Ologies with Alie Ward - Smologies #7: CATS with Mikel Delgado

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

CATS! Kittens. Tigers. Purring. Toys. Litterboxes. We cover it all in this abridged and G-rated Felinology version for Smologites, or just anyone who doesn’t want to listen to swearing with their science. Professional cat behavior expert Dr. Mikel Delgado dishes on domestication, cats on leashes, why they want to sit on your laptop, how to play with cats the right way, if tigers make biscuits, and so much more. Get inside the head of your favorite, furry enigmas and you'll love them even more. Also: scoop that box. Doctor’s orders. Full, uncut and NSFW Felinology episode plus research linksMORE Smologies episodesDr. Mikel Delgado's Twitter, website, and businessA donation was made to Kitten Central of Placer CountySponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!Follow @Ologies on Twitter and InstagramFollow @AlieWard on Twitter and InstagramSound editing by Zeke Thomas Rodrigues & Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray MorrisSmologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Oh hey, it's the pumpkin on your porch that is happy to coexist with your twinkly holiday lights, alleyward, back with a perfect episode of Smologies. Oh man, cat puns. Already started. Good luck with this. So Smologies, what? What is that? So we just launched these Smologies episodes that boil down some of our favorite oligies classics, condensing them to around 20 minutes. And of course, we nerf some of the edges to make them g-rated and classroom friendly. Perfect for schools and car rides or walks with your grandpa or dog or cat, apparently. We don't judge here. But if you're looking for the full length and full strength with deeper info and more swear words, there's a link to the original Phelanology episode. It is not safe for kids, but it is linked in the

show notes below. Okay, but Smologies, yes, this one is kidsafe. Phelanology. Here we go. It comes from the Latin for cat, Phelus. And I started to go down this whole rabbit hole, or I guess catacomb, really, whether or not felicity, like Phelus and happiness and feline, if they shared an etymology. And guess what? From what I found, they don't at all. But now you don't have to Google it. So anyway, Phelus for cat, different background than Phelix for happy. So today'sologist is a cat behavior expert who received her PhD in psychology with an emphasis in animal behavior and cognition from the University of California at Berkeley. Then after her postdoc work in animal behavior at UC Davis, she went on to become a certified applied animal behaviorist

from the Animal Behavior Society and a certified cat behavior consultant from the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and an affiliate member of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. And if that's not enough, if that's not enough cat cred, she's also the resident feline behavior expert for both the apps Rover and Smalls, she even wrote the book on cats. She co-authored Total Cat Mojo, the ultimate guide to live with your cat with your other favorite cat expert, Jackson Galaxy. So in this episode, we cover a lot of ground, including why cats love boxes, why they make biscuits, why they grace us with the hum of their happy purring, also proper litter hygiene, how to tell if your cat is Phelus or not so Phelus

and bummed out and how much eye contact you should make with your kitty, also pray versus predator instincts, and how to up your game when playing with your cats and so much more. Oh, and something else I learned during this episode, a group of cats can be referred to as a clowder, or better yet, a glaring. Who knew? For real though, I just assumed that they ran in packs. Either way, more information to win friends and influence people, so please give a pawsome welcome and listen up right now to cat behavior specialist and phelanologist Dr. Michael Delgado. To start off our discussion, I wanted to know about the reputation of cats being solo creatures. Are they too cool for friends? Is this true for cats in the wild?

