SCRATCHING AS PART OF TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOUR
 Dr. Patrick Pageat

Scratching is a common cause for complaint by owners about their cats. Their position, usually in highly visible places, can result in an acute conflict between owner and cat.

 1) Definition and importance.

 Definition

 Scratch marks are one of the types of territorial mark and have this as their only function. They are, as with urinary marking, a way of marking territory with both visual and pheromonal signs at the same time. The pheromones are liberated on the surface by the foot pads (Pageat P., 1996).

 There are 2 main characteristics :

1) The scratches associated with territorial behaviour are one of the ways of communicating used by a cat; this explains the selection of scratching sites chosen by a cat : sites that are highly visible and usually vertical (Pageat P., 1996,  MacKeown D. et al , 1988) . When the problem of scratching is long standing (more than 6 months and often several years) horizontal sites may also be used. Other scratches, particularly those on horizontal sites, produced during play, sexual excitement or hunting do not fall under this definition.

2) They are produced as part of a behavioural sequence which is recognised by most owners :

·      the cat approaches the surface to be scratched

·      surface is smelt, followed by Flehmen

·      the limbs are stretched with extension of spine

·      it scratches the site using both its forepaws alternately

 Behavioural importance of scratching

 Sharpening and wearing down of claws has often been proposed as the principal reason for scratching (Hart B., Hart L.). These functions on their own do not explain several observations :

 The frequency and the behaviour of certain individuals has no relationship with the rate of growth of their claws.

Declawing by surgical amputation (onychectomy), which prevents the upsetting aspect of scratching for the owner, does not stop the behavioural sequence of scratching in some cats.

This shows that there exists in some cats a real need to scratch in strategic sites; an action related to territorial behaviour.

 The posture adopted by the cat when scratching has also produced interpretations on the importance of scratching ; expression of dominance in front of others (Leyhausen P., 1979), result of excitement by presence  of owner (Mertens C., Sharp R., 1988),...

 Currently, the role of communication is accepted by most authors as the major role for scratch marks (Pageat P., 1996,  Dehass J., De Buyser C., 1993, Turner D.C., Bateson P., 1988). It is the marks left (visual and pheromonal) which probably cause the cat to return to the same place (Schilder, M.B.H., 1991).

 The position adopted by the cat during the behavioural sequence of scratching (stretching of limbs and back) is called the posture de soulignement (Pageat P., 1996). Even if it does not transmit a message in itself, it accentuates the deposition of territorial marks.

 Other observers comment that for this to be the case, the posture would have to be unique to scratching activity and most cats adopt this posture after sleeping or resting; it is probably simply a preparatory action to stimulate circulation in its muscles .

 Scratch marks signal the presence of an occupant in an area.

 2) Predisposing factors and position of scratch marks

 A study into the circumstances surrounding the placing of scratch marks has allowed two populations to be distinguished (Pageat P., 1996) :

Population 1 - Cats for which scratching is an inherent part of territorial behaviour.

Population 2 - Cats for which scratching results from a temporary or reversible psychological condition

 Population 1

Separation from the mother at or before 6 weeks old is an important predisposing factor for the scratching to become inherent as a territorial behaviour. This type of separation is often seen in rural areas where the mother, once pregnant again, leaves her kittens resulting in a low level of socialisation - these cats are more inclined to develop scratching behaviour. Cats which have always lived in a rural area scratch mark 4 times per day on average (Panaman R., 1981). This behaviour could be considered as the expression of a mild but irreversible psychological condition resulting from early separation from the mother.

 An alternative is to consider this situation to be the normal with females becoming pregnant and leaving kittens at the earliest time that nature intended. The high use of scratch marks confirms the perfect feline socialisation and psychological stability of the kittens but represents a low level of learnt socialisation with humans.

 For these cats, scratching is virtually indispensable as a means of territory marking. When they are stopped from marking a given scratch site, whatever the method, the scratching is displaced to another site near to the original site. The scratches are mainly found next to territorial areas within which the cat does not readily tolerate the presence of any other animal with which it is familiar, areas such as :

               Near an isolation area (sleeping place or hiding place)

               Near an elimination area (litter tray)

Near a good hunting area (for cats living indoors, hunting areas can be where behaviour similar to hunting takes place : capture of owner’s legs, ambush of dog’s tail, etc...

Population 2

 This group of cats start to scratch during or after events that have worried / stressed the cat, particularly : 

Access to too much space for it to organise.

