Scientists are working onerous to resolve certainly one of life’s best issues: a home cat with a foul behavior of tearing up the furnishings.
In a brand new research Wednesday, researchers have recognized a number of key elements that seem to foretell undesirable cat scratching. These embody having younger youngsters in the home, the sort of playtime they get, and their total stage of stress. No less than a few of these facets could be tweaked to maintain your cat’s clawing in verify, the scientists say.
The research was performed by veterinary scientists from Turkey, Portugal, and France; it was additionally funded by the French animal well being firm Ceva Santé Animale. The staff had over 1,200 cat homeowners in France fill out a web based survey, which included questions on their cat’s dwelling setting, day by day routine, and scratching behaviors.
Total, the staff discovered that some cats have been naturally extra susceptible to scratching, resembling felines that have been described as “aggressive” or “disruptive” by their homeowners. However there have been different outdoors elements linked to undesirable cat scratching, significantly having youngsters at dwelling, enjoying with the cat for lengthy intervals of time, and usually being extra energetic at evening.
“It underscores the multifaceted nature of undesirable scratching conduct and emphasizes the significance of comprehensively understanding each the person traits of the cat and its setting to successfully handle this conduct,” the researchers wrote about their findings, revealed Wednesday in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Clearly, having younger youngsters or a grouchier cat aren’t issues that homeowners can change on a whim. However some issues recognized by the staff level to emphasize as a significant exterior issue for cat scratching that may be higher managed. An excessive amount of playtime directly, for instance, can turn out to be overly stimulating for a cat. Added stress may additionally clarify why having youngsters round is linked to cat scratching as nicely, although the scientists say extra analysis is required to know for sure.
So discovering methods to cut back your cat’s stress ought to then assist lower down on their undesirable scratching, they are saying. This may embody ensuring your cat has loads of nooks and crannies to calm down in with out being disturbed, in addition to excessive spots from which they’ll perch and observe their kingdom. You may wish to additionally area out your playtime into brief bursts of exercise that extra mimic pure searching conduct. And from the survey knowledge, the staff discovered that leaving out scratching posts in locations that cats go to often appeared to assist hold them from clawing different extra valuable furnishings.
“Our findings may also help caregivers handle and redirect scratching to acceptable supplies, which may assist foster a extra harmonious dwelling setting for each cats and their caregivers,” mentioned lead creator Yasemin Salgirli Demi̇rbas, a veterinary researcher at Ankara College, in a assertion from Frontiers, publishers of the journal.
Implementing these findings may shield your favourite possessions. Simply don’t let your cat catch you studying this—except you’re prepared to elucidate why their favourite couch is all of a sudden off-limits.