Cats talk at the fair, says animal psychologist Klára Vodičková

Cats talk at the fair, says animal psychologist Klára Vodičková

Klára Vodičková does not deny her job. The quail Jaruš steams in a cage under the window, the lizard Abigail has a paddock in the terrarium by the wall, Garfinka and Sebík cats sometimes run around. It is the cats that are important in Vodičková's story.

Although she is a trained breeder of exotic animals and she gets a lot of things from raccoons to tigers at the zoo, she spends most of her time with domesticated meowers. The owners are advised by the animal soul both in their trade and in the TV show Cat is not a dog.

"Cats need to be raised. We must not let them rule us, "says 27-year-old Vodičková. She sets an example by herself. Her Garfinka and Sebík can retrieve and listen to the commands "sit" and "lie down".

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How did you do it? I became interested in cats thanks to the red-haired devil - Garfinka. All my life I worked with animals, but suddenly I had a cat that was angry, angry, attacking others, peeing around the apartment. I was desperate for her. I already worked at the zoo, so I soon found out that she was doing this because she didn't have enough discharge. I started training with her like a dog.

It goes? Of course, it's just the myth that cats are so independent that they are unreadable. Look at Garfinka, we have a bunch of crumpled receipts in the corner, she likes to carry them for me. She was just angry out of boredom. You just have to know how to do it.

Does this apply to all cats? Hundred percent. And not just for them. According to Ms. Karen Pryor, a promoter of animal learning through positive motivation, even mother-of-pearl can be trained in a similar way. Or bees, that's pretty fashionable right now - if you guide them properly, they also listen.

You work with different animals at the zoo. Is the cat's soul very different from the tiger, for example? In principle, it is comparable. The only difference is that tigers are wild animals that do not believe in humans. Otherwise, the needs of domestic and wild cats are the same. They require mental stimulation, plenty of hunting and sleep, the opportunity to sleep in peace and purify yourself. Both a domestic cat and a tiger can be depressed. And what is interesting: a domestic cat can even die of depression.

Maybe if her owner leaves. She decides she doesn't like it here anymore. Normally fades. I experienced a cat that fell into great depression due to the fact that the owners threw out her favorite scraper. It turned out that after three days he was brought back from the bins, after which the cat immediately stopped being disfigured.

Klára Vodičková

No animal is a stranger to her and she keeps a lot of them at home.

Breeder of exotic animals, specialist in re-education of naughty cats. He also deals with them in the TV show Cat is Not a Dog. Member of The Animal Behavior Management Alliance.

She is single, interested in natural cosmetics, tourism and history.

You help owners with angry cats. Do you use any psychological tricks on them? It's certainly not like I take the cat aside and start convincing her: "Look, Mourka, the twitching of the closet has to stop." I notice how the cat's ears are built, like its back.

It's a bit of detective work, I'm researching what the problem is. How many times it's not easy. For example, a cat burns people at home. You go there and find that he lives in a complete cat paradise. That at first glance he has no reason to behave like this at all. You have to keep looking.

Only after further research will you find out that the owner's stress, for example, may be behind it. The owner changed jobs, he has nerves and transferred it to the cat. Or birds fly outside the window, it annoys the cat. So many things can happen and suddenly a tiger killer is running at home.

Then he invents shit because he's bored. He has an excess of energy in him. Cats sleep for almost twenty hours a day and gather energy for hunting. But they have nothing to hunt in the apartments. That then he jumps after you means only one thing: You play with her a little.

This is one recipe: pay more attention to it. And second: Once he jumps on you, do absolutely nothing. Don't ask for it, don't swear, don't hurt in pain. The cat is waiting for what will happen. If you don't react, there is nothing or fun, it is the same boredom for her as before. But when you shout "Ow!", He'll be happy with this game. "Yeah, I scared him, it's fun. I will continue to do that. "

Does he see me as the leader of the pack? It depends on the hierarchy in your pack. Some cats will perceive you as a boss - you take care of hunting, feeding, everything. Others are dominant, they're coughing at you. Maybe they know you don't belong in the pack. Animals are not stupid, after all we are a different species for them. Even so, they include us in the family. How many times do they even feel they have to take care of us. That's when they lick us, for example.

