Total Cat Mojo

by Jackson Galaxy

  Declawed cats are deprived of natural behaviors—they can’t mark their territory in an appropriate way, they can’t stretch their back muscles, they can’t climb trees to escape predators, and painful paws are not going to make kneading during a loving moment very enjoyable.

  When cats’ toes are amputated, you are changing how they walk, because cats naturally walk on their toes. Declawed cats pay the price later on with arthritis (imagine having to walk hunched over for your entire lifetime).

  A recent study out of Tufts University published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery illuminated some of the complications that arise when cats are declawed. Over half of the 139 declawed cats in the study suffered from a shoddy surgery—where fragments of bone were left behind in their paws, no doubt causing a permanent and painful “pebble in the shoe” sensation for those cats. Furthermore, declawed cats were more likely to suffer from back pain, to pee or poop outside of the litterbox, and to exhibit aggressive behaviors than a matched control group of cats with claws.

  The fact is, declawing is something that is done simply for human convenience—to essentially mutilate a living being to protect a couch. That is just crazy to me. Some compromise is needed for living with an animal. Yet many cats are declawed before even being given a chance to scratch an appropriate scratching post in the first place.

  No cat would ever elect to be declawed. Cats need and use their claws for so many things: stretching, exercising, marking their territory, playing, protection, and hunting—all those things that boost Mojo!

  If the Deed Has Been Done . . .

  Perhaps some of you have declawed your cats in the past; I get it—it’s unfortunately easy and in some places even encouraged. I can forgive those who work to educate themselves and never do this to another kitty they live with. This is your chance to join the fight to make declawing a procedure of the past. Let your friends, family, and neighbors know what declawing really is; and let your vet know how you feel about it, too!

  14

  When Your Cats Don’t Get Along

  WHEN IT COMES to violence between cats, I think one of the most detrimental mistakes that guardians make is the “let them work it out” approach, giving the warring parties access to one another, even when you’re not home. Talk about letting inmates run the asylum! Let’s stop fooling ourselves; if the cats were going to work out their differences, they would have done it by now. Instead, we are facing a relationship that, with every passing day, is becoming less and less “fixable.” We have to take control of the situation, deal with the needs of both cats, and make the world safe and territorially “ownable” for both.

  CAT DADDY RECIPE NO. 2—

  THE RELATIONSHIP MENDER

  The Problem:

  If you have opened this book and flipped directly to this chapter, my guess is that you’re finding some degree of pee, poop, fur, and possibly even blood in unexpected places around your house, and that you are separating your cats for fear that they’re going to kill one another in your absence.

  The Reality:

  Anybody who has been in the position of dealing with cats who don’t get along knows the incredible amount of stress it causes, both for human and animal family members. In my experience, the increasingly erratic and destructive behavior becomes a downward spiral for all of the animals in the home. The animal chaos raises your anxiety (and blood pressure), and that downward spiral becomes a category five tornado, taking out everything in its path. If I’m capturing the scenario in your home to a T, that’s because I’ve lived it—and I get it.

  The following recipe has brought resolution to the majority of cases I’ve dealt with through the years. There are certain variables involved in the most common scenarios, and we’ll address those in a moment. But for now, this should get things with our feline family feuders back on track.

  The Steps:

  Site Swapping (see page 172): When Chinese philosopher Lao Tze said, “The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step,” he probably wasn’t thinking about resolving hard-core cat problems—but it definitely applies here. The first step is for you, the human, to reclaim ownership by taking a definitive stance in the name of control; in other words, it’s time to separate. These cats should not have access to one another until we get to the end of this recipe. For now, they don’t even make eye contact. There will only be swapping—co-ownership of space at separate, safe times.

  The “Other Side of the Door” Feeding Ritual (see page 199): This idea is centered on setting Challenge Lines on opposite sides of a door. The only time the combatants smell each other, they smell dinner; the only time they smell food, they smell their “enemy.” Peace is being forged through positive associations, and at a determined pace—dictated by you and your cats’ ability to cross Challenge Lines peaceably.

  Eat Play Love (see page 200): Once we have the cats at the end of the opposite-side-of-the-door introduction rainbow, it’s time to introduce Eat Play Love. The idea is simple but crucial. We are now giving the warring parties enough rope to be in the same room at the same time, not separated by a gate, door, or barricade of any kind. We are depending on our ability to entertain and compel them both in separate activities. Eat Play Love gives you many valuable tools in terms of predicting and avoiding troublesome scenarios. It’s always best to do with someone helping, since it’s easier to manage both cats this way.

  While doing steps 1, 2, and 3, work on the following:

  Separated HCKE (Hunt, Catch, Kill, Eat) Sessions. We want each cat to fully embrace his Raw Cat Mojo, without distraction. Remember, the “E” in HCKE stands for EAT. That means we do these sessions around mealtime, so we can segue into our mealtime door sessions. Also, don’t forget—different cats have different play needs. While you practice Boil and Simmer, your cat might be so energetically charged after dinner that the final round of play needs to happen then. Knowing this will pave the way for a peaceful reintroduction since you can ensure a relatively drained Energetic Balloon when they finally see one another.

