Is Your Cat Unhappy?

How to Tell if Your Pet is Bored, Frustrated or Depressed

Apr 29, 2008

Play therapy helps Maple cope with stress, Tamzin Barber

Cats are intelligent and if left alone all day can get bored, lonely, frustrated or even depressed. Here's how to spot if your feline is feeling low.

Animal psychologist Tamzin Barber is very interested in the animal-human bond and what strengthens it. She works with cats and their owners in her Brisbane, Queensland, (Australia) business, Talking Animals.

Barber says many pet owners don’t really understand their pets – even devoted cat lovers – and without meaning to, are making their feline companions unhappy.

There are two common misconceptions about cats. The first is that they are like a small, clean dog – they don’t need toilet training, or any other training, and they don’t need to be exercised regularly. A warm bed, a food bowl, and a litter tray are all their needs.

The second is that cats are utterly self-sufficient. Rudyard Kipling’s The Cat That Walked By Himself is the prime example of this view.

They can amuse themselves if left alone in the house or apartment all day, or if shut outside all day. Once again, all they need is warm bed, a food bowl, and a litter tray.

“But cats are not small clean dogs, nor are they a wild animal,” Barber says. “Cats are individuals; they are unique and clever animals, and they have social and psychological needs that are often not met.”

The result is often a bored, frustrated or even depressed cat.

“Imagine if you were shut in the house all day and told: ‘here’s a nice soft chair for you, your food’s over there on the floor, and the toilet’s just behind that door,’ but you can’t go anywhere or do anything. Wouldn’t you be bored or frustrated?” she says.

Similarly, a cat that’s shut outside all day may be bullied by other cats or dogs in the neighbourhood, might not be able to get away from the weather and become too hot or too cold, and like the indoor cat, may be lonely for lack of any company.

The problem is, cat owners have not been trained to recognise the animal’s needs, or to understand when the cat is trying to tell them it is unhappy.

The Communicative Cat

One reason your cat might be frustrated is because you are not listening to her.

“Cats are very good at communication,” Barber says. This is because, while cats are very territorial, they have always had to share territory with each other – either as groups of females or as lone males crossing into other cats’ territories.

Your unhappy cat will give cues such as scratching a lot to attract attention, becoming aggressive towards people or other animals in the household, destructive behaviour, being highly strung or showing signs of anxiety.

Or your cat may internalise its stress, and become depressed. Then it will sleep a lot, lose interest in food, or alternatively demand food all the time, stop grooming, or groom excessively, licking itself a lot. In the worst cases of unhappiness, the cat will urinate or defecate inappropriately.

Barber teaches cat owners about the animal’s psychological and emotional needs, and their need for mental stimulus as well.

Brain Training for Cats

“Cats are highly mentally active – they enjoy using their brains,” she says. So she teaches owners to play constructively with their felines.

Play therapy enriches the cat’s environment, while teaching the owner key elements of the cat’s personality. Games – brain training for cats – stimulate their problem solving skills and help them reduce stress, aggression and anxiety. At the same time, playing together increases the interaction between cat and human through petting and grooming.

One form of play therapy is to use a clicker. Just like training a dog, the clicker is associated with food. Each time you click, you give the cat a small handful of cat biscuits. Cats are very quick to get the link between the click and food.

“Once they associate the click with food, you can use the clicker to reinforce a behaviour you want to encourage,” Barber says. “When they do what you want, you reinforce it with a click.”

When she first tries the clicker routine with a cat she only does it for a few minutes so as not to stress the animal. “Generally they enjoy doing it, and want to go on with the game after you’ve stopped,” she says. "They really enjoy the game."