Territorial Behavior in Cats

Cats are territorial animals — there’s no way around it! In the wild, a cat establishes a territory where she eats and sleeps (a sort of home base) and where she hunts and mates (a home range). The size of a wild cat’s territory is generally determined by the availability of food. When food is plentiful, the cat needs a smaller home range. When food is scarce, the cat needs to range farther. A cat’s territory is marked in several ways. Scratching leaves both visual and scent marks on trees (or furniture). Rubbing also leaves scent marks. Urine spraying and … Continue reading

Fence Fighting

What is fence fighting? Picture this: two dogs in a backyard, standing at the fence. They see something on the other side — maybe a squirrel, or a cat, or another dog. They’re desperate to see/sniff/chase/interact with that animal. The two dogs bark and bark and bark and finally turn and bark at each other — sometimes resulting in a fight. Lally and Moose were fence fighting just this morning. They were sitting at the sliding glass door to the patio when a black cat came by. (Just my luck, right?) We had ourselves a big, loud barkathon (at 8 … Continue reading