Cat Urination and Chanchanko: Scolding Prolongs the Problem

Click here for the first installment: The Beginning of the Matter

So far, I have organized the reasons why cats urinate in places other than their litter box from the perspective of anxiety.
Now, when we see such behavior,
how should humans respond?
To be honest,
I can certainly understand the urge to scold them.
If your favorite sofa or clothes are ruined,
it would be strange not to feel angry.
It takes time and effort to clean or wash things,
and there is also the anxiety that the smell might linger.
Therefore, I think it is a very natural human reaction to want to say, "That's not allowed," or "Why are you doing this?"

But cats cannot understand 'what they did wrong'

The problem lies in how the cat perceives that scolding.
Cats do not understand the meaning of human words.
They can sense that they are being scolded or that something is scary from the tone of voice, facial expressions, and atmosphere, but
why they are being scolded
or which behavior was the problem
is something they can barely understand in terms of cause and effect.
As a result, what happens is...

• That place becomes a scary place

• That person becomes a scary presence

This kind of learning happens easily.
And if the number of scary places or scary people increases,
the cat's anxiety will only grow stronger.

When anxiety increases, problem behaviors do not decrease

This is the most troublesome part.
The stronger the anxiety becomes,
the more likely the cat is to engage in behavior to 'leave its own scent.'
In other words,
Anxiety → Urination → Being scolded → More anxiety → More urination
creates a very clear vicious cycle.
From the human perspective,
it might seem like they won't stop no matter how many times you tell them
or that they aren't reflecting on their actions,
but in many cases, the cat's anxiety is simply being reinforced.

What you get from scolding is 'tension,' not 'peace of mind'

By scolding,
the behavior might stop temporarily.
But that is not because they
understood and stopped,
but rather closer to a state where they
became too scared to move.
And the moment that tension is released,
anxiety-driven behavior will appear in another form.
Scratching, hiding, loss of appetite, excessive grooming.
The manifestations vary, but the root cause is the same.
Therefore, even if there is a moment where the problem 'seems solved' by scolding,
it is not uncommon for it to simply continue in a different place or form.

Even so, scolding is a matter of human emotion

I will write something a bit harsh here.
The act of scolding a cat
is often more about venting the emotions of the person scolding
than it is about correcting the cat's behavior.
Anger, frustration, helplessness.
You inevitably want to direct those emotions somewhere.
But if that target is directed at someone who cannot be explained to or made to understand,
the problem will not be solved; in fact, it will only deepen.
It is natural for emotions to arise.
However, I believe it is the human's responsibility to manage those emotions.

What is truly necessary is to look at what lies behind the behavior

As I have written so far,
much of a cat's urination behavior is strongly linked to anxiety.
Therefore, what we should be thinking about is
not 'how to make them stop,'
but 'why are they so anxious?'
and 'what is stealing their peace of mind?'
If you try to stop only the behavior,
it will inevitably appear in another form.
If the anxiety is not resolved,
the problem behavior will continue in a different form.

Next, let's talk about the 'environment'

Up to this point,

• There is a reason for a cat's behavior

• Scolding is likely to increase anxiety

I think we have been able to organize these points.
So, what should we do specifically?
Next time,
for cats with anxiety-driven impulses,
what kind of environment can humans provide?
Instead of just ending with 'don't scold,'
I would like to take a step further and talk about realistic ways to deal with this.

The final installment of the series is here: Even if you can't eliminate anxiety, you can reduce it (may not be published yet)

This is the kind of person who writes this article

...I have published a book that makes that clear.

It is a book that compiles stories related to the rugby I experienced in college and the MBA I earned while studying abroad afterward. There are parts you can read for free in the "Wheat Tales" series on this note (compiled in a magazine), so please take a look.
There is almost no difficult or technical content.
Rather,
"Why was I pushing myself so hard?"
there are many stories like that, where I look back on things later.
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