Prevalence of 17 feline behavioral problems and relevant factors of each behavior in Japan

Abstract

Undesirable behaviors exhibited by cats are regarded as feline behavioral problems. Like canine behavioral problems, feline behavioral problems are commonly reported by owners. Thus, in order to advise cat owners appropriately, veterinarians, particularly general veterinary practitioners, are encouraged to have sufficient knowledge of these problems. However, in ordinary Japanese homes, only a small number of feline behavioral problems have been investigated in terms of prevalence and relevant factors. Comprehensive survey data may improve understanding of feline behavioral problems. In the present study, we distributed an online survey including general information and questions about 17 feline behaviors which can be problematic for owners, to investigate: (1) the prevalence of feline behavioral problems, (2) the most common behavioral problems, and (3) relevant factors for each behavior. We collected 1,376 valid responses. Among all cats, 75.7% exhibited at least one behavioral problem. "Pica" and "Showing fear while on the examination table" were the most frequently reported behavioral problems. To identify factors related to the expression of each behavior, we conducted multiple logistic regression analyses, with the presence of behaviors as objective variables and cats' general information as explanatory variables. Age, sex, breed, number of cats in the household, and type of residence were each associated with more than one behavior. The present study revealed the prevalence of 17 feline behavioral problems in Japanese homes and relevant factors of each behavior. These findings will help veterinarians understand and address feline behavioral problems.

An Initial Open-Label Study of a Novel Pheromone Complex for Use in Cats

“…Feline problem behaviours are behaviours that are generally considered normal for the cat, but become a problem for the owner or person who lives with the cat [1], and modern lifestyles (including keeping cats primarily or exclusively indoors) may be one of the reasons that problem behaviours occur [2]. Common feline problem behaviours reported in the literature include anxiety/fears, aggression towards other cats or humans, inappropriate elimination, furniture scratching, vocalisation, compulsive behaviours, pica, overactivity and hunting [1]- [7]. The prevalence of different problem behaviours varies between study populations and methodologies [2], and the reasons for the problem behaviours are also diverse.…”

Reliability and Validity of Seven Feline Behavior and Personality Traits

“…We hypothesized, for example, that female cats are more fearful [10,31] and have less litterbox issues than males [10,32,33]. We also hypothesized that older cats are less active [18,19] and less cat social [31,34] than younger cats. In addition, we hypothesized that cats living with conspecifics are less aggressive toward humans [31,34,35], but have more litterbox issues [36].…”

“…We also hypothesized that older cats are less active [18,19] and less cat social [31,34] than younger cats. In addition, we hypothesized that cats living with conspecifics are less aggressive toward humans [31,34,35], but have more litterbox issues [36]. We also expected to see more excessive grooming in Burmese and Oriental breeds than Siberians, Neva Masquerades and Norwegian Forest cats [37].…”

“…Excessive self-grooming included only three items and litterbox issues only six items, which may explain the low internal consistency, as Cronbach's alpha is strongly affected by the length of the scale [44]. In addition, they are rare events that the majority of the cats never encounter [34], and thus answers in loading items lacked variability. In previous feline behavior and personality studies, Cronbach's alpha values ranged between 0.50 and 0.94 [15,18,19,22,23].…”

Fearfulness associates with problematic behaviors and poor socialization in cats

“…Furthermore, inadequately socialized kittens have a higher probability of being fearful than normally socialized kittens ( McCune, 1995 ; Casey and Bradshaw, 2008 ). Company of other cats in the same household has been associated both with lower fearfulness and aggression toward people ( Amat et al., 2009 ; Ahola et al., 2017 ; Amat and Manteca, 2019 ; Yamada et al., 2020 ; Menor-Campos et al., 2021 ). In addition, genetics may affect the probability of developing these behavioral problems.…”