This isn't so much a request for advise as it is just something I find humorous I want to comment on, although by all means provide insight if you think it's helpful!
River (7 next month, I've had him for 5 years and 1 week) is my first cat, and he was always been extremely well behaved. Even outside the house, if I take him to the vets or to someone else's house, he immediately explores with no hesitation. He's mostly calm on a train on a leash. He has excellent discipline inside the house, he knows boundaries and what 'no' means (or at least what the tone of my voice means). He knows he needs permission to come in the kitchen, so will always wait a few seconds outside the boundary and if I say no, most of the time he won't enter, and if he does, he'll leave the second I tell him again or take a step towards him. No matter how much he wants to steal my chicken legs, he knows he's not allowed - if he's feeling bold, he'll creep towards it, but I just have to speak up and he'll back off, usually now he just sits next to the plate and stares at it. Anytime he does something I want him to stop, he'll stop the second I speak up. A really good boi.
Because I've been spoiled by his good behaviour it never occurred to me Lillie, my 9 week old new kitten, would not have that discipline. Second I open the kitchen door and she's nearby, she's trotting right to it, catching me by surprise when I'm holding all my dishes. She obviously doesn't understand 'no'. And she was making persistent efforts to my lasagne last night which meant I spent 5 minutes being a human treadmill of moving her back to the right side of my desk only for her to immediately walk across it to my lasagne on the left side.
I guess I need to learn cat training. I was planning on leash training her (River is pseudo-leash trained, but because I live in an urban area, I rarely use it in rural areas, and so now he's associated wearing it with having to go near roads or into his carrier primarily, which has put him off - when he reaches the vet or rural area he's fine walking on it - hopefully I can build up a better association for Lillie), guess I need to teach her the other things too! Hopefully River will help????? Do cats learn boundaries from older cats???
River (7 next month, I've had him for 5 years and 1 week) is my first cat, and he was always been extremely well behaved. Even outside the house, if I take him to the vets or to someone else's house, he immediately explores with no hesitation. He's mostly calm on a train on a leash. He has excellent discipline inside the house, he knows boundaries and what 'no' means (or at least what the tone of my voice means). He knows he needs permission to come in the kitchen, so will always wait a few seconds outside the boundary and if I say no, most of the time he won't enter, and if he does, he'll leave the second I tell him again or take a step towards him. No matter how much he wants to steal my chicken legs, he knows he's not allowed - if he's feeling bold, he'll creep towards it, but I just have to speak up and he'll back off, usually now he just sits next to the plate and stares at it. Anytime he does something I want him to stop, he'll stop the second I speak up. A really good boi.
Because I've been spoiled by his good behaviour it never occurred to me Lillie, my 9 week old new kitten, would not have that discipline. Second I open the kitchen door and she's nearby, she's trotting right to it, catching me by surprise when I'm holding all my dishes. She obviously doesn't understand 'no'. And she was making persistent efforts to my lasagne last night which meant I spent 5 minutes being a human treadmill of moving her back to the right side of my desk only for her to immediately walk across it to my lasagne on the left side.
I guess I need to learn cat training. I was planning on leash training her (River is pseudo-leash trained, but because I live in an urban area, I rarely use it in rural areas, and so now he's associated wearing it with having to go near roads or into his carrier primarily, which has put him off - when he reaches the vet or rural area he's fine walking on it - hopefully I can build up a better association for Lillie), guess I need to teach her the other things too! Hopefully River will help????? Do cats learn boundaries from older cats???
