It seems that a lot of people on this site are very much against training your cat with a water spray bottle, and some (like myself) have had much success with it. I'd love to get some conversation going about reasons for or against this method... (If there is already a thread specifically about this, please feel free to bump it and yell at me for starting another! LOL!)
My personal experience:
Before I first brought home my two kittnes, I did a lot of internet research reading articles on sites such as this one to find out the best ways to bring them up. It seemed that almost every one I ran across recommended the water bottle method.... I also found many that said not to yell at your cat, because you don't want it to associate the sound of your voice with something bad. One recommended making a "sssssssssss!" noise (kind of like hissing) because a cat already associates that noise as being something bad. So what we did with our two was spray them with the bottle and make a "sssss!" noise at the same time. It didn't take long at all until we could put the bottle away and just make that noise - they would immediately stop what they were doing (like scratching my new sofa!) and go on to getting into some other kind of trouble.
I did not at the time realize that water in their ears could give them infections, but fortuantely we never had that problem. We always aimed for their torso so we did not get water in their faces. Also, I've read on this site that it can make cats afraid of water, but not so with ours. They both love it when you turn on the bathtub spicket... they sit in the tub and play with the water stream!
I'm by far NOT a professinal, I've only raised three kittens in my lifetime! But I had great success with the water bottle/"ssss!" method and honestly, I would recommend it - but I know many here would tell me I am very wrong.... So I'd love to hear more about this and why many of you feel this is a bad idea (or a good idea!). Also, I'd love to hear your recommendations on what to do instead of using the water bottle to, for example, stop kitty from scratching the sofa or jumping up on the kitchen table. I'm sure a lot of new kitten owerns could use your advice!
My personal experience:
Before I first brought home my two kittnes, I did a lot of internet research reading articles on sites such as this one to find out the best ways to bring them up. It seemed that almost every one I ran across recommended the water bottle method.... I also found many that said not to yell at your cat, because you don't want it to associate the sound of your voice with something bad. One recommended making a "sssssssssss!" noise (kind of like hissing) because a cat already associates that noise as being something bad. So what we did with our two was spray them with the bottle and make a "sssss!" noise at the same time. It didn't take long at all until we could put the bottle away and just make that noise - they would immediately stop what they were doing (like scratching my new sofa!) and go on to getting into some other kind of trouble.
I did not at the time realize that water in their ears could give them infections, but fortuantely we never had that problem. We always aimed for their torso so we did not get water in their faces. Also, I've read on this site that it can make cats afraid of water, but not so with ours. They both love it when you turn on the bathtub spicket... they sit in the tub and play with the water stream!
I'm by far NOT a professinal, I've only raised three kittens in my lifetime! But I had great success with the water bottle/"ssss!" method and honestly, I would recommend it - but I know many here would tell me I am very wrong.... So I'd love to hear more about this and why many of you feel this is a bad idea (or a good idea!). Also, I'd love to hear your recommendations on what to do instead of using the water bottle to, for example, stop kitty from scratching the sofa or jumping up on the kitchen table. I'm sure a lot of new kitten owerns could use your advice!