Cat Training

Does your cat frequently bite or scratch people or other pets? This means it may be showing signs of aggression. Cat aggression can be dangerous and should not be tolerated. This does not mean you should punish your cat. On the contrary, you should diagnose the underlying cause of your cat’s aggression and get it properly treated. Below is a list of 9 common causes of aggressive behavior in your cat:

1. Pain Aggression – if your home environment remains the same, but your cat suddenly becomes aggressive, it may be because of some sudden sickness. For example, arthritis, dental problems or some other painful condition could cause your cat to become aggressive.
2. Play Aggression – your cat likes to play rough, biting and scratching you. Or it likes to stalk you or ambush you. In many cases, this is because your cat was taken away from its mother too soon, so it did not learn to moderate its aggression when playing. Another reason could be that you rough-house with your cat too much, hence conditioning it to be aggressive when playing.
3. Fear Aggression – kitty hisses, bares her teeth, and crouches low with its tail and legs tucked under its body. Its ears are flat against its head, its pupils are dilated, and its fur stands on end. These are signs that your cat is afraid of something, and is preparing to protect itself.
4. Predatory Aggression – your cat attacks your pet bird, or some other small animal like a mouse. This aggressiveness is actually your cat’s natural heritage: to hunt prey. Unfortunately, since these are modern times, and we are discussing your pet cat rather than some farm cat, this predatory behavior is probably not desirable.
5. Redirected Aggression – something seems to be provoking your cat, but when you approach it, it attacks you instead. Cats are no more logical than human beings. This is like your father becoming pissed off by something at work, then coming home and taking out his anger on you.
6. Petting Aggression – just like kids, a little bit of attention is great, but too much will set them off. You could be happily petting or playing with kitty just moments ago, but it suddenly became aggressive.
7. Status Aggression – your cat is trying to show you who’s boss. The symptoms are usually tail swishing, flattened ears, dilated pupils, growling, and hissing.
8. Territorial Aggression – you bring home a new cat or some other pet, and kitty chases or attacks it. Unneutered tomcats can be especially aggressive in defending their territory.
9. Maternal Aggression – your cat just gave birth, and will not allow you to get near her kittens.

This is not a comprehensive list, but should cover most cases of aggression. Not all causes of cat aggression can be treated. Some, like redirected aggression or maternal aggression, require that you recognize it and adapt yourself to it. Others, like pain aggression, will disappear once you remove the cause of pain.

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Does your cat or kitten defecate and urinate all over your house? Is this driving you nuts? Then you need to train them to use the litter box. First, you do know what a litter box is, right? I am not being sarcastic here, but I know of some cat owners who have no idea that these things exist. And second, you have to accept as a fact, that cats can be trained. Some cat owners allow their cats to run wild, adamantly refusing to believe that cats can be trained.

Assuming that you accept that you can train your cat not to mess up all over your home, how do you do so? To start, you need to gather some intelligence. You need to know when and where your cats like to defecate and urinate. And you need to learn how to recognize the signs when they are going to shit and pee. Luckily, cats are creatures of habit. They like to do their business in the same places, around the same times. Most cats eliminate when they wake up, after they eat or after they exercise. They usually go to some corner or behind a piece of furniture and sniff the floor there just before elimination.

Next, you need to prepare a litter box in a quiet, out of the way location. Just like you, your cat prefers to have privacy during the process of elimination. The litter box should have high sides to keep the litter in when your cat scratches in it. The litter itself should be clumpable and scoopable. You have to remember to clean the litter box everyday, and replace the litter every week. Cats are clean and fastidious creatures, so if you fail to keep their litter box clean, they will soon start doing their business elsewhere. There is one additional point regarding the litter – do not change brands. Once your cat gets used to a particular brand of kitty litter, it will refuse to use another brand. If you are forced to change to another litter, you will need to retrain your cat.

