Disciplining Your Cat

Mari333

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Redirecting our cats is something that's worked for us. But I know all cats are different and what works for one cat might not work for another. Some are more stubborn..like my son lol.

But cause and effect can work. The tone of my voice and sometimes panic can set the stage. For instance, I saw my cat on the counter his head was in the sink and drinking dish water. My reaction was no no no get down! It seems my cat sensed I was nervous and now he's hard pressed to go up there again. Sure soap water might not be a big deal but that was my reaction because he saw I was concerned about him drinking it!

Some people say cats will be cats and there's nothing you can do.. But on the contrary I give them a lot more credit than that, they're smarter than we think. We can help them from being destructive in our home and or keep them out of harms way.
 

She's a witch

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Smart doesn't mean obedient.. My very smart cat knows exactly what I don't want her to do, but usually she just has different opinion about this lol.
 
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Mari333

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Smart doesn't mean obedient.. My very smart cat knows exactly what I don't want her to do, but usually she just has different opinion about this lol.

True but I never said smart means obedient.
 

Maria Bayote

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My Barley knows that when I raise my voice, it means it is a "No" as I seldom do that.

My Bourbon, on the other hand is just too stubborn. A loud clap will do the trick.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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... My reaction was no no no get down! It seems my cat sensed I was nervous and now he's hard pressed to go up there again. ...
I definitely think you have a good point!
"no no no get down, aaagh!"
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How you react does have a reaction, certainly! It doesn't even have to be a dramatic reaction, but specific tones in your voice with slight hand waving, lol.

I found this to be true too, when training my cat not to be afraid or bugged by certain noises. I live in an urban environment, lots of noise and trucks and traffic and sometimes people making noise... I've found that how I react to a loud trash truck driving by or picking up trash will show my cat what I am afraid of or what I'm not afraid of. That is, I showed her calmness and being interested in looking out the window when a loud truck is just outside... basically, calmly "confronting" the truck and surviving that.

My cat learned that my reactions to such noises or events are not fear or avoidance, but simply just directly observing and maintaining safety & position with little effort.
Now she is like, :sleep: or . . . . :)+:bliss: at trash trucks.
 

MargoLane

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I use a lot of redirection and ignoring. If she tries to bite while playing, I stop playing, walk away. When she tries to wake me up before I'm ready or in the middle of the night, I play absolutely dead. It definitely works. She only scratches the couch to get my attention; so I try to pre-emptively give her that attention, or I respond enthusiastically to her positive bids for attention. I do give her a loud no on a few things. But then she'll use them if she's so desperate for attention even negative attention will do. Example: I didn't like her eating the fern in my bedroom, so I would loudly say no and pick her up and remove her from the fern. She then started chewing the fern whenever she wanted me to wake up in the morning, because she knew I'd get out of bed and remove her. Never any other time. I just ended up moving the fern.
 
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