Where does it come from? So are cats more of a lone wolf than wolves? So I think cats kind of have this reputation for being solitary and what they are is they're solitary hunters. So they don't need other animals to survive, right? They hunt very small prey that they can catch on their own and they don't share it, which is different from larger animals that hunt and capture large animals. And so I think because of that, cats got this reputation for being asocial, where they don't need anybody. And we know that their social lives are definitely more complicated than that. Cats will form what we call preferred associates, where they have certain cats that they like to hang out with and some signs of them being friends would be

they groom each other, they sleep together like touching or what we call pillowing where they're actually using another cat as a pillow. You might see playful behavior. And in general, you don't see a lot of signs of antagonism, although I'd say just like, we don't get along with our siblings 100% of the time, you might see the occasional tiff. So they have clicks? They do. And you'll see if you have a group of cats that you say if you live with five cats, you might have two cats that get along with each other and not with anyone else. And the other three cats could be composed of one cat who doesn't get along with anybody and another pair who get along or maybe there's one cat who gets along with everybody, but the rest of the cats don't

really like each other. So it can be very complicated. What we do see is that cat groups are most successful when they have enough resources. So you'll see feral colonies that exist because there's either plenty of prey around or there's human supplied food. So there has to be enough to go around basically for them to tolerate each other and then have the opportunity to become friends. But yeah, if you don't have enough resources either in your home or outside, or there's too much competition, they have to do too much sharing of those resources, then they tend to either have antagonistic interactions or they'll just avoid each other. Well, that makes sense. We all have friends that we like to hang out with

more than others. But are we friends with our cats? Do our cats love us as much as we love them? Or do they just like the shelter and the chopped up fish pudding that we provide? So we know that cats are really territorial. And so what's more important to them than anything is the familiarity of where they live. So even before they'll form attachments with people, they need to feel comfortable in their space. And it's almost like we're part of the territory, especially because most cats live inside. And so this is where they live, right? And so we're just part of their space. So it's not like we're separate from it, we're part of it. And that's what their primary attachment is to their territory. And I do have a question about

how they are able to land so well. Did you ever have to study their landing capabilities? No, but you know, they do have this amazing, well, an amazingly flexible body, basically, they have no collar bone. Well, they have collar bones or clavicles, but they aren't attached to other bones, like other animals or ours. Okay, well, why? That allows them to like, if their head can get through, if their face is through, like under a door, they can just squeeze right through, which is why you shouldn't leave your window open just an inch, thinking your cat won't get out. I'm out. So they have, you know, this amazing sense of balance. I mean, you know, they have to catch trees, they have to be able to calculate distance when they

hunt and be able to pounce right where they think they are. They have that amazing tail that helps them write themselves. So a tail is a good way to orient your body, like it's kind of a control to allow you to write yourself. What's interesting is that there's something called high rise syndrome where cats who fall from a higher distance often experience fewer injuries than cats that fall from a shorter distance. So they have time in the air to go, whoa. Okay. Okay, this is what's happening. Yeah. Probably not a lot of time, but enough. Yeah. And now you have a cat. Let's say someone has a cat, right? Okay. How do they know if their cat is happy, is sad, is bummed out, needs something? What body language markers are so important to know if you

have a cat? Yeah. So first of all, is your cat doing the basics? Are they eating, using the litter box? And are they, you know, using their space? So a cat who's spending all their time under your bed, probably not happy. A cat who is freely walking through the space, probably more relaxed. Specific body language we're interested in. So for cats, when they're feeling friendly, they'll do what we call the tail up gesture. So this is a friendly greeting. And the tail is completely up, maybe in a slight question mark, but that is something you'll see cats when they approach either a friendly human or a friendly other cat, they will be exhibiting that body language. You can also see when they're laying down, they should be either on their side sometimes, like or paws tucked,

which tells you they're not kind of gearing to run away. Cat who is feeling defensive or unsure is going to be kind of crouched in a tense position where they could easily just take off if they needed to as opposed to I'm laying down and just kind of melting in the sun over here. Therefore, I'm not feeling any threat. And then there are more subtle things like, you know, are the pupils relaxed and somewhat dilated? I mean, of course, according to the lighting in the room, are the ears up, ears up is more relaxed can be alert as well. But you know, certainly flattened ears are a sign of a cat who's making themselves smaller. So, so yeah, you'll see things that cats do when they're fearful. Aside from hiding would be like tucking their tail, putting their