As the final step, of course, you need to train your cat to use the litter box. Every time you see your cat giving its signal, you need to carry it to the litter box. This action does two things. It breaks your cat’s habit of eliminating in its old spot, and it conditions your cat to eliminate in the litter box. Immediately after it uses the litter box, you should also give it a treat or reward. This further reinforces the new habit of eliminating in the litter box. Obviously, your cat will refuse to use the litter box in the beginning. Do not scold or beat him. You do not want kitty to associate the litter box with punishment. Otherwise it will learn to deliberately avoid the litter box, which is not what you want. Just be patient and consistent and your cat will eventually learn to do its business in the right place – the litter box.

Follow these steps and your cat will stop making a mess all over your house. You will only need to clean the litter box, instead of having to track down every spot kitty makes a mess.

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Playing with kitty – that’s why we become cat owners, isn’t it? But what happens when play turns to pain, when kitty starts biting and scratching and drawing blood? Animal behaviorists call this play aggression, but who cares about the big words? What really matters is how you can get rid of it? First, you need to know what causes cats to become aggressive when playing with you. Once you know what causes the problem, you can learn how to fix it.

Play aggression normally occurs in kittens which are taken away from their mothers too early in life. A normal kitten, raised with littermates, quickly learns to bite and scratch with less intensity. They learn that playing rough will either cause their playmates to retaliate or to stop playing. You can recognize this behavior from the kitten’s posture. It lashes its tail, flattens its ears and its pupils dilate. This is soon followed by biting and scratching.

To correct this behavior, you need to redirect your kitten’s attention to another acceptable object. Drag kitty’s toy along the floor, or throw the toy around and let kitty chase after it. A good choice for this would be a ping pong ball or something similar which bounces nicely. A soft, stuffed toy the same size as your kitten is also good. This lets kitty wrestle with it, closely simulating the way young kittens play with each other. Encourage play with this wrestling toy when your kitten starts to play rough.

You need to keep things under control. Set up 3 or 4 consistent times everyday to play with your kitten. This conditions your kitten so that it knows not to bother you at other times.

When playing with your cat, do not encourage it to chase after your hands and feet. This can also cause play aggression. In addition, if your cat tries to play with you outside your scheduled playtimes, you should ignore it. Otherwise it will start ambushing you when you climb down the stairs, or go around a corner, or when you go to bed. That would be an accident waiting to happen.

Sometimes, just ignoring kitty does not help. In this case, try using some kind of noise maker. You just want to startle it, grab its attention and break its momentum just before it pounces on you. Never physically strike your cat. A painful strike will make your cat afraid of you and avoid you. On the other hand, a harmless strike will just encourage it to continue its behavior. Either way, this is not what you want.

To enjoy playtime with your cat, you need to contain its aggression. Follow these tips consistently and with patience, and you will be able to have fun playing with your cat.

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Is your cat’s bad behavior driving you up the wall? Many people are under the impression that cats are too independent to be trained. This is not true. Any animal can be trained. You just need to condition its reactions in a consistent and predictable manner. Animal behaviorists call this Pavlovian Conditioning. Although the most famous of the experiments revolved around dogs, subsequent scientists have successfully shown this effect even in human children. In other words, this effect is the basis of all successful animal training methods, from dogs to rats to lions.

Now, conditioning and punishment do not mean the same thing. You do not need to hurt your cat when it misbehaves, you just need to clearly demonstrate that its behavior is unacceptable. So, how do you do that? All you need are a number of spray water bottles filled with cold water, placed in convenient locations around your house. Anytime you see your cat doing something wrong, you immediately spray its body with cold water. This method gets your cats attention and annoys it but does not hurt it. You are not punishing your cat. You are interrupting it in the middle of its misbehavior. Do this consistently and immediately and you will eventually break your cat of its bad habits. An obvious limitation of this method is that if you are not around when kitty misbehaves, it will not work.

