Hi everyone! I've asked a few questions on here before, and I love the site, so I decided to ask something I've been wondering about to get your take on it.
When we first got our first kitty, Spock, he was wonderful, but always bit us in a playful way. It was playful for him, but not us obviously! Well, my husband has never been a cat owner until now, so he popped him on his backside a few times when he did it. Not too hard, but enough to scare him a bit. Every time he did it, I told him he shouldn't do it and I'd get irritated and hold and cuddle Spock because I felt bad.
That was when he was about 8 to 16 weeks old. Now that he's a year old, he's a little bit cautious around us, more so than a normal cat should be. He'll cuddle when he wants to, but once he's had enough, you better let him down or he'll start that biting again. My husband doesn't discipline him anymore, as we've learned much better ways of teaching him what we expect from him.
But I'm wondering... because my husband spanked him when he was little, could that be why he's not as affectionate as we'd like for him to be? Don't get me wrong, he's a happy cat. He plays with our other kitty and we see no other behavior problems. (We had a poop problem a while ago, but he just didn't like the covered litter box, as he is a fairly big kitty!) He's not scared of us, he's just not as affectionate as we'd like for him to be towards us. Could that be the reason? And if so, did we ruin him? Is there a way to fix this? I feel so bad for causing the stress when he was small! I hope there's a way I can possibly reverse it! Thanks in advance for the input!
When we first got our first kitty, Spock, he was wonderful, but always bit us in a playful way. It was playful for him, but not us obviously! Well, my husband has never been a cat owner until now, so he popped him on his backside a few times when he did it. Not too hard, but enough to scare him a bit. Every time he did it, I told him he shouldn't do it and I'd get irritated and hold and cuddle Spock because I felt bad.
That was when he was about 8 to 16 weeks old. Now that he's a year old, he's a little bit cautious around us, more so than a normal cat should be. He'll cuddle when he wants to, but once he's had enough, you better let him down or he'll start that biting again. My husband doesn't discipline him anymore, as we've learned much better ways of teaching him what we expect from him.
But I'm wondering... because my husband spanked him when he was little, could that be why he's not as affectionate as we'd like for him to be? Don't get me wrong, he's a happy cat. He plays with our other kitty and we see no other behavior problems. (We had a poop problem a while ago, but he just didn't like the covered litter box, as he is a fairly big kitty!) He's not scared of us, he's just not as affectionate as we'd like for him to be towards us. Could that be the reason? And if so, did we ruin him? Is there a way to fix this? I feel so bad for causing the stress when he was small! I hope there's a way I can possibly reverse it! Thanks in advance for the input!