Comprehensive resource offering practical and accessible guidance on managing behavior problems in cats

Clinical Handbook of Feline Behavior Medicine provides a complete, easy-to-use reference to practical information on identifying, diagnosing, and treating behavior problems in cats. Designed to offer streamlined access to concrete guidance for managing feline behavior, the book offers diagnostic plans organized by clinical sign. Normal behavior is thoroughly described, to provide a better understanding of the abnormal, with the heart of the book devoted to advice for identifying, diagnosing, and treating specific behavior problems.

The book describes the diagnostic process and covers treatment options for each problem. A companion website offers client education handouts to enhance compliance and video clips depicting presenting complaints.

Sample topics covered in Clinical Handbook of Feline Behavior Medicine include: Normal feline social behavior, covering body language and other social communication, feline social structure, interactions with humans and other species, and social/behavioral development in the kitten Preventing behavior problems, covering feeding, litter box availability and care, scratching options, toys, and grooming Elimination problems, including the differentiation between urine marking and toileting, deducing the underlying causes, and elements of effects treatment plans Senior cats, covering feline cognitive decline, increased vocalization, sleep-wake cycle disturbances, disorientation, litterbox problems, and repetitive behaviors

With its specific topical focus of behavior in felines, Clinical Handbook of Feline Behavior Medicine is a targeted and highly useful resource for any veterinarian seeing feline patients, assisting through all stages of treatment with easily accessible and understandable information.

Contributors ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xii

About the Companion Website xiii

1 Introduction to Feline Veterinary Behavior 1
Elizabeth Stelow

2 Normal Feline Social Behavior 10
Kristyn Vitale

3 Preventing Behavior Problems in Domestic Cats 22
Emma K. Grigg

4 Play Behavior in Cats 46
Mikel Delgado

5 Feeding Behavior of Cats 64
Katherine Albro Houpt

6 Eliminative Behaviors 79
Jeannine Berger and Wailani Sung

7 Pain and Sickness Behaviors 103
J. L. Stella and C. A. Tony Buffington Copyrighted Material

8 Fear, Anxiety, Stress Behaviors in Cats 129
Amanda Rigterink

9 Compulsive and Displacement Behaviors 142
Melissa Bain

10 Aggression Toward Humans 157
Elizabeth Stelow

11 Aggression Toward Other Cats 174
Sharon Crowell-Davis and Elizabeth Stelow

12 Nuisance/Destructive/Unruly Behaviors 190
Rachel Malamed and Karen Lynn C. Sueda

13 The Senior Cat 212
Gina Davis and Ilana Halperin

14 Cat Relationships in the Home 232
Sun-A Kim and Elizabeth Stelow

15 Cats in the Clinic 250
Margie Scherk

Appendix 1 Feline Psychopharmacology 274
Elizabeth Stelow

Appendix 2 Medications for Pain Management in Cats 289
Elizabeth Stelow

Index 297