CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. Breeding accommodation. Part 3.

    Without a cage, a cat can hardly be kept within the limits of its own garden. At the first onset of heat, if not before, all inhibitions are cast aside, and the cat will roam the entire neighborhood. A fence 1.80 m (6 ft) high, with an upper edge sloping inwards at an angle of 45^o, and even an electrified grazing wire fence will deter most cats only for a certain time. Sooner or later they will find some way of breaking out. Various cat owners have, however, reported positive results with electrified fences. The cats very soon learn that if they try to climb over the fence, they will suffer a slight but nevertheless painful shock, and from then on they will keep away from the fence.

    Even if we provide our cat with sufficient exercise, either in a cage or at liberty, we should never forget that it is at least as important to devote time to it. An isolated animal, no matter how much freedom it has to move, will soon begin to pine.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. Breeding accommodation. Part 2.

     If the cage is to house cats that are not clean, that is, which do not use the litter tray regularly, neither sand nor grass should be used, but the entire floor should be concrete. In this case, clumps of grass, or pots or trays of grass should be placed at regular intervals. With a concrete floor, boards of adequate size should also be supplied for the cats to lie on. If the cats lie with their backs against the wall, then boards should be placed against the wall up to a height of approximately 150 mm (6 in), to protect the cats’ kidneys.

    The outdoor pen should be sunny, but must also provide adequate shade during the daytime. Perpetual, glaring sunlight is neither good for adult cats nor for kittens. A small tree in front of the pen is an ample source of gently shifting shade. The inside chambers must be large enough for the owner to be able to clean them, and constructed of a material that can be readily disinfected. They should at all times be well aired, but free of draughts, and preferably admit daylight. To house four cats the minimum area of the external enclosure should be approximately 10 sq m (12 sq yd) and about 1.80 m (6 ft) high. Winter temperatures will, of course, depend on the variety of animal, and what it is accustomed to. As a rough guide, it is recommended that for long-haired cats the indoor temperature should not be below 14^oC (73^oF), while for shorthairs the indoor temperature should be no lower than 18^oC (64^oF) and not above 25^oC (77^oF)

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. Breeding accommodation. Part 1.

    The best way to keep a cat is to offer it the freedom of choice between being indoors or outdoors. However, if you live in an apartment, in a town, or by a main road this may be too difficult or too dangerous. If your cats are not neutered and you want to breed there are really only two alternatives – either to keep them in a firmly shut room or preferably, in an outdoor pen. Otherwise, unplanned breeding is a continual risk.

    For pedigree breeding a pen with several compartments is essential. This must contain heated indoor chambers with corresponding outdoor areas which the cat can enter and leave, preferably at will. For a stud tom, the accommodation must include extra rooms with an outdoor pen for visiting queens. When furnishing an outdoor pen, in addition to providing a litter tray and food and water dishes, remember to include scratching and climbing posts, and perches. The floor should consist of half sand or gravel, and half grass or, failing all else, concrete. The wire mesh used for the cage should be as narrow a gauge as possible, to prevent a young kitten poking its head through in the course of its early explorations, otherwise there is the danger of it hanging itself.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 7.

    Hunting technique gradually develops of its own accord in the kitten, quite independently of any experience. At about three weeks, the kitten begins examine every object around it, both living inanimate, by tentatively pawing it. In intermittent stages, it goes through all the transitions until it will suddenly grab an object with extended claws, and drag it towards itself. When playing, the cat paws with its claws retracted, often turning its head to one side, and occasionally using its teeth as well.

    When her kittens are about four weeks old, a free-ranging mother cat will bring her catch back to the nest, where she will devour it herself, frequently growling. In the weeks that follow she will begin to give the kittens a share of the catch. Leyhausen maintains that the mother cat is not teaching the kittens but, by letting the prey go, she prompts their hunting instincts. The mother’s swift recapture of the prey compels the kittens to try to be swifter still. It is simply a matter of increasing the stimuli by competition until the prey is killed and devoured. When the catch is a smaller creature, for example a mouse, a mock capture is often enacted, the last ingredient of which, namely, the killing, appears restrained.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 6.

    The cat almost always starts by eating the head of its catch. Among several hundred instances observed by Prof. Leyhausen there were only three exceptions. It seems to prefer to eat in a squatting position, although it will also do so standing up. As a rule, the cat does not chew, but uses its fangs to cut up its prey into chunks or strips, which are then swallowed whole.

