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Old 09-09-2011, 08:50 AM
 
1,812 posts, read 3,358,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by catsmom21 View Post
No wonder the cat is "out of control" if she hits him. Why don't you plan to just keep this poor abused animal, and show him how life can be in a loving home.

Or find a loving home for him while the human is gone, and tell her you lost him.

Cats thrive on routine, and if this person is always going away and dumping her cat on people, and hitting him when she is home, no wonder he is the way he is, he's never even had a chance to become a nice cat.
You are SICK! Sorry but you really are.

you want me to steal the cat sort of speak tell the owner it got lost? CRAZY!

She does not beat the cat she gives it a tap/smack on his behind when he is very bad.

I am sure if she was a bad keeper of the cat the vet and others would have called in on her to have the animal removed.
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Old 09-09-2011, 08:58 AM
 
11,276 posts, read 19,556,099 times
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Cats aren't "bad" and hitting them does not teach them anything but fear or aggression. Even you know that it is wrong, since you said you will not hit him.

Vets do not have the power to take a pet from an owner, nor can they save every animal that comes through that is not taken care of properly, what would they do with all those animals?

A cat who is labeled "bad" and is treated badly is never going to have a chance to be "good". I'll pray for little Buster, and hope he can find a better home someday, or at least, that his owner will educate herself on cats and learn how to treat him. Since she is away so much, why does she even have a cat?

Adding another cat would help Buster, a lot, so at least he would have some stability in his life as he gets foisted off on one household after another every time she leaves again. Perhaps you can suggest it.

Try showing this kitty some love, attention and compassion instead of worrying about "disciplining" him.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:15 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,645,588 times
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30STM, here's where these responses are coming from:

Cats don't really "obey" nor will they "know that you are the boss". This is just not how a cat works. They will react to you telling them not to do something, but that won't necessarily prevent them from doing it again a few hours (or minutes) later. A loud "NO!" and accompanying loud noises will help at the moment of doing something wrong, but not before and not after, and it won't exactly prevent the wrong from being repeated. The best way to prevent that is to remove whatever the temptation is, in other words, cat-proof the area.

Putting him in a room for a time out, LOL, no this doesn't do anything as far as previous actions. They don't have that sophisticated type of association. You can, in fact, confine the cat to one room though as that may minimize any issues. There's nothing wrong with the cat, being in a new environment anyway (presumably your house and not the cat's own house?), being confined to a smaller space.

Going into subsequent posts, if the cat acts differently when the supposed owner is away, then it is related to that separation, sometimes referred to as separation anxiety.

The supposed owner hitting the cat does HARM and creates MORE behavior problems without solving any. A CAT CAN'T UNDERSTAND THIS AS PUNISHMENT. IT CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND HITTING AS AN ATTACK, no matter how small of a smack it is. PERIOD.

The only thing you can do is be kind to the cat. Play with him, give him a more nurturing environment. You can try a Feliway plug-in diffuser which may help with some of the anxiety. I hope you are taking care of the cat at your place as opposed to visiting hers (or perhaps staying over at her place); that should actually help. There's absolutely nothing you can do behavior-wise if you are only going to be stopping in to see the cat a short time each day as a pet sitter would.

The cat has a bad home environment, based on what you describe. Sorry, there's no two ways around that. It's quite possible that it's simply an owner who doesn't understand these things about cats, just as you didn't understand them. But you can help perhaps by explaining these things to her. If she's not going to change, then yes it would be reasonable to report that the cat is abused. The abuse is likely contributing to why the cat is out of control; more abuse will not keep it under control. Unfortunately, a significant change in the cat will take more time than you will be watching it, most likely.

Good luck.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:19 AM
 
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Greg42 I want to thank you very much for this intelligent response. Makes a lot of sense and has given me a bit of a education on cats and how they behave and how to handle.


THank you again xo xo xo
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:22 AM
 
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he is going to stay with me he lives a few doors away and does come by every so often, He is not a out door cat but sometimes he does get out an run into my home that is how i got to know the owner.

It seems he like me an my home not sure why i dont have any animals. I never had a issue with him but then again he has never stayed more then a few hrs with me and sorry I have to laugh the stories i hear about this cat makes him sound Bi polar lol what cat gets kicked out of lol 2 boarding facilities for disruptive behavior...lol sorry that is just too funny.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:23 AM
 
11,276 posts, read 19,556,099 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42 View Post
30STM, here's where these responses are coming from:

Cats don't really "obey" nor will they "know that you are the boss". This is just not how a cat works. They will react to you telling them not to do something, but that won't necessarily prevent them from doing it again a few hours (or minutes) later. A loud "NO!" and accompanying loud noises will help at the moment of doing something wrong, but not before and not after, and it won't exactly prevent the wrong from being repeated. The best way to prevent that is to remove whatever the temptation is, in other words, cat-proof the area.

Putting him in a room for a time out, LOL, no this doesn't do anything as far as previous actions. They don't have that sophisticated type of association. You can, in fact, confine the cat to one room though as that may minimize any issues. There's nothing wrong with the cat, being in a new environment anyway (presumably your house and not the cat's own house?), being confined to a smaller space.

