warrrreagl

How do you discipline/train a cat?

My wife and I got two kittens in March (at the time, they were 6-week old brother and sister kittens), and they have turned into 5-month old holy terrors. We have raised many cats before, but they were always really, really good cats, and they all lived to ripe old ages.

But these guys, sheesh!

Scratching on furniture. Going outside the litterbox. Leaping onto furniture and knocking everything to the floor. Chewing furniture (I thought only dogs did this). Opening kitchen cabinets and going inside. Climbing draperies. You name it!

They are both neutered, and they are both indoor-only cats. I keep the litterbox clean and we've tried every type of litter on the market. They definitely use the box, but they use other places, too (which will end up getting them tossed really soon if something doesn't change).

We looked at a book on kitty discipline, but it basically tells us that our only hope is to restructure our lives and home completely and let the cats do whatever the hell they want. This is not an acceptable option; we want them to live with us, not the other way around.

Also, various sources tell us to squirt them with water bottles whenever they misbehave, but they've actually become immune to this and they really don't care how wet we get them, now.

HELP!

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lurkette

Sometimes you can't stop this behavior but what's worked for us was providing an alternative that they really liked - we got one of those cardboard scratching boxes filled with catnip. They haven't touched the furniture since. Our friends have also tried those glue-on claw caps. It's a humane alternative to declawing.

That's a hard one - most going outside the litterbox is because of some kind of protest. Have you tried giving them separate litterboxes? What are the other places they're using? Is it "logical" alternatives like plants, or are they just going wherever?

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Leaping onto furniture and knocking everything to the floor.

That one I'm afraid you're going to have to live with unless you're willing to "kitty proof" your belongings. There are products you can get to keep them from jumping on furniture - there's a little box that sits on your couch or whatever and emits a high pitched tone when it senses vibration, but you'd need one for every surface. You can try double-stick tape - they hate that, but it might only work as long as there is double-stick tape on your furniture.

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Chewing furniture (I thought only dogs did this).

OK, that's a new one on me! You can get "keep off" sprays like bitter apple that make the furniture taste bad. That's all I can think of.

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Opening kitchen cabinets and going inside.

Get cabinet locks.

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Climbing draperies. You name it!

That one I don't know about - the claw caps might help in that they won't be able to get a purchase on the draperies.

You might try some herbal sedation like Rescue Remedy or valerian root caps to calm them down, or try separating them since a lot of kitten play involves chasing each other around and being destructive. There are fixes for some of the behaviors but unfortunately cat behavior is not as easily "modified" as dogs, so there's a certain amount of restructuring you're going to need to do, like the cabinet locks and spraying your furniture. Or perhaps you could find these tykes a loving home and adopt an older, more sedate cat.

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Jim Kata

You know what...I hate to say it, but smack em, not hard but enough to let them know they are doing wrong. They should get the message unless they are like one cat I have. I swear she is into pain, the more you yell at her the more she purrs, the more you give her light smacks for doing something wrong, the more she purrs. Its odd. Anyways. She listens 90% of the time now.

I've raised three cats and they were just about perfect. These two I have now at my own house, took a while, but they listen. I've had them for about a year, two sisters, and they used to fuck everything up. Its gotten to the point where they know they are doing something wrong when I just start saying "N" without the o at the end and they stop (usually). Don't give up on them.
And whats up with those claw caps? Do they really work and are they uncomfortable for the cats?

papermachesatan

We adopted two older cats who were already potty trained.

giblfiz

a 99 cent water pistol works great for "punishment" its humane and they *really* don't like it. (on a side note its also kind of fun, and tends to cause impromptu water pistol fights)

also A sheet of tinfoil on furniture you don't want them to sit / lay on seems to work pretty well.

As for going outside the box, thats a really new one, I have never actually heard of a cat doing that if they could get to the box.

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laxative

let them out once in a while?

daoist

toss em and get chiapets?

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Pennington

Cats need a scratch post. If you get a good one, they will stop chewing on funature almost immediatly. Personally, I've only heard of going outside of the litterbox once, and it was my cat. Turned out he had a uninary tact infection. After we took care of that, he was fine.

I've had 3 cats in my life and none of them have ever been hit physically. Most of the time, positive reinforcement works for me. When one wouldn't stop scratching on a chair, I placed his scratch post next to it and anytime he even looked like he was going to scratch the chair, I picked him up and placed him next to the post. When he started to scratch I would give him a treat and pet him, say good boy ect. For times when this just doesn't work, the water squarter worked for two of my cats. The other only responded to a super soaker pumped up without water. Gave her a bust of air that she hated. Do that immediatly after or during the bad activity and they will soon stop. You have about 5 seconds to punish them or they won't know what they are being punished for.

And make sure that they see you when you feed them. They love the one that feeds them. Yelling out "CATS!!" before you pour the food can make them learn to come when you call, even if it isn't by the food. Just make sure you pet them whenever they do come.

/me is a cat lover

[edit]- a few more:
Never declaw a cat unless its unavoidable. I've never seen a cat get as depressed as when my older sisters cat got declawed.
Cabinate locks are a good thing.
As for going all over the place, just pick them up and put them on the floor anytime they climb onto a bookcase or piano or something like that. usually works. If not, the air/water spray works well. Just make sure you do it fast.

warrrreagl

As I said earlier, they have become immune to the water pistols and water spray bottles, and they don't care anymore how wet they get. When we squirt them now, they just turn their heads and look at us, then go right back to what they were doing.

