How do you discipline a cat? - Page 4

happycat · ‎09-18-2010

Thank you all for your replies. I am glad that there are so many animal lovers out there, it makes my heart happy.

I have an appointment with the vet in a week and a half to get her shots, and get her spayed. That was the quickest they could do it, said they were booked.

I am not sure where she came from. When she first came in the house, I got the feeling she had been an inside kitty before, just the way she walked around checking everything out. But, I have no idea.

We did have another kitty, but I had had to have her put to sleep about a month ago. She an aggressive for of cancer. Had a tumor come up about 5 months ago on her side. The vet removed it, sent it to figure out what it was. I can't remember the long name, but the vet told me it was a very aggressive form and there really wasn't alot we could do. The tumor had gotten large again, we could tell our Ms. Kitty wasn't feeling well, and I hated it with everything in me, but I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I had her put to sleep. We had Ms. Kitty for at least 16 years old. She had been a stray also. She followed us home from a walk one morning.

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

My first answer was, "you can discipline a cat?" and my second reaction was, "very carefully".

birkin baby · ‎01-20-2011

Camogirl, I hope you won't leave the pet lovers forum. I think it's great you took in a cat....they are very hard to get adopted. Cats can be awesome but some,like every other animal, can be a challenge. I have had some real challenges,LOL. I know you can see the reaction to the word "hit" and of course we post in response.

While some here say no to the spray bottle, I say yes. Cats usually don't like water and a quick squirt from a bottle from across the room has worked for me on certain corrections. The cat feels one wet spritz , gets off the bird cage, and moves on. They don't associate the one spritz with me, but just the bird cage. No sprays in the face though. My cats,and dogs ,have never been worse for the wear from a squirt bottle correction from across a room.

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

@happycat wrote:
About a month ago, a little cat showed up at our house. It would come and go, I would feed it, it eventually warmed up to us. Came in the house one day last week. And all was well till this morning at about 5:45. That is when she startded playing with her round toy with the bell inside it, and her scratch post at the same time. I never knew she was so talented! We got up. I gave her food. Before I knew it, she was pottyng in my CHRISTMAS CACTUS! I just said, "no kitty, no" I don't think it made any impression on her, as later, she was going in my aloe vera plant. She does have a litter box, it was clean, and up to morning, she was using the litter box. I went in the bathroom, she was drinking out of the toilet and she was fresh water. smh.
I don't know who had this poor little cat before she came here, but they didn't do a good job. So, how do you teach a cat?
I am not going to yell at her or hit her. I tried to talk stern to her though, and she just gave me a "go to the hot place" look!!!! If I scold the dogs in that tone, the settle down.
My other inside cat was not this colorful!
How do you get them to behave? TIA

Some of that you just have to prevent before it happens. We leave toilets closed when not in use. You can try moving the scratcher out of the bedroom, but I eventually got used to it and it no longer bothers me. Cats generally prefer soil to litter so what plants we do have are completely out of the cats reach. Picking up noisy toys before bed is a good idea. And I would not feed the cat at 5:45 unless that is your normal wake up time. They will learn when their normal meal times are, it just takes awhile for them to learn the new routine.

Some cats prefer one box for urine and another for defecating. And the recommendation is 1 box per cat + an extra box, so if you have 1 cat, have 2 boxes if you have 2 cats 3 boxes.

I've found that cats can learn the word no, although they don't always listen.

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval

Sammycat1 · ‎03-09-2010

@happycat wrote:
Thank you all for your replies. I am glad that there are so many animal lovers out there, it makes my heart happy.
I have an appointment with the vet in a week and a half to get her shots, and get her spayed. That was the quickest they could do it, said they were booked.
I am not sure where she came from. When she first came in the house, I got the feeling she had been an inside kitty before, just the way she walked around checking everything out. But, I have no idea.
We did have another kitty, but I had had to have her put to sleep about a month ago. She an aggressive for of cancer. Had a tumor come up about 5 months ago on her side. The vet removed it, sent it to figure out what it was. I can't remember the long name, but the vet told me it was a very aggressive form and there really wasn't alot we could do. The tumor had gotten large again, we could tell our Ms. Kitty wasn't feeling well, and I hated it with everything in me, but I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I had her put to sleep. We had Ms. Kitty for at least 16 years old. She had been a stray also. She followed us home from a walk one morning.

If you call them and say you suspect she has a UTI, they'll squeeze her in just to look at that (they have emergency appointments for things like that). It's not something you want to let go for 10 days; she could become very sick if that's the case, FYI. Good luck!

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

A new cat to the house going to the bathroom in the soil of a potted plant isn't really a sign of a UTI. Cats will usually prefer available soil over clay or other litter.

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval

Buck-i-Nana · ‎09-28-2010

@Pook wrote:
Happycat, you might try putting a light netting around the bottom of the plant so she couldn't get in there. That often works.

That's what I did and then put decorative pebbles over it. Cats don't like it if they can't dig.

As for the water issue, you might want to consider a pet fountain. My cats much prefer the fountain over drinking out of a bowl.

Buck-i-Nana · ‎09-28-2010

One other thing to pay attention to when placing the litter box. Is it near a vent or near equipment that comes on and off on its own? That can startle your cat and they feel particularly vulnerable when they are using the litter box.

Sammycat1 · ‎03-09-2010

@jaxs mom wrote:
A new cat to the house going to the bathroom in the soil of a potted plant isn't really a sign of a UTI. Cats will usually prefer available soil over clay or other litter.

It can be. It's happened to me more than once over the course of four decades, so I thought it worth mentioning just in case. One young cat we took in who did this also had the start of renal failure in addition to a UTI.

Better to be certain medically as a starting point.

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

@happycat wrote:
Thank you all for your replies. I am glad that there are so many animal lovers out there, it makes my heart happy.
I have an appointment with the vet in a week and a half to get her shots, and get her spayed. That was the quickest they could do it, said they were booked.
I am not sure where she came from. When she first came in the house, I got the feeling she had been an inside kitty before, just the way she walked around checking everything out. But, I have no idea.
We did have another kitty, but I had had to have her put to sleep about a month ago. She an aggressive for of cancer. Had a tumor come up about 5 months ago on her side. The vet removed it, sent it to figure out what it was. I can't remember the long name, but the vet told me it was a very aggressive form and there really wasn't alot we could do. The tumor had gotten large again, we could tell our Ms. Kitty wasn't feeling well, and I hated it with everything in me, but I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I had her put to sleep. We had Ms. Kitty for at least 16 years old. She had been a stray also. She followed us home from a walk one morning.

She knew the right house to go to! First, I'm so sorry for the loss of your other kitty. We went through that again 2 weeks ago, and it still hurts. Our beautiful calico was a gift to DD when she was young from her dance teacher. She was DEVOTED to DD and tolerated the rest of us, both two and four legged. She was 15-1/2, and died from heart disease.

DH will tell you most "strays" have once been pets. It's so sad, and you wouldn't believe what I've seen. We have one that DD found on a trip during winter break from college. He was near death. She brought him home in her friend's car from 5 hours away, thinking her dad would find a home for him. The veterinary technician looked at me and said, "I think he's found his home"! So after he was cleaned up and had his shots, we found out he was not geriatric, as DH originally thought, but actually about 2. A-N-D guess who came home with us!
DH said there is no way he was born in the wild, but had probably been dropped off and left to fend for himself, after he was no longer a cute "kitten." That happens so much!

You are a good kitty mom, and any strays that find their way into your home are so lucky. Thank you again for taking care of this one - and your other one too!