Fix Your Cat’s Bad Behavior
We often see owners complaining about their cats’ inappropriate behavior, such as climbing anywhere, tearing down curtains or trying to run away from the house. Raising a feline requires patience and dedication, but it is perfectly possible to correct their misbehavior. To help you, we’ve summarized some important tips to improve your kitten’s education.
How to Fix Your Cat’s Misbehavior and Possible Causes
Your cat’s misbehavior can be expressed in different ways and have multiple causes. Therefore, it is important to be aware of any changes in your behavior to try to quickly find out what is going on.
Next, we’ll look at the most frequent causes of inappropriate behavior in domestic cats.
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pathological causes
Some pathologies can cause severe pain or impair your kitten’s sensory functions. When the pussy feels vulnerable or weak, it may develop defensive behaviors or adopt new habits. This is usually more common in older cats, but it can affect any kitten.
If your cat starts hiding too often, is more aggressive, or exhibits unusual behavior, it ‘s important to get him to the vet quickly. At the clinic, the professional can check your health status and rule out possible pathological causes of bad behavior.
In addition, each pussy must have adequate preventive care to maintain good health and balanced behavior. Therefore, we must remember to visit the veterinarian every six months, respect periodic vaccination and deworming, and also offer a high-quality diet.
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bad education and socialization
Like us , cats learn a lot from their habits during childhood. Also, their personality is more flexible during their first few months of life, which makes learning easier. If we want to have a well-behaved and obedient cat, we must invest in its early education and socialization.
The first step in avoiding inappropriate behavior in an adult cat is not to reinforce it in a kitten. For example: if we don’t want our pussy to climb into bed or on the couch, we shouldn’t allow it to do so from a puppy. If, to protect or please a puppy, we allow certain behaviors, they will become a habit.
When the cat assimilates a behavior as permitted, it will not understand why it becomes prohibited overnight. To avoid this, the best advice is to start your cat’s education from his arrival in your new home.
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Sedentary and insufficient stimulation
Domestication has brought many benefits to cats, such as reduced exposure to predators and abundant food availability. But home life also represents a considerable reduction in your daily physical activity. Because he doesn’t have to look for prey and hunt, his exercise level is minimal.
This lack of need to expend energy and exercise your mind causes many cats to develop numerous symptoms of stress and boredom. And this reflects negatively on their behavior, which can even cause an increase in their aggression.
If our intention is to avoid bad behavior of our pet, we must pay special attention to environmental enrichment, adapting the place in which it lives.
In order to enrich your kitten’s home, it will be essential to get toys, scrapers and accessories that will stimulate her body and mind. Currently, there are also labyrinths and entertainment centers for cats that offer from exercises to relaxing massages.
We can add sensory stimuli to encourage the cat’s mind. Catnip (cat weed) is an excellent choice to stimulate your sense of smell. There are interactive videos and games that are specially designed for feline hearing and vision. Combining these stimuli, we will have active, healthy and calm animals.
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use positive reinforcement
The “traditional” educational method is not effective in training cats. In fact, it should not be used on any animal as it is based on triggering negative emotions such as fear and insecurity. Cats do not show submission to a person through irrational behavior, nor do they learn from violent methods.
Positive reinforcement is the safest and most effective way to teach and correct your cat’s bad behavior. When teaching your kitten, remember to give a prize to recognize each good behavior and encourage her to learn. In addition to treats, we can offer toys, accessories, caresses or delicious homemade food.
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avoid disturbing
When your kitten is engaging in inappropriate behavior, it is not advisable to scold him. When we reprimand him, we simply increase the stress level of the situation and generate negative feelings.
To deter misbehavior, just say “no” in a firm, calm tone of voice. And by identifying good behavior, we can use an award to reinforce it. As we have seen, correcting bad behavior in your cat is perfectly possible, as long as we have patience and love.
