Mary Allen
Do you want to train your cat? And you want to use friendly methods and achieve the best for you and your cat? Then it pays to be careful and methodical. For many behaviors, if we understand why a cat does or doesn’t do something, then we can steer it quite well in the desired direction.
The ABC of Behavior Analysis
In this case, ABC stands for English terms used in what is known as functional behavior analysis. These can guide you to look closely at different aspects of your cat’s behavior:
A (Antecedents) – triggers and causes:
- What factors preceded your cat’s behavior?
- What did she do before?
- What did she experience immediately before?
- For example, what did you, your child, or another cat do?
- What happened in the minutes, hours, and days before?
- How was your cat when it started the behavior? Was she happy, scared, hungry, angry?
- How was her health?
B (behavior) – behavior:
- What is your cat actually doing?
- What exactly are you doing, or the person or other cat that might be involved in the behavior?
Try to describe everything in detail and not interpret or judge.
Instead of: “My cat took the opportunity and stole the meat”, the description would be: “My cat jumped on the table, put a piece of meat in its mouth, and ran into the living room with it.”
Instead of “My cat freaked out,” the description could be “My cat growled, backed away, and crouched down. When I reached out to calm her, she swatted at my hand with her claws out and hurt me.”
The description of the behavior also includes details of the body language:
- How relaxed or tense is your cat?
- What is the position of their ears, what is the position of their tails?
- What size are the eyes and pupils? Is the fur smooth?
- How does she move?
From such information, the next step can be a well-founded interpretation of the feelings that caused your cat to behave. The growling cat just described has backed away. She might have had large pupils and put her ears to the side of her head defensively. The movement and facial expressions would then both speak to fear or discomfort. A cat, on the other hand, that jumps at your leg briefly and then runs away at a gallop, has allowed itself a joke.
C (consequences) – Consequences:
- What does your cat do for itself through its behavior?
- What needs does it meet?
- What pleasant things can she achieve as a result?
For example, your cat may be able to get your attention by meowing or making sure that its hunger is satisfied.
But also: Which unpleasant things can she prevent or end through her behavior? The growling cat ends the touch by scratching, which is obviously inappropriate for it at this moment.
Cats learn by the consequences of their behavior. If a behavior leads to something unpleasant and the cat associates the unpleasant with its behavior, then it will be inhibited from showing this behavior (in similar situations) in the future. If, on the other hand, she finds the consequences pleasant, she will probably use it again.
Behavioral Strategies or: Practice Practices!
The more frequently a cat performs a behavior, the more it becomes a habit or even an automatic response. And the more difficult it will be for your cat to try different behavior in a similar situation in the future, or for you to encourage it to behave differently. Experts then speak of solidified behavioral strategies. The cat has learned that certain behavior is successful for it in the broadest sense. She shows it now because she always does it that way. This works for cats as well as for us humans.
What Does That Mean for Cat Training?
Observation
Observe and analyze your cat’s behavior.
- Are there typical connections?
- can you find patterns?
Example: The squabbling between my cats Mia and Lucky mainly occurs just before feeding time.
Mia then quickly becomes aggressive when Lucky gets too close to her. After eating, however, she obviously has no problem with that.
Identify triggers and causes
Find the triggers and causes of unwanted behavior and change them. Example: Mia’s hunger could be a trigger for aggressive behavior towards Lucky.
Consider adjusting feeding times to their needs, perhaps with the help of an automatic feeder. Many cats are more relaxed with frequent small meals rather than fewer large ones.
See if Mia becomes less aggressive towards Lucky if you don’t let her hunger get that big in the first place.
Early Response
Take action early and intervene judiciously, rather than letting the unwanted behavior happen and then reacting to it.
The less often your cat experiences this type of behavior, which may have worthwhile consequences for itself, the better.
Example: Mia quickly learns that it is good for her to react briefly to Lucky. This can relieve tension. Unfortunately, Mia transfers this to other situations. She soon uses Lucky as a lightning rod when she’s bored and doesn’t get your attention. However, this is not pleasant for Lucky and the relationship between the two can suffer in the medium term. Therefore: If you notice that Mia is getting restless, or if you know that a critical time is approaching, manage the situation. If possible, try to help Mia meet her needs. If necessary, redirect her attention to something that improves her mood, or help her find another way to relieve tension (like a running bike or a valerian pillow)—before poor Lucky gets his first paw!
Desired cat behavior
Think about what behavior you want your cat to behave in. Choose behaviors that are easy for your cat.
Then, make this behavior rewarding for your cat as often as possible!
Tip: The better a reward fits your cat’s current needs, the more valuable – and therefore more effective – it will be.
Example: You want Mia to draw attention to her needs in a calm and friendly way. You notice through your attentive observation that she often comes to you and strokes around you before she attacks Lucky. You decide to respond to the rubbing of your leg in the future and make it a successful behavioral strategy for Mia. Depending on the situation, from now on you answer Mia’s rubbing on your leg with attention and playing together, another activity offer, or a portion of food. A combination of both could often be perfect, e.g. a filled puzzle board or dry food wrapped in kitchen paper, which Mia can capture by shredding the paper.
Outlook
This is just a glimpse into behavior analysis and how it can be used to change your cat’s behavior – training is nothing more than behavior change. Sometimes it is very easy to apply this scheme. In other cases, it is quite difficult. If the behavior you want to change seems habitual or is accompanied by strong emotions, especially fear or anger, then get a cat behavior consultant to help you with this analysis.
If you’re interested, you can read more about building desire behaviors in our article How to Make Cat Training Fun.