Aggression? or Fear?

The latest has been striking-looking Junji, who was transferred from the Adoption Centre when it became obvious that he was not going to make a good impression on potential adopters. I was in the DoubleWide when he was brought across to the Sanctuary, and put in one of the large cages there. There was a great deal of feline bad language from him, and inevitably all the local big boys had to come and inspect the exterior of his cage, which probably raised his blood-pressure!

The following day I visited, and with a certain amount of trepidation, went in to introduce myself to Junji. He was much calmer than I’d anticipated, allowed petting, hopped down to the floor via my knee and returned to his shelf without either bad language or bad behaviour. He was obviously happier now he had space to move, and less sense of confinement. As the days passed, it was apparent that he was quite accepting of his surroundings, and once his vaccines had taken effect, Junji was released.

Initially he roamed the building quite happily, avoiding the alpha cats, but exploring every inch he could reach. Within a day or two he was out in the courtyard and investigating with enthusiasm – although we put a collar on him, he has shown no aggression to humans, and only when challenged, to other felines.

Junji shows us an example of cage aggression, which is no big deal in RAPS, but which can spell a death sentence to a cat in a kill shelter.

We try to use cages sparingly. In the Sanctuary they are used when new cats arrive, to allow time for vaccines to take hold, for the cat to accept a new place, for them to get used to humans being around – and then we open the cage and let them make the decisions about living indoors or outdoors, openly or in hiding. Cages are also used when a cat needs medical treatment or restricted movement, or when it is one of several feral black cats who won’t easily be accessible for medication. Most of our cages are large ones, allowing a scared cat to retreat right to the back. Several are 6-foot high, allowing visiting humans to sit with that scared cat.

In the Adoption Centre the cages are smaller, but most of the cats are already people-social and adoption-ready. The stressor there seems to be that though the cats can have their time at large in the main room, they keep having to be returned to their cage. This was very much Junji’s problem. Another cat now in the Front Courtyard has a similar background – Honey was very reactive in the cage, and inclined to slap her visitors, but since being released and able to explore the area, she has proved to be a sweetheart, and has earned her “adoptable” bandana with her affectionate behaviour with visitors.

Scared cats seem to have two main ways of dealing with their fear – they shrink into the smallest possible space and try not to be seen, or they decide that attack is the best defence, and make themselves as fearsome as possible. In a shelter where they may not have any option other than a cage, cats like this will be passed over for adoption in favour of a “nicer” cat, and if space is at a premium, they may not be given time to adapt. We are so fortunate that the Adoption Centre and the Sanctuary can work together in this way, and that cats like Junji and Honey have space and time to find themselves without feeling constantly fearful.

Thinking back, a lot of our cats have suffered from this cage aggression. I’m not talking about straight aggression – cats like Sophie and Parker and Gizmo have always been reactive and angry, regardless of whether they’re in a cage or not. But sweet cats like Lindor are remembered for their former cage attacks on unsuspecting staff and volunteers (several of them had warning signs on their cages) and now he looks for pets (and food) from just about everyone.

Looking back at other blogs: Tyson, BB, Lunette, Bill, our beloved Leonardo diCatprio (RIP), and as yet unblogged cats like TicTac and Eddie – they are all cats who, in standard shelter conditions would probably be passed over and/or avoided altogether. Fear and anger came together – as they do with humans shut into cages! – and few shelters have the time and space to remedy the situation. Coming to the Sanctuary gave them time to adjust to more space, to quiet humans who were ready to allow them to work at their own pace, and finally, to explore a safe version of an uncaged world.