The American Cat at Midlife: Overfed, Under-Exercised, and on Prozac
American Association of Feline Practitioners Fall Meeting
Cynthia L. Bowlin, DVM, ABVP (Feline)
Cats Only Veterinary Clinic
Columbus, OH, USA
There is but one domestic animal that potentially could spend 18-20 years in strict captivity, never to walk on the grass, never to climb a tree, never to appreciate the smells of spring or the cold bite of an autumn morning. The horse though confined has periods of exercise outdoors, so the dog. Even pocket pets, strictly confined indoors to a cage only have a life expectance of 2-3 years at best. As veterinary medicine has advanced and the risks of injury and/or disease have been identified, more feline advocates have recommended strict permanent indoor confinement as a preventative health measure. One might suggest the same for our children; however, sense and ethics would soon prevail. Why do we accept this with the cat? How then do we justify labeling the consequences of this captivity as "problem behaviors". In the spectrum of the feline existence this is a very, very recent departure from the self reliance of the species, possibly only the last 20-30 years coinciding with the industrialization and urbanization of western society and more recently with the replacement of the traditional family with pets. To appreciate where we are, we should understand from where we have come. To appreciate what we are doing to the cat, we need to understand their very nature.
Evidence of the existence of the ancestral cat goes back some 6000-10000 years, domestication some 2000-4000 years. Native cats are found on every continent except Australia/ New Zealand and Antarctica, a testament to the incredible adaptability of the species. When we refer to domestication as it pertains to the cat one must question the application. By definition, domestication means "to adapt (an animal or plant) to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans". It would seem the cat has actually domesticated itself primarily for its own advantage, i.e., a readily available food supply. The cat learned early that humans brought waste, waste brought rodents, and taking up residence in close association to humans provided a ready source of food. Equally as telling, there seems to be no historic evidence of breed selection in the cat for function. Man has domesticated and selectively bred horses to be large to pull our plows, agile to herd our cattle, fast to entertain us in races. We have selectively bred our dogs to guard our homes, protect our sheep, help us hunt our food, and prey on varmints. We have selectively bred our cattle for milk or meat. Not the cat. This species has been affected primarily for looks, not function. So we might want to question who domesticated whom. Further evidence that the modern cat may not be all that domestic is the feral cat population, currently believed to be larger than the pet cat population, which exists across the world today. The cat is ably self-sufficient and readily reverts to its ancestral means for survival, as we've all experienced when handling a frightened or threatened cat.
The requirements for that survival are quite simple and if you recognize how they relate to our modern pets you can grasp a better understanding of what makes a cat a cat. Basically there are four requirements that have insured the survival of the species: hunting and feeding, not getting eaten, reproducing, and rearing the young. The strong instinctive traits of cats have evolved to meet those requirements. Cats are predatory nocturnal carnivores. They hunt small prey primarily at night which lessens their exposure to their own predators and thus their vulnerability. They hunt alone. They are solitary animals, with no pack or herd to help hunt or to provide protection. The female is very maternal; with sole responsibility to rear the young to be self sufficient in a limited period of time before the resources of the home territory are depleted by growing offspring. Thus, cats are very territorial; the territory must be defined and defended to ward off intruders that might compete for these resources. Thus the five traits that make a cat a cat are: predatory, nocturnal, solitary, maternal, and territorial.
With this in mind, let's look at how we have affected the natural balance of the cat's very existence by assuming our definition of a good life is an improvement. Let's start with the instinctive requirement to hunt for food. Obviously, this takes up a good part of the day to day existence of the cat in its natural environment. Bearing in mind that the cat is a solitary hunter, it goes against reason that the animal could wait until it needs nourishment to look for food. At this point if acceptable food was not found the cat would become weaker and weaker, lessening its ability to procure food and ward off predators, thus lessening its likelihood of survival. Therefore, it makes sense that the solitary hunter cat must be constantly on the prow for sustenance long before the physiologic need is there. Many a hunt may be aborted or unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. The hunt may take hours, even days, before acceptable prey is procured. With our captive cats, starting as a kitten, we replace their instinctive need to hunt and secure food by providing them a ready and often excessive food supply. This usually begins shortly after weaning at the very time in nature that the queen is teaching the offspring to assume responsibility for its own nourishment. Thus, the owner assumes the queen's educational responsibility to the kitten to teach them what and how to eat, much like our children. They receive the instruction readily because it is natural for them to do so. We become their surrogate queen.
