¿CÓMO SOCIALIZAR A UN GATO 😼🏡 para que se adapte a una casa sin estrés?

Today we're talking about socialization because it's very important for your cat to be able to adapt to the environment in which it lives so that you can live together harmoniously. Today, I'll tell you all about it. Hi, I'm Carlos and I'm a veterinarian. And this purring cat is the cat. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families channel. We often don't take into account that our cats need to go through a socialization process. It's not your fault. Society has probably instilled in our heads that our feline companions are completely independent animals. And who knows, if they don't get along a bit with other cats that live in the house or with other people. Well, it's part of their character, which is that they're not very attached. Bye. The cat. The thing is that as we get to know cats better, studying them and learning about their behavior, we've come to see that socialization plays a very important role in how they relate to their environment. It doesn't mean that we want to make our cat more affectionate or more attached, but rather that we teach it how to relate to its environment, to other people, to other cats, so that it is not suffering constant stress. This is especially true because we have seen that our cats behavior depends greatly on the stimuli to which we subject them. And of course, I'll leave all the studies I've used to make this video in the description box so you can take a look. Okay, let's start at the beginning. Socializing a cat does not mean forcing it to interact with people or other cats. Far from it. It's about teaching it to accept the presence of these other living beings, which it may not trust very much at first, and that it sees that they do not pose a threat to it, nor are they competing for the things it considers necessary for its life, that is Its resources, food, resting area or bed, water, litter box, etc. Etc. To do this, you should always try to gradually expose your feline companion to the stimuli I just mentioned, introduce them to the world they are going to live in, and ensure that these first experiences are always enjoyable. For socialization to be successful, a series of conditions must be met. To begin with, we need to have a calm environment. We cannot expect our cat to correctly associate the stimuli we are going to present to them if everything around them is constantly stressful, if they are constantly on the lookout for things, if they do not know where these stimuli are coming from. So the best way to do this, as I have told you many times, Is to try to ensure that our cat, especially when they arrive at our home, has a safe room, a room where they know and have control over everything there is. And also they should be aware that no one who could harm them or any animal that could take what is theirs is going to come in. The next step is to make contact, but without invading. This means that when a new cat moves into your home, at first, during the first two or three days, only one person should have contact with the cat so that a relationship of trust can begin to develop between the two of you. If there are three of you living at home, you, your partner, and your children, then only one person, and if possible, an adult who is more aware of how to maintain contact with a cat, whether it is the one who comes in, cleans the litter box, feeds it, etc. Little by little, we will introduce the rest of the family members. Also, as I just mentioned, we must keep a certain distance. We cannot be invasive. If we are going to give the cat food, we are not going to try to pet the cat while we give it food. Well, we give it the bowl so that the cat gains confidence in the environment, and then it will start to let us see and touch it much more. Something very important is that the interactions that our cats value the most must be short, because, well, it seems that they react much better to them. If you're going into the room, for example, you give him food and leave. That's it. If you're going to clean the litter box, you take it outside, clean it, and put it back in. If he's already showing his face, then you can do short play sessions, for example, with a stick, that allows you to keep your distance. And above all, you don't have to force him to stay in your arms. In other words, don't pick him up off the floor and hold him like a baby, because that can make the cat feel very frustrated. The fourth thing that will help you is positive reinforcement. Well, this is always, always, always a great ally. When our cat has done something that we want him to repeat, we reward him with a small snack, or, well, with a little play, a little patting, depending on how receptive we see him. For example, if you enter the room where your cat is and it suddenly comes out to greet you, take advantage of that moment and give it a small reward, a snack, so that it receives that positive stimulus. Finally, you have to establish routines. Even if your cat doesn't have a watch on its paw or wrist, it has a series of internal cycles. And if we establish for example, certain times at which we give it food, it will already know what to expect when you walk through that door. This lack of improvisation gives the cat confidence. Basically, this comes down to a very important idea. Our cats love to be in control of the situation, of what's happening. They don't like surprises. So if we never have something random that could surprise it, that could lead it to not know what to expect, this will improve its perception of the environment and make it perceive it as a safe area. And although here I am focusing a lot on a cat that has just arrived at our home, all of these tips will help you. If you have already lived with a cat for some time, for example, the issue of schedules is very important. Many times our cats are not well socialized because they do not have strong set routines. But going back to cats that have come to live in our home, how much time do they need to be in that room in that safe environment? Well, it will depend a lot on how we see our cat behaving. There are some cats that are a little more cheeky, that gain confidence a little sooner, and therefore will want to leave that room a little sooner too. And there are other cats that will need a little more time inside. Look, I'll give you an example. If you see that your cat, on the first or second day, when you are already giving