While providing a hiding place is critical upon entry to the shelter, allowing the cat to have access to a hiding place throughout its stay may help the cat cope with the continued stress of captive living (see Figure 13.1). Soules (2002) found that cats provided with a hiding box have reduced stress, adapt more readily to a shelter, perform more natural behaviors, and appear more “friendly.” Kry and Casey (2007) found cats provided with the opportunity to hide had lower stress scores and were significantly more likely to approach and display relaxed behavior. They also found that providing a hiding place did not decrease the likelihood of the cats being adopted. This finding is significant as some shelters fear that providing a hiding box to cats on the adoption floor will decrease their visibility and therefore affect their adoptability.

While there are many stressors for the shelter cats, the sight and sound of dogs is significant. One study found that the biggest factor affecting the cat’s stress levels appeared to be the extent of exposure to dogs (McCobb et al. 2005). The Association of Shelter Veterinarians Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters (Newbury et al. 2010) specifically states that cats should be physically separated from the sight and sound of dogs.

Cats are very routine-oriented animals and predictable schedules can reduce the stress experienced by the shelter cat. Feeding and cleaning should be done at specific times of the day.

Caretakers should also be considerate of the cat’s acute hearing and sensitivity to vibration. The sound of slamming cage doors can be startling and frightening to the cats, so efforts should be made to close doors gently. Loud raucous music can be frightening and irritating, so the choice of music and the volume at which it is played should be considered. Additionally, placing radios on top of metal cages causes vibration that can increase stress levels in cats. Caretakers should also be mindful when carrying a cat in a carrier, keeping it held steady as not to cause the cat to bounce around inside as it is being moved from one place to another.

Behavior modification for kittens

Choice and control

Morgan and Tromborg (2007) state that perhaps the greatest stressors for captive animals are those over which the animal has no control and from which they cannot escape. A sense of control is one of the most critical needs for mental health and well-being (McMillan 2002). When cats have a variety of behavioral choices and are afforded some control over their physical and social environment, they develop more effective strategies for coping with their situation (Rochlitz 2007). Therefore, providing opportunities for the cat to make choices is essential to their behavioral wellness.

One way to offer choice is by providing an enriched environment whenever possible, which contains a variety of sleeping surfaces at different levels, as well as a place to hide. The importance of providing hiding places to reduce stress was discussed earlier in the chapter, but the ability to hide is also an important choice that cats make in social situations to reduce conflict. The choice to avoid or initiate social interaction with both humans and conspecifics adds to their sense of control. When housed in groups, cats should be provided with a complex environment that allows them a variety of resting places and the ability to avoid social contact when they need to. This means utilizing the vertical space with shelving and walking ramps for access, as well as providing plenty of concealed retreats for hiding.

Another way to add to the cat’s sense of control over their environment is to teach them that their behavior can earn the things they want and need such as food, the initiation of positive social interaction, or the withdrawal of perceived negative social interaction. We can accomplish this goal through active behavior modification and training.

Learning, training, and behavior modification

The marker-clicker training

Marker-based training involves using a signal to indicate the exact behavior that has earned reinforcement. This training methodology is the most effective way to train animals to perform behavior because it involves precise communication to the animal. Research on animal learning has found that if you do not reinforce the behavior while it is happening or within a half second, the animal will not associate the reinforcement with the behavior (Ramirez 1999). Clicker training is a marker-based training method that is very effective to use with shelter cats (Pryor 2002). There are many resources online to learn more about clicker training (i.e., www.clickertraining.com, www.theclickercenter.com, and www.youtube.com).

Clicker training involves both classical conditioning and operant conditioning and is thus a science-based methodology. The method involves first pairing the sound of the clicker with the delivery of a reinforcement (classical conditioning). Once the animal learns that the sound of the clicker predicts the reinforcement, the click sound is used to “mark” the exact behavior to be reinforced, thus the clicker becomes what is called a “conditioned reinforcer.” Once you have conditioned the clicker to predict reinforcement, reinforcement must always follow the click so as not to lose the association. Essentially, the clicker marks the behavior that earns the reinforcement and tells the animal that the reinforcement is on its way, even if it takes a few seconds to produce it.

Whether you are using luring, shaping, or capturing, a marker signal enhances the learning for the animal because it pinpoints the exact behavior being reinforced. The marker signal does not have to be a clicker, any sound will work (tongue click, finger snap, the word “yes”), but the sound produced by a clicker is a clear unambiguous signal and is therefore a useful tool. If using a clicker to mark behaviors for cats, it is recommended to use a quiet clicker rather than the traditional box clicker that can be loud and frightening to the cat. Some cats will find the sound any clicker starting at first. It is recommended that the clicker be held behind your back or inside your pocket to muffle the sound when starting the process. Clicker training is used on a regular basis in zoos and aquariums for husbandry training. Animals are trained to present body parts for exam, blood draws, and even ultrasounds without the need for anesthesia (Ramirez 1999).

The cue

The “cue” is the trigger for an action to be carried out. To add a verbal or physical cue to a behavior, simply pair the cue with the action. If you wanted to add the cue of “spin” to the action of turning in a circle, you would simply pair the word “spin” with the action a few times until the cat learns the association. Once the association is made, the cue can be used to elicit the behavior.

In the shelter environment, we also want to teach the cats “environmental cues.” An environmental cue is something that happens in the environment that triggers a specific behavior. An example of an environmental cue would be a person approaching the cage. If we teach the cats to move to the front of the cage with the approach of a human, then we have taught them a cue that requires nothing from the person doing the approaching. This concept is very valuable in our work with shelter cats. We want the cat to approach the potential adopters, but we do not want to require the person to actually do anything to elicit the approach. This will give the potential adopters the perception that the cat approached them because of some inherent connection, which in turn will make the adopter feel “wanted” by the cat.