ears back, hunching. So they're trying to again, make themselves seem smaller. A cat who is on the offensive might be trying to make themselves look bigger. So that's kind of the classic Halloween pose where they're kind of puffed up. And you'll see that more reserved for fighting with other animals where they're trying to bluff. Like I'm big and scary, you shouldn't fight with me because I'm big and scary. For cats in a home, it's really more about, like I said, using the space, doing their normal kitty things. I mean, purring is great. Eye blinking is a sign of relaxation and a sign of trust. So we know that staring is threatening to most animals. So you shouldn't stare at your cat. Oh, really? So don't make loving eye contact with your cat for too long.

Eye contact is fine, but make it soft and blink your eyes a lot as opposed to hard stare. Like a hard stare is what is threatening for them. And you'll see cats that don't get along will avoid direct eye contact. Or though one cat will be like staring you down or staring the other cat down, like I've got my eyes on you. Oh, wow, I didn't know that. Yeah. So eye contact is very important. Cats may be fearful of particular people in the house. So like toddlers can be difficult for cats to cope with. But it really depends on the context and the cat's ability to escape and deal with the stressor in their environment. So a cat who has a cat tree or a shelving and can get up high away from a dog or a toddler is going to be able to cope with that

situation much better than a cat who doesn't have those escape routes. So if you're listening to this in a traffic jam, in a parking lot doing some last minute holiday shopping, just know cats, just like us, could get stressed out. And they also want to beam themselves somewhere pretty to chill out for a bit. Like a cat tree or a shelf is their version of Tahiti or a spa day. Now let's say you want to get close to a kitty. Dr. Delgado has some advice. What do you do when you walk into someone's house as a cat? How can you make the cat dig you? It's better to get low, not look at it. What should you do? You should ghost them. Really? You should just ignore them a little bit? You should ignore them a little bit. Really? Yeah. Wow. So the opposite of a dog,

because a dog would be crushed if you walked in and you're like, what dog? I don't say a dog. For cats, yeah. So research has shown that they prefer interactions with humans where they control the interaction. So they actually, when they initiate and not the human. So if a person approaches a cat and pets them versus sitting back and letting the cat come to you, the cats who come to you, you're going to have a longer interaction. It's going to be more positive. Oh my god. Yeah. Which is pretty funny. So what I would recommend if you do want to greet a cat is get down on the level, offer a finger or your hand to them, let them sniff it and then let them decide if they want to rub against your hand or come closer or if they're going to just keep your distance.

Wow. Okay. So being friends with a cat means letting them take the wheel. It's all on their terms, which is fine because they have sharper teeth than us. That's okay. But let's say that we have a cat and we're bonded and we love them and we want to give them their dream home. Michael has some decor tips that will have your feline, feline, fine. When you're thinking about making your environment more comfortable to them, what kind of tips do you have? The first thing is embrace that your house is going to look like you live with a cat. It really drives me crazy when people say, well, I don't want my house to look like I live with a cat. Well, why do you have four cats? Like, I'm sorry, but you need to have a litter box that's accessible and not in the garage

with some 10-mile trail and walking through a billion cat flaps to get to. Yeah. And you need vertical space. You need to create spaces for your cat. And a lot of people are like, oh, he just sits on the couch with me. What if he doesn't want to share the couch with you? He wants his own space. And so you're not going to sit on his cat tree. So give him a cat tree. And so I think it's definitely critical for a few reasons. One is that we're increasingly living in urban spaces that are small and we want to have multiple cats and we're trying to get them to share smaller and smaller spaces. So going vertical is a great way to add to your square footage as far as the cats are concerned. You can have two cats literally on top of each other on a cat tree. They're sharing the

same square footage, but they're not bothering each other. So I think making it useful as well, like, don't stick the cat tree in the back corner where they can't look at anything. Put it by a window where they can watch birds. Put it in a sunny spot. Make it something that's appealing to them. The other thing that I definitely recommend for making your cats comfortable is a heated cat bed. So cats have a thermonutrile zone that's higher than ours. And a thermonutrile zone is basically the temperatures at which you're not working to either warm up or cool off. So we're not sweating, we're not shivering, we're just relaxed. And for humans, you know, because we wear clothes, our thermonutrile zone is pretty low. It's, you know, high 60s, low 70s is where we're comfortable.

