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Conference misery::feline

Title:	Meower Power - Where Differing Opinions are Respected
Notice:	purrrrr...
Moderator:	JULIET::CORDES_JA

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1079
Total number of notes:	28858

154.0. "Discipline a cat?" by MCIS5::CORMIER () Thu Jan 23 1992 08:10

    CAn't believe there isn't a note on discipline!  I've had my cat,
    Spike, for about 6 months now.  Never had a cat before.  How do I go
    about disciplining him?  He's learned NOT to claw the furniture by me
    hissing at him every time I caught him.  But he's gotten it into his
    head that he can terrorize my two dogs!  My dogs are about his size
    (he's suspected of being a Maine Coon, they are Shetland Sheepdogs),
    and they are not stupid.  They know he can scratch, so they respect
    him. His latest stunt is to block their path!  I let both dogs out
    every morning, and he accompanies us down 3 flights of stairs to watch
    out the window.  When it's time to go back in, he parks himself across
    the stairway and reaches out to whack them if they attempt to pass. His
    claws are not out, that I can see, and he has never actually scratched
    one of the dogs, but he really scares them!  I now have to scoot him up
    the stairs and into the house before the dogs will come inside!  Last
    night I caught him blocking their access to their food dishes!  What's
    with this cat?  I've tried the squirtgun method, but my little boy
    thought it was great fun and squirted the cat every chance he got. So
    that avenue is out.  Any ideas?  By the way, he's neutered, approx. 4-5
    years old, and quite an affectionate guy.  I just haven't got a clue as
    to how to teach him "no".  How does one discipline a cat??? 
    Sarah

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
154.1	Tap the nose/cuff the ear	WMOIS::GERDE_J		`Thu Jan 23 1992 09:01`	11
	In addition to the spray bottle, I've used the technique mother cat's use on their kittens -- along with the word NO, I tap the kitten's nose. If the kitten persists I tap his nose a little harder. If he continues the naughty behavior I cuff his ear. I've seen the kittens use the same technique on each other ... first the nose tap, and last resort a whack on the tip of the ear. (When they discipline each other, the whack on the ear that they give each other packs much more of a wallop than does mine.) Jo-Ann
154.2	My eyes are playing tricks	TOOK::GEISER		`Thu Jan 23 1992 09:35`	10
	I guess I've been sitting in front of the terminal too long... >If he continues the naughty behavior I cuff his ear. ^^^ I read this as "cut off" and thought you were being a little drastic in your discipline :^). Time to take a short walk... Mair
154.3	Here, van Gogh	MCIS5::CORMIER		`Thu Jan 23 1992 10:46`	3
	It's not just you, Mair. I read "cut off", too! "Hey, Van Gogh! Annoy those dogs again and I'll cut off your other ear!" Sarah : )
154.4		WMOIS::GERDE_J		`Thu Jan 23 1992 11:01`	10
	Yup...too long in front of the tube. Each one of my four kittens sports two ears. My dog has a couple of big ears, too. But I've never cuffed her ears. To discipline her, I grab her husky ruff (wonderful built-in handles), pull her toward my face and, nose-to-nose, eyeball-to-eyeball, I sternly remind her that I'm not only her best friend but I'm the leader of the pack and the prime source of her cookie-bonies as well as the guarantor of her daily 5:45 pm dish of Science Diet. Jo-Ann
154.5	Oh, for a paid sick day!	CIVIC::FAHEL	Amalthea Celebras/Silver Unicorn	`Thu Jan 23 1992 11:38`	8
	Not only have I been sitting in front of the tube too long (I read "Cut off", too), but I think I've been watching one cop show too many...when I read "cuff the ears", I automatically got a picture in my mind of a cat with little handcuffs on his ears! That's it...I wanna go home! K.C. (who is also suffering from laryngitis)
154.6		RIPPLE::KENNEDY_KA	pffffffftttt	`Fri Jan 24 1992 14:17`	3
	K.C. Thanks for a GREAT laugh. HAHAHAHAHA! 8*) Karen
154.7	Sleep? With the "Midnight Bratties"?	CIVIC::FAHEL	Amalthea Celebras/Silver Unicorn	`Fri Jun 19 1992 08:37`	30
	What about the midnight bratties? We have been up almost all night for the past 4 or 5 nights, because Alex has taken up the Midnight Bratties. She has also decided to become an interior decorator. She keeps trying (and usually succeeding) to take a poster off of my bedroom wall! The poster is in one of those poster frames that resembles 2 plastic report cover binders with string. There are 3 other posters, all more within reach, but she only seems to dislike THIS one. We have tried to make it totally unnaccessable, but you know how THAT is. We can not lock her out of the bedroom because Rico sleeps under (or on) the bed and needs to get to the box. Water doesn't work. Rolled up newspaper doesn't work (last resort, be assured). Scolding only makes her more determined. I remembered the "Midnight Bratties" of my older 2. Tiki was also a poster boy, and Rico's specialty was scratching paper...a most annoying sound. Meanwhile, like before, a full night's sleep is a thing of the past. I can't wait 'til she outgrows it. (For the record...the poster shows a woman's profile. Her hands are cupped in front of her face, and she is "puffing" a Unicorn out of her hands. In the background is a whole herd of Unicorns.) K.C.