I’m Pam Johnson-Bennett and I’m a certified cat behavior consultant. I’m also the author of seven books on cat behavior, including Think Like a Cat, Cat vs. Cat, Hiss and Tell, and Psycho Kitty. Some of you may be familiar with me from my column on Yahoo! Pets. I am a former Vice President of the International Association of Animal Behavior consultants and am currently the head of that organization’s Cat Division. I am also the resident behavior expert for Friskies where I write a behavior column at Friskies.com. Much of my day is spent doing behavior consultations in an effort to help cat parents better understand their cats. It’s through understanding the true cause of a behavior problem and then using effective behavior modification that problems can be corrected. It’s really easier than you might think because cats are extremely intelligent creatures and they are surprisingly easy to train.
The purpose of this blog will be to help you get to know what motivates your cat’s behavior so that you can correct whatever behavior problem may be going on, and to avoid future problems. We’ll talk about everything from how cats communicate, litter box problems, scratching behavior, aggression, shyness, boredom (yes, cats can get bored) and the right and wrong way to introduce other pets and people into your cat’s household.
People are very familiar with the idea of dog training but often, when I tell people that my profession is cat behavior and training, they raise an eyebrow and wonder whether I have a screw loose somewhere in the old noggin. Rest assured, my brain function is relatively sound (as sound as the mother of a four-year-old boy and six-year-old girl can be) and I’ve been in this profession for well over 20 years. Cats are trainable and behavior problems can be solved.
Where we often fail in tackling behavior problems is that we assume the cat’s behavior is based on spite, anger or stupidity. If I had a dime for every time a client told me that their cat was deliberately peeing on the carpet out of spite, I’d be a recession-proof woman. Trust me, your cat isn’t sitting around at night, hatching a plot to make you mad. When a cat “misbehaves” he’s trying to solve a problem the best way he knows how. For example, the reason he might be eliminating outside of the litter box might be because the box is too dirty, not in a safe location, or maybe he has been ambushed while in there by a higher-ranking cat. That’s where being a detective and trying to figure out the underlying cause of the behavior is the first step in solving the issue.
I hope you’ll come back and visit my blog
regularly. I’ll do my best to guide you in your
effort to solve problems – and if you’re not experiencing any cat
behavior problems, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of what
makes your cat tick.
You can also find lots of behavior information on my website Cat Behavior Associates , as well as information about my books.
