VMD 513: Pet animal Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health Care (1+1)

BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSIOLOGY OF CAT WHILE HANDLING

• Cats are seldom tolerate manipulation without response. They are less amenable to manipulation than dogs.
• Generally, they are less inclined than dogs to develop extremely close relationships with their owners.
• Cats have territorial characteristics.
• Territoriality may cause a cat to resent being picked up from its own cage as an invasion of territory.
• Most domestic cats will allow handling by the owner and usually will permit a stranger to approach if quietly reassured that no danger is present.
• To reassure a cat, talk soothingly but confidently to the animal.
• Gentle blow into cat’s face or stroke it beneath the chin or beside the ears can also give some response.
• Some cat never tolerates manipulation by a stranger.
• The handler must work quickly. When the cat’s patience is exhausted, it is virtually impossible to proceed.
• Some times new cage and new situation or unusual surrounding may show depression.
• The depressed state may quickly give way to a hostile state if the animal is roughly handled at this point.
• A ferocious cat, confined in a strange cage for several hours, may become more docile, especially if it can be convinced that ferociousness will not be rewarded in an acceptable manner.
• Rough handling or painful handling may revert to aggressive hostility.
• Cats with impaired breathing often resist handling, and struggling may compound the oxygen deficit.