Disciplining Cats

[AdamSavage]

I'm just curios to see how ppl enforce rules with their cats. Do you spray them with water, tell them No!, Get down etc..

I know some people will give a cat a light tap on the nose, followed by a firm "No!". I personally don't tap my cats on the nose, as water or a just a very firm no! as you do a pointing gesture to them.

[Bonita]

We do with our kitten because it's the only thing that works. He loves water and just doesn't react when you say no. For my older cat I just look at him when he's misbehaving and he stops lol.

[cowmuflage]

For our cat Lucy who is on a diet and loves Minnies non diet food she knows she is not meant to eat her food so yelling at her works but my cats seem to love water

[ashdawn]

the only thing my cat likes to do is play with my teddy bear which I got when I was 2 which he isnt allowed to do and sit on my window and look over his land that he owns.

when he is attacking muh taday we just put it out of paw's reach and with the window we usually say "come on" and he goes out my room, we got him like this from a cat who didnt listen and didnt bite, let them do what they want for a while then they'll get bored of it, thats how it works, dont try this with food though

[Neilaren]

Early on Spunkie got some nose baps while we had to teach him not to jump on the counters. He never really reacted to hissing noises which would work with cats in the past. He also likes to hide and any time I raise my voice at anything (not even him) he usually gets excited and hides somewhere. I have to wonder what his life was like before we adopted him... all he does that could even be considered wrong is banging around under the bed too much, then we have to knock on the bed frame to spook him out of his stupor. Plus, he's probably hurting himself down there!

I'm actually surprised at how well-behaved he is. I really wish there was some way I could discipline him to stop eating so fast, though. It makes him sick sometimes, and rationing his meals hasn't helped.

[AdamSavage]

The reason I made this thread, is because one of my cat's left a smelly present under my roommates bed. His solution to this ? Comes down stairs, and taps one of my cats on the head and leaves. I was not amused by this, and I wanted to smack on the head. See how he likes it.

So the only solution I could come up with, that he would happy with. Was a light tap on the nose, followed by a No! Also, as long as he showed the cat the reason to why he is doing it. I think this is better than a random tap on the head.

[cowmuflage]

I've found sometimes showing them what they've done is kinda pointless >.<

[AdamSavage]

I've found sometimes showing them what they've done is kinda pointless >.<

Yeah I agree.. but it sure beats him randomly taping my cats on the head.

[Dewclaw]

What was the nature of the present? If the cat got sick, then it had no control over the situation and should not be punished. If it pooped/peed, look into reasons WHY. Sometimes inappropriate elimination is caused by infection or illness. Your roommate bapping the kitty on the head after the deed was done was pointless. The cat would have no idea why it got bapped.

[AdamSavage]

One of the cats pooped under his bed, I just don't know when it happened. For the head bapping thing, I agree and I told him him the same thing.

[zedxrgal]

The thing with punishing a feline is that unless you catch them in the act of doing something wrong and punish them right away ................. they do not remember what they're "in trouble" for. Dogs retain memory of their wrongs so you can reprimand them hours after the act was committed and they'll know why they're in trouble. Cats. Not so much.

I won't punish my cat after the fact. No sense on it.

But I do however use the BAD PET SPRAY BOTTLE!!! Both my dog and cat have come to fear this. They were also taught as wee ones. Soft nose popping is only meant for the most severe of crimes. Which have been extremely rare. Usually the spray bottle is the best. Other methods are a clean soda can with beans in it and sealed. Shake the can at them when they're performing the wrong. For some reason the noise scares them.

Also regardless of multiple times being reprimanded some cats just will not stop the behavior. So it's pointless to punish them if they're not "getting it".

Hope this helps.

[AdamSavage]

I understand completely that they don't understand why they are being punished. It's my roommate that doesn't seem to get it.

[cowmuflage]

They'll understand why they are getting punished if you do it at the time they are doing the bad deed. They'll eventually associate doing that bad thing with being punished.

Unless your cat just does not give a fuck or is too thick

[Nevish]

Tell your roomie not to touch your pet again and to keep his door closed. It's hard to stop a cat from crapping in a place it's already left its scent on, so the next logical step is to keep the door closed.

[Castile]

You have to catch them at it or they don't get it. My youngest cat has kitty "time out" and she knows she's done wrong! I put her in the toilet (not IN the actual toilet but the room cause its small and has no fun things in there) and leave her to chill out for 5 mins.

She sometimes cries on the way because she knows what she's done but she still gets her time out. I let her out and give her a pat to let her know its ok now and shes generally happy. Once she even went there herself after i growled at her for climbing my net curtians!!

Also if its a very young cat apparently pooing on someones elses things is a way of trying to mix their smell with yours, eg its a weird cat sign of affection lol. Our kitten did it once when she was very young and also weed on the covers. She never did it again tho.

[zedxrgal]

Oh and along with what Castile said. Pooping can mean many many many things. With adult male cats especially.
It can mean a health problem yes. However dominant cat personalities show it. Pooping under the bed may mean .. "I claim this space in the name of me" and "I really don't like you". When I was a vet tech I saw many a healthy cat, male and female, leaving calling cards like this. A bed has the most of that human's scent is why. Cats showing odd forms of affection is a possibility yes but rarely is something so vile used as such. I'm not saying your cat isn't odd enough to think outside the litter box but you never know. Cats are strange creatures but they're not that hard to figure out.

Keep kitty out of there if possible. Hopefully your roommate will get the picture to.

[AdamSavage]

Well Neeka does have a dominant cat personality, so it's possible that's why she did it, if it was her.

[Nachtwulf]

The pooping thing is probably a territorial-establishment thing. If your roomie doesn't want the cat in their room, squirtbottling her (him?) every time she tries to go in there will eventually work. Or keeping the door shut. Whapping them doesn't simply because there's too big a space between the deed and the punishment, and the cat is left thinking 'what the hell did I get hit for?'

Picking them up and blowing in their face also works, but you have to be johnny on the spot after an incident or again, you will only confuse and upset your cat.

[cowmuflage]

Picker her up and throwing her out of the room can work too!

[AdamSavage]

The humane Society replied to my email, asking them about nose taping.

The OHS would recommend positive reinforcement and conditioning to eliminate undesirable behaviours and does not condone any physical punishment including nose tapping.