it food, comes out, greets you, wants to have contact with you, this feline companion is probably already prepared to explore the rest of the house and to get to know other members of your family, other human members. We must always warn the other people living in the house that we must try not to be too invasive with the cat. And this is summarized in the idea that the cat must always make the first move. That means that if a kitten that has come to live in the house wants to leave the room and suddenly wants to explore somewhere, we cannot go after it chasing it, okay? Because we want it to have a little independence first. Then, when it starts to feel more comfortable with its surroundings, it is more likely to want to have contact with the other people living in the house, especially if we have not been too invasive. As I say, this will depend a lot on the personality of each cat. But more or less, that is what you can see to encourage exploration. Do not leave the door wide open, because that will destroy its trust zone. Leave the door slightly open. If it wants to go out, it will, and if not, it will stay inside. But this already gives us a lot of information about how the process is going if he doesn't have the confidence to go out when the rest of the family is hanging around your house. It means that he's not ready to live in the whole house yet. Lets give him time. If he only goes out, for example, at night when we've all gone to bed, it means that he's interested in exploring his surroundings, but that he prefers to do it alone, without prying eyes. And with this, since each cat is different, you have to adapt a little to the process, how he reacts to the different stimuli that we present to him. All this is useless. And I want to put it in capital letters here, if you're going to introduce your cat to another cat that already lives at home. In these cases, you have to follow a procedure called introduction, which is basically the same thing. It's socialization, but we're going to dose it out very little by little so that the cats don't see each other as a threat, and in the end they can live together. But since I've already told you this in 85,000 videos on the channel, I just wanted to point it out here. If you want to know the specific process for introducing two or more cats, I've linked a video below where I tell you absolutely everything in great detail. And even with a real case, take a look. Okay, but so far we've seen the how. Now let's see the when. Because it's generally said that cats are only socialized until they're three months old, and that's only partly true until around 12 weeks. Well, they're like little sponges, and they're much more receptive to, well, all those new stimuli because they don't have any kind of learned ideas. And so although there are things that can scare them a little, the curiosity of when they're young and so on leads them to explore on their own and to realize that those things don't pose any kind of threat. But that doesn't mean we can approach the cat and pick it up off the floor as if it were a stuffed animal. No, you have to follow all the steps I told you before. The thing is that since the cat doesn't have any prior ideas, the process will probably be much faster. This can also be extrapolated, for example, to to contact with other cats when they are very young. They are more likely to have successful contact with other feline companions without needing such a meticulous introduction, because the older cat will see the little one as not a threat, but as a good being that is jumping around. And the little one will not approach the Big cat with any interest, only to explore, to play, and then a fairly good relationship will be established between them, or it will be much faster. Also, if we do things right at this stage of their life, we will ensure that our cat will not be afraid or have so much reluctance to come into contact with people. They will learn for the rest of their life that humans are not a threat. We give them food, we give them games, we give them affection, etc. Okay, but what happens if the cat is already older than three months or, well, it's even an adult cat, it came from a shelter. We've lost the opportunity. We can no longer socialize that cat. The answer is no. What happens is that we're going to have to pay special attention to all the contacts that we're going to make with the cat. Above all, we're going to observe our feline companion's body language very closely, because in it, we'll be able to identify reactions of frustration or even fear. There are some gestures that our cats can make on their faces when they don't like what's happening in front of them. And your cat doesn't need to hiss at you. But if you see that when you get closer, it's lowering its ears, moving back like this, then it's already telling you, hey, look, I don't want you to touch me. If it's flattening its ears or stretching its whiskers, you know that the cat isn't having good contact with that person or is going to need a little more time. Of course, to do this, you also need to know how to identify your cat's body language signals. And I have to tell you that we've talked about this here on the channel. I'll leave you a series of videos below that can help you. But basically, anything that prevents our cat from showing curiosity with its ears up and its tail raised means that we need to keep a certain distance to help our cat gain confidence. Because many of you write to me and tell me, hey, look, my cat. I just rescued him. He's been in the room for a month now. He never wants to come out. I can't get close. Well, maybe we're being too intrusive. Well, we need to give that cat a little more space. We need to try to make sure he doesn't see us as a threat, as I said. So, for example, you can put his food dish near where he's hiding so that he only has to come out a little bit to eat and doesn't have to expose himself. So much. You can stay inside that room, but not standing up, not staring at where the cat is, but lying down on the floor so that it doesn't see you as a threat, perhaps with a slightly distracted attitude, not very aware of what it's doing. All these types of things will help you because keep in mind that cats often come with a series of experiences that we are not aware of, and many have even been traumatic. So we have to give them an extra safety net so that they gain confidence. And also, as I said at the beginning, we