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I have a 7-month-old kitten who rarely does anything "bad" - so I have not used any discipline techniques on her so far...but I think I need to now.
I can't keep her from climbing window and door screens. Now she is heavy enough to tear them, so I've gotta do something.
Do you recommend the spray-bottle approach?
I don't really WANT to squirt her, but it seems to be the best solution.
Any thoughts?
Anything I should consider while squirting?
Good luck. There are those that will tell you all kinds of methods worked for them. No method works on our cats at all. I can hiss at them or spray them and get them to stop their naughtiness WHILE I AM WATCHING, but as soon as I leave the room or am not home, they will do what they want.
Fortunately they really do not do too much damage.. but I have had no luck keeping them off the table/counters. Once I thought I had won the battle, but then I entered my house by the back instead of the front and saw the "good cat" calmly sitting on the dining room table. He didn't get down until I walked into the dining room.
The trick with cats is that they need to associate what they are doing as 'having a bad outcome' on their own....if you step into the picture, they forget about what is is they are doing cause they see 'you'. Squirting is a nice way of making a bad association with a 'thing' but you have to catch them without them realizing you are there. I have had much luck using a 'long range' squirt gun....don't say anything, don't holler and preferably be out of sight and let the water fly. It takes a few times but they figure it out. Keep your cats nails trimmed to make it harder for them to get a good grip. Also make sure they are spayed/neutered and I like to keep a tray of fresh grass for them to chew as mine are totally indoors.
The trick with cats is that they need to associate what they are doing as 'having a bad outcome' on their own....if you step into the picture, they forget about what is is they are doing cause they see 'you'. Squirting is a nice way of making a bad association with a 'thing' but you have to catch them without them realizing you are there. I have had much luck using a 'long range' squirt gun....don't say anything, don't holler and preferably be out of sight and let the water fly. It takes a few times but they figure it out.
good advice. one of my cats is a troublemaker, and she figured out that if we're not around or if we don't have a spray bottle in hand that she can get away with a lot of stuff.
good advice. one of my cats is a troublemaker, and she figured out that if we're not around or if we don't have a spray bottle in hand that she can get away with a lot of stuff.
Tell the kitten "NO SCREEN SCRATCHING!" Then pull her off the screen and put her onto a cat tree where she can scratch and climb and give her a treat for doing it there while saying "Good Climbing" "Good Scratching". When you aren't around, to watch her, close the door so she doesn't have access to the screen.
Do a search on any search engine for the Clever Cats website where you can learn how to train your cat to do all sorts of things very easily. Use these keywords: Clever Cats, How to trick and behavior train your cat.
roflmao.....it's been my experience that you can very easily make a cat stop doing something......................................... ..IF they are tired of doing it at that instant in time.......
Cats are trainable. Best to start as kittens, but if you can't, it doesn't matter how old they are, they can be trained. The trick is perseverance.
Never spray cats with water when training them, because as a poster previously said in another thread, the cats will hate you for doing it, not the water. And they will retaliate in other ways, such as thowing up a hairball in your fav shoes or your side of the bed.
Never spray cats with water when training them, because as a poster previously said in another thread, the cats will hate you for doing it, not the water. And they will retaliate in other ways, such as thowing up a hairball in your fav shoes or your side of the bed.
roflmao.....it's been my experience that you can very easily make a cat stop doing something......................................... ..IF they are tired of doing it at that instant in time.......
Don't laugh! Cat's are smarter than dogs. Their brain size in comparison to their bodies is the largest of all animals - second only to primates.
I've trained my cat to do numerous things and cats can be and are trained to be hearing for the deaf.
If you can find it there is an EXCELLENT book called Training Your Cat by Ray Berwick who trained the animals at Universal Studios and it gives step by step instructions of how to train your cat to do a whole assortment of things including letting you know what someone is at the door or when the phone rings (for the deaf), walking on a leash and using the bathroom toilet instead of litter in addition to all the usual "tricks".
Using that book I taught two cats all the usual "tricks" that dogs are trained to do, usually in less than 2-3 5 minute training sessions. Leash training takes more patience and a lot longer as cats hate to be restrained and at the beginning of leash training usually go on lie down strikes. But when they start to see they get rewarded for it, their resistance goes down and they can be taught. There are specific ways to go about it spelled out in the book. You do it in stages and you do it inside where there are no distractions. Then when your cat has mastered walking on a leash inside, THEN you can try it outside where there are as few distractions as possible and later on for longer periods of time and gradually where there are more distractions.
Well following my mother's advise, when we got Piglet, I bought a spray bottle....
After instructing my husband what it was for and how to use it, I made the mistake of leaving it in his hands.........
I left for the day...but the time I got back, I had a wet kitty that now plays with the spray bottle.
According to the hubby (I do doubt part of this story, trust me) Piglet was getting up on the table, he "gently" sprayed her and she thought that was just great fun. The rest of the day was her spending most of her time doing stuff she knew she shouldn't do and getting daddy to spray her. It turned into a game of chase. Now when she wants to play she'll come up and nudge the spray bottle and run.
Word to the wise...do NOT leave the spray bottle training in the hands of an ornery man.
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