Cat behavior quirks you wish other owners knew about - please add!

mrsbean123

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My closest friend just adopted a 3 year old cat and is a first-time cat owner. I've been trying to help her to learn how to develop a good relationship with her kitty, give care tips and tricks I've learned, etc.

It'd be great if some other seasoned cat owners could share some insights about cats that you wouldn't find on the first page of the google search "how to take care of a cat". I think I was able to give her a lot of insight, but I'd love a crowdsourced list of advise to pass along (in case I'm missing something!).Here are some of mine I've shared with her, to get the thread going:

  • They don't like to drink water in the same area as the litter box
  • Flat bowls or plates are best for food and water, because they don't like having pressure on their whiskers for too long
  • At random hours of the night, they will run back in forth in the hallway, sometimes meowing or jumping around
  • wagging cat tail is NOT the same thing as wagging dog tail
  • purring doesn't always mean good - sometimes can mean she's afraid
  • If you use a laser pointer with a cat (though some say you shouldn't in general) always throw something at the end so the cat can catch something as part of playing and isn't just driven crazy by the invisible toy
  • Catnip has different effects on different cats - made my first cat purr endlessly, makes my second cat nippy and irritable
  • (my favorite!) when a cat sits on your keyboard, it is "mirroring" your behavior and the best way to distract them is to put a similar object (another keyboard, a notebook, etc) next to you and they will divert their attention there instead
  • if your cat is a counter hopper, don't scold the cat when you're in the room, it will only cause the cat to jump up when you're not home. Instead, put her down on the ground and keep upside-down cookie sheets on the counters - the next time she jumps she'll react to the noise that comes from jumping onto the pans and wont jump up again.
some of these may seem pretty basic but my friend is brand new to this - nothing you can add will be unhelpful!
 

Caspers Human

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I'd say that the biggest mistake new cat owners make is to treat a cat like a dog.

People think that cats should respond to verbal cues like dogs do and they think that cats should respond in a Pavlovian fashion like dogs do.

In other words, many dogs operate in a COMMAND ==> RESPONSE fashion where cats respond more to context than to specific cues.

Let's say that you have a cat and a dog in a similar situation where each is misbehaving in a similar way.
For example, let's imagine that you have a dog that is scratching up the carpet in a certain spot of the house. Also imagine that you have a cat doing the same thing in that same spot. (Obviously at different times, of course.)

If you say to the dog, "Fido! NO! STOP!"
The dog will respond and stop scratching up the carpet. If he doesn't, you can approach the dog, grab him by the collar, pull him away and say, "Bad dog!"

That kind of treatment won't work on a cat!

You could say, "Kitty, No!" but you can't say it with the same tone of voice. You need to use that same tone of voice as you might use when you catch a toddler with his hand in the cookie jar... "Uh-uh... No, you'll spoil your dinner!"
If you shout at the cat the same you would shout at a dog, you'll only scare the cat and likely make her pissed off at you.
Even if you stop the cat scratching, you will create an acrimonious relationship between you and the cat and that will spill over into all sorts of other bad behaviors like peeing outside the litter box.

With a cat, you can gently scold her but you ALSO have to give the cat something else better to do.

If you catch a cat scratching where it shouldn't, you tell it, "No," then you give her an appropriate place where she's allowed to scratch.
If the cat is scratching something vertical like a sofa, maybe a scratching post is appropriate. If it's on the floor, maybe a woven door mat made out of sisal or hemp rope would be appropriate. Put some catnip on it to make it more interesting for the cat.

Dogs operate more on the "Classical Conditioning" method where STIMULUS begets RESPONSE.

Cats operate more on the "Operant Conditioning" method where BEHAVIOR begets RESPONSE which, in turn, begets NEW BEHAVIOR.

You actually can teach cats to respond to commands in a similar manner to dogs but the process is somewhat different.
With a dog, if you give him a dog treat, he'll be your best friend. If you say, "Sit! Shake hands!" and offer him a dog cookie, he'll do whatever it takes to get the yum-yums.
You CAN teach a cat to shake hands but it takes a bit of thought. You have to create a situation where the cat wants to do what you ask.
You can offer the cat a kitty cookie but you also have to make the whole lesson into a game that's fun for the cat to play.

Our cat, Casper, will sit up like a dog when he wants attention but he only does it consistently for his Girl-Human. He only does it for me on occasion. The reason is because Casper has learned that, when he sits up, his Girl-Human will fuss over him and give him lots of attention. He'll do it for me only when he wants something from me like when his food dish is empty and his Girl-Human isn't around to refill it.

Like I said, new cat owners should try to remember that cats don't think the same way as dogs do and they shouldn't try to treat cats in that same COMMAND ==> RESPONSE way as dogs get treated.

It took me a while to understand that. I always treated my cats well and took care of them the best that I knew how but it wasn't until my second or third cat that I really got the concept into my head.
 

game misconduct

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get the tallest cat tree you can afford/ fit into your home(just my opininion only) its made a huge difference in my cats behavior she no longer jumps onto the wall mounted ac unit or counters .no longer in my way while i am cooking in the kitchen while cleaning the apartment she is up high watching now not in the way.all cause she can be up higher and taller than us hoomans and watch us like the ants we are working away for her:lol:side note the foil and dbl sided tsape didnt keep her off counters the dinner table i gave up as lost cause since all she wants to do is lay near me while i eat my meal and get head scratches and talked to
 

Norachan

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You need more litter boxes than you have cats. One cat needs at least two boxes, two cats need at least 3 etc.

