Although the response of a domestic cat to new people in their home (including visitors) will vary between individuals depending on their confidence and character, in general domestic cats will be fearful and defensive. There are one or two things … Continue reading →
This is a quick note and no more because there is not a lot of information about this due to a dearth of studies. However, the presence of a mother cat during the socialisation of her kittens can have a … Continue reading →
Domestic cats are not born to love people and their default position with respect to other cats is to be suspicious of them. This is the nature of a solitary animal. I wonder, though, if this is entirely true after … Continue reading →
A kitten’s personality is dictated by inherited behaviours and environmental experiences; the nature and nurture argument, which has been around for donkey’s years. It is universally accepted that the important socialisation period of cats to people appears to occur between … Continue reading →
With ‘optimistic enthusiasm’ is the way Dr Bradshaw describes how dogs make contact with other dogs. We know this is because their wild forebears were highly sociable wolves. The ancestors of domestic cats were ‘solitary and territorial’. The result for … Continue reading →
You can’t ask if Ragdoll cats are destructive as it is unwise to generalise too much particularly as this character trait is unusual. The question presupposes that all the cats of a single cat breed have exactly the same character … Continue reading →
We hear a lot about positive reinforcement in socialising feral and stray cats. Positive reinforcement is a way of training cats and it can be used to train a cat to trust a human and people in general at which … Continue reading →
There are two reasons why cats sit on a person’s lap: warmth and contact with the person. The latter is a desire to be close to their human caretaker and companion. That’s perfectly normal. And we know that domestic cats … Continue reading →
I was told the vague but interesting story of a genuinely wild feral cat who was involved in a traffic accident. He suffered a bruised spine and broken legs. He was paralysed for a while but remarkably he recovered under … Continue reading →
Once again this is not strictly a question about Bengal cats funnily enough. I’ve just written a post about Maine Coons making good pets and this topic is very similar. With regard to domestic cats getting on with other cats, … Continue reading →
