Cat Training

Do you want to train kitty not to scratch your expensive furniture? If yes, you need to train him to use the scratching post. But not just any one will do. It needs to be right for your cat. And you may need more than one.

Before you make your selection, you need to know why cats scratch furniture. There are 3 main reasons:

• Mark their territory
• Maintain their claws
• Stretch and tone their muscles

If your cat scratches your sofa to mark his territory, he probably also scratches some other pieces of furniture – like your wardrobe, or dining room table. In this case, you’ll need more than one scratching post. Before you faint at the thought of buying five $100 scratching posts, you need to know that buying the most expensive posts from your local pet shop is not the best idea. More than one cat owner has complained that his cat left the expensive scratching post alone, instead preferring to scratch the cardboard box it came in.

Maybe kitty scratched your carpet or the back of your dining room chair to maintain his claws. His claws are a lot more complex than our finger nails, and he can’t clip his claws, can he? This is one reason why many cat owners buy scratching posts made from sisal. Kitty can really dig his claws into the sisal, while it is tough and relatively long-lasting. But if you look at it, carpet is also quite tough, and you can buy small pieces cheap from Walmart or get left-over pieces for free from your local carpet shop. The thick cardboard used for packing cases also has the same properties. You can get these for free from your neighborhood shops.

Don’t forget that cats also scratch furniture to stretch and tone their muscles. You’ll understand when you see how they scratch your wardrobe – they reach up, dig their claws in, then drag them down. That means whatever you buy must be firm and stable, and high enough for kitty to scratch as usual. Look at the claw marks on your furniture now. If they are 3 feet up, then the scratching post must be at least 3 feet high. Not only that – when kitty leans his weight against it, it must not shake or topple over.

Here are some tips to make your own cheap scratching posts:

• Planks, crates and pieces from old furniture
• Logs and thick tree branches, especially with the bark still on them
• Thick cardboard, like the type used to make packing cases
• Carpet

Do you want to learn how to stop kitty from scratching your expensive furniture? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.

Sometimes, your cat attacks your feet when you sit down for a rest. Or he may bite and scratch your feet as you walk around the house. Does your cat hate you? On the contrary, he is playing with you, and showing that he loves you. Nevertheless, all this biting and scratching can hurt, and is not fun for you.

There are several reasons why your cat will attack your feet and legs (besides the fact that he is short and can’t reach your face when he swipes those claws of his). First of all, when he stalks and pounces on your feet, he is just playing – enacting a hunting game. He is pretending that your feet are his prey, like a mouse or bird. He is just following his natural instincts. If you have ever seen a litter of kittens play with each other, you will understand. They tumble around, roughhousing. But there will also be one or two of them who will be stalking their playmates, bellies low to the ground, ready to jump and pounce on their target.

This leads to the second reason – kitty is just playing and wants the attention of his favorite human being – YOU! He has excess energy, and wants you to play with him. Although your little tiger is just doing all this to show you his affection, you want him to stop biting and clawing your feet and legs. After all, it hurts. But you also don’t want to punish him. After all, he is just doing this because he loves you.

The first thing you can do is to play with kitty regularly. You should do this two or three times everyday. Depending on how active your cat is, ten or twenty minutes of playtime in the morning and at night should keep him happy and satisfied. This will bleed off his excess energy and at the same time show him that he is Number One in your life. If he bites or scratches too hard, you may want to play with him using cat toys. A toy mouse which squeaks when your little tiger pounces on it will work well. Just drag the rubber mouse along the ground for him to chase.

Besides playing with him, brushing his fur, bathing him when necessary and trimming his claws are also important activities. All these cat grooming activities provide more opportunities to spend quality time with kitty. And there is a side benefit of trimming his claws – it hurts less when he scratches you.

Another thing you can do is to put a collar with a bell on your cat. This will help to give you a few moments warning when kitty pounces on you from ambush. At the very least, it will keep you from being surprised and tripping over him. If you carry a spray bottle of water, you can squirt him with a little bit of cold water just as he leaps on your feet. This won’t hurt him, but will surprise him and he won’t like it. You want to catch him in the act to discourage him, so do not spray him after he finishes pouncing on you. Remember: Only squirt him with water as he is pouncing on your feet!

Your cat attacks your feet because he is playing out his natural instincts as a hunter. He is also playing with you, just as he played with his litter mates as a small kitten. You can never really stop this behavior, but you can keep in under control. Regular scheduled playtimes, using cat toys instead of your hands and feet – these are just some of the ways you can use.

Do you want to learn how to tame your naughty cat? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.

Why Should You Trim Your Cat’s Claws?

Cat claws are naturally sharp, and can do a lot of damage to both yourself and your furniture. The best way to deal with destructive cat behavior is to understand your cat’s behavior and train him not to scratch and claw at you and your furniture. However, even at the best of times, kitty can become over-excited and fall back into his natural behavior. At times like these, you’ll be glad if your cats claws have been blunted.

There are three main ways to minimize the damage from cat scratching:

• Trim kitty’s claws
• Apply a soft cover over your cat’s claws
• Cat declawing

Trimming kitty’s claws is one of the best and cheapest ways to go. You basically trim off the sharp, hooked tip of your cat’s claws so that they can’t cause as much damage when the scratch you or your furniture. Depending on the amount you trim, you may need to do this every fortnight, or even monthly. How much you trim off every time depends on both kitty’s comfort level and your comfort level. It’s best to start slow, until you build up a high level of trust.