don't want the cat to be more affectionate, to be stuck to you all the time, to not want to leave you, to be your shadow. There are some cats that simply learn to accept you in their environment. They understand that you are not going to cause them any kind of problem, and they simply have a slightly more detached life, a little more independent, and that's all good. This is part of what we call feline catnality. These are cats that don't have much contact with people, but they can coexist harmoniously. And this same thing, perhaps taken a little to the extreme, can also be applied to feral cats, cats that have been rescued from the street and have come to live in a home. There are some cats that don't adapt very well or that take a long time. That's why many times when cats are adults, we prefer that they remain in their colonies living with other cats because, well, they have learned to live in that environment and they don't trust people too much. They may have had contact with people who, well, have been able to harm them, or even people who, well, have scared them away from somewhere and therefore they don't trust them completely. So, well, if you have rescued a cat from a feral cat colony and it is living inside your house, you should know that you will always have to give it a shelter, an area where it can hide, and that it is possible that it will spend a lot of time in there, hidden. Although little by little. If we maintain independence and distance from that cat, it can gain some trust with the rest of the family members and eventually let itself be seen, more or less. It is true that perhaps contact with people is not too close, and that is why it is more important with these cats than with any other cat, that we have a lot of patience in any case. And although there are a series of steps that we have to take, is not a magic formula. We have to adapt it to how we see the cat behaving and how it responds to each of our actions. Our steps right to what we are doing. And above all, we must understand that the distances we maintain with cats are very important to help them feel safe. We don't have to try to be too invasive at first. In, in fact, for example, in the case of Alcatshofo, who right now won't leave our side, we let him stay under the bed if he wanted to, because that was his safe environment. Little by little he would gain confidence, come out and let us see him much more. We made everything much more comfortable for him, putting his food very close by so that he didn't have to have too much contact with us. He is a very sociable cat, so he gained confidence very quickly, which is why that initial adaptation period only lasted the first night. But don't take it as a failure with your cat if you see that, well, during the first week, the first two or three weeks, the cat doesn't let you see him much, doesn't let you touch him much. And also remember that there are some cats that may not want much contact with people and don't need to be on top of you all day. That's fine. But yes, one thing I want to tell you is that if you see that these general guidelines are not working, and you will notice this because you have adopted a cat that is inside that room and feels very stressed when you enter, even just to leave food that has gone to live inside a closet, a corner, and that hisses just to feel you near, and you do not see any kind of progress in about two or three weeks, you should seek the help of a specialist in feline behavior, an ethologist, so that they can give you specific guidelines that can help you in your case. Because although this video, well, it gives a series of more or less general tips, in the end, each cat is different. And well, although we have already talked about this topic in other videos on the channel, we did not have a specific video. And I think that socialization is something very important that many of you are looking for and do not know how to start. So I hope this video helps you. Well, I don't know if you're going through the socialization process right now or if when your cat came to live at your house, you had to take him out of his room and gradually gain his confidence. Tell me how you did it or what questions you have on the subject in the comments. Also, if you like the video, you can give us a like and share it with everyone subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. And if you want to support us a lot and help us continue, give us a big thank you. Visit the secondary channel. We have here on YouTube called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian. And before we go, let's meet this precious little guy named Hendrick, who greets us with his human partner, Jaime from Argentina. The beautiful Karim, with his little white chest, greets us with his human partner, Maria Ynes Salinas. And we say goodbye from Colombia. There's our friend Bruce, who lives with his human partner, Genesis Fernanda. Thank you very much for following the Happy Pets and Families Channel. And I'll see you in the next video here with Alkacho. Whether he shares it with you or with other animals, today I'll tell you how to do it.

Other animals, other cats. Whether he shares it with you or with other cats, today I'll tell you how to do it. Even if it's not with humans or.

He can adapt to the environment. It doesn't matter if he shares it with you or with other cats. Today I'll tell you how to do it. Ah.

The environment in which he lives.

The environment in which he lives. It doesn't matter if he shares it only with you or with other cats. Today I'll tell you how to do it.

But if with you he seems like a person, or only with humans.

Okay. It doesn't matter if you share it only with humans or with other cats. Today I'll tell you how to do it. Whether only with humans. No. Okay. Yes. Whether only with humans or with other cats. Today I'll tell you how to do.

It with other cats. Do you think that includes you also being included with other cats? Well, of course, logically. Whether only with humans or also with other cats. That's what I said. Right. So that they can live together harmoniously. So that you have. Right. So that you have. Okay, okay. They need an environment, Right. They need socialization, which is something I don't want to get into too much. Yes. No, no, no, no. Come in, come in. You. No, I hope this video shows you.

Ah.

You have to adapt it to life with the rest of the. No, My cat can do whatever he wants. And here, with artichoke.