Cats and Their Security Objects

In a way, cats view the entire house as their security blanket. The places, the routines, and the beings in it are all part of what cats feel responsible for.

Keeping them predictable makes for a happy cat.

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Different cat types have different security needs. A curious Alpha will find a change will trip their curiosity switch, while a cautious Gamma will find a change will trip their uncertainty switch. Betas will find changes in their routines or people more upsetting than furniture rearrangement, which they will usually take in stride.

To understand a cat’s reaction to changes in the home, we must remember that cats are terraformers. Not only do they keep track of every path through their territory, and every behavior in it, they will also try to change the objects around them to suit them better.

With a Gamma, it’s examining a vacuumed pillow to know if it has changed in any important way. With an Alpha, it can be moving as many things as they can shove.

Cats, above all, want to know what to expect. In any given situation. Smooth running routines, spots that haven’t changed since they’ve last been visited, and our predictable responses to what they do is all part of the territory/security package.

While cats will often surprise us, and act in a way that show they understand the principle, they are a classic example of dishing it out, but not being able to take it. Any surprises must be telegraphed emotionally before they will experience it happily.

Getting a new treat or canned flavor can be announced when we walk in with the bags, and our excitement and pleasure will be reflected in their response. They may or may not know what it is, but they are willing to welcome it, based on our preparation.

We should use the same cuing techniques if we are repainting the living room or getting new furniture. Walk around the room in question and tell them, with sweeping gestures, what we plan to do. If they have favorite spots in this room, pat the spots and pantomime that we will be moving them, but only temporarily. Explain we don’t like the coming turmoil either, but it will be so nice when it’s done.

Then, when the painters or movers show up, our cat will be able to say to themselves, I knew something was up. But my person seems to have a handle on it.

During the process, commiserate that the couch is gone or that they can’t hang out in the room any more. Explain the new couch is much better, or that soon these annoying people will be gone, and we’ll all be happier.

If we are going to be working late for a while, or will be getting up early to get some fitness in for a change, talk about the change, and use a clock or calendar to explain how it will impact them. It doesn’t matter that cats don’t have a complete understanding of how clocks and calendars work. They know such things shape our lives; and if the clock or calendar is going to be influencing their lives, they appreciate a warning.

Cats in the home perform a delicate balancing act that will both fulfill their instinctual desires for territory control, and keep us happy when their views on where the vase wants to be does not meet with agreement. It is always a process of negotiation; and cats are quietly aware that this is our territory, and we have the final say.

This is why our respect for their wishes, and agreeing to their deepest needs, carries such power. The cat’s wild heart wishes to keep their territory all to themselves. It is their bright brain, and their love for us, that lets them share. While the cat does not have final say, they must have some say; or they will not feel secure.

Making a show of consulting them, warning them that changes are coming, and showing them their spots which have not changed may seem, to us, like exercises in pretending and in stating the obvious.

That is exactly what they are. But doing it communicates respect to the cat about something they feel as strongly about as we do.

That is what we are acknowledging. And that, despite any changes which occur, is what will keep our cat happy.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.