Most cat guardians love their cats deeply and genuinely want to do what’s best for them. Yet many of the behavior concerns behavior consultants see aren’t the result of a ‘bad cat’ or a ‘bad owner.’ They’re often the result of misunderstandings about how cats think, communicate, and experience the world.
Whether a consultant is working with a family struggling with litter box issues, intercat conflict, or a cat that suddenly seems withdrawn, there are common themes that are interlaced throughout all behavior concerns.
There are three concepts that I believe can help anyone to begin to truly understand their cat, and I hope they’ll change the way you see your own cat, too.
Behavior Is Communication
Every behavior your cat expresses has a purpose.
Cats don’t scratch furniture, vocalize excessively, hide under the bed, or eliminate outside the litter box simply to frustrate us. They aren’t plotting revenge or acting out of spite. Instead, through their behavior they are trying to communicate to us. Sometimes they’re trying to communicate fear, stress, unmet needs, frustrations, or that something is wrong physically.
One of the biggest shifts we can make as cat guardians is changing the question we ask. Instead of asking: “How do I stop this behavior?”, try asking: “What is my cat trying to tell me?“
That simple change in perspective moves us from reacting to behavior to understanding it. When we decide to try to understand instead of being frustrated, we open the door to finding the real cause of the problem instead of simply treating its symptoms.
Pain Can Change Behavior
One of the most important lessons that we can learn is that behavior changes are often a sign of a medical concern.
Cats are remarkably skilled at hiding pain. As both predators and prey in nature, showing weakness could make them vulnerable. As a result, many cats continue eating, drinking, and carrying on with their daily routines even when they’re uncomfortable.
Instead of limping or crying out, they often communicate pain through subtle changes in behavior. You may notice that your once-social cat begins hiding more often. A playful cat no longer wants to chase their favorite toy. A cat who has always used the litter box suddenly begins having accidents. Some cats become irritable when touched, while others start overgrooming or sleeping more than usual.
These behaviors are easy to mistake for aging, stubbornness, or even a “personality change.” In reality, they may be your cat’s way of saying, “I’m hurting.”
Before assuming a behavior problem is purely behavioral, it’s important to rule out pain or an underlying medical condition. Addressing the medical cause is often the first step toward resolving the behavior itself.
Meeting Needs and Giving Choices
Not only do cats have obvious physical needs, such as food, water, a clean litter box, and veterinary care, but cats also have behavioral needs. Needs that are deeply rooted in who they are as a species.
They need opportunities to hunt, climb, scratch, explore, observe, rest, play, and make choices about their environment.
One concept that cat guardians should be aware of is the importance of choice.
Imagine if every decision in your day was made for you. You ate when someone else told you it was time to eat, you rested where someone else felt was appropriate, and you had no control over where you went or whether you wanted to interact with others.
Most of us would find that stressful and so can our cats. When we give cats multiple options for a resting place, toys to engage with, safe spaces to retreat to when wanting a break from interacting, and much more, we create an environment that allows them to choose instead of only having one option.
Beyond choices, when an environment is created that allows cats to express their natural behaviors, we’re doing far more than preventing boredom. We’re supporting their emotional well-being.
Many of the behaviors we label as “problem behaviors” are simply cats trying to meet these needs in the only ways available to them.
– A cat knocking items off the counter may be seeking mental stimulation.
-A cat biting and scratching their guardian’s ankles may be trying to express predatory instincts.
-A cat scratching the couch may simply be trying to satisfy a normal behavior.
Instead of asking how to stop these behaviors, we should ask whether we’ve provided appropriate opportunities for our cats to express them.
The more we learn about cats, the more communication is observed instead of ‘bad behavior’. Every cat is doing the best they can with the body they’re living in, the experiences they’ve had, and the environment we’ve created for them. When we replace frustration with curiosity, we don’t just solve behavior problems, we build stronger relationships with our cats.