clicker Training for ShelterCats. Animals (Basel), 7.

Bring your cat happiness with a catnip kicker

Michael a minute or so after she sniffed the catnip-stuffed toy in my bag. At almost 17 years old she doesn't play quite as much as she used to, so it was a delight to see her enjoy this.

Is your cat a “catnip responder”? Various sources estimate that around 70 per cent of cats are susceptible to the heady effects of a volatile oil found in catnip (Nepeta cataria), a cheap-as-chips, relatively boring looking plant available at most nurseries. Cats that are affected will enthusiastically sniff the plant, rub themselves on it, roll around, drool, and be otherwise playful. Usually the effect lasts a few minutes, after which they are seemingly immune, but the process can start again a bit later.

We can’t ask the cats themselves, but it seems to bring them a little happiness. Last week, one of my lovely clients made a catnip kicker. Sue makes them for her cats, so I asked if she’d share her methods.

Sue’s Catnip Kickers

I created a pattern of a snake and cut it out on a sheet of cardboard (cereal box works well).

Trace the pattern onto your scrap fabric.

With right sides of fabric together sew around the edge, don't forget to leave a gap mid-way as you need to flip it right inside out.

You can add a tongue by sewing in a small piece of ribbon with a V cut at the top.

Eyes can be added by drawing on with a sharpie pen, make them look evil, it is a snake! [Ed: I’ve met some lovely snakes though!]

Once you have sewn your snake, flip it inside out so the pretty fabric is now on the outside.

Now stuff your snake with filling and your dried catnip.

Generously place some catnip in the tail, some midway and some in the head.

It’s almost done, now simply hand sew the opening closed.

You can buy catnip plants from Bunnings, it grows quickly in spring so you will soon be cutting and drying it.

Cut it, put an elastic band around the stem to hold all together and hang in a dry sunny spot, takes up to 2 weeks to dry.

Once dried, crunch it up with your hands and store in a container.

Home grown catnip is far stronger than you can buy anywhere else so be prepared for your cats to go crazy.

You can also make catnip mats, and catnip sausages (below).

You do not need a lot of skill to make the catnip snakes. 

Thanks Sue! As you can see, Mike adores it.

Mike continuing to enjoy the experience.

What do cats like scratching the most?

Hero rubs his face all over his catnip-infused corrugated-cardboard furniture-sparing scratching station. Adjacent to his scratchy mat. Life is good.

Horizontal, vertical, multi-levelled, tall or short: what kind of scratching post do cats prefer?

Our friends at Companion Animal Psychology have shared the news here.

The key conclusion?

“The ideal scratching post to recommend to a cat owner to help prevent inappropriate scratching is one that includes rope as a substrate, is upright vertical, 3 ft or higher, has two or more levels and a base width of between 1 and 3 ft.” 

BUT…remember among felines there is individual variation. For example, in our house, such scratching posts are ignored. Especially if they were expensive (there seems to be a rule with cats whereby their enthusiasm for something you buy for them is inversely proportional to what you paid for it). Corrugated cardboard is all the rage here, and there needs to be a lot of it (it’s also cheap which confirms the aforementioned feline-onomics rule).

Mike and Hero are also big time horizontal scratchers, so they dig shag pile rugs, scratchy doormats and carpet. Because Michael is older and has a touch of arthritis, her claws are particularly long and she gets them caught in things. I trim them regularly.

I would also add that I am fairly realistic when it comes to the furniture. I don’t take the risk – I use throw rugs and doonas to protect furniture from claws, paws and little tiny hairs that I seem to find everywhere anyway (which is why I need this book). 

Environmental modifications for feline residents

The dedicated cat owner who designed this space thinks like a cat: shelves aren't just for books and why should you have to touch the floor to move around the room?

A multi-cat household can be difficult to manage, but this week I received an email from one of our clients who has gone to great lengths to provide a healthy feline environment.

Her cats have been experiencing some inter-cat aggression and one kitty is suffering from feline lower urinary tract disease as a result. We discussed environmental management as part of the solution – things like the use of synthetic feline facial pheromones, positioning of key resources to minimise conflict, increased availability of water and so on. Then she mentioned she was thinking of getting some shelves in. Well, she did. This is one of the best feline-oriented home modifications I’ve seen.

Strategically placed treats...

According to the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society for Feline Medicine, there are five pillars of a healthy feline environment.

1. A safe place – a place where cats can go so they can avoid and evade threats, noises, unfamiliar persons or objects, and other cats. Perches or shelves ideal. This house fits the bill perfectly.
2. Multiple separated KEY environmental resources – food, water, toileting areas, scratching areas, play areas and resting areas. Cats should be able to access these without being challenged by another cat.
3. Opportunity for play and predatory behaviour – toys and food balls that cats can chase and engage with are ideal.
4. Positive, consistent, predictable interaction with humans – with most cats preferring “frequent, low-intensity interactions” (i.e. not getting excited, running over to a cat, scooping it up and rubbing your face in its belly fur).
5. An environment that “respects the importance of a cat’s sense of smell” – this is hard as we’re not always sure how they smell as opposed to us, but strong smelling detergents and cleaning products can put them off. As can the scent of a rival’s urine.

Obviously cats need time to adjust to environmental modifications like this and strategic distribution of treats helps.

These shelves were made for these cats.

Cats putting their new shelves to good use.

Check out another environmental modi-feline-ification here. 

Reference

Carney H et al  (2014) AAFP and ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House-Soiling Behaviour in Cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 16:579-598

Vet's pets: Gillian Shippen introduces her toy-testing crew

These guys may look sleepy but keeping them entertained and enriched is busy work for Gillian Shippen.

