A deprived cat is like a human raised by wolves. They didn’t learn the environmental cues that will let them develop their minds and psyches.
In essence, they don’t understand cause and effect.
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When a cat gets plenty of opportunities for play and interaction, their minds are relaxed, their focus is strong, and they can more easily see how what they do makes things happen.
But the cat who either sits in a cage all the time, or is frantically dodging danger most waking moments, doesn’t get that. In the absence of any input they might have over food appearing or investigations being initiated, they learn to just take what comes. Then, in a home situation where they are expected to figure things out, they can’t… without a little help.
However, cats are amazingly resilient. They can learn at least some of what they missed. By concentrating on particular areas, we can make up for what should have come naturally.
Give them cues. Pick a verbal cue, like “Dinner!” or “Chow time!” to announce refilling the bowl or opening a can. If we are going to clean the litter, say so, and try getting them to watch. Don’t just break out a toy, call them over and show them how the toy works.
Handing out cues for whatever is about to happen will increase our odds of the cat realizing that last time this thing happened, that thing followed.
Demonstrate how things work. By showing them that we can move things around, and getting excited when they move things around, we show them that investigating is “safe” and we want their input.
Instincts will take over when we move a toy around or offer food. We engage their higher functions when we demonstrate that we can do these things, and so can they. Give both verbal and physical feedback when they show curiosity and do things that make their toys move.
Create NO objects in tricky areas. If our cat keeps messing with stuff they shouldn’t, spray the area with something strong-smelling, and offputting. Citrus scents usually repel cats and make us happy. Then they can associate that smell with the trouble they get into when they go there.
Deprived cats are often halfway through a forbidden move before they realize this will get them into trouble, because their signal for remembering is actually in the middle of their misbehaving.
Give them Memory Helps by placing the squirt bottle there, or use empty soda bottles to mark out the area. These make a loud noise when they fall over, and the cat will avoid them.
Build trust with routine. It can be discouraging for us to keep making friendly overtures, and feel that the cat isn’t “getting” that we want to be their friend.
Don’t make friendly gestures in isolation. Offer petting as the lead-in to pleasant events. If we watch TV or settle on the computer of an evening, seek them out to say we’ll be in one place, and they can approach. Call them periodically as we do our fun things, and if they appear, be happy and offer them a treat or a little play session.
The deprived cat is still working with simple tools.
Little offers several times a day will get processed more easily than one big session where we set high expectations for what we want from our cat.
React instantly. The deprived cat needs fast feedback to understand the links we are trying to form. If we see a behavior we want to encourage, we must move fast to cement reinforcement before the cat loses track of what happened next.
We can do this most easily if we initiate a behavior and are available to follow through.
If they hang out in the kitchen or near their bowls, this is a sign they don’t know what triggers mealtime. They know where; they don’t know when.
So lure them away from the kitchen with some play, then trigger mealtime with verbal and body language cues. This is how they know that even if they are not in the kitchen, we will summon them, and they won’t be missing out.
If we worry that our cat seems “dumb,” or they can’t seem to grasp what we want from them, or they keep doing the same things over and over despite poor results from their efforts, we probably have a cat suffering from some form of Deprivation.
When a cat understands cause and effect, they know how to get what they need. They won’t be confused about when dinner will appear, or what will happen when they leap onto that table, or whether or not to trust us.
Helping the cat learn is one of the things we can do for our cat.
And create another reason for them to love us.
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