Category Archives: Cat Psychology

4 Tips for Training Your Cat

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1. Is it behavior or medical?

Medical problems often are the cause of strange behavior even though we attribute peeing outside the litter box to our kitty being mad at us. However, a urinary tract infection could be the reason for your cat peeing on the floor. Cats don’t realize they are sick, they just know it hurts to pee. Take them to a vet before you concern yourself with training them to make sure that they are indeed healthy and just have an attitude problem, because otherwise they could get seriously ill.

2. Don’t be upset about Natural Behavior

The need to scratch is entirely normal and natural in a cat. Since a cat’s claws can be so versatile, the exercise they get during clawing sessions helps build supple muscles and strong tendons and bones. Cats really don’t scratch your furniture with any malicious intent, it’s just part of their regular self-maintenance program to keep their claws nice and sharp for self defense. Most cat experts will tell you that cat training to prevent destructive scratching is so simple that it is crazy anyone would ever even consider for a moment that declawing their cat is a viable option.

Training your cat not to scratch is as easy as spraying them with a spray bottle of water every time they try to scratch a certain piece of furniture or spraying a little vinegar on or around any area you don’t want them to scratch. Cats hate vinegar!

3. Chewing Problems

Sometimes cats like to chew on random objects in or around the house. Some chewing is obviously only a destructive or annoying habit such as chewing on plastic bags or shoes, but chewing on dangerous objects like computer cables and electrical wires can be quite dangerous. You have to learn to discourage the behavior somehow and reward good behavior at the same time.

Destructive chewing by kittens is often a result of teething. Their little gums are sore, and biting on hard surfaces seems to help. Large plastic straws are a perfect way to draw a kitten’s attention toward an object they can safely chew. The payoff is the crunchy texture, pain relief, and fun play.

4. Training a Cat to Walk on a Leash

Cat training is needed when a cat has had a taste of outdoor exploring and makes a dash for the door every time it’s opened. Cats should not be allowed outdoors without close supervision, which usually means while on a leash. Walking a cat on a leash can be a pleasurable experience for both the human and the cat, and definitely safer for the cat than allowing him to roam freely.

6 Ways to Control Your Cat’s Furniture Scratching Habit

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It’s something all cat owners fear and stress over: ruined furniture. Cats have this way of making us feel like they did nothing wrong, even though we just cleaned up their hairball, vacuumed their hair and dusted for prints after finding a small dead animal carcass neatly displayed in the doorway to our bedroom. What’s worse is that any sort of cat training requires an amount of patience that most people don’t have — kitty hides when you grab the spray bottle, thinks you’re playing when you chase her, and will only end up in your lap on her own terms. Needless to say, controlling your cat’s behavior is one of the most daunting and frustrating tasks. Luckily, there are cat psychologists who have figured out the ways (dare I say SECRET ways) to stop your cat from doing certain things like destroying your furniture.

1. Get a Sisal Textile Scratching Post or Tree

Sisal is the perfect material for cat scratching. Cats have a desire to shred, but something perfectly smooth doesn’t look easily shredable, and something too messy will look shredded by someone else. Therefore, you want something that carries a textured pattern. Ever wonder why cats claw your rug? This is why. It looks clean and perfect but not smooth. This becomes a prime target for their claws to mark their territory. They tend to mark territory in places where the family and household members congregate the most (bedroom doorways, beddings on the side of the bed, couches and loveseats). So, get a sisal scratching post and place it in the same area as one of these. Also, the best scratching post will also have some sort of mount at the top which she can climb up to and sleep or sit in.

2. Clip Your Cat’s Nails and Reward Afterwards

Clipping your cat’s nails can greatly reduce the amount of scratching going on and is much more humane than declawing. Cats need their claws to feel like a cat and be happy. A declawed cat can have many psychological problems as well as not being able to defend itself in tough situations  (and don’t think that housecats don’t need claws. There are many reasons a cat could use its claws, such as there being a fire or there being a mouse or other pest in the house; they use their claws to climb, defend and attack and it’s only natural for them to have their claws).

It may seem strange to reward a cat for having its nails clipped, but it really works in helping to get them to accept it as a fact of life. You don’t want to struggle with her every time you do it! Clipping them when they are young will greatly increase their acceptance while also greatly reducing their need to scratch. Furthermore, by giving her a reward like a treat of some kind will make the experience more pleasurable and memorable.

 

3. Exercise

House cats particularly have the problem of boredom. After all, they don’t do much aside from sleeping and eating. Playing with them, chasing them, letting them chase your string and holding them gives them a lot to think about and wears them out. This will really cut down on the clawing since they will only want to sleep!

 

4. Furniture Cat Repellent Spray

Did you know that there are actually anti-cat sprays on the market? You can spray your furniture, or any other area that you don’t want your cat to scratch, and it keeps them away.

5. Get a Window Perch

Cats LOVE watching the world outside, especially if they are a house cat who’s never explored the outdoors. Get them a cat tree so they can perch next to the window and watch all the amazing things that are happening outside. An even more clever trick is to put a bird feeder next to the window. Just, whatever you do, make sure you keep that window closed!

6. Use natural deterrents

Everyone has heard of spraying cats with water. This works so well and if you haven’t actually tried it, I would suggest trying it before anything else. Cats hate the idea of being sprayed with water so much that they will most certainly remember the episode and in most cases won’t take too many sprays before giving up on whatever it is you are spraying them for.

Another natural deterrent is orange peels. Cats do not like citrus smells. If you place your orange peels next to the furniture your kitty is scratching, they will avoid it. After a few days of this, they will usually be trained. Combining this with the water spray works very very well!

Cat Psychology

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The psychology of a cat is a curious thing. Cats are primarily mysterious animals that each have a personality that distinct  and idiosyncrasies that are all their own. Although cats may show a lot of affection, they also will tend to hold a high level of independence in how and when they relate to humans and other pets. If they want attention, they will seek it out. When they want to be alone they will find solace in solitary.

Cat psychology can be read through body language. Cats mainly use their bodies to communicate their feelings. For instance, when it is feeling inquisitive and friendly, their whiskers will point forward. When a feline is in the defensive stance because they are angry, their whiskers will be laying flat against their face.

A feline’s attitude and temperament may be varied based upon the specific breed of the cat or by its socialization level. If a cat was not around other cats as a kitten, it may exhibit behaviors that are agressive towards strangers and other cats. These behavioral tendencies can be corrected with programmed plans in behavior modification.

Cat psychology tells us that purring is associated with happiness and contentment. This is accepted universally. Depending on the tone of that purr, though, your cat could also be signify anxiety, distress, or even a serious illness. Most cat owners have such a close connection to their beloved pet that they have grown to understand the numerous pitches a “meow” may carry and how each pitch has a different intended meaning.

Cat psychology also tells us how their tails communicate their feelings to us. When your cat is in hunting mode, or angry, the tip of your cats tail will twitch. If it is truly unhappy, the tail will twitch larger. A tail that is half-raised will show less displeasure than a tail that is held low. When your cat’s tail is held high, it is safe to assume that your feline friend is general happy or content.

If you follow the body indicators that your cat is giving off, you’ll be better suited to understand your cat’s mysterious ways.