Herding Cats at Home - July 2004

A: On the contrary! She enjoyed her dinner, but she's full for now --and she's "saving the rest for later." She does this by instinct -- it's something that's built into cats. In the wild, both large and small cats (such as bobcats, cheetahs, leopards and mountain lions) often kill a larger prey animal than they can eat all at once. But they don't want any other animal to steal their hard-won food. So when they're done eating, they "stash" the rest of the prey to eat later.

Mountain lions partially bury the food under a pile of dirt and leaves, and paw over it so it is not visible (or smellable) by other animals who might steal it. In Africa, leopards often pull their prey (antelopes and the like) up into trees to guard it and keep it for later.

So while your cat might look comical "burying" the rest of her dinner, and it doesn't seem to make much sense to try to "bury" food on your kitchen floor, she's just being a good, sensible, thrifty cat -- saving her leftovers!

However… If she approached her dinner, sniffed it, and then decided something was wrong with it (such as it wasn't fresh, or smelled bad for some reason), and then refused to eat any of it, she might make similar "burying motions" -- but in this case she really is rejecting the food. If your cat ever refuses to eat more than two or three meals in a row, she needs immediate veterinary attention. Cats who go without food for even a couple of days can develop a serious liver disease, which can be fatal.

A: Please don't "de-toe" (that's what declawing really is -- 10 radical amputations) your cats! It's a truly barbaric practice, illegal in most of the civilized world. To learn more about the horrors of declawing, see http://www.thepawproject.com.

I suppose it would be an option for you to find other homes for your cats and acquire already-declawed cats. But is that really fair to your cats, who have come to depend on you and the stable, loving home you provide? It's not easy to find homes for adult cats (just ask any shelter worker). You don't need to go to this extreme!

There are a couple of much better options.

First, there's a product called "SoftClaws." These are small vinyl "nail caps" that you glue right over your cat's claws. I have not personally used them on any of my cats (in fact, I don't even clip my cats' claws) but many of my cat-loving friends and colleagues have used them and are very happy with the results. (See http://www.softclaws.com).

The other option is keeping their claws clipped. This is really a very simple procedure, best learned "in person" from an expert. Most veterinary technicians are expert claw-clippers, and would be happy to teach you how to do this simple procedure. You need to clip only about every 5 or 6 weeks.

Don't worry about "training your cats not to scratch." You can't! Scratching is a central, very important activity for cats. They NEED to scratch, for physical, psychological and emotional reasons. The best option is to "channel" their attention and scratching activities to an attractive, acceptable, alternative. Try making your current scratching post more attractive, or get a new, super-deluxe one. Believe me, it's a good investment! Here are my requirements for a scratching post:

• Tall, and VERY sturdy. Broad, heavy base to prevent toppling. Combination scratching post / climbing trees with hideaways and lounging platforms are very popular around here with my 9 cats.
• At least one surface (ideally, more) covered in sisal rope instead of carpet. Cats ADORE sisal rope for scratching!
• Placed in a prominent location in your home. A good place would be near where your cats snooze and take naps. Watch their "usual route" from their snoozing spot to their food location and place the scratching post along that route. But never stash the scratching post in some out-of-the-way corner -- it's a very important landmark in a cat's world, and should be in a central, important location.
• Try sprinkling some dried catnip on the post and rubbing it in.