My cats continue to suck even if one of them is 2 years old and the other one 3. They especially suck on my skin, but also on pillows, blankets and so on. First, they thoroughly lick the area and then suck on it like kittens. They are both females, not neutered, that I took from the street when they were really young. The whole thing happens about twice or three times a day. What’s the explanation?Cristina Secareanu, Cluj-Napoca

This is a normal behaviour that sometimes manifests with adult cats as well; its function is similar to that of purring: destraining; it usually indicates a state of physical and mental confort, associated with the presence of the mother. It is quite usual for this type of behaviour to keep manifesting even when cats have reached adulthood and to continue to be associated with those states of well-being it was originally associated with. As long as it is not compulsory, and by that I mean it doesn’t manifest regardless of the situation and with a high frequency, there’s no reason of concern.

When I go out with Ada, even though she’s overexcited and anxious she doesn’t seem to be able to sit still so I can leash her; she keeps spinning in small circles with her eyes on the leash but when I try to hook it she dodges it. Eventually I manage to hook the leash but only after I’ve strangled her. I’m hoping there is a reasonable explanation for this sort of behaviour and some way of improvement because I hate to always take her out when I’m already angry with her…especially since she’s a quite temperamental dog.Mara Maravela, Cluj-Napoca

With Ada, it is all about a state of over-excitement, that is, just before going for a walk her enthusiasm is so powerfull she doesn’t seem to be able to contain herself. She appears to be torn between the joy associated with going for a walk and the lack of enthusiasm associated with the idea of the leash that usually means a restriction to her freedom. You could exercise leashing her outside the “going for a walk” context and you could try to compensate her each time she allows you to place the leash around her neck.

My 4 year old female cocker, usually quite gentle and loving has the following oddity: she sleeps with me and when both of us get in bed, in the evenings, she tends to become overly aggressive whenever I move or I try to pet her. If someone else comes near the bed she snarls. What can I do bout it?R. Mihoc, Cluj-Napoca

This is a common case of excessive territorial behaviour. The bed being the best place for her, the dog feels she needs to protect it fearcely. Because she finds the bed so pleasant a place, the guarding behaviour works as a superstimulus. I would suggest the click method to work out this problem. You sould use a clicking pen and click it each time the dog is compensated (with food or something she seems to enjoy). It is a really simple conditioning exercise. After about 10 associations click-food, the click will gain positive value (the teaching by association principle). Then you can work on breaking the territorial behaviour in bed. When she is in bed, you should try to move gently towards her, but always click the pen while you’re doing that (so you can stop giving her food when you click the pen). She’s going to gradually transfer the positive value of the clik to your movements towards her. I hope it works out just fine.

Rhona is going to be 3 years old this month; she’s changed about 4 families so far but she’s been very well taken care of by all of them, she’s always been loved and spoiled. She’s been living with me for about a year and she spent 6 months with my parents during this period. In August, after having stayed with my parents for about 2 months- she was rarely left by herself in the house (1-2 hours/day)- she started trashing things in the house:

1. day 1 ( she was left alone in the house for about 10 hours) – she destroyed furniture and clothes
2. day 2 (she was left alone in the house for about an hour) – she destroyed a bag
3. day 3 – she trashed my father’s bag, without touching its contents

Rhona appears to be suffering from separation anxiety. Because she changed so many families (even though she was loved by all of them), she didn’t get a chance to build an emotional background. That is why, whenever she’s left by herself she is predicting abandonment or change of family. The destructive behaviour is a materialization of her anxiety. We’ve been working with dogs suffering from this form of anxiety and constantly trying to find ways of reducing the apparition rate of such inadaptative behaviours. If Rhona is from Cluj we could make her part of our experiments. This would mean bringing her for 2 consecutive days to our office on Republicii 37, where we could film her for 20 minutes in 3 different situations. (we wouldn’t do anything to harm her, we just need to see how she reacts when she’s left by herself in a room, when she’s left by herself but with a radio recording palying and when she’s left by herself and with a recording of her master’s voice playing).
If Raluca intends to keep Rhona then she should practice a few “tricks” with her; this would take a great deal of patience from Raluca:

1. try to ignore her (as much as you can) when you’re getting ready to leave the house ; for about 10 minutes before you leave and 3 minutes when you get back. Only after she’s calmed herself a bit, great her dearly.
2. if you have time try to tire her with a walk or some games before you leave the house.
3. here’s a way of breaking her compulsory destructive behaviour : take an empty bear can and fill it with pebbles or something else that would make a noise. Pretend you’re leaving the house and then sneak back in without her seeing you and try to watch what she’s doing. Whenever you see her starting to trash on something , shake the can. Then watch what she’s doing next. Normally she’d have to start distroying something else. Shake the can again. Do this for about an hour and let her know you’re back home only if she’s stopped trashing things. I hope it works. You should do this on more than one occasion. It’s called desensitizing technique.
4. you could also try to leave on a recording of you playing with her (for instance a mp3 that we could very well help you record). This is a part of our experiment and seems to have worked beautifully on some of the dogs brought to us.
5. if none of these work, you could take it to a veterinary, that is resort to some anxiety medication. I hope it won’t have to get to that. Please keep me posted.