An increasing body of research work has made it clear that, while Felis catus can survive in the solitary state, social groups with an internal structure, are formed whenever there are sufficient food resources to support them. Most people who have cats have two or more cats. Failure to understand what will promote either friendly or aggressive behavior can lead to various behavior problems, including aggression and conflict over resources, such as food, resting sites and litterboxes. An understanding of the natural social organization, relationships and communication between cats is therefore essential, and is the subject of this paper.

The combination of clomipramine, alprazolam, and behavior modification can be effective in decreasing or eliminating storm phobia. Improvement could not be evaluated by use of audio simulation of a storm.

Rationale: These Guidelines have been developed by the American Association of FelinePractitioners (AAFP) and the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) as a resource for veterinary practitioners who want to better understand and manage the important clinical condition of house-soiling in their feline patients. The Guidelines offer straightforward, practical solutions that, in most cases, will help veterinarians and cat owners prevent, manage or entirely remediate feline house-soiling behavior. Evidence base: The Guidelines include scientifically documented information when it is available. However, because research is often lacking, some recommendations reflect the accumulated clinical experience of the authors. PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINESWe often hear the statistics: house-soiling is one of the most common feline behavior problems reported by cat owners and a major reason why owners relinquish cats to animal shelters.1 According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, shelters in the US euthanize 72% of relinquished cats, 2 many because of house-soiling behavior. If 4-9 million cats are euthanized every year, this could be more than 10,000 cats each day. Veterinarians can decrease this number by helping to correct this commonplace problem. With this goal in mind, we have developed the AAFP and ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House-Soiling Behavior in Cats (hereafter referred to as the Guidelines).The Guidelines provide clinicians with basic tools for educating cat owners about the prevention of house-soiling behavior. The Guidelines also apply the principles of the previously published AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 3 which describe the physical setting where a cat can thrive. Importantly, these current Guidelines elaborate on elimination behavior, describe and illustrate the cat's ideal litter box (also known as a litter tray), and discuss how it should be managed. While prevention of house-soiling is ideal, practitioners see many cats with pre-existing house-soiling behavior. The Guidelines explain that, even though the pathophysiology and behavioral etiology of house-soiling is often multifactorial, a thorough chronological history and a systematic diagnostic approach to this problem can be the key to developing an effective treatment plan. CONTENTSThe Guidelines offer straightforward, practical solutions for practitioners and cat owners to implement, but are not intended to be a comprehensive treatise on feline behavior. The Guidelines' authors recognize that feline house-soiling can be a complex problem. Although many cases are straightforward, individual cases can be challenging, sometimes frustrating, and occasionally beyond the expertise or experience of the general, primary care practitioner. In cases where an acceptable response does not occur within a timeframe mutually agreed upon by the veterinarian and client, consultation with a qualified behaviorist or internist is advisable.In most cases, the Guidelines will help veterinarians and cat...

Familiarity and relatedness are significantly associated with allogrooming and proximity of another cat. This may be important when considering adoption of 1 or more kittens and when adding a new cat to a household in which other cats are present. Adopting small family groups may result in higher rates of affiliative behavior, stronger bonding, and lower incidence of conflict than periodically adopting single unrelated adult cats.

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