    In principle, cats can catch any living creature of their own size or smaller. Prof. Leyhausen observed that they generally do not attempt to attack creatures Larger than rats or pigeons. Insects, from houseflies to ladybirds, are eagerly chased and usually greedily eaten, too. Fish, frogs, lizards and snakes are killed and frequently also consumed. Shrews and moles are caught, but have never been recorded as being eaten. Young wild rabbits, squirrels, polecats and weasels are occasionally caught. However the favorite prey are rats and mice. The intensity with which the cat chases after rats does not depend on the size or the strength of the cat, but is more a matter of temperament, and undoubtedly also depends on how experienced the cat is in fighting. A fully-grown rat can successfully defend itself against a cat and sometimes even put it to flight.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 5.

    After the catch It is rare for the cat to start eating its catch immediately at the spot where it was caught. After putting it down the cat will usually conduct a curious ‘walk-about’, investigating the immediate surroundings with the utmost care, even if they are entirely familiar to it. This is presumably to give the cat time to wind down from the tension of the kill.

    Birds the sizes of a blackbird are plucked by the cat, whereas it will devour smaller birds complete with feathers. Mammals, if their fur is longer than 10 mm are also skinned. The cat spits out the feathers and fur, removing them by jerking its head to and fro. In between, it will lick its own fur in order to free its tongue from any down that has stuck to it.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 4.

    The whiskers fill an important function in the cat’s seizure of its prey. As the cat pounces, they are fully extended, and from then on cover the prey, so that the cat can sense the slightest movement of its catch. The whiskers can also transmit information as to the position of the head, rear and tail of the creature in the cat’s grasp.

    All the movements involved in catching prey may sometimes be carried out with a substitute object, or even without anything at all. Every kind of individual action involved in the catching of prey, except for the death-dealing ‘bite’, is acted out in play.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 3.

    The cat bites the neck of its prey, usually sinking its canine teeth into the spinal cord, which causes instant death. If the prey does not die immediately and tries to defend itself, the cat holds fast with its teeth and cuffs it swiftly with its claws. In the case of larger creatures, the cat will roll on to its back, still holding on to its prey, and work on it with powerful blows from its back paws. This physical coordination can be elicited in any young kitten at play, by turning it on its back and trying to hold it down with one’s hand.

    Fish are caught very neatly by the cat, which scoops them out of the water with one front paw. This is why fish tanks should always be kept covered!

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 2.

     A smaller creature is seized immediately by the cat in its sharp teeth, though sometimes it will place one or both front paws on it. It is primarily the movement of the prey, and to a lesser extent its shape and size, that make the cat drop its pouncing hold. Speed and direction play an important part in this. Only if the prey moves away from or across the cat’s path, is the cat prompted to chase and catch it. A prey that moves towards the cat, however, puts the cat on the defensive, and may even make it retreat.

     The inborn predatory instinct must be developed by experience, which teaches the cat to recognize the prey even when it is standing quite still, and to distinguish between different kinds of prey, and also enables the cat to react merely to the sound or the scent of the prey. Inexperienced young cats will not attack immobile prey.

CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 1.

    Prof. Paul Leyhausen, the German scientist, is the leading researcher into the behavior of cats in hunting and devouring prey and what follows is known from his work.

    All cats engage in stalking and hunting. They will either prowl through their hunting territory, or they will lie in wait at mouse-holes or haunts known to them, and at other places regularly visited by other forms of prey. Once the cat has spotted a likely prey, it will slink along, very close to the ground, waiting until it is within a few meters of its prey before adopting an ambush position. The whole length of the body is then extended flat on the ground, with the tip of the tail twitching lightly, the head craned forwards, the whiskers splayed outwards and the ears pricked forwards. As if in slow motion, the cat prepares to spring. The rear paws are slowly pushed backwards, while the cat continues to fix the prey with its eyes. Finally, as if shot from a bow, in two or three mighty bounds, the cat leaps at its prey. As a rule it does not approach so close to its prey that it can reach it in one single leap. If it misses its victim, it will not chase it far, and sometimes not at all. Even when it is ambushing from above, the cat will not spring straight down on to its pray, but will first land securely on the ground very close by, in order to have its claws available for immediate attack. The advantages of this behavior are steadiness, an immediate means of defense, and better control of its jump. A cat catches crawling insects, by attacking with both paws simultaneously. Flying insects may be knocked down with a paw or caught in the mouth. Birds hopping along on the ground will be watched and sighted for some time. Meanwhile the hopping bird is constantly shifting its position so that the cat follows it and lies in wait again – but before it is ready to pounce, the bird is usually up and away. The cat’s behavior when lying in wait is clearly aimed specifically at catching small rodents. The prolonged waiting period, during which the exact distance is assessed, is aimed at preventing the mouse or rat from escaping back down its hole.