Going into subsequent posts, if the cat acts differently when the supposed owner is away, then it is related to that separation, sometimes referred to as separation anxiety.

The supposed owner hitting the cat does HARM and creates MORE behavior problems without solving any. A CAT CAN'T UNDERSTAND THIS AS PUNISHMENT. IT CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND HITTING AS AN ATTACK, no matter how small of a smack it is. PERIOD.

The only thing you can do is be kind to the cat. Play with him, give him a more nurturing environment. You can try a Feliway plug-in diffuser which may help with some of the anxiety. I hope you are taking care of the cat at your place as opposed to visiting hers (or perhaps staying over at her place); that should actually help. There's absolutely nothing you can do behavior-wise if you are only going to be stopping in to see the cat a short time each day as a pet sitter would.

The cat has a bad home environment, based on what you describe. Sorry, there's no two ways around that. It's quite possible that it's simply an owner who doesn't understand these things about cats, just as you didn't understand them. But you can help perhaps by explaining these things to her. If she's not going to change, then yes it would be reasonable to report that the cat is abused. The abuse is likely contributing to why the cat is out of control; more abuse will not keep it under control. Unfortunately, a significant change in the cat will take more time than you will be watching it, most likely.

Good luck.
Thanks for putting the points I was trying to make in a better way.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:25 AM
 
1,812 posts, read 3,358,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by catsmom21 View Post
Thanks for putting the points I was trying to make in a better way.

honey all you did NOTHING but make up some crazy far out stuff I NEVER said an then told me to steal the cat and lie to the owner ..........THAT IS NOT WHAT GREG IS TELLING ME TO DO!
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,645,588 times
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If you are kind to him, give him as much loving attention as you can (don't force it on him though), feed him (they do understand that!), play with him, etc. it's quite possible he will not have this supposed bipolar-type reaction for you. He's coming to your place, which he already knows a bit? That might help. You can as I said confine him to a smaller room if your place is large, but this may not be necessary. Make sure if you do that that you spend a lot of time in there though. And if the cat does something "bad", just try not to overreact. Don't grab him too harshly, don't shout too loud, and certainly don't smack him. Just know that while the cat is there you may have to put certain things out of his reach and be a little more careful.

A cat trains you much more than you ever train a cat.

Who knows what is happening at the boarding facilities? That does sound like a severe reaction, but maybe that is because of the confinement more than the separation. Guess you'll find out! Please let us know how it goes.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:38 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,645,588 times
Reputation: 5163
Quote:
Originally Posted by 30STM View Post
honey all you did NOTHING but make up some crazy far out stuff I NEVER said an then told me to steal the cat and lie to the owner ..........THAT IS NOT WHAT GREG IS TELLING ME TO DO!
Well, to be fair, I'm not necessarily in disagreement with catsmom on most of what she said. At initial glance, your post, without the rest of the background, sounded pretty out there. Her posts were just a bit more over the top and emotional, and I had the benefit of being able to read some more before responding. It really does sound like this cat is at least moderately abused, given your descriptions. Makes me wonder why this person has the cat. Perhaps it's why the cat already likes to hang out with you for a bit.

I wouldn't suggest trying to "steal" the cat, of course, but if the cat's current owner has a sort of indifference towards it and isn't interested in learning that smacking it is not appropriate and so on, it wouldn't be the worst thing to suggest that maybe you would make a better home for it.

I'm trying to WRITE about it a little more evenly, yes, but I'm not necessarily feeling any differently about the cat being in an abusive home.
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Old 09-09-2011, 09:42 AM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,940 posts, read 75,144,160 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 30STM View Post
He has been turned away from 2 boarding homes in the area for his actions. not sure what it was he did but I am told he was disruptive.
In what way is he disruptive? What does he do that makes him such a holy terror? Does he just have lots of energy? If so, play with him and wear him out.

As far as "discipline", if you don't catch him while he's doing whatever he does, it's pointless to clap or speak sharply or whatever, because he cannot connect your actions now with his of two hours ago.

Where are you watching this cat -- in the owner's house, or yours? That will make a difference. If it's at your house, you can confine him, his food and his litter box to one room or one area of the house. He'll likely feel more comfortable anyway, as long as you give him a place to hide.

How old is this cat?

Quote:
Originally Posted by 30STM View Post
owner told me she spanks his behind when he is bad and I CAN"T do that to a animal or a person
You're absolutely right. I confess, I've lightly swatted Checkers on a rare occasion; sometimes he's an imp of Satan. But I feed him every day, I pet him, I let him nap on my lap, I play with him, etc. and there's trust and a bond between us. You don't feed Buster on a daily basis, or play with him daily, etc. Although maybe this cat's owner doesn't either.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 30STM View Post
his name is Buster and they also call him Kung Fu Kitten.
We fostered a kitten that we named Kato, who we named after Inspector Clouseau's butler. He used to hide in the doorways in the hall, and pounce on our ankles as we walked by. We were heartbroken when he found his forever home (well, sort of, because our middle-aged cat did not like a young whippersnapper in her house!) .
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