Using environmental modification to address behavioral problems in cats without aversive training methods.
Environmental modification as a behavior management tool reflects a welfare-centered understanding of cat behavior. Problem behaviors from a human perspective are adaptive behaviors from a cat perspective — scratching maintains claws and marks territory, house soiling avoids an aversive litter box, aggression communicates resource competition. Punishing these behaviors addresses the symptom without the cause, often while creating anxiety and damaged human-cat relationships. Environmental modification identifies and addresses the motivation: provide appropriate scratching surfaces at desired locations, add litter boxes, reduce resource competition. This approach works because it aligns the environment with the cat behavioral needs rather than suppressing normal behaviors through fear. The welfare outcome is a cat who can express its behavioral repertoire appropriately and a human-cat relationship not damaged by punishment and fear.