Gillian Shippen is a Nursing Practice Manager for Dr Michael J Burke Vet Clinic in South Australia. She’s also the author of PetsNeed a Life Too, and founder the company with the same name – it’s all about enriching the lives of companion animals. (Here at SAT we’re very big fans of appropriate and safe environmental enrichment for animals).

I think it’s safe to say that Gillian takes her work home with her.

She shares her life with Normie (7.5 year old moggy), Diesel (10-12 year old Rottweiler cross) and Buster (a 7.5 year old Rottweiler). This crew are not only her companions, they’re also her product testers. When Gillian recommends a toy, she knows exactly how sturdy and entertaining it is.

How did you meet?

Normie came to us as a stray kitty – a friend of my stepson was working at a winery and found a litter of kittens. The owner of the winery suggested something unthinkable (drowning) so the friend brought the kittens to me. The kitten were only about 5 weeks old so as my stepson and his friends were all enamoured by the kittens I suggested they foster them until the kittens would be old enough to re-home.

Normie naps.

Stepson fell in love with Normie and begged to keep him (my sighing, knowing what the eventual outcome would be). Eventually stepson decided looking after a kitten wasn’t for him (and we had a return of another one) so they came to the clinic for re-homing, I immediately found a home for one but Normie was to stay at the clinic until I could find him a home. My partner said no, he’ll come home with us!

Diesel came from a shelter/rescue one year after I lost my first Rottie, Cole. Diesel was approximately 10 years old looking for a new home and his forlorn face looked at me from the photo reminding me of Cole.

Busta was also from a shelter/rescue group at 6 years old, a few months after we lost another one of our other dogs. He was the result of a marriage breakup.

Does anyone have any conditions that require treatment?

Busta is a strange dog and I have him on Prozac for anxiety as he is a very much over-the-top dog. I am hoping it is just to do with the re-homing and will see about weaning him off - I have already tried to wean him off (unsuccessfully) once but that would seem it was too soon. He also has unusual gastric issues which we manage.

Diesel is on anti-inflammatories for arthritis.

The dog we lost just before we got Busta had his front leg amputated due to an osteosarcarcoma. He survived 8 months before he got another one on his hind leg.

The wheelchair didn't impede this dog's enjoyment of life.

How would you describe household dynamic?

The cat is the boss of the household (after me!) with his 7.5kg frame (not fat just BIG) keeping the two Rottweilers and anyone else in the household in line. The two Rottens are good friends and play well together.

What do you do to spend time together?

Busta often goes to work with my husband, leaving Diesel and Normie behind to enjoy the creature comforts of home. The animals are all allowed on the furniture to snuggle with us.

A slightly out-of-focus snap of Gillian hanging with her two rotties, just to prove that they are allowed to snuggle on the furniture.

The dogs are taken for a walk daily and if there is something we are doing that they can attend with us, we take them. Diesel just helped me with a display stand for an Open Day at a Doggie Day Care Centre recently.

Has caring for this group taught you anything you didn’t already know about their condition or animals with this condition?

I started my Pets Need A Life Too! because I decided to bring a Rottweiler into my life at a time they were getting a bad reputation in the press. I wanted to prove that Rottweilers are a great breed of dog given the right environment.

Cole was a great ambassador (and my heart dog) he taught me about fairness and being with an awesome dog. [Cole passed away in 2012].

Then we got Chevy, he was a lovely dog but had so many issues, Chevy taught us how to manage a dog with “issues”. Diesel is just a lovely sweet old man who just gets on with everyone and Busta is a sweet handful. They all have taught me something (even Normie the cat) in their own way.

How have they changed your approach to patients?

I don’t know if they have, or if it is my obsession with learning more about how to approach patients…maybe it is because of them I have the obsession?

Any parting words of wisdom?

Treat animals with patience and kindness – they will always respond in kind. Animals need to trust and we need to earn that trust, we cannot force it on them

I often feel the problems we feel with have with animals are purely because of our own lack of understanding of the animal’s feelings. We want things to happen on our terms, we need to slow down, take our time and be patient in our dealings – things need to happen in the animal’s time.

Given the above, I think everyone might be wondering what toys you like to enrich the lives of your crew?

I particularly like the AussieDog range for Rottweilers – very hard wearing range of toys, for both just playing, as well as their food dispensing range.

Food dispensing toys:

Starmark BobALot,

Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom, Tug A Jug and Kibble Nibble,

Buster Food Cube is a an old favourite;

The Foobler is a nice new one on the market but does need careful training;

Aussie Dog tucker ball and Home Alone;

Ultra Kong is awesome too.

(all of these are good hard wearing toys)

Softies:

Hard Boiled Softie (a little difficult to get at the moment);

Kyjen Iqube, Hide A Squirrel, Hide A Bee, Hide A Bird, and the Kyjen Egg Babies range;

(Because what dog doesn’t like to unstuff things?)

Play:

Aussie Dog Enduroball (or the Staffy ball for the real hard workers), Turbo Chook, Bungy Chook and well pretty much all of their range – including some of the domestic hoof stock range, works well with the bigger dogs!

(just because they are so darn well made!...even better they are an Australian company)

I really do believe it is all in the way people introduce toys to their pets and what kind of toy they choose too (a ball is no fun unless someone is there to throw it).

We need to understand that some pets need to be taught how to play and or play a new game (just like humans do), they need to be supervised at least initially to ensure they understand the “rules” of the game (i.e. no destroying) and then at the end of the day people need to recognise toys are meant to be played with and ultimately be wrecked.

It is up to us as to how long the toys last by the way we teach our furred friends. And we also have to recognise that even within breeds every dog is an individual and what works for one may not work for another.

Thanks Gillian for sharing. You can follow Pets Need a Life Too on Facebook. 

Vet's Pets is a new series we're running weekly about the animals sharing their lives with veterinarians, nurses and technicians and veterinary students. To find out more click here.