Questions tagged [behavior]
Behavior of the pet, including social interactions with either humans or other animals.
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Alternatives to walking a dog
Dogs need to be entertained and physically and mentally stimulated to feel happy. Many behavioral problems are either caused by boredom or could be treated by engaging the dog in different games and ...
Elmy♦
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Is my betta dying/sick or just sleeping?
The past 10 days I have been gone every 3-4 days and then I return home to feed my betta. I'm usually not gone that much, and when I came home Monday my fish looked dead.
My betta fish has always ...
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How can stop my adult cat from urinating in inappropriate places?
My 8 year old cat has recently began urinating in inappropriate places. How can I correct this behavior?
At first he started urinating on the floor, in a small area in the basement. I moved a litter ...
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What are the signs that a female platy fish is about to give birth?
I have a 10 US gallon tank that has been up and running for about 6 days. I purchased 2 female and 1 male platys and they have been in it for about 4 days.
I believe both females are pregnant (they ...
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What should I do if my cat stops eating and starts hiding more?
My cat is usually really social. Loves to be cuddled, loves being around people, always crawls in my lap. Today, though, he spent the day hiding in my closet and in his cat tree. He didn't really eat ...
user53
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How should I discipline my cat for bad behavior?
There are a couple of things that I try and prevent my cat from doing: jumping up on the kitchen counter and being mean to the dog (who is obedient and minds his own business). It's easy to catch him ...
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How do I discourage my cat from biting?
I adopted an adult cat from a shelter. The cat had been seized (along with 20+ others) by Animal Control from a hoarder and there is no prior medical history. Age estimates range from 3-6 years and he ...
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How to get cats to coexist in peace?
My cat is a big neutered male and my sister's cat is a small female. Both cats are three years old. When my sister is away on holidays I have to take care of both cats. Unfortunately, they hiss at ...
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New cat is hiding and not eating
A couple days ago, I adopted a cat from a lady off Craigslist. We went to go pick her up, and everything seemed fine. Now that she's home, I'm worried. She hasn't eaten, had water, or used the potty ...
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How should I react to two fighting cats?
Several questions have addressed how to get cats to get along together.
How to stop two male cats from fighting
How can I encourage two cats to get along?
How do we handle two female cats in the ...
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My rabbit is digging at the carpet in the corner of the living room, what should I do?
Sometimes when my bunny is out running around the house she will go in the corner and dig at the carpet. I stomp and clap my hands while saying "No" sternly, and she stops but will often go back to ...
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Putting a cat into a carrier
It seems to be close to impossible to put my cat into a carrier. I'm not sure whether he is afraid of closed spaces or doesn't like being restrained or what, but it requires two people to put him into ...
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Why won't my dog eat on her own?
My dog will go days without eating unless someone sits with her and hand feeds her dog food. At first, I thought it was because we were feeding her some table scraps every once in a while, but I have ...
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At what age cats should stop biting and scratching games?
I have a Maine Coon kitten who is 1.5 months old. When he's playful, he starts biting and scratching whenever he sees your arm next to him, and any hand movement is like an invitation to bite. Trying ...
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How can I train my dog to stop eating everything?
He's almost a year now (about 10 months old), and I thought it was just a phase, but it's not so much like that as it seems.
I've had problems with him eating wood (from chewing on tree branches), ...
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How to prevent my dog from barking constantly when I am not at home?
My 11 years old Bishon Frise constantly barks when there's no one at home. Even if we stay away for 4, 5 hours. She got raucous once for barking too much.
What could be causing that and how can I ...
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Why is my dog drinking his pee after he urinates inside?
Every night, as soon as I turn off the last light in the house, if I've forgotten to take the dog (a 13-year-old miniature dachshund we obtained from a reputable breeder 11 years ago) out immediately ...
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What means do rabbits use to mark and defend their territory?
Bunnies as prey animals would seem to be very quite, shy and fearful. Do they do anything to mark or defend their territory?
The best answer will include references, be focused on house rabbits, ...
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When is declawing a viable option for cats?
We recently acquired a kitten, and we've found that in playing with her we tend to get a lot of scratches, often severe enough to draw a bit of blood. These scratches are not hostile in nature, but ...
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How can I stop my dogs from scooting / dragging their butts?
I currently have 3 dogs and all of them will periodically scoot their butts, slam their butts hard on the ground, and drag themselves. When it happens, I know their anal glands are bothering them and ...
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My cat suddenly stopped using the litter-box to defecate
I have read this question, but no answer seems to help here.
My cat is an eight-year-old neutered male, and I have had it for five years.
He has always used the litter box, but sometimes defecated ...
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How do I discourage rabbits from spraying?
Both my rabbits are fixed (spayed/neutered).
However, anytime there's a new pet in the house (currently a guinea pig), my rabbits start spraying (marking with pee).
While it would seem like this ...
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Made my cat scared of me, need help
Unfortunately I've messed up and don't really know how to remedy the situation, I need some suggestions and help.
The situation is as follows: my in-laws are vets and do a lot of pro-bono work. One ...
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How to stop a 12 week old kitten nursing . Hurting mom
I'm having the same problem as outlined in How can I get my cat to stop nursing from its mother? My kitten is about 12 weeks old, and is still nursing. The mom tried pushing it away, but the kitten ...
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My kitten kneads and sucks on our blanket but why
I have a male kitten and I found him and 3 sisters of his abandoned. They were starved so badly they couldn't last a full day. All of his sisters died so we got him a friend. They play a lot then they ...