The "what" we feed the captive cat has been increasingly provided us over the past 30 years by a growing industry of prepackaged pet foods, the composition of which is supported by scientific data regarding the nutritional needs of the cat. This has vastly eased the burden of being the sole provider of nourishment for our wards. In our sedentary society the need for owners to start each day with the queen's hunt outdoors for prey to feed the young would drastically reduce the attractiveness of the cat as a strictly indoor companion. These processed, packaged and prepared foods seldom resemble in any way the natural diet of the species, rather they are formulated to utilize by-products of the human processed food industry. Although concocted to meet the list of acceptable nutritional requirements one must question at some point the logic of feeding an obligate carnivore a diet that is predominantly cereal grains and over 60% carbohydrates. Nowhere in the evolution of the species has its natural diet included many grains, fruits, nuts, or vegetation. However, being a creature of remarkable adaptability the vast majority of our pet cats do quite well. Actually, most "indoor" cats spend some period of time outdoors and most supplement and balance their diet by hunting and feeding on natural prey. Consequences of poor nutrition are most readily evident in those cats that are strictly confined and completely reliant on processed foods for sustenance.
The cat, solitary by nature, is not antisocial. Although strikingly independent, the ancestral and domestic cat does seek to be part of a social group. In nature, the adult female cat defines a territory only large enough to provide security and food for herself and the rearing of her young. Suitors are allowed into the area only during estrus for mating and then move on. The nature of the species, being induced ovulators, conserves genetic material for when an acceptable mate is available. Multiple partners during estrus is meant to expand the genetic pool. Anestrus during lactation prevents suitors from interfering with the rearing of the young or competing for the resources of the territory being used to rear the young. The phenomenon of male cats killing newborn kittens may well come from this cessation of estrus during lactation. Because there are finite resources in the territory, the queen must rear the young to be self-sufficient hunters quickly before puberty brings additional suitors or the resources are depleted by the increased demand of growing offspring. A good part of the queen's time is spent protecting the territory, protecting the offspring, gathering food, and teaching the young. Although we often think of the tom cat as territorial, it is actually the female cat that is much more possessive of her domain, much less likely to accept intruders be they real or perceived, and much less tolerant of imposition. When cats realized that close proximity to humankind vastly increased the availability of the food supply, this natural order of things was altered. The young could mature, reproduce, and stay forever in social colonies because food was plentiful.
So the cat is really a simple creature; a nocturnal predatory carnivore, solitary, maternal, and territorial. Appreciating what makes a cat a cat, what have we done to the natural order of things by imposing our lifestyle upon it? At the recommendation of the veterinary profession and to better accommodate what we'd like as a pet, we spay and neuter our pets at a very early age. This vastly alters the order of the species. The time spent in courting, mating, gestation, and rearing the young is eliminated. We also take the responsibility of providing food for our pet cats. This eliminates any need on their part to hunt and gather for their own sustenance. We teach them at an impressionable age that good tasting, high calorie food will not only be always available in somewhat unlimited quantities, but that for the most part other than eating there will not be much other meaningful purpose in their life. The solitary cat they will spend most of its time waiting for some moments of companionship from its busy owner. For the cat living in a multi-cat household it can only hope that its feline companionship is one it would choose, and not a herd or pack imposed upon it by a well intentioned cat lover. This is in fact because we intend to lock them in a confined space for the entirety of their existence, like it or not. And when they do not like it, when they resort to things like hunting and stalking the humans that bring entertainment and delight with their howls and retreat, when they attack the housemates they don't like and would never have chosen anyway, and when they decide to eliminate in and on a surface other than that tiny box of dirty sand provided, we call it "behavior problems" and put them on antidepressants, medication to relieve the stress.
