Advice & Tips

The Truth About Scruffing Cats

Posted on by Anita Kelsey - Cat Behaviour Consultant
21
Jan

An article by cat behaviour expert Anita Kelsey 

I’m not a big advocate on scruffing cats and during my cat behaviour consultations I often hear clients tell me that, as a way to get their cats to obey them when they have been ‘naughty’, they scruff them ‘ because that’s what their mummies would have done when they were kittens”. The truth about scruffing cats starts now!

These are some of the facts below to highlight why scruffing is never a good idea in most circumstances.

  1. Many cats react adversely to scruffing resulting in aggressive behaviour

  1. A kitten’s relationship with its mother is based on a different set of principles. A mother cat knows the precise pressure to place on the skin at the back of the neck. She scruffs her kittens not to reprimand them (as many people over quote) but to carry them or move them from danger. For an adult cat the action of a human scruffing it is frightening and puts the cat into an un-relaxed and guarded state.
  2. Lifting a cat or suspending its body weight by its scruff (the skin on the back of its neck) is unnecessary and could be potentially painful. It’s certainly not the most respectful or appropriate way to pick up or handle your cat.
  3. The theory was that since kittens go limp when their mothers carry them by the scruff, a tight grip on the loose skin over a cat’s shoulders would trigger the same response. But this “flexor reflex” occurs only in very young kittens. It is now thought that gripping the skin in “mother cat fashion” causes stress and can make a cat more fearful.
  4. Scruffing should only ever be used in a situation whereby you need to restrain a cat quickly because of adverse circumstances. Apart from this scruffing should never be used as a training action or reprimand.

Treat your cat with respect and train in a proper manner. Forceful actions such as scruffing should never be anyone’s choice of action.

We hope you have enjoyed this article on the truth about scruffing cats.

References:

Dr Marty Becker, Karen L Overall, G Landsberg, W Hunthausen, L Ackerman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anita Kelsey holds a first class honours degree in Feline Behaviour and Psychology (work based BA Hons) and runs a vet referral service dedicated strictly to the diagnosis and treatment of behaviour problems in cats. Middlesex University also awarded Anita the Gerry Fowler Prize for achievement in recognition of her work and final result.
Anita is also a specialist mobile cat groomer who works closely with vets on aggressive or phobic cats. She writes for Your Cat magazine and is on their experts panel for cat grooming. Visit http://www.catbehaviourist.com.

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Anita Kelsey - Cat Behaviour Consultant

Anita Kelsey holds a first class honours degree in Feline Behaviour and Psychology (work based BA Hons) and runs a vet referral service dedicated strictly to the diagnosis and treatment of behaviour problems in cats. She is also a qualified cat groomer and specialises in grooming aggressive or phobic cats. Anita writes for Your Cat Magazine and is on their experts panel answering readers questions on cat grooming. She also advises on feline behaviour for the CFBA (Canine and Feline Behaviour) magazine as well as being a full member. Anita is based in Notting Hill, London but consults all over the UK as well as international requests. She lives with her husband, a music producer, and two Norwegian Forest cats, Kiki and Zaza.

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