Cat Behavior Problems - Should You Punish Your Cat?

Cat Behavior Problems - Should You Punish Your Cat?
By Catherine Conway


"Muffin, get off the table!" "Muffin, why did you have to poop outside the litter box again!" "No, Muffin, no! Stop scratching the sofa, you bad kitty!"

Does any of that sound familiar? If you're a cat owner, you're probably all too familiar with the cat's habit of doing just as she pleases. She thinks the furniture is there for her scratching pleasure, she thinks the dining room table is her lounging space, and she adores chewing on house plants. Shouting and waving your arms might be a natural reaction. Maybe you've even tried smacking your cat's rump. However, none of this will solve cat behavior problems. In fact, it may cause more problems in the long run.

While we might like to think of our cats as four-legged kids, cats aren't children. They almost never make the connection between the punishment and the offending behavior that prompted it.

Let's say you scream at your cat for scratching a chair. She looks at you as if you're insane. To her, scratching is perfectly normal behavior. Sharpening their claws is what cats DO, and you can't stop this; you can only redirect the behavior, which is why we have scratching posts. Instead of teaching her to not scratch the furniture, you'll teach her to do it when you're not looking. More than likely, she'll associate your reaction with something completely different, such as another person, the presence of the family dog, whether the TV is on, etc. Either way, your anger makes no logical sense to her. You only succeed in teaching her that you're a volatile, frightening person who is best avoided. Your relationship with your cat inevitably suffers.
Sometimes your explosive reaction will have the opposite effect. If the cat loves the attention she's getting, she just might keep doing the thing that infuriates you.

Punishing your cat almost never works. It's just going to make the two of you even more unhappy and frustrated with each other.

The situation is probably starting to seem hopeless. If punishing doesn't work, how on earth do you fix cat behavior problems? Usually by being a cat detective: You need to think the way your cat thinks. Only then can you find the solution that works perfectly for both of you.

For more assistance, visit http://completekittytraining.com/ to pick up your guide on cat training.

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