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I need help rebuilding my cats trust after abusing them multiple times
Before I start I want to say I am now on medication and have received professional help. It is not an option for me to rehome these cats as I will explain later.
To start off i am 16 and still live my ...
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How much purring is too much purring?
I have an adolescent cat that I adopted as a kitten. For some time now I have noticed that he is purring a lot. I know that when giving affection this behavior is normal but my cat seems to start ...
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How can I gain back my dog's trust after accidentally kicking him?
I was in my yard the other day playing with a football and my dog was nearby. I was kicking the ball against the wall when my dog was walking past, I didn't see him and accidentally kicked him in the ...
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Why does my cat (almost) constantly purr while he's awake?
I've heard cats purr to show contentment (though humans who want that to be true may be imagining it). WebMD suggests they purr (1) to get our attention ("feed me!"); (2) when content ("petting time")...
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Why do rabbits chew electrical wires?
Bunnies like to chew on electrical wires. While there is some question about if they can be trained not to, it best to bunny proof any wires they may be around. (How to)
Is there any reliable ...
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Laser pointer: does a no-win situation risk psychological harm to cats?
When using a laser pointer to play with the cats, I've always been careful to end the session by giving them a physical toy to play with. I've assumed, without any actual basis, that putting them in ...
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Why doesn't my cat like being held?
We adopted our full-grown cat when she was a couple of months old. She has never shown any signs of having been ill-treated prior to our ownership of her.
The problem is that whenever I grab my cat ...
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How to leash train a rabbit?
I would like to be able to leash train my rabbit so its easier to travel with her, and to take her out to parks and such (under careful supervision).
I've seen footage of rabbits in showjumping ...
user35
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Diurnal, crepuscular, nocturnal, matutinal, vespertine; what do these mean and how do they impact my pet's life?
A recent answer listed all of these and said the group a pet falls in could impact how they behave: diurnal, crepuscular, nocturnal, matutinal, vespertine.
What do all of these mean and how do they ...
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Why is my dog peeing in the house when we're not home?
After the first month, he got settled in and more hyper, and now whenever we leave and no one is in the house (except him and the cats) he defecates inside.
We take him out before we leave, but we ...
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Repetitive Paw Licking
My wife and I adopted a wonderful 5 year old female Pitbull about a year ago. Shortly after we got her she started licking her paws, not just normal cleaning of the paws but repetitive licking until ...
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My cat is terrified ALL THE TIME. How do I fix this?
Three years ago, my wife and I adopted a cat from a coworker's relative. She's a very small calico/manx, and she was about 1 year old when we adopted her. We have no reason to believe she has ever ...
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Why does my cat pee on the rug outside the toilet?
I have a cat which was a stray cat 10 years ago. No pee tray or litter tray was provided as she knows how to do her business in the toilet without any training from the 1st day.
However, the problem ...
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What can I do to ease my dogs' fear of loud noises?
Whether it is my Black Labrador or my parents' American Eskimo, the sounds of thunder, fireworks and sometimes random loud noises can send them into a bit of a panic mode. They shake for an extended ...
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How to let an indoor cat have some outdoors time safely?
I have two indoor cats that have an abundance of energy and some behavior problems. I have read that allowing the cats outside occasionally can help with this behavior. Additionally, both cats ...
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How can I prevent my cat from extending his claws when being petted?
When I pet my cat, he often curls his toes, and extends / retracts his claws. I guess it's a sign that he enjoys getting petted, however this is not something I appreciate when he's lying on furniture ...
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How to get my cat to stop being annoying at night?
My cats were always allowed in the bedroom. Lately, the youngest one, who is the least affectionate and the most adventurous and most-likely to get into trouble, has been waking us up every night. He ...
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How can I train my cat to not jump on the kitchen counters?
My cat jumps onto our kitchen counters frequently, sometimes causing major accidents. What is the best way to break that habit? Would I need one of those electric shocker things?
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Should I let my cat go outside?
I got a 6 months male who has been used to freely wander outside in the countryside.
I'm wondering about letting him go outside. I live at the second floor and share a balcony with my neighbor (a ...
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What is an effective way to discipline a dog?
My Friend's dog has so many bad behaviour like:
Barking at people unnecessarily, fighting other dogs, bringing dirt in the house, defecating anywhere in the house and lots of others.
My friend ...
user34
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Why does my dog roll in gross stuff?
Sometimes my occasionally timid dog comes in from the backyard with extreme confidence, jumps up next to us, and we simply want to vomit due to the incredibly new and violently horrible stench he has ...
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Is overhead cable running leash suitable for all dogs?
I have been told that such a running leash is not recommended for pyrenean shepherd dog. The advice was, that if I want to let a dog of this breed out alone, I should build a fenced place for him to ...
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Why does my cat bite me while I'm petting it?
While I'm petting my cat, she'll start biting me. She grabs a little chunk of my arm (not hard at all, doesn't hurt), then moves her head from side to side, as if she was trying to rip part of my ...
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Why does my cat's meow have no sound?
I've looked all over for an explanation. Surprisingly, there's not much information about this (most being theories).
Are there any cat experts that can explain this? I've heard "the sound is too ...
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Aggression in my 9 month old golden retriever
My dog is 9 months old and I know him only from the past 3 months. He was pampered and loved by my mum and dad. He was very friendly, he loved me and he used to sleep with me all the time. He allowed ...
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