Cats, it's like starting in the mid 80s. So this is why cats are such heat mongers. Cats prefer warmth. And if you want to get them to stop trying to sit on your laptop as you finish your homework, ask if you can get your kitty a heating pad. They will be on cloud nine lives. Okay, so what about you though? I asked her advice for dealing with feline fragrances, aka the smell of the litter box. How do you cultivate the best litter box scenario and also have your house not smell like a litter box? Your house does not smell like a litter box. I appreciate that. I clean our box daily. And just for the record, there's a litter box around the corner. Oh, I didn't even smell it. I have a litter box in my living room. I practice what I preach.

I have three litter boxes in my relatively small house for my one cat. So, you know, there's kind of some basic rules for litter boxes, like have at least one box per cat. You get a litter box. You get a litter box. You get a litter box. More is even better. So if you have two cats, three boxes would be ideal. Keep them clean. And so one of the reasons I don't recommend covered litter boxes is, I mean, it's up for debate whether or not cats don't like the cover or not. I mean, the cover definitely limits their ability to move around and find a clean corner and feel comfortable. But it also means that the owner is not cleaning the box as often. And there's actually research that showed that cats with litter box problems with covered boxes,

the owners were cleaning the box around every five days. Yikes. So the scoop is scoop it. Make it part of your daily routine, like getting the mail or doing the dishes if you and your cat want to be happy. That is the poopy truth. So what is not true though? What do you think the biggest myth about cats is? What's the biggest flim flam you debunk? Let's see. Well, I think, you know, one of the things I always encourage people to recognize is that cats are not small humans and they're not small dogs. And I also think probably the biggest myth is that cats can't be trained. So a lot of people don't realize that you can change their behavior. One of the more common reasons that we get called to help people is that their cat is, for example, waking them up at three

in the morning for food or to be let out. It's actually a relatively easy behavior to fix compared to things like cats fighting. And some of it is training and training your cat when to expect attention, when to expect food. And a lot of people inadvertently train their cats to wake them up. So it's it's actually that they're reinforcing the behavior. Because typically, when a cat is walking on someone's head at four in the morning or meowing for food, the person gets up and puts food down. And so in the short term, that's the quickest way to fix the problem. But in the long term, that's actually training the cat that well, if you just persist long enough, your human will get up and give you what you want,

whether it's food or petting, attention. Same thing with cats that like get up on counters. Typically, people like go and chase the cat down or pick them up and put them on the floor. The cat jumps right back up. The person picks them up, puts them on the floor again. Well, guess who's having the time of his life? The cat. He loves it. It's a game. Oh, is that why they knock things off shelves? Yeah. I mean, you know, a good clue is whether or not it happens when you're home or not. So if you're at work and your cat does not knock things off your shelves, they only do it when you're home. They're doing it for attention. Never forget, your cat is a furry little poltergeist who loves you and wants your attention. Now,

speaking of attention, remember, I mentioned that Michael has written papers on what kind of play time is the best for cats. So what is it? Is it Sudoku? Is it having them jog behind you outside, chasing a feather one attached to your fanny pack? Probably not. So for cats, a lot of play should be really more about the calculating their their final pounce and not just like running around chasing the feather wand, but but stalking it and watching it while you move it very slowly. Maybe you're acting like a wounded bird or like, you know, hiding behind a piece of furniture and shaking like you're terrified. And then woo, you swoop out and that's your cat's moment to pounce and kill. And so that that is what stimulates them.