Surely, one must question the sanity of a society that has its pets on antidepressants. That aside, surely we must question as a profession the health consequences of what we have created: consequences of poor diet, consequences of inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle, and the enlarging list of diseases associated with and precipitated by stress. One might just suggest that we open the back door. Seems the cat would ably improve its plight with this one simple change. Cats that have outdoor access often spend a good deal of their time climbing, exploring, marking, watching, waiting, stalking, hunting, and yes, feeding. They choose who gets to be in their social circle and who doesn't. Yes, they may fight, yes they come into contact with parasites and disease, some potentially fatal. Yes, they are exposed to the hazards of the streets and the wrath of the neighbors. So are our children. So are you. Although it might be an extreme to suggest our pets be free to roam at will and to be left unaltered to reproduce naturally, it should at least stimulate debate on how we might do it better. How we as a profession might make recommendations on care and husbandry that would consider our imposition on the cat for the sole purpose of providing us conditional companionship. We can and should do better.
The movement is called environmental enrichment, providing the cat an environment conducive to a more meaningful life. Cat enclosures can offer your companion safe access to outdoor areas. These can be very small, cheap and unobtrusive, or they can be extensive additions to a house. Anyone from apartment dwellers with a window or a balcony to homeowners looking to build a permanent structure can provide their cat with an outdoor access enclosure of some type. If outdoor space is available, aviary type fencing or enclosures provide inexpensive and secure access to the natural environment enclosing trees to climb and bushes to hide under, sunlight to bask in and grass to explore. Many commercial products are now available and readily found on the internet by searching "cat enclosures". Purr...fect Fence is but one popular brand (http://www.purrfectfence.com/). For the do-it-yourselfer, screen enclosures are very simple to build on the back of the house with unlimited access through a pet door or window.
If outdoor access is limited or unavailable then the indoor environment can be improved to provide entertainment and stimulation for the solitary cat and reprieve for the individual cats in a multi-cat household. Crates can be used from a very early age to define the individual territory for each cat. Free crate training is done by raising the kitten in a crate just large enough to provide for all the needs of the kitten: food, water, litterbox, and sleeping area. Toys or climbing/hiding areas should be included. When the owner is available to interact, the kitten is allowed out of the crate to explore and utilize the entire home and interact with the owner. As time goes on the crate can be left open for longer and longer periods of time until it stays open with free access. Because the cat's needs are met in the crate, the cat will see this small area as its "territory"; the territory that offers security; the territory that need be protected and defended.
Climbing areas and perches also offer exercise and security. They help to keep social order. Even the smallest of living areas can go vertical. Commercially available cat trees and furniture offer many unique hiding areas, climbing and surface options. Placing these structures near windows has obvious advantages.
As a profession, we have an obligation to address the lifestyle our clients plan for their cat and advise them on how to do it to maximize health and wellbeing. Discussion of lifestyle, environment, and diet should be done at the very first visit. Although well meaning we have failed miserably at feeding our pets. Convenience took precedence over health and common sense. Free choice unlimited quantities of poor nutrient foods should no longer be an option. It is beyond the scope of this session to discuss diet and nutrition, prepackaged and processed foods, and the wisdom of returning to a more natural diet for the species, but it would behoove the practitioner to educate themselves on all options for feeding the cat. Even if prepackaged foods are utilized, limiting quantities and hiding the foods in multiple different areas to simulate hunting and gathering will entertain the cat and limit intake far beyond a large full bowl in the pantry.
"Industrialization and urbanization have meant increasing loneliness and isolation, a dull life, a lack of a meaningful, dignified, interesting and vital occupation, alienation from nature, a loss of community, and growth of consumerism. Sadly, our pets are being dragged along kicking and screaming into the same existence."
Let's do better.
Speaker Information
Cynthia L. Bowlin, DVM, ABVP (Feline)
Cats Only Veterinary Clinic
Columbus, OH
Resources:
Feline Advisory Bureau
The Indoor Cat Initiative
ASPCA Enrichment for Bored Cats
Cat Fence-In
