Re: [A/S] Tuna-Butterpaws question/Traveling with cats

[Tuna <rctowns@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Susan -

Hunter and others can speak to the issue of fulltiming with dogs... i love
doggies, but haven't the energy to live with one, much less two or
more...and traveling with dogs? i'm not sure i'd ever be able to do that...

I've had a succession of feline companions for more than thirty years, all
'rescues' from shelters, with the exception of one hawaiian cat, by whom i
was adopted.

As a student/practitioner/experimenter in the field of behavior analysis, i
enjoy the benefits of having a rich and powerful experimental research
history (going back to 1938 or so) from which to draw for arranging the
contingencies which contribute to the shaping of my own behavior, as well as
that of my ani-pals.

Although at the time i simply applied the technique as it was taught to me,
i've since thought about the behavioral principles involved in the
'butterpaws' technique. It's not necessary to understand them to making it
work, though, so i'll skip that lecture... i can summarize the science with
a description paraphrased from my friend Patrick Friman, behavior analyst
extraordinaire: "All learning comes down to this simple formula:
'Repetition, With Contrast'. The greater the contrast, the fewer
repetitions, and vice-versa. How many repetitions does it take to learn not
to touch the burners on a hot stove, when the contrast between the
temperature of your hand and the temperature of the burner is a couple of
hundred degrees?"  The taste of salted butter, for cats, has sufficient
contrast to their usual fare as to make it a powerful reinforcer, especially
when used sparingly, and only in the context of 'staying near home'.

The 'butterpaws' thing seems to use a simple stimulus-pairing to establish
the relation between the inside of the trailer and 'unbelieveably
good-tasting stuff'. Also, notice that they might take a step or two toward
the door, but will invariably stop, sit, and lick the butter off their paws.
It also seems important that the cat(s) never taste the butter in any other
context. Use other reinforcers for other types training exercises. I
generally prefer to avoid using food-reinforcers, anyway, since their
effectiveness varies with the ani-pal's current 'satiety'. I generally make
particular sounds/words when petting, grooming, or feeding my cat, and then
use those same sounds/words
as 'conditioned reinforcers' during training.

All my cats have been 'indoor cats' - the ones who've survived to the age of
sixteen or more, anyway... Unlike most breeds of dogs, cats can be perfectly
content (even happier, since cats are arguably the laziest animals on earth
and don't have to work so hard to feel safe and secure) in a relatively
confined space as long as there's sufficient food, water, a little
entertainment, and a couple of 'hiding places' available. Last week, i did
two eleven-hour driving-days with Dr.Katz, in a two-seater sports car. A
month ago, we did a five-day road trip with four of those days being eight
hours minimum of drive-time, but that was in an RV... she actually loves
that rv now, and whenever i go into the backyard to get something out of it,
she materializes out of nowhere and jumps in.

I've successfully re-trained full-grown 'outdoor cats' to be 'trailer cats',
but it can take weeks, depending on the individual cat's history. I'm pretty
sure Dr.Katz had been a ranch cat and had not spent much time indoors until
she was rounded up and put in the animal shelter. She didn't particularly
care to be touched, petted, and struggled mightily when picked up and held,
but with a few weeks of housecat living, she adapted completely. I imagine
it would be quite a bit more difficult to retrain a housecat to outdoor
life. The transition should be all-at-once and complete, probably. It will
take a LOT longer if they're allowed occasional access to their old outdoor
life-style ('partial' and 'intermittent' reinforcement schedules' are
notoriously difficult to reverse).

To answer your questions (finally), most *camp*grounds restrict animal
access in some way or another - longer-term places like long-term stay rv
parks and mobile home parks that admit trailers tend to be more lenient, but
it can be a problem finding one that expressly allows free-range kitties.
I've found it much simpler to omit the fact (hard to do with doggies, i
expect), and have park management find out later. In my full-timing and
traveling days, the cats would always stay in the trailer during overnight
or brief stays. Even when we were going to be somewhere for a week or
longer, the first few days involved supervised excursions to the limits (set
by myself) of our park/campground.

When we lived in tucson in '76-'77, we were in a mobile-home park which
accepted travel-trailers for long stays. we were there for about seven or
eight months. After the first week or so, the cats were allowed out
unsupervised, but having visited the outskirts of the park during supervised
excursions, were generally content to hang out nearer to home. When we moved
to Santa Monica in '77, we had the same situation, although since the park
management there didn't particularly care for free-range kitties, they spent
more time in lock-down. We lived in that park for two or three years.They
didn't mind, as evidenced by the fact that they never made any particular
effort to 'escape' when the opportunities presented. The key to this part of
the formula is the supervised excursion. i'd recommend doing that with each
cat separately... there's a reason the expression 'herding cats' is
synonymous with 'an exercise in futility'...

Finally, cats' protestations and complaining, like any other behavior, are
'shaped', usually inadvertently, by their humans. By carefully 'ignoring' it
(it's ok to go check on them when they're doing it, just be sure to pretend
you're doing something else, and don't make eye-contact until they've
stopped yowling. When they've really stopped complaining, give them all the
attention and treats they can handle. Just make sure that they've really
'stopped' before treats/petting, otherwise you'll find you've shaped up a
pattern of 'yowling and stopping' which will increase in intensity until
they get treats/attention...

Tuna