Their brains and their muscles. Yeah. And their body is really tuned into hunting. So their eyes are, you know, designed for hunting in, for example, lower light conditions and to detect horizontal movement. That's about three meters away from them. So up close, their vision is really terrible. So when you're holding your cat and like, I'll love the eyes with them, you are just a blur. Oh, I didn't know that. But they can probably smell you very well. And so that's probably what they're most, you know, in tune with when they're that close to you. And are they nocturnal? No. Oh, okay. They're crepuscular crepuscular. Oh, so they're active at dawn and dusk, which is when their prey is most active. Now cats that are not given enough to do

during the day, I would say are going to be what people would consider nocturnal because you haven't really taken advantage of their natural activity cycle. And so this gets back to that idea, your cat's keeping you up all night. It's because they're sleeping all day. And so a great time to engage your cat and play would be at dawn and dusk because that's kind of their natural rhythm to be active. And certainly throughout the day, it's good to keep them moving, stimulated, not just snoozing all day, and then play with them at nighttime before you go to bed, maybe give them a snack before bedtime. And that will help them sleep more soundly through the night. On to our lightning round and your Patreon questions. But first, every week, we donate to a

cause of theologist choosing. And this week, it's to the kitten connection of Placer County. You can learn more about how they save baby kitty's lives at kittencentralofplacercounty.org. And we will link that in the show notes. Thank you to the sponsors of the show for making the donation possible. Okay, your cat questions. And let me tell you, you folks were not kitten around. I can't stop. I won't stop. I had several people ask this question. Kelly Windsor, Andrea Matica, I believe Juan Pedro Martinez, Christopher Brewer, and Sarah Walker all wanted to know essentially about biscuits. Why do cats need their lap or their bed? What are they doing when they're making biscuits? They're trying to get milk out of you.

What are they? But if they're adults, are they just hungry or are they? Yeah. So, you know, one thing that has possibly happened through domestication, which is typical is that we select for juvenile traits, right? So we keep our animal somewhat stunted emotionally, developmentally through domestication. And honestly, I don't know if lions and tigers make biscuits. That's a great question, actually. I need to find out. Quick aside, do tigers make biscuits? So I found an article on Mental Floss with Susan Bass of the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida. And she says, yep, but they don't purr. According to an article by the Library of Congress, lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards do not exhibit

true purring. They can make a purr-like sound. But wild cats like bobcats and cheetahs, eurasian lynx, pumas, and wild cats, they purr. But let's get back to biscuits. But, you know, the the kneading or, you know, biscuits, muffins, whatever you like to call it, is how kittens get milk from mom. It's adorable when you see them doing it. But they're kneading the mammary glands to get milk out. And so for some animals, they stop engaging in juvenile behaviors, and others continue throughout their life. And it tends to be at times where they're happy, right? And so time with mom is a very happy time. There's a lot of oxytocin flowing. There's a lot of purring going on, which we believe stimulates oxytocin. And so, you know,

we always just say they're kind of in the mommy's zone when they're nursing. And so they might be trying to comfort themselves, or they might just be very, very happy. They might just like you? Yeah. And if it bothers, I know a lot of people it bothers them because mostly because it hurts if their kitty's nails are sharp. And so either, you know, trim your cat's nails or get a nice, like fuzzy blanket to put on your lap when your cat does it. And then it won't make its way to your legs. Finally, answers on the old biscuit making process. It all makes sense now. But along with many of you, I had to know about the connection between cats and sitting in boxes. I mean, there is a reason why it's not called Schrodinger's hamster. Cats love boxes.

