Subscribe Feed (RSS)A new kitten needs behaviour training. If you allow it to do exactly what it wants, when and where it wants, your life is going to be very difficult and the relationship between you and your kitten could become very fraught.
Maybe you don’t have a young kitten, but have adopted an adult cat. It may be that you have inherited not only the pet but also bad cat behaviour which was not corrected by the previous owner. Training older cats takes longer but with patience and persistence it can be done.
One owner tells of a cat which scratches the furniture and irritatingly attempts to attract attention, and succeeds, by walking over the computer keyboard while she’s typing. Training a cat not to do damaging and annoying things is essential to the peace of the home. So how to stop the little monster from misbehaving, and to turn into a pleasant furry friend?
One trick is the water spray. Get a simple spray bottle of the kind often sold in garden stores. The very cheapest will do; this is not a sophisticated cat discipline method but something very plain and simple. Fill the bottle with water and after allowing time for it to stabilise at room temperature you’ll be ready for ‘battle’. Oh, if you have several such bottles containing different liquids (such as foliar feed for your houseplants) make sure you label it clearly as the “Cat” spray.
Now, whenever the cat misbehaves, speak her name firmly and spray her with water. Do it immediately or the cat won’t associate it with the wrong deed. You only need one short and not too strong burst of spray. You’re not trying to drench the poor animal completely, nor are you trying to hurt the cat. Never aim for the front of the head but for her body or tail.
Be consistent with this and it won’t be long before your cat associates the unpleasantness of the water spray with the misbehavior. She’ll start to think twice about running the risk. Eventually you should be able to drop the spray and just speak your pet’s name harshly. It may in some cases be necessary to return to the spray if misbehaviour recommences, but very often by using this simple method of cat behaviour training the cure is permanent.
Tags: cat behavior, cat behaviour, cat discipline, cat training, kitten training, training older cats
