How We Helped Buffett Adjust to His Stairs
When our cat Buffett was about 14 years old, he became quite stiff in his back legs and was having more and more difficulty jumping up onto a bar chair and from there onto the counter where his food and water were located. We often lifted him up onto the counter, but finally decided Buffett needed a pet-stair to make things easier.
We placed the stair in front of the chair and placed Buffett on the stair. He climbed right up without any problems. Later in the day though, we observed him ignoring the stairs and trying to jump up on the chair as he always has.
This observation reminded us that pets develop habits, or patterns of behavior, that aren’t always easy to change. Even though the stair made access to the counter easier for Buffett, this didn’t ensure he would use it.
Although it’s common for many animals, cats seem to be quite cautious about anything new. It’s understandable that neophobia (fear of the unfamiliar) could be quite adaptive – in the wild, what you don’t know can harm or kill you.
To help Buffett make using the stairs a habit, we could have continued to place him on the stairs every time we saw him trying to get on the counter. We could also make not using the stairs more difficult by covering his normal “take-off” spot for jumping on the counter with pointy-side up carpet runners. A combination of both techniques might work well.
Whenever you introduce anything new into your cat’s environment, whether it be a toy, litterbox, scratching post or bed, don’t be surprised if it takes your cat awhile to accept and use it. One reason cats likely urine-mark (spray) new household items is to leave their odor so that unfamiliar objects become familiar through the use of scent.
Some well socialized cats are just naturally curious and will immediately investigate anything new in their world. While there has been no definitive research on the subject, some behavior experts believe that the more timid and anxious a cat is, the more likely he is to urine-mark in order to increase his sense (or scents!) of familiarity regarding his surroundings. This is the opposite of popular belief that holds cats higher in the social hierarchy are more likely to urine-mark, although there is no data to support this.