  Catification: Increase the peace by increasing the space: Make sure there are escape routes and secure passageways. Be sure to take away death traps by blocking off the Unders and getting rid of ambush zones. Be aware that clutter can make one cat an easy target for the other. Once we reintegrate, we want there to be plenty of space for both cats to coexist comfortably.

  The Mojo Moment

  Our Mojo moment when it comes to reintroduction is technically a place where journey meets destination. Eat Play Love sessions, at first maybe lasting a few minutes before ending on a high note and packing it in till tomorrow, get longer and longer. Then, the night will come, the cats will eat their dinner in a shared territory, watch the other move about the space with no incidents (or even the threat of one), and you decide that maybe it’s time that you eat dinner as well. And, suddenly, it’s not an exercise; it’s life. Congratulations—you have arrived at the moment of group Mojo.

  Notes from the Chef

  Recipe Timeline: For each of these steps, the timeline can vary widely. Part of your job is to keep an eye on the Challenge Lines for the individual cats and the community at large. Each step can take days or weeks depending upon the willingness of the participants and how entrenched the problem has become. The key is not to move on to the next step until you have predictable results at the current step.

  Dealing with Setbacks: Whether it’s as minor as a hissing war across the door at dinner, or as major as a fight breaking out during Eat Play Love, all you need to do is reverse engineer the process back to the last successful Challenge Line. In other words, simply back it up to the last “mile marker” instead of backtracking to the first step of the thousand-mile journey. The key to all of this? Get back on the horse! Do not let the paralytic trauma of a single event define the future of your home. Take a minute if you must to lick your wounds (emotional or physical),
and get back to it!

  Positive Associations: Both cats have to be shown over and over again that the other cat is not a threat—either physically or territorially. As long as we keep the good vibes flowing throughout the session, and those vibes continue to the next session . . . vibes become communal Mojo, and we are golden.

  Always End Sessions on a High Note: If we’re trying to “rewire” the feuding cats with good vibes toward one another, then the last thing we want is for a last impression from being together to be a bad one. Even if nothing particularly earth-shattering has happened during the session, that is a high note. It’s a tough call sometimes, but trust your gut. Although daily challenge is the name of the game, so is daily peace.

  Avoid Fighting: As described on page 200, one of the key challenges and most critical objectives of the Eat Play Love session is to avoid fighting. One of the best ways to initially circumvent this is through distraction, and we can do this by interrupting eye contact (with Yes/No). In other words, stop the staredowns, which will prevent throwdowns and beatdowns. Momentary eye contact between cats gives them information, but the moment movement ceases and staring takes over, danger is not far behind. If you can predict it, you can redirect it. All you need to perfect is being able to get Napoleon to turn her head. From there, she knows something with higher value awaits, and we get to show our victim that the bully can be in his presence without an ass-kicking being the inevitable end.

  WHEN TO USE THE RELATIONSHIP MENDER

  Here are four of the most common—and most fixable—scenarios I encounter when it comes to cats not getting along. See which one hits closest to home for you, then check out the additional notes.

  1) Bullies and Victims: When One Cat Is Picking on Another

  The Problem: You have a bully in your house and she’s constantly picking on at least one other cat.

  The Reality: Whether the motivation is play or territorial, a cat who runs is a cat who will be chased. Not to blame the victim, of course, but it’s not particularly productive to hang the black hat on the aggressor, either. We often focus on changing the behavior of the Napoleon (the bully), which is, of course, essential to show him that there is no reason to overown. But the reality in the world of the Raw Cat is if you act like prey, you will be treated like prey. And while there are things we can do to affect change in the Napoleon, one thing is for sure in their world as well as ours: bullies think twice about attacking once they sense confidence in their victims.

  Key Points:

  HCKE is a vital part of the solution in bully/victim cases. In separate sessions, we use HCKE to drain the aggressor’s (bully’s) energy and, through repetition, to raise the victim cat’s self-esteem. Over time, the “victim” becomes more confident, and when the bully sees her full of Mojo, he’ll stop treating that victim like prey.

  Crucial Catification: We’re now familiar with how hunters use Cat Chess (see page 166) to predict the moves of their prey. So let’s raise the victim’s self-esteem, and remove the need for the Napoleon to overown, by creating infinitely more territory. We can best do this by being aware of how the victim sees the world. Timid cats need to find their Mojo, and for some cats, the Confident Where is being up high. Shelving, for example, allows them to be elevated while the other cat plays on the floor. This vantage point, which works just as well, as we saw in chapter 8, allows detached observation where the victim can see their one-time tormentor in a completely different light—as just an individual—eating, playing, simply being, without the component of an attack at any moment.

  Preventative Measures: Although we are expecting our recipe to do the trick, here are a couple more “just in case” ideas you can try:

  Put a Bell on Aggressor’s Collar: This will serve as an early warning system to prevent sneak attacks.