Katie Cobb and Bob Ogden both want to know, why do cats love sitting in boxes? What is it with their boxes? Okay, so it gets back to the predator and prey. Like they need like a safe blind where basically they can like spy on the world without being detected. So it gives them a sense of security as far as we can tell. Cats typically, you know, for example, hunt behind, you know, they're going to be hiding in a shrub or like behind some grasses. And so it gives them some protection, offers heat, which is always a bonus smaller the boxes, the more heat it's going to conduct. Right. Yeah. So and we also know that actually there was a study that showed that cats that got boxes in animal shelters were less stressed out than cats who did not. So so boxes

can be a real place of security for cats. So it all comes down to hunting instincts and just feeling secure. And I get that. Also, yes, tigers and lions and other giant cats at sanctuaries, they hang out in boxes. It's true, just real big ones. How many videos did I watch to prove this? One, I got my answer for this aside, and I should have closed the tab, but then I continued watching at least eight more large cats playing in large boxes. Just wasting some quality American time on the internet. Oh, inside note, having kitty spayed and neutered, super important if you want to control the populations. Also, if you have an outside cat, I hate to be the bearer of bad bird news, but most ecologists and wildlife scientists really need you to make that an indoor kitty to

save the lives of so many bird species and lizards and mammals and frogs and more. But Dr. Delgado says you can take your feline friends to the park or outside on the lawn with a leash. And that is great news and a wonderful idea from an expert who does that. Now, as we round to the corner on the final lap of our interview with Dr. Delgado, I wanted to know her favorite part about working with cats. I mean, I like the mystery personally that you they're not as maybe blatant as to like, you know, like a dog who's like, I love you, you know, cats got to work for it a little bit. And I definitely appreciate that. And I like that they still have that little bit of wildness, you know, we're still asking, are they domesticated or not? We can't even tell, right? Because they're

a little bit wild, but they're also tame enough that they're like, you know, curled up in your lap and purring, which is like, I think purring is magic. It's just a very soothing and like wonderful little trick they have. Do they do that in the wild? Same with meowing? Or do they just really do that to communicate with us? Well, they'll purr. So moms and kittens will purr when they're nursing. So, you know, we think typically positive situations where there's some love going on. And they'll also purr, of course, when they're distressed. Perfect answer, if you ask me. Oh, wait, I almost forgot. What about meowing? Do they do that in the wild? Right? Do they? No? Wrong? Yeah. So meowing is something that they primarily do with humans. Communication they do with other

cats is typically either more antagonistic, like yowling, growling, hissing, shrieking, or smaller, shorter, like chirping would be like a positive sound that cats would would do to each other. Hear that? They do it just for you because they love you when they need you. Boy, howdy, we learned a ton today. And all kitten aside, let's pause and reflect before we forget those facts. I swear that is the last cat pun, I promise. Okay, so we learned that cats are most active at dusk and dawn, meaning that they are crepuscular, which is an awesome word, and that cats appear to be more attached to places rather than people. And we learned that clean and multiple litter boxes are the key to keeping your cat happy, and that play should mimic their hunting instincts.

And tigers, just like many house cats, do in fact make biscuits. And most importantly, cats are trainable. Oh, and they love eating pets. So to find out more about Dr. Michael Delgado, you can visit her website, michaeldelgado.com, that is linked in the show notes. You can follow her on Twitter, that's also in the show notes. And for more info on her consulting business, check out felineminds.com. And thank you, Dr. Michael Delgado. And thank you to any new Smologites who are listening. After our latest unplanned break, it feels great to be back with really fresh episodes dropping every other week. And links, again, to the full longer episodes for maybe adults are available on alleyword.com slashologies, or in the show notes. And a full list of credits for

this episode can be found there as well, since we like to keep things small around here. And if you listen to the end of the show, I give a piece of advice. This week, it's when someone gives you a gift, a great way to make them feel appreciated is to just write them a quick thank you note. Since it's a holidays, maybe before you even get any gifts, you can make some nice thank you notes. So if someone does give you something, you have cool stationery already lined up, all ready to go, you could have fun, you can draw something on it. A thank you note doesn't even have to be long, it just has to be heartfelt. And it's a great way to make someone's day. Speaking of which, I have several dozen wedding thank you notes to write. So until next

time, Smologites, bye-bye.