Here is a method of deterrence which works even when you are not at home. If your cat eats or scratches your houseplants, you can try putting mothballs in them. Cats are sensitive to the strong smell, and this will keep your cat away from your plants. You can also use the same trick to keep your cat from urinating and defecating in inappropriate locations.

Another problem which you may face as a cat owner is having your cat scratch your furniture or carpet. First, you need to know that your cat is only doing what comes naturally and you should not stop it from scratching. The scratching is meant to maintain its claws in good condition and also to stretch and tone its muscles. If you punish it for scratching, you will confuse it and this will lead to further bad behavior. What you want to do is minimize the damage it can do. Just trim its claws. If you do not know how, get a veterinarian to trim them for you. Ask your vet to teach you. You also want to redirect your cat’s attention from your carpet or furniture to another target. If your cat likes to scratch vertical surfaces, then get it a vertical scratching post. Ditto for horizontal surfaces.

Try these tips for stopping your cat’s bad behavior. You do not have to be cruel and punish kitty. Just take some suitable preventative measures to interrupt or prevent its bad behavior. Be consistent, be firm and patient in keeping the bad behavior from turning into bad habits.

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One of the biggest problems cat owners face, is how to litter train their kitten. Fortunately, cats are clean and fastidious creatures and they can be trained to use the litter box very quickly. In fact, if you own mama cat, she will handle potty training for you. Otherwise, you will have to play that role. Assuming you do everything correctly, you should be able to train your kitten to use the litter box within two weeks. Just follow the list of do’s and don’ts below:

• Don’t put kitty’s litter box next to its bed or food. You want a clear separation in kitty’s mind: bed for sleeping, food bowl for eating, and litter box for doing its business. Besides, would you want to eat and sleep in your toilet? The same goes for your kitten.
• Use a spray to attract kitty to its litter box. There are some commercial sprays which can attract cats to a certain spot to defecate and urinate. You can use this spray, for greater convenience.
• Use a “pet behave spray” to prevent kitty from defecating or urinating in corners and other undesirable places. This spray basically produces smells which are unpleasant to your kitten. For example, if your kitten frequently urinates or defecates in the corner behind your settee, then you should spray that area regularly. Kitty will then avoid that area.
• Don’t use litter which clumps together (for kittens). A common recommendation for litter training cats is to use a litter which easily clumps together. While this is very convenient for adult cats, this cannot be recommended for kittens. Litters like these are usually treated to a chemical which to kittens may be sensitive. It is safer to use a different kind of litter. Check with your vet for advice on a suitable type of litter.
• When kitty hunches up or crouches, this is a common sign that it is about to do its business. Quickly put your kitten in its litter box and scratch its front paws in it. Eventually, this will help to associate the idea that kitty should do its business here.
• Put kitty in litter tray when it wakes up, and after eating. Many cats and kittens tend to pee and shit around these times. If you put your kitten in its litter box during these times, you will have fewer messes to clean up.
• Whenever kitty defecates/urinates elsewhere, clean up the poop and place it and kitty in the litter box. Don’t rub your kitten’s nose in the poop. Just sprinkle some litter over the poop or pee and clean it up. Then put this mess together with kitty in the litter box. The intention is simply to associate the action of shitting and peeing with the litter box. Kitty will probably not understand at first, so you need to be patient and do it over and over again.
• Feed kitty on a regular schedule. Part of litter training your kitten is to create fixed habits which are convenient to you. Regular feeding will help lead to regular shitting and peeing. This definitely makes your life easier.
• Clean the litter box regularly. Scoop away the poo after your kitten defecates. Replace the litter every week. If the litter is dirty and messy, your kitten will refuse to use the litter box. This is very bad for you.
• Don’t move the litter box around. This is part of forming good habits in your kitten. Keep the litter box in the same place. This makes it easier to associate the litter box with the act of elimination. Don’t confuse your kitten by changing the location of the litter box everyday.