  Wallflower “Scissorhands”: I’m not adverse to the concept of keeping the nails of a Wallflower (or victim) long. We work very hard to get Wallflowers to stand up for themselves. Why not slip a pair of brass knuckles onto their paws? Your Napoleon’s going to be a little more hesitant the next time around.

  What’s in a Name?

  Napoleon vs. Bully vs. Corrections Officer vs. Alpha Cat

  On page 68, I discussed the “Corrections Officer,” often mistakenly perceived as an “alpha cat” (which doesn’t exist in my book). A true bully is pretty much always going to be a Napoleon Cat—overbearing about overowning his territory, puffing his ego out because underneath is a deeply un-Mojo-fied being. On the other hand, the Corrections Officer is a Mojito Cat and a leader. He has a firm hand, but rarely uses it. For example, by walking up to a favored sunning spot at 3:37 p.m., when someone else might be there, and placing a nose on the backside of the reclining cat, he is demonstrating a look at his pocket watch, saying “Time to move along.” With this gesture, time-sharing is enforced, and the multicat world continues, well oiled. The Corrections Officer leads with the least amount of effort necessary, and this judicious use of power is what separates him from a Napoleon Cat. A multicat home with a Corrections Officer stands an infinitely better chance of being a home with happier endings.

  Recognize the Signs

  Besides an actual fight, there are a few clues that tell you there might be discord or bullying going on between cats in your home:

  Avoidance: This is a behavior seen in what I call the cabinet cats, the fridge cats, the closet cats, or the under-the-bed cats. These Wallflowers are often not Wallflowers by choice, but by circumstance, in response to being stalked. Constant stalking—even without the result of blood or hair being thrown around or various Tasmanian devil–looking results—is still psychological torture, and will lead many times to physical illness, or at the very least, a pretty stressful existence. Using the tools here, learn the difference between a favored hangout place and a cry for help.

  Pee or Poop in a Vertical Place: When I’m doing my own cat detective work, a symptom that always provides me with an “aha!” moment is pee or poop on the counter, on the stove, on a table, even on the top of the fridge. More often than not, this pattern is a result of bullying. In one scenario, the victim had been chased and cornered in that place and—in the heat of running away from the aggressor—had the pee or poop literally scared out of him. In another scenario, the victim didn’t feel safe enough to leave that vertical nest; getting to the litterbox felt like a trip through the valley of the shadow of death. The only choice, whether because she was being proactive or because an aggressor was sitting on the floor waiting for her to move, was to pee or poop up in her only safe place.

  Competition for the Most Socially Significant Places in Your House: In chapter 5, I catalogued the archetypes of cats. If the concept of the Napoleon Cat resonates with you, and you’re seeing aggression in your house, you’ve probably seen evidence of bullying. The biggest telltale sign is a cat who, for no apparent reason, has abandoned hanging out in socially significant areas. These are the places that are just as important to the humans as they are to the cats (i.e., your bed and the couch, where your scent is just as strong as the cats’ scents), as well as places that are ownership hotspots (places where there are resources like food, advantageous Cat Chess locations, or spots along the Sundial).

  2) New Kid in Town: When the New Cat Isn’t Getting Along with the Resident Cat (or Cats)

  The Problem: You recently adopted a new cat. You followed the introduction protocol in chapter 10 and you are still having issues. Or perhaps you didn’t follow the protocol, and now you’re in a pickle.

  The Reality: Some cats need a slower introduction than others to be integrated. That could mean weeks or even months. In the vast majority of cat adoptions, we know much less about our new family member’s life before she came to us than we would like. What kind of abuse did she suffer? Did she have to compete for resources either on the street or in a home with too many other animals? Was she taken from Mom and siblings too e
arly, affecting her ability to communicate and coexist peacefully with others? And let’s not forget that this individual is trying to find her way into a rhythm that was already established before she ever showed up. It’s like territorial double-dutch—and we shake our heads trying to figure out why they just can’t work it out? Silly human.

  Key Points:

  The key here is specificity. This is not one of those recipes where we add salt “to taste.” The steps must be followed as written and until the cats prove that they have earned the next step. Is your new adoptee one who just shouldn’t be with other cats? Perhaps, but you want to be absolutely sure of that before considering a rehome, since that tag will be on that cat as he searches for a new family. Regardless of his final destination, the information gained about his personality and preferences is another reason why you must be mindful every step of this process.

  3) Who Are You?—When Cats Who Used to Get Along Now Fight

  The Problem: Your cats used to be the best of friends, or at least they tolerated each other. Now they’re fighting around the clock.

  The Reality: There’s usually a good reason why cats who used to get along don’t anymore. Two of the most common ones are nonrecognition aggression and redirected aggression.

  Nonrecognition aggression often breaks out when a cat comes home from the vet or a boarding situation—or after spending a day or two lost in the neighborhood—and smells distinctly different. Cats use scent to identify friend or foe. The confusion of seeing friend but smelling foe can easily lead to a Raw Cat false alarm of epic proportions.