European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The purr act pet1, i 1 of my 31 the rent of its Lite " Turner a ranch. Considerations of personality Are Seldom involved careful investigation including the circumstances of the cat s Early roaring Are recommended before making a Choice. One of the hottest areas of behavioural research involves the interaction Between cats and humans and some of the findings Are being converted to practical use by Counselor researchers have Lound. Lor instance thai problems can develop Between cat and human even in the Bestol circumstances often the problems Are soluble Tho cat thai umps on Ilo owner s lace at 4 a m. Lor instance might a used to being led in the morning and is trying to Rush the owner Mlo getting up and putting out the food Tho solution change the Cal s feeding time Tho cat goes crazy Lor about a week olm said but it will usually adjust Tho most frequent behavioural problem say olm and others involves the litter Box. The experts have Learned that a cat simply will not use .1 litter lit that it thinks is flirty ii the Mia Bor Mil changed often enough to suit the cat. It wiil do its business elsewhere cats at times balk at the kind of litter used some alter is meant to be aromatic. But the cats repel it sometimes there arc Loo Many cats using one litter to in one Case. Olm said a cat would not use the Box because the family dog sat by the Box and kept staring two other common problems Are the spraying of urine and clawing of furniture therapists have devised ways to keep cats from clawing furniture usually by manipulating the cat into transferring its activities to a scratching Post scratching is an innate behaviour intended not so much to Sharpen claws some scientists say. As to leaves Marks and doors that advertise a cat s presence for the Benefit of other cats experts Are divided on do clawing some say that it amounts to abuse and should be outlawed while others say thai it is an acceptable last resort that does not As is sometimes believed seriously impair a cat s ability to defend itself urine spraying likewise an innate behavioural pattern of males and females. Is also believed to to a marking Man Euver but contrary to conventional thought some experts believe the cat re not staking out Terri Torilyn to defend but is merely letting other cats know of its presence spraying is nol easy to control by punishment or management As one measure the Harts recommend Booby trapping the Spray area with upside Down mousetraps in a Lions or Oral doses of the hormone progestin Are Are sometimes used to eliminate the behaviour although the effectiveness is limited problems often arise because owners treat cats As if they had human personalities some scientists say. An anthropomorphic View of the cat is very common among owners iwo Swiss ethology its Claudia Mortens and Rosemarie Schar wrote in the Turner and Baleson Book but this Fosters misunderstanding " a cat should always be seen As a cat nol a human being " domesticated on the outside but wild at heart. Sets Ken Gito Ige cals Are now believed to outnumber dogs As pets in the United states. The predatory cat the approximate number of pounces that Hunting cats require to capture different types of prey compiled from studies by several researchers. Pounces 2-4.4 36 invertebrates the cat and mouse gamete varying amounts of time that cats need i -. I to capture a rodent under different conditions compiled irom studies by ski several researchers. Hours conditions 095 1.22 january april May August 0,63 7l2 tit september december no mothers both sexes Mother cats the cat is exquisitely sensitive to the be actions and moods Olts  experts Are finding that cats Are More so the social cat two particularly important factors in the Ca cat s socialization and its personality. Socialization Page 14 the stars and stripes the sensitive period is Between two and about seven weeks of age. The earlier and the More a Kitten is handled and the More people hand log a Kitten in this period the More Friendly and attached to people it will be later on. Speaking to a Kitten helps its socialization. Temperament the cat s temperament is an important Factor in its relationship with humans. Scientists have personality types one is sociable confided the second is characterized As timid Nerv third As Active and aggressive. About 15 p socialization they have an extreme slow a can be observed shortly after birth and we wednesday Sej