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Having your cat urinating all over your home can be extremely troublesome. Especially when it happens after you thought you had successfully litter trained your cat. Rather than getting angry, it may be more appropriate for you to be worried. You should strongly consider taking kitty for a check-up at the vet. There are a number of diseases which can cause your cat to suddenly start urinating uncontrollably. One of these diseases is a urinary tract infection which could be potentially fatal if left untreated. As a matter of fact, any sudden change in kitty’s behavior merits a visit to the vet, just in case.

While kitty peeing outside the litter box is an obvious clue, you should also be on alert about your cat’s urination habits. If you notice kitty making more trips to the litter box than normal, or releasing a greater than usual volume of urine, or its urine having a different smell, etc, all these are warning signs of illness. If you truly love your cat, then you need to be vigilant about its health.

Once ill health has been ruled out, you need to look into environmental factors. The most obvious one is moving house. There are one or two cat owners who somehow failed to realize that their cats became confused and could not find the litter box in their new homes. Or simply did not like the new location of the litter box. In any case, if you move house, be prepared to litter train your cat all over again.

Any number of factors could cause stress to your cat and cause it to urinate away from its litter box, even something as subtle as a change in your working schedule. On the one hand, this is rather inconvenient to you. On the other hand, a part of me would be happy, because this shows that kitty misses me and cares about me. It’s nice to know that you are more than just the person who fills kitty’s food dish, isn’t it? Anyway, if you cannot remove the cause of kitty’s stress, you will just have to toilet train your cat again. Besides this, you may want to learn cat massage. Just like for humans, massage can soothe away some of your cats’s stress. If all else fails, you may need to get a something from your vet to help soothe kitty. However, I strongly advise against aromatherapy or the use of massage oils unless your vet can recommend a safe brand. Cats are often sensitive to such oils and scents. There have been cases of poisoning reported.

Something that few people think about is the litter. Just because you still buy the same brand does not mean the manufacturer is still making the litter exactly the same. There could be major or even just minor changes to the final end product, and it could be noticeable to your cat. Remember that its sense of touch and smell is much better than yours.

The problem could even be the litter box. Are your cat still using the same litter box as when it was a kitten? Or has your cat grown old… You may need to try a different-sized litter box.

Did I mention that smell is important? Did you change the cleaner you used to wash the litter box? Are you cleaning the area around the litter box with a different cleaner? Perhaps kitty hates the smell of the new cleaning product and that is why it is urinating elsewhere. Or did you use a different cleaning product for your house. The new cleaner could be confusing kitty.

Your cat is a sensitive creature of habit. First, you need to eliminate health problems as the cause of your cat’s urination problem. After that, it takes time and patience and loving care to investigate the cause of the problem. A case study published by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (JAVMA, Vol 224, No. 10, May 15, 2004) reported that they took several years to resolve the problem. Partly it was because the cat in question had health problems. The vet needed to try different medications which would both clear up the medical conditions as well as not cause the cat to urinate uncontrollably. At the same time, there was no stability in the home environment. The owner got a divorce, and found a new boyfriend. And apparently some stray cats moved into the neighborhood.

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Playtime with your cat can quickly become unpleasant if kitty starts biting you. Although biting and scratching is a normal part of cat behavior, a properly socialized cat knows how to control its strength. It does not usually bite or scratch to the point of drawing blood. There are several reasons why your cat can lack this self-control, and knowing why is the first step to controlling the problem.

When young kittens are taken away from their mothers too early, they fail to learn to control the strength of their biting and scratching. A kitten which spends enough time with its mother and litter mates quickly learns that biting its playmates too hard causes playtime to end. Kittens without this social skill, on the other hand, grow up into cats which bite and scratch too hard. Many owners tend to make this condition worse. When playing with their kitten or cat, they inadvertently do things which further encourage this behavior. These actions encourage and cement this behavior of biting and scratching in their cats.