Cats like to be able to get all the way around their living area without touching the floor. If you don't like the idea of them walking on your shelves and book cases invest in some cat trees and cat shelving.

It's safer to keep a cat indoors, but if this cat is going to be allowed to have some outdoor access it should be on a harness and leash or in an outdoor catio. BUT, give it at least a month before you think about the great outdoors, as the cat won't know her new home is her home for the first few weeks.
 

minish

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Cats don't scratch only for nail maintenance. They scratch for all sorts of reasons: to mark their territory, get a good stretch walking up (they sleep on and off a lot!), relieve stress, make a point (one of the numerous ways of insisting) or if the surface just feels soo gooood.They scratch all places important for them in the house (arm of your favorite couch, your shoes, leg of the dining table, edge of your bed, doorway, middle of the living room, your favorite carpet, leather couches)
So providing a scratch post and training them to use one is not enough. They need scratch outlets in many of the places they spend time.
Observe, provide the alternative to scratch on and be patient. And no leather couches. Like, never ever
 

danteshuman

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A bored kitty is a destructive kitty! You have to tire their minds, to tire their bodies!

When your cat attacks you or a victim cat that gets bullied or finds new creative ways to get into EVERYTHING (& destroy things) & knocks stuff off your desk (or counter) they might as well be screaming “I’m bored!”

How to combat a bored kitty? In my experience outside time with a couple of bird feeders.


Distraction works to.
⭐Though in all fairness I could not get Jackie to quit (very gently) attacking my legs when I was on the toilet..... even with 6 months of telling him no. Finally I gave up and just brought a wand toy into the bathroom. I now distract him & play with him as I pee. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Cats.

2 hours outside everyday along with 2-4 short walks during his outside time, keeps Jackie calm (& my hyper little twerp welll behaved!)

Jackie’s deluxe bird feeding station, Jackie (lynx) outside & Jackie hanging out with his brother Nick (black.) Outside time is necessary to keep Nick well behaved to.
 

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Neko-chan's mama

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One amazing vet teach can make vet visits much more pleasant for both you and your cat. Our cat actually likes the vet because she gets to play with the nice man there.
 

felinelover2

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In general I agree with Minish but would also say you need to be open to cat furniture in general (scratching posts/pads, trees, beds) as cats are territorial and need 'their' stuff, otherwise they will make your stuff theirs in ways you don't like (scratching, peeing, etc). So invest in some good ones and make sure they have plenty to pick from.
 

danteshuman

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The vinyl furniture guards (stickers) were a godsend to get my mom’s cats to quit scratching her new footstool! So besides putting a cat tree by the couch (yes) those stickers (no) provide a cheap, easy & consistent way to train your cats. So if you are new to cats, this information may save your couch! (You can order them off amazon)

⭐Cats can absolutely be trained to do tricks! Get a clicker and use treats. Jackie does sit & meow for dinner, high 5, spin & gets up on his footstool for me to take on/off his harness (so his dizzy mom doesn’t struggle so much with nausea bending down to pick him up off the ground & stick him in his harness.) Jackie just turned 2 & I’m trying to think of some new things to teach him. However I got 3 kittens that were 8 weeks old to do up/high 10 or tap my treat holding fingers with both paws by time they were 11 weeks up! As they got older, they got lazier and started using just one paw. So Jackie is not the exception in being trainable, I just adopted him & kept with it. Clicker training speeded things up though!
 

Juniper_Junebug

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I am a brand new cat owner myself, so this is a really helpful thread for me. I obviously have very little to offer here, since I am in the same boat as your friend, but I thought I would offer (with a sense of appropriate humility) one tip I read before I got my Juno that really seems to have helped:

I was super worried about nail clipping and read that you should try to get a cat used to your handling their paws by starting to just touch them when they're calm and cuddling and you have no intention of doing anything. I started doing that right away, and then starting to push the claws out, and then letting her sniff the clippers, and by the time I tried to clip her nails two weeks into the experiment, she could not have cared less. It helps that she's very into cuddling in my lap, but I was so glad to have had the advice to go slowly bc I'd seen all these awful videos of having to burrito your cat to get it done 😅
 

taraconnor777

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YES,I realized if I wanted my cat to learn tricks using a treat,it would be very easy as she's very smart.THAT is my problem.Bella gives plaintive cries"I want treats, want treats!"but a couple treats just lead to "I want more treats!"and more whining.she also looked unhappy.I said to her,"What do you want?I'm sorry not attentive enough person"and I talked to her,and tried to RELAX MYSELF,TURN ON CLASSICAL MUSIC,sat on sofa,turned up heat;she went up her very high tree next to sofa;I sang a little song about "pretty bg kitty tail"and made touching tail gestures.Gradually we both listen to calming music(it looks like cat ears like high notes of classical music)and l relax to lie down,and she gives up whining,relaxes on my lap--frankly I need a Lotta rest.Music can affect cats?It seems to!I swear we enjoyed it together.Felix Mendelssohn, Chopin,ect.I Think I tried to "trick"my cat into behavior I wanted,finally.Anyone else use music with their cat?They hear high notes like classical music.??what does anyone think?I I think it helped hah.:alright:
 
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