Reinforcement schedules

To keep the discussion about reinforcement schedules simple, we will only discuss two types of schedules, continuous reinforcement and variable reinforcement. When first training a behavior, it is advised to reinforce every occurrence using a continuous reinforcement schedule so that the cat learns that the performance of the behavior predicts reinforcement, thus increasing the likelihood of it occurring. Once the behavior is “on cue,” meaning the animal performs it when the cue is present, it is advisable to switch to a variable reinforcement schedule which means reinforcing only randomly. Variable reinforcement makes the behavior more resistant to extinction because the cat, never knowing which performance will be reinforced, will consistently offer the behavior in the presence of the cue in hopes to earn the reinforcement. Variable reinforcement schedules are sometimes analogized with casino slot machines.

Motivation

In order to train any animal, you first need to figure out what will motivate the animal to perform behavior. For some cats, food is the best motivator but for others play is more enticing. When using food as a reinforcer, care must be taken to avoid or limit treats that are high in fat. The caloric content of the treats provided during training sessions needs to be considered part of the daily feeding for the cat to ensure maintenance of proper body weight. And for some shelter cats, the opportunity to engage in, or escape from, social interaction may be the most motivating reinforcement. Mentioned are some suggested reinforcers to motivate shelter cats during training session (see Table 13.1).

Approach training

Training the shelter cats to approach the front of the cage can improve adoption rates considerably. This has been found to be the case with shelter dogs. One study found that dogs trained to come to the front of the cage and sit when people approach are more likely to encourage adoption (Wells & Hepper 2000). In another study, staff were asked to toss a treat to the dogs anytime they walked by their cage to encourage them to move to the front of the cage when people approached. The dogs in this group were more likely to be adopted than those who did not receive this treatment (Luescher & Medlock 2009). There has been some research looking at this in shelter cats as well. Turner (2000) found that cats that approach a potential adopter, even through a closed door, project a more favorable personality and are thus more likely to be adopted.

Capturing a cat’s movement toward the cage front when you approach is an excellent strategy to encourage this behavior. Capturing involves simply reinforcing spontaneous behavior that the cat offers on its own (as discussed earlier). The use of a marker signal is imperative when capturing behavior so that the animal understands exactly which behavior is being reinforced. For the active, social cats this behavior is easy to capture, as they tend to come forward readily. The more this behavior is reinforced, the more likely the cat will offer it. This technique also teaches the cat an environmental cue (discussed earlier). The cue is a person approaching and standing at the cage front. After some repetition, this environmental cue will elicit the behavior regardless of whether the person produces the reinforcement or not (see section “Reinforcement schedules”). Cats that move toward a potential adopter when they walk up to the cage will appear friendlier and thus be more appealing.

There are times when capturing forward movement is not possible because the cat is not moving in its cage at all. This is when we can employ the use of luring, which means using a prompt to elicit the behavior (discussed earlier). Toss a delicious food treat into the back of the cage and then move away. When you see the cat move forward to retrieve the treat, mark the movement with the click (the reinforcement is already in the cage). Repeat this process, tossing the treat a tiny bit closer to the cage front each time, and you will effectively shape, lure, and capture the behavior of moving forward in the cage.

Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of the behavior until you get the final desired response (discussed earlier). This technique can be very effective when working with shy or fearful cats. To shape a shy/fearful cat to approach the front of the cage, you would capture and reinforce any forward movement, no matter how small. At first, the cat may only move forward an inch and that tiny movement should be captured using the marker signal and then a food reinforcement tossed into the cage. Another potential reinforcement for shy/fearful cats is your withdrawal. This technique uses negative reinforcement instead of positive reinforcement. The cat’s behavior of moving forward causes the scary stimulus (you) to move away. To use this technique, you would toss the treat inside the cage and then back away with any forward movement from the cat. If done skillfully, this technique can help shy and fearful cats learn to trust and approach humans. Recent research shows that the use of negative reinforcement can help fearful cats learn to be more social with humans (Rentfro 2013).

Shaping behavior can take some time, especially when working with shy or fearful cats, but the resulting emotional and behavioral change goes a long way to improving the emotional well-being of the cat as well as its adoption appeal.

Target training

Target training is a very valuable training technique used frequently in zoos and aquariums to encourage animals to move from one place to another or to position their bodies in certain ways for examination. Targeting is also used as a form of luring to train animals to perform other behaviors. There are several resources online to learn more about target training (see Appendix 13.1).

Training a shelter cat to touch its nose to a target item is the first targeting behavior to teach. Because most cats will investigate an item presented in front of them by smelling it, nose targeting is an easy behavior to capture. The procedure involves presenting the target item to the cat and using your marker signal to let her know that she earned reinforcement for touching the target with her nose. You are essentially using the target item as the lure to encourage the behavior and then capturing the nose-touching response.

The target can be your finger (see Figures 13.2 and 13.3), a pencil, dowel (see Figures 13.4 and 13.5), chopstick, or any other item presented to the cat. A telescoping target stick can be useful when working with cats that are too shy or frightened to get close to the trainer or a cat that may choose to bite or swat when reached toward. Spraying the end of the target stick with Feliway^®, the synthetic facial pheromone that has been shown to have an appeasing effect on some cats (Ellis 2009), may help when targeting with the shy or fearful cats. The benefit of using a finger as the target is that it is attached to your body, so you always know where it is. The extra bonus of finger targeting is that it teaches the cats that an outstretched finger predicts good things, making the cats more likely to approach a potential adopter who reaches toward them.