Cat Training Review

The following are some reasons why cats misbehave as well as tips on how to prevent this happening:

1. Cats are easily bored when they aren't asleep and when they are bored, they become destructive. In reality, they are looking for ways to expend their energy or possibly for attention from their owners. A way round this problem is to make sure that your cat has plenty of playthings and preferably you should join in the games yourself. With young kittens, this could be for as much as two hours a day. However, don't start to play with your cat as soon as they start to play up or they will know that the way to attract your attention is to scratch the carpet or climb the curtains.

2. Cats are nocturnal creatures and will normally be awake when humans are sleeping. If you don't want your house wrecked while you are in bed, try playing with your cat quite boisterously just before you retire for the night. In this way, the cat will, initially at least, be tired out and will want to sleep too.

3. When it's mating time, cats want to go out. If you normally confine your cat to the house, then the unrequited sexual urge may well cause it to behave badly. You have two choices here; let the cat out, but this is pretty irresponsible as, if you have a female you may end up with unwanted kittens or if a male, someone else will or have the animal neutered. For a male cat, this is a very simple operation and for a female slightly more complex but nonetheless, the recovery rate is normally very fast.

4. Cats are inclined to misinterpret human chastisement. If you wag your finger at your cat, it is just as likely to wave its paw back at you. If this doesn't make you laugh too much, you need to make it clear that it's not a game and that you are annoyed at the cat's behaviour. Obviously, you mustn't physically abuse the cat, so you may want to try a "no" in a raised voice or removing the cat from wherever it is misbehaving. Cats like to be rewarded and attention from their human is just that, so make your displeasure known briefly then ignore the cat for a while.

5. Cats become attached to certain household items and in the course of playing with these, will damage them irreparably. If your cat seems particularly taken with a particular cushion or similar, buy a specialist spray from your pet supply shop. It will be practically odourless to humans but the cat will find it unpleasant and will leave alone whatever you've sprayed it on.
The key to controlling your cat's behaviour is knowing why it behaves as it does and treating it firmly when it misbehaves but giving it lots of attention at other times.

Liz Canham is the proud owner (or maybe servant) of three cats and is webmistress of The Cat Lover.

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Cats are not pack animals like dogs and so are quite happy being the only animal around. In fact most of the time they give other animals a wide birth. However now that more and more cats are being homed together, their relationships with each other are changing. It is now not uncommon for cats to form very close bonds with other cats in their family circle. They can now often be seen grooming each other and sleeping together on the same cushion. So we should not be surprised that they will grieve the loss of another cat, just as we do with our human family and friends.

However knowing if a cat is grieving the loss of another pet is not as easy to identify as in humans. After all cats cannot express how they are feeling to us in words. However cats do show other signs of grief that are very similar to our own. Loss of appetite, sleeping more, sleeping less and increased vocalisation are all signs that could indicate a cat is distressed.

Other signs of grief are, pacing and looking around the house for days, as if trying to find their companion. Looking out of windows and mewing for no apparent reason. A lack of interest in their favourite toys or food and a general listless behaviour that is out of character. Of course many of these signs can also be contributed to ill health and so if the behaviour continues it may be advisable to consult with a veterinarian.

To try and help a cat through a period of grieving, we can pay more attention to them and make more of a fuss of them than we would normally do. However we should not give them treats but rather we should try and distract them with a game. It is all too easy to give a cat a treat to console them when they are mewing or not eating their usual food, but to the cat, we are rewarding the behaviour and they will continue to do it.

It is also important not to rush out and try to replace the pet with a new one. This is often a mistake. cats should be given time to come to terms with the fact that their companion is not coming back. Many owners have reported that a once shy and quiet cat, completely changed after another cat passed away. This means the cat may have been subdued by the other cat and was suppressing their own personality. Once left alone for a while, they as it were, "come out of their shell.

Kate Tilmouth
">http://www.our-happy-cat.com

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