Cat Compulsive Disorders

Compulsive disorders in cats are not among the most common. For various reasons, some of them similar to those suffered by people, cats and other animals develop behaviors that we classify as compulsive. The main cause of compulsive behavior in cats is stressful, especially when cats feel strongly in conflict with two opposing options. Cat Compulsive behavior is what we call "wool sucking" or wool-gum - to suck or chew on non-food items, including not only wool, but cotton, synthetic paper and materials even more surprising.

More commonly, cats groom excessively or withdraw its own fur, called excessive grooming. Or they may attack their own tail or paw at their faces (in the "rolling skin syndrome", or feline hyperesthesia). Some compulsive behaviors seem to be passed from parent to kittens. Other behaviors that may develop due to a cat was weaned too early, or because you are feeling anxiety, frustration, separation anxiety, or cognitive conflict.

This is especially true if such conflicts or frustrations recur frequently or persist over an extended period of time, such as when a cat who has separation anxiety is left alone every day with nothing to occupy or entertain him and no companionship, human, feline, or otherwise.

What do I mean by “cognitive conflict”? Your cat is conflicted when she feels the urge to perform two opposing behaviors, such as an urge to greet you and an urge to avoid you for fear of punishment. Or when she wants to run away from another cat and she wants to confront him. Similarly, if you call a dog and he wants to come but can’t tell if you’re angry, his brain may short-circuit and his response may be to start spinning around.

Cat Compulsive Disorders imageA cat gets frustrated for the same reasons you do. He wants to do or have something and he can’t. Maybe he’s indoors, looking out a window, and he wants to attack the cat walking across his territory. Maybe he wants to play, hunt, stalk, kill, eat, but he has nothing to play with or no food. All animals have their characteristic ways of responding to boredom, frustration, and stress. In zoo environments, wolves, foxes, and polar bears may repetitively pace, crib, and self-mutilate, while giraffes sway and big cats pace. Gus, the famously neurotic polar bear at the Central Park Zoo, compulsively swims back and forth. Horses may chew repeatedly or weave as they walk, and pigs will bite their bars. Cats with separation anxiety may grow upset when their owners leave home, and if left alone for too long may overgroom themselves.

Cat Compulsive Disorders, as overgrooming and wool sucking, which is based on behavior, that are already part of the natural repertoire of the cat, but that has become abnormal because they occur repeatedly, the context in which there is no clear objective, and sometimes in ways that are destructive, not only the environment in which they live (yours!), but the cats themselves. If you enter the stressor continues, the behavior can be initiated only small amounts of stress, the original, but totally unrelated to the stress factors and, ultimately, the stress factor does not need to do a cat to perform the compulsive behavior .

In short, a cat may develop compulsive behaviors because it was weaned too early, because one is anxious, and the second due to a genetic predisposition, for example, do not chew food.

Some compulsive behaviors may be harmful to a cat, and others can damage property. Viewing or listening to another - lick, lick, pause. lick, lick, break - may just feel like Chinese torture. Most cat owners and even the majority of veterinarians are at a loss how to intervene effectively to deal with compulsive behaviors. The most common compulsive behaviors overgrooming and wool-sucking. These are some behaviors more difficult to diagnose and treat things as may be, or act as physical health problems (such as food allergies, for example).

Cat Compulsive Disorders

Holidaying with Dogs, Getting Your Dog to Like Vehicle Rides,

By Heather Richards


Holidaying with dogs can be dire for everyone including the dogs, as many dogs do not like riding in vehicles and many more are largely frightened by cars. If your dog is one of those dogs, you know how nerve-wrangling travelling with your dog can be. The most important factors in coaching your dog to enjoy auto rides are tenaciousness and time. Causing your dog to move at a faster pace than she is happy with will only further impress their fear of travel. You will have to take time out on an everyday foundation for a possible several week period to allow your dog the time it has got to put up a positive organisation with the vehicle.

