Thread: Instilling some discipline

We have only had ronnie 6 days now we have cat scratching/climbers in living room, hall and the bedroom we keep him in at night (we have dogs that are still getting used to him so safe night place is my daughters bedroom lol )
he found he could get through stairgate this morning and the lil tike is using the stairs to flex his claws on lol i just say no pick him up and put him on the scratcher (which he just looks at and runs back to stairs lol)

These posts should get funniest thread of the year award.
Discipline a cat? A MC??? You'll learn quite quickly that you will need to adapt to their ways. You are no longer in charge there.

Yes there is a very strict discipline, he may go where ever he wants but he has to respect everything

I just found this article the other day Squirt Bottles, Punishment, and Cat Behavior | Little Big Cat basically saying don't use a spray bottle.

In my view that pets have no concept of good and bad behaviour - naughty and nice are purely human ideas. So is the idea of discipline. Whilst it is possible to train a dog because they desperately want to please you, I have doubts about training a cat - hence the phrase to describe an impossible task 'like herding cats'.

Animals behave in a way that seems natural to them - they don't understand that this may be seen as 'bad'. They pick up the vibes if you are angry but instead of making them understand your reasoning you may simply make them afraid or aggressive. For instance if you play rough with them they either think that's what you expect or they become afraid - either may lead to biting and scratching.

I would reward good behaviour but divert their attention to other things if they are doing things I don't want them to do. Perhaps play with a toy until they forget what they were doing that you didn't like. When they're young I block off areas where they could hurt themselves or damage things I value - just like I did when my children were little.

I would recommend several cat trees with scratching posts and high perches - MCs love being up high. If they are scratching furniture get them something else to scratch and if that doesn't work, protect the furniture until they grow out of it (they probably will).

Above all enjoy the kitten days - they are over all too soon!

Originally Posted by Kimbie

With any luck should be the proud owner of a MC soon, but been looking at threads at what to do if they scratch where shouldn't or up to no good, and people say they keep a little spray bottle.

While this seems to work from what I have heard, surely MC loving water as much as they do, is this not counter productive?

I will get the usual cat tree, scratching post, trying to work out where to put it at the moment lol.

Kimbie

The squirt bottles work for me & my cats,yep they luv water but if they are really misbehaving with more than one I found voice alone could wind the others up & the instigator just carried on,a quick sharp burst on the back with a firm no worked wonders between my lot & nowadays I just have one bottle on the side & only have to pick it up if things start getting a bit out of hand,no squirts needed,with six you need something to stop anything getting over & above quickly & luckily most of the time we have peace & harmony, only found the need to resort to something anyway when our numbers went up to four cats,up until then they seemed to learn no pretty quickly or as in the case of one "time out"was needed & that also worked.....

Originally Posted by brims

I just found this article the other day Squirt Bottles, Punishment, and Cat Behavior | Little Big Cat basically saying don't use a spray bottle.

Wouldn't load for me to read earlier but was lucky this time,I actually did have squirty bottles everywhere in the early days so there was always one at hand but always found just by putting hand out to get one normally was enough & I can honestly say it hasn't spoilt the loving relationship between me & my furries,interestingly the one product that was recommended & caused me a nightmare was the feliway,I used the plug in version when my daughter was returning to live with us for a while with her two MC's & as the then "babes" hadn't been in their company thought it might just help chill the situation,how wrong can you be,it tipped one of the babes right over the edge he had glazed eyes & was really upset & it had only been plugged in for a short while,we noticed if he went out into the hall where it was he started going frothy & behaved weirdly,for the one & only time in his life he bit & scratched us,daughter suggested that perhaps it was the feliway so we put him down our bedroom & opened all the windows & doors through out,no good thing in the middle of winter heating up the rest of the estate but two hours later when we hoped all the smell had lifted out he came & was fine,back to his usual loving self so it shows that even something that is expected to help can have very nasty effects on some cats......!

I have never used squirt bottles for fear of ending up with a bunch of scaredy cats. Likewise I never fancied the idea of drugging them up with feliway – and reading Jackie’s story just confirmed it to me.
What works best for my crew is a sharp loud “No!”, if necessary picking them up gently and put them somewhere else, or diverting their attention with a toy and a few cuddles.

Originally Posted by Wivelspiker

hence the phrase to describe an impossible task 'like herding cats'.

Actually, I *do* herd my cats… when they’re out in the garden and I want them to come inside I walk up to them and point at the back door. Four out of five times they get the message and hop inside, waving their tails in the air which looks ever so cute. (The fifth time however I have to chase them around the garden and finally carry them inside. )