How does behavior occur? Some behaviors are born with animals and are considered innate:

• seeking out food and water
• seeking warmth and huddling

Some behaviors are learned:

• from the mother, such as when she teaches the kitten to stay within her sight
• from littermates, such as when kittens “draw the line” at rough play
• from pet owners who train kittens to urinate in litter pans
• staying away from painful situations

Some behaviors occur due to disease such as:

• aggression due to painful arthritis
• wandering or staring due to changes in cognition (awareness)
• urinating inappropriately due to seizures or infection

How should cats behave?

To this day there is much about cat behavior that is either not understood or misunderstood. While cats are generally viewed as socially independent, most cats are surprisingly dependent on social contact with people, other cats or other animals. Left alone, some cats become bored, overweight or destructive. Kittens often terrorize the household and this is natural. Many adult cats will quickly lose the desire to play while others will continue to be ‘kittens’ at heart. There are no norms in cat behavior but there are some generalities such as dominance and cat-to-cat aggression.

When do problems occur?

Kittens who are orphaned or who have not interacted well with littermates are at risk for developing bad behaviors. Kittens who are not used to handling become fearful of people and especially of curious children. Dominant cats will often reject new kittens or other animals and may either be directly aggressive, or may seclude themselves away, even from their own routines (including eating).

You should begin to learn just who your cat is and how much attention he needs. Also, please recognize that when bringing a new kitten home, you can expect that an already established cat will have their world ‘turned upside-down’ by this. Such stress can contribute to poor appetite and disease in older cats.