What often keeps dogs petrified is fear of the unknown. Frequently dogs form their conception of the auto based fully on negative experiences. It is your job to help your dog understand that the car is not going to take him to a place of discomfort and apprehension. Presuming your dog is even content to get in the vehicle to start with, there are a bunch of steps to transforming your dog from frightened to euphoric.

Step 1 - Take your dog on a single drive around the block. Drive slowly and systematically and allow your dog to look out the window as you drive. Keeping the window down partly will also allow him to smell that he isn't some distance from home. Be sure to pay no attention to any concerned behavior rather than punish it. Punishing your dog for whining or being concerned will only provide negative reinforcement for this type of behaviour. As an alternative praise calm and desireable behavior. When you arrive back home praise your dog enthusiastically and let them jump out of the automobile and see that they're safe and secure back home. Repeat this step for several days or till you can see that your dog is ok with this short ritual.

Step 2 - Progress to a 5-10 minute drive around the town and back home. Continue to drive in a similar fashion to the way your drove round the block. Again, be totally certain to blank any anxious behaviour, shaking, or even drooling. Reward calm behaviour and do not punish your dog for their fear. Remember, you are trying to associate positive experiences with riding in a vehicle. Come home and again praise your dog enthusiastically for their successful ride. Repeat this step as you did the 1st, until your pet is comfortable with this next step.

Step 3 - Ultimately, choose a destination that's near to home highly fun and rewarding for your dog. A dog park, the beach, or even a hiking trail are very good 1st time destinations. Remember, the goal is to persuade your dog the vehicle won't take them to a place of apprehension, but instead places that are safe, fun, and exciting.

Once your dog has nicely mastered these three steps, a longer travel trip is safe to plan. It may appear tough and time consuming to finish these steps, but slow progression will still harvest great rewards for you and your dog in the longer term and make travel more pet friendly and pleasurable for the both of you.




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How Can You Get Rid Of Urine Stains From Grass?

By Sam Goodman


Are there ugly brownish spots of dead grass that is spoiling the splendor of your lawns? The culprit might be your furry canine friend.Dog urine can take its toll on your green grass. The unsightly lawn burn spots are brought about by the high nitrogen content seen in dog urine. Each time the dog urinates on the grass, he or she adds a large dose of nitrogen to the soil.This is equivalent to pouring liquid fertilizer on the yard. When small quantities of fertilizer could be useful, large quantities of urine can lead to nitrogen burns.

If you fertilize your lawn, the grass is already getting high levels of nitrogen. Add dog urine and you have the perfect situation for lawn burn. While lawn burn is ugly, it does not mean that your pet has a health problem. Lawn burn from canine urination is common.It has been believed that feminine dogs add more to lawn burn than do male dogs.

This may be genuine, but it is not on account of physical differences. Females squat to urinate, hence saturating more soil area. Males tend to lift their leg and urinate on things to mark their territory. Therefore, male dogs tend to spread their urine around the yard.Large breed dogs produce more urine as they drink more than small breeds. Consequently, they discharge more concentrated nitrogen onto the yard.It is deemed that dogs that eat a high protein diet cause more lawn burn.

The cause for this is that superior levels of protein make the body to expel more nitrogen. There are drugs and food supplements that can help minimize nitrogen levels in your dog's urine, but there could be bad side effects. Discuss the situation with your dog's vet.One among the easiest things to do to minimize lawn burn is to rinse the urine off of the grass. Keep a hose or bucket of water handy. If you clean the area in which the dog urinated within a couple of hours, the possibilities are good that lawn damage will be avoided as the water dilutes the nitrogen.

If you clean the area in which the dog has passed urine within a couple of hours, the possibilities are good that lawn damage will be prevented as the water dilutes the nitrogen. The diluted nitrogen in fact works as lawn fertilizer.If you have a large yard where water is not easily available, try training the dog to pass urine in a particular area where you can do a wash down or put up with the consequence of nitrogen burn.

If you already have spots of nitrogen burn, you can even try re-seeding the grass.It is very important to irrigate the area well prior to and after re-seeding.The grass killed by nitrogen burns will sometimes come back on its own once no additional urine is added to the ground. This does take a while and there is no assurance that it will work.




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