An area which many animals, including cats, use as a pathway.

Repeated territorial transgressions in an area important to the cat.

In overpopulated areas. 

For these cats, the scratch marks are not associated with the area of concern to the cat but are always situated on highly visible sites such as the corner of the sofa, front door, etc... 

It is possible for a cat to exhibit both types of scratch marking. In these cases the scratches can be produced almost anywhere. The approach to use for these cats should be that as for Population 1. 

EFFECT OF FELIWAY ON SCRATCHING

Trial 1 :

Population 2 - scratches following a psychological stress.

Materials and methods :

53 cats presented for scratch marking following a psychological stress.

FELIWAY was sprayed once per day for Dehass J., De Buyser C., 1993 days on each scratch mark.

Observation during treatment and for a further 7 weeks; 11 weeks of observation in total.

 The number of scratches per day was recorded with the aid of reinforced tracing paper which was used to cover half of a scratch site ( the other half was left uncovered so as to avoid any effect due to the presence of the paper). The paper was changed each day and each set of two parallel scratched lines was considered as a scratch.

Results:

 (In order to simplify the results for presentation the number of scratchings for a cat per day was divided by four with the result rounded up to the next whole number to obtain the scratch quotient : SQ.)

·      At day 0, before treatment the average SQ per cat was 5.3.

·      From day 1, the SQ reduced for all of the cats, by day 3, 39 cats (74 %) had completely stopped scratch marking.

·      At day 21, 52 cats (98 %) had stopped scratch marking.

·      Between day 28 (end of FELIWAY treatments) and day 77 (end of observations) only 2 cats made scratch marks periodically. These consisted of a maximum of 4 per day compared to 20 - 28 per at day 0 (total numbers NOT scratch quotient).

Conclusion :

Due to its ability to calm cats, FELIWAY has a marked inhibitory effect on scratching behaviour. The efficacy of FELIWAY on scratching due to a temporary psychological condition is about 96 % when administered for 28 days.

Trial 2 :

Materials and methods :

32 cats in two groups :

Group A : 9 cats with scratch marks near areas of activity, 5 of which also had scratch marks associated with a stressful event.

Group B : 23 cats with scratch marks due to a stressful event (scratch marks not near any specific area of activity).

Based on the results of Trial 1, FELIWAY was sprayed once per day for 21 days on each scratch mark. 

Observation during treatment and for a further 4 weeks; 7 weeks of observation in total.

The number of places scratched per day was recorded with the aid of tracing paper which was used to cover half of a scratch site ( the other half was left uncovered so as to avoid any effect due to the presence of the paper). The paper was changed each day and a single scratch determined that the site was considered a scratch mark site.

 Conclusion :

 Cats in population 1, Group B :

 The use of FELIWAY once per day for 21 days produces the complete disappearance of scratch marking without relapses in 96 % of cats.

 Cats in population 2, Group A :

FELIWAY has an inhibitory effect on scratch marking during the period of use. Scratch Marking appears essential for these cats and restarts within one week of the end of use of FELIWAY in places not far from the original sites. It is necessary to associate FELIWAY with a visible scratching post near to the initial territorial area that was scratched.

METHOD OF USE OF FELIWAY FOR SCRATCH MARKING

DEHASSE J., DE BUYSER C., 1993 : Socioecologie du chat, Prat. Med. Chir. An. Comp., Dehass J., De Buyser C., pp 469-478.
LEYHAUSEN P., 1979 : The predatory and social behaviour of domestic and wild cats, Garland STPM Press Editors, New York.
MACKEOWN D. et al., 1988 : The problem of destructive scratching by cats, Can. vet. Journal, Turner & Bateson, pp 1017 - 1018.
MERTENS C., SHARP R., 1988 : Practical aspects on research in cats, in The domestic cat, the biology of its behaviour, Turner and Bateson, Cambridge University Press.
PAGEAT P., 1996 : Communication et territoire chez le chat, Cours de base du Groupe d’Education du Comportement des Animaux Familiers, Conference at Toulouse. 
PANAMAN R., 1981 : Behaviour and ecology of free ranging female farm cats (felis catus), Z. Tierpsycol., 56, pp 59-73.
SCHILDER M.B.H., 1991 : Behavioural problems in the cat, Tierarztliche Monatsschrift, 78, No. 5, pp 163-172. 
TURNER D.C. & BATESON P., 1988 : the domestic cat, the biology of its behaviour, Cambridge University Press.

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