This, then, is one key to controlling this playtime aggression. When kitty bites or scratches too hard, you should stop playing with it. Just ignore it – do not pay attention and do not punish your cat. Eventually, it will learn that biting and scratching too hard will lead to the end of playtime. Exactly the same as a young kitten with its mother and litter mates.

Now, sometimes it seems that both you and kitty are spending some quality time together. Both of you are having fun playing, when your cat suddenly becomes violent and bites and scratches you. There does not seem to be any reason for this sudden aggression. Some animal behaviorists believe that this happens because you have over-stimulated kitty and it is now channeling that into aggressive behavior. Regardless of the actual cause, there is agreement that there are two steps you need to take to handle this problem:

1. Be aware of your cat’s behavior during playtime. Before it starts to bite and scratch you, there will be a change of behavior – ears flattening, fur standing up, body hunching, etc. This is your window.


2. Stop petting or playing with kitty when you notice the change in behavior. Just stop – ignore your cat and go about your own business. This will usually defuse your cat’s aggression.


3. Note that this is a bit different from a kitten taken away from its mother while too young. An under-socialized kitten always bites and scratches too hard during playtime.

Cats are hunters. This is their natural instinct, and you will often see these characteristics when you play with kitty. You will see them hunched down to their belly, stalking their toy or a mouse or cockroach before pouncing on it. This can be a problem when they decide to ambush you when you are doing your chores, or just as you are going to bed. Your cat biting when under the control of its hunting instinct can be particularly painful. One way of controlling this problem is to have at least two or three regularly scheduled playtimes with kitty. You want to bleed off its excess energy regularly.

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Does your cat attack your other pets? Does it attack the new cat you brought home? Or does it fight with your pet dog? Animal behaviorists have different names for each of these behaviors. When kitty attacks your pet mouse, or the bird in the garden, it’s called predatory aggression. It is just following its natural instinct to hunt for prey. Unfortunately, it is difficult to stop this kind of behavior. The best you can do is put a collar with a bell on your cat. This will keep it from sneaking up on its prey. You should also keep your other smaller pets (like your pet hamster) away from your cat.

Fear aggression is yet another instinctive behavior. How do you recognize when kitty is frightened? It hisses, bares its teeth, and crouches low with its tail and legs tucked under its body. It flattens its ears against the head, the pupils dilate, and the fur stands on end. To the person triggering this reaction, it almost seems as if your cat has doubled in size. Just the same as a puffer fish doubling its size to frighten its enemies away. Push kitty any further and it may attack.

• So, what can you do? For a start, you should not try to pet or console your cat when it displays this frightened yet aggressive behavior. Petting your cat in this situation not only could get you hurt, it reinforces in kitty that this behavior is okay. You do not want this to happen. Even though it seems uncaring, it is better to ignore kitty in this mood.
• Where possible, you want to gradually desensitize kitty towards this trigger. Treat it like a phobia in a human being. Expose kitty to the fear trigger a safe distance away for short periods of time, and reward it with treats when it does not show aggressive behavior. Once it gets used to the trigger at a certain distance, gradually decrease the distance. Eventually, like a human being, your cat will stop being afraid.

The other kind of aggression which causes kitty to attack other animals is called territorial aggression. This mean that kitty will chase or fight with the new cat which you bring home. It is trying to protect its territory. If this happens, you will need to take their introduction to each other slowly.

• First, you need to confine both of them to their own quarters. Let them hear and smell each other, but do not allow any physical contact.
• Once they get used to each other like this, switch their quarters. Let kitty investigate the newcomer’s smell, and let the newcomer investigate kitty’s smell and its new home.
• After this, place them in the same room, but at opposite ends of the room. Let them eat, in order to condition them to associate food with each other’s presence.
• Slowly bring then closer to each other.
• Finally, free them from their carriers and feed them, while making sure they cannot attack each other.
• If they eat their food and remain calm at this stage, then you are successful. Be warned that this could take weeks and even months.

In the end, there is no single way of keeping your cat from attacking another animal. You need to be patient and use a complete process.

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