Also, I thought I would advise everybody about this new development. As suggested by another poster, my wife bought double-sided tape and applied it to her favorite wingchair. The first cat who encountered it did all of the following: he licked it, he rubbed against it, he pulled it off the chair, and then he ate it.

I swear, if one of these cats began speaking in an Austrian accent and said, "I'll be back," I would NOT be surprised.

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lurkette

LOL

Ok, so much for that suggestion!!!

Clearly these cats are extraordinary creatures! Every cat I've had has despised double-stick tape. If they get it on them they yowl, they avoid it like the plague. Are you sure these are cats and not racoons in disguise?

Here are the scratching pads we get - our cats love them and don't bother with our furniture any more.https://www.catclaws.com/shopping/Scratchers.html

That said, all advice now comes with the following caveat: "but it may not work for your little hellians."

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pmb145

I just use a water bottle, aside from that I think it is impossible!

Cynthetiq

wow.... my other cat does that same stuff... she's just dumb... heck I even have to bathe her ever once in a while....

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papermachesatan

We let our cats roam outside and inside so I suspect that may have some sort of impact on our cat's relatively good behavior.

vinnyferrozzo

The main thing with training the cats is to disipline them everytime they do something wrong...for example, when you see on going outside the litterbox you rub thier nose in it, scold them and then throw them in the litterbox. Unfortunately, it means watching them like a hawk for awhile.

Leviathan[NCV]

Get a dog.

erion

One time one of our cats got locked in an upstairs room and couldn't get out to go the the litter box

He actually ended up pooping in a plant and burying it there.

It's very unusual for a cat to go outside the litter pan unless it is extremely filthy (i.e. no more place to poop).

And the squirt gun is awesome for cat discipline. We have three cats and we don't even have to keep water in it anymore. All we have to do is pick it up and they scatter to the four winds.

lurkette

Although you've probably read lots of stuff, I thought this site might be helpful:

<a href="http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/index.html">http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/index.html</a>

See "housesoiling" especially.

Good luck!

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

terpie

cats are actually very easy to train -- just drop them in the litter box every couple of hours and they'll get the idea. As for the spots where mistakes were made -- go to a pet store and buy whatever solution they sell to cover up the scent.

obediah

I feeel your pain! We've got a 5 year old at that we've had since a kitten that likes to pee outside the box when she is upset.

Unfortunately, it's not always easy to determine why she's upset. It's gotten expensive and we are close to getting rid of her. The only thing keeping her around is that lately she pess in the same spots when she's angry, so we've been able to put plastic down there.

pixelbend

good luck. My advice is "get a dog". They aren't so moody.

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amge

I heard that if you leave lemon wedges on thing you don't want the cat to get on top of. I don't think the lemon sented sprays work.

Try the water gun thing again, but put some lemon juice in it.

geodaro

I've studied this very issue for quite some time (in college and through general research). I found that the best thing to do is to throw the cat under a bus and buy a dog! You will be much happier!

geodaro

Just kidding with that last post. Please don't kill me with hate mail! I love all animals and would never actually hurt one in any way. I just happen to be a dog lover and I couldn't resist! My dog would have laughed at that one! I really do like cats but I've never been able to train mine to do anything other than ignore me!

warrrreagl

lurkette, you've been a ton of help. Thank you very much.

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Living is easy with eyes closed.

lurkette

My pleasure - I hope some of my suggestions do work with your kittens.

__________________
"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

denim

Spray bottle with ammonia water in it. It should be one you can focus so you can get them from a distance. Get several so they can be where you are when you need them. You don't want the cat to see you going for the bottle; you want it at hand when it's needed.

This is only useful if you're there when the cat does the bad thing.

WRT the clawing furniture, the scratching post or board are worth a try. My cat likes a sissel(sp?) rope scratching board, not a carpetted one. Try leaving them on the floor or hanging them on a doorknob, as some cats prefer one or the other orientation. My current cat will claw the board if she's got one. They last around 6 months before they start coming apart.

(edit: changed based on previous replies)

smithja0423

...which will quickly result in cat piss puddles wherever the aforementioned ammonia water lands.

denim

Huh? I'm confused. You've found that spraying ammonia water at a cat makes it pee? Doesn't happen in my experience, but YMMV.

gar1976

Never, ever get male cats. Nothing but trouble.

vermin

Try mixing tobasco sauce in the water instead of ammonia.

Cat pee has a lot of ammonia in it, so spraying your household ammonia will smell to the cat like pee. And the cat will pee wherever it smells pee.

If all else fails, there's always taxidermy.

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daoist

preferably a big one, so that it can eat the cats.

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Jay Francis

Personally, we don't have the heart to de-claw our cat, and we keep trimming its nails, which really doesn't work. These guys seem young enough that they would recover from a declawing. I think, over the years, if you keep them, declawing will remove one area of stress and would be justifiable. I don't think, though, that their behaviour will change. I think that the way a cat is when it is young is the way it will remain.

Sorry.

Jay Francis

I just read the posting on de-clawing and wish to detract my suggestion.

Caser

try.....putting it in a deep freezer for about 10 mins...let it "chill" out

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tmricha

10 minutes? I vote for 10 days. See if that whole freeze and dethaw to life thing works

MacGnG

go for the squirt gun, it usually works, with dogs too, small dogs

Miroslav

All you can do is set up a ideal setting and treat the cat nice and then its up to the cat... Thats there independence... I have gone thru several cats.. and sometimes you get a lemon..

soapysonic

Its SO easy!

denim

But then you'd have a dog! Long term punishment.

bryan2766

i didnt think you could train a cat.. except to use a litter box