Kočky mluví na férovku, tvrdí zvířecí psycholožka Klára Vodičková

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Is it a coincidence that a cat often prefers household members who did not want it? It's not. Since those people didn't want her, they probably didn't notice her when she came to their house. Unlike the man who wanted her so much that he still wanted to cuddle with the kitten. The problem is that some cats may not have that much physical contact. She wants enough space to be able to breathe freely in the apartment. That's why she sometimes likes those who don't like her that much. Don't forget that the cat chooses the moment when it wants to be petted.

What's so scratchy about her ear? Something extremely intimate. Some theories, which I do not fully support, even speak of a sexual subtext. I just think that the cat comes when it is in the mood to cuddle.

Does it always mean satisfaction when it growls? There are many reasons for howling in a cat. They can heal tissues with it, so they grow even when something hurts. After all, a cat often lays when it gives birth. It heals the tissue and calms down. The rumble calms both us and herself. It relieves stress.

See, so the rumble as an exclusive symbol of satisfaction is a bit of a myth. What else do you know about cats? There are! From being a reincarnated devil to being a fake.

Isn't it? In my seminars, I always say that I do not know a more readable animal than a cat. The animal always acts flat with you. That we don't always understand him is another matter. The only creature that behaves falsely is a human. He can lie and hide different feelings. The cat will say it at the fair.

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So let's say I want to train her. How do I do that? Definitely for good. After a bad time, only a dog can be trained. If you train an animal with fear, the animal must either be weaker or at least think about it. In addition, fear is only a temporary feeling that can go away quickly. That is why it is better to reach for positive motivation, which animals forget to train more slowly. You are most effective in motivating your animal to perform better through something it wants.

Do you mean treats? Maybe. Look at Jarus over there. I don't train with her right now, but at the zoo I worked with other quails. And the main motivation for them was the mealworms. They could have beaten after them. So when they did something I wanted, I gave them worms. This is how we trained complete quail agility in a year.

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But you can never shoot cats. You have to be able to praise them. When they do something good, it's nice to give them a pass. When they're angry, it's okay to shout at them. Work with voice tone. Telling a cat "Don't do it" in a slow honey way is useless. You have to say, "Look, get out of there!" The problem is also how many times all members of the household are not consistent in their upbringing. That one allows something, the other forbids it, so the cat is constantly trying. If you forbid her something ten times and allow the eleventh time, the cat will wonder what if it would work out next time.

And it occurs to me: she should get on her ass. But it's also wrong. When you do, it either scratches your blood, tempts you, or takes revenge. I probably shouldn't say that, but cats are perhaps the most vengeful animals besides primates. As soon as you punish her, she goes and will do something for you in a targeted way.

It is quite common for someone in the household to punish a cat and then have a sick pillow. I even had a case where the lady was dating a partner who didn't do anything to the cat, he was just unlucky to come into the household second. Once he slept with the lady before his races, he had a sports bag on the ground. The cat peed at him. It dried up in the morning, the gentleman didn't notice. Only at the races, where it was warm and the master was sweating, so everyone around him suddenly noticed. It is said that he almost withdrew from those races.

Who left the house then? Lord or cat? Not one in the final. We explained what the aversion could have created. The animal had to understand that the man's arrival would not expel him from the household.

Ultimatums often fall in relationships: Either the cat goes or I go? Often. Unfortunately. It all stems from the laziness of people who do not want to solve the problem. For me, there is no excuse when the animal leaves the apartment because a baby is due. At the same time, it is just a matter of acquainting the cat with the baby so that it perceives it as a new member of the family.

People say, "We had to put the cat away because we were afraid it would kill the baby." Unfortunately, there is a myth that cats attack young children at night. That they will lie down and the babies will suffocate. But it's not like that. Cats have a sixth sense, they can sense that someone is dying. Therefore, as soon as the newborn has a sudden death syndrome, the cat knows in advance. Therefore, she heads to him to warn others that something is happening. He lies down next to the baby and starts meowing. When a parent comes there and sees everything, he first thinks that the cat killed the newborn. This is how the superstition came about, which makes cats little witches killing children.

You are with cats every day. Is it useful for you even when you work with the already mentioned tigers in the zoo ? I may surprise you: I even apply the experience of cats to humans. After all, humans are also just animals ... Thanks to cats, I realized that it is necessary to look at things from different angles. If the saleswoman in the store is irritated, she probably has a reason. Something could have happened to her. So than to be mad at her, it's better to have a nice day, to smile at her. Who knows. Maybe you'll change her for the rest of the day.

Cat breeders shoot cheerful videos with their pets. Recently, the frozen expression of cats while eating ice cream has become a viral:

November 16, 2016

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