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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 11:10

    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
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154.1Tap the nose/cuff the earWMOIS::GERDE_JThu Jan 23 1992 12:0111
    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
154.2My eyes are playing tricksTOOK::GEISERThu Jan 23 1992 12:3510
    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
    
    
154.3Here, van GoghMCIS5::CORMIERThu Jan 23 1992 13:463
    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 : )
154.4WMOIS::GERDE_JThu Jan 23 1992 14:0110
    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
154.5Oh, for a paid sick day!CIVIC::FAHELAmalthea Celebras/Silver UnicornThu Jan 23 1992 14:388
    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)
154.6RIPPLE::KENNEDY_KApfffffffttttFri Jan 24 1992 17:173
    K.C.  Thanks for a *GREAT* laugh.  HAHAHAHAHA! 8*)
    
    Karen
154.7Sleep? With the "Midnight Bratties"?CIVIC::FAHELAmalthea Celebras/Silver UnicornFri Jun 19 1992 11:3730
    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.