Besides trimming cat claws, you can also apply a soft cover over the claws. Normally, you’ll need to apply a special glue to stick these covers over kitty’s claws. Of course, over time these soft covers will come off, so you need to replace them regulars. Check with your local pet store for the best brand for your breed of cat.

Declawing your cat really means that the vet will cut off the first joint of your cat’s toes. As you can guess, this is not only very traumatic to cats, it permanently prevents them from defending themselves. It even prevents them from climbing trees and other high places to escape from danger. In many cases, cat owners have reported behavior problems following this operation. Nowadays, this operation is illegal in many places.

What Is The Best Way To Trim Cat Claws?

If you are trimming kitty’s claws for the first time, it is best to go to a vet. Ask him to show you how to do it right. However, here are the important steps to note:

• Make sure you have good lighting available
• Support kitty firmly and securely in your left arm
• Hold his front paw in your left hand
• Extend his claw by pressing firmly but gently on the pad area
• Examine the claw to find a pink area – this area contains blood vessels and nerves, and is called the quick. It is critical to avoid this area when you do the trimming
• Quickly snip off the tip of the claw with a pair of clippers
• Repeat until you finish

If you only have one cat, you may want to schedule a regular appointment with your vet. Most vets charge in the range of $10 to $20 to do this. If you ask for regular appointments and pay for everything up front, he should be willing to give you a discount.

What Else Do I Need To Know About Trimming Kitty’s Claws?

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

• If your cat struggles, you can wrap him up in a thick bath towel with only the paw extended. Another way is to wait until he is asleep
• You can use nail clippers for people, or buy special clippers from your pet shop. Note that there are different sizes, so you want to buy one which fits your cat’s claws
• Normally you hold the clippers parallel to the flat part of the claw. But if you find that this splinters kitty’s claw, rotate the position 90 degrees so that it is vertical
• Initially, only clip off the sharp tip of the claws. Once you build up a greater degree of trust, you can clip off more if you want to
• Do only one paw at a time, unless kitty is really comfortable with the procedure
• Usually, you don’t need to trim the back toenails. It may even be undesirable if yours is an indoor-outdoor cat
• Give you cat a treat to distract him or as a reward
• This bears repeating – avoid the “quick”

As you can see, trimming cat claws is not a difficult task. It can really cut down on the amount of damage they do when playing with you or scratching your furniture. The first time you do it, it is best to ask the vet to show you the proper way.

Do you want to learn how to tame your naughty cat? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.

You have a cuddly new kitten and you want to learn more about kitten care and training. Let us look at a few cases:

1. You own mother cat and the kittens belong to her

This can be the best situation or the worst situation. If mother cat is well trained and well behaved, her kittens will follow her lead and you will have no trouble. If not…

Still, all is not lost. As long as you successfully train mother cat, her kittens will fall in line. You just have to be patient, that’s all. And keep a bottle of aspirin handy to deal with the inevitable headaches.

2. You have a nursing mother cat and an orphaned kitten

This is very similar to point #1. Except that you first need to get your cat to accept the kitten. Just rub the orphan with mother cat’s own kittens to get their scent on the orphan. Then place the orphan with the other kittens and supervise to make sure everything goes well.

Another way to get mother cat’s scent on the orphan is to put a little drop of soft, unsalted butter (not margarine) on the orphan. Rub a little dollop on its head and sides, so that mother cat will give it a good lick.

While there is no guarantee, many cat breeders have found that mother cats do accept orphaned kittens.

3. You only have the kitten

In this case, you will have to hand-raise the kitten. The first thing is to get her to a vet for a thorough check-up. Ask him for specific advice on raising your particular kitten. If you cannot afford a trip to the vet, check with your local animal shelter or SPCA for advice.

In general, you will need to feed your kitten KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) before slowly weaning it to solid food. Do not use cow’s milk, as many kittens are lactose-intolerant.

You will want to train your kitten in these 3 areas to prevent future problem behavior:

• Litter training to use the litter box
• Socialization so they do not bite and scratch you during playtime
• Do not scratch your furniture

Kitten litter training is almost the same as litter training an adult cat. However, here are a few things to beware of:

• Get a shallow litter box – avoid automatic cat litter boxes.
• Do not use clumping cat litter or crystal cat litter.
• Sand is usually the safest litter. Some brands of clay or biodegradable litter may also be suitable. Check the label.

Cat biting/scratching often occur because kittens are not properly socialized. A kitten in a litter quickly learns not to bite or scratch too hard during playtime. Over-aggressive kittens quickly find themselves without playmates. When you play with your kitten, you should be careful to do the same – if she bites or scratches too much or too hard, you should immediately stop playing and ignore her.

Training your kitten to use the scratching post is also very important. Before she forms the habit of going after your furniture, you should get her used to the scratching post. This kind of scratching is a part of her nature and necessary exercise for her claws and spine. It is also a way of marking her territory. Like her litter box, her scratching post should not be moved around your house.

If you properly care for and bond with your kitten, you will have an excellent companion for a good many years. Train her right, and she will never give you any trouble.

Do you want to learn how to tame your naughty cat? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.

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.

Do you want to learn how to tame your naughty cat? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.

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.

Do you want to learn how to tame your naughty cat? Click here to buy Cat Secrets Revealed.