Why Can’t We Be Friends? From Aggression to Affiliation in Multicat Households Presented by Frania Shelley-Grielen
On-Demand Webinar: Watch as soon as you register
Webinar Description
Domestic cats are our most popular pets. While more households may have a single dog, most cat-owning households have more than one cat. More multicat households may exist as cat owners can often be swayed by conventional wisdom that cats, like humans, have a need for companionship of their own kind, or be pressured to adopt more than just one cat.
Such thinking can have negative welfare impacts on a species where territory, range and choice of social groups are highly significant. In their natural environment, cats typically defend territory, socialize with family members or choose their own affiliates to socialize with. When we do the choosing, this can translate to invading home territories with conspecific strangers which can create potential for considerable feline stress, leading to issues such as idiopathic cystitis, inappropriate elimination, intercat conflict, aggression and often surrender or rehoming; all of which can have serious welfare concerns for cats and owners.
Identifying risk factors for feline stressors in the creation of multicat households, such as relationship history and number of cats, environmental resources, owner responses to behavior, etc. can be helpful. Having a protocol to start from before problems and conflict become critical and a call for intervention is made can make the difference between success and failure. A species-specific appropriate introduction and integration process to enable successful new relationships is dependent on sufficient time and informed methodology. Flexibility in applied approaches to individual cats, group dynamics and situations is paramount.
Learning Objectives
- Understand motivations, forms of aggression and appropriate interventions in multicat households.
- Understand the role of punishment and why there is none
- .Understand essential environmental management.
- Understand why “go slow to go fast with cats” is more than just a saying.
- Understand how to approach and implement feline-friendly introductions.
Your Presenter – Frania Shelley-Grielen
Frania Shelley-Grielen is a professional animal behaviorist, dog trainer and educator who holds a Masters Degrees in Animal Behavior from Hunter College and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from New York University, Complimenting her insight into behavior with an in-depth understanding of the built environment. She is a licensed Pet Care Technician Instructor, a registered therapy dog handler, a certified Doggone Safe Bite Safety Instructor, and a professional member of the Pet Professional Guild and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Frania specializes in behavior modification work and training with cats, dogs and birds and humane management for urban wildlife.
Frania is the author of Cats and Dogs; Living with and Looking at Companion Animals from their Point of View. She founded AnimalBehaviorist.us in 2009, to share her work on how welfare based, science focused strategies and solutions from the canine and feline point of view are more effective and make everyone happier, including the humans. Frania also taught the ASPCA’s Fundamentals of Dog Care course for the Houlton Institute where she is on the zoology faculty. She has worked on research projects at the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the ASPCA in NYC. Frania presents and consults in the metropolitan New York area, nationally and internationally. She lives in New York City with her family and cats and dogs.
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