Cat biting can quickly turn playtime with kitty into an unpleasant chore. So, what can you do about this problem? First, you need to identify if this is a new behavior - has kitty always bitten and scratched hard when playing with you? If this is a new behavior, there may be an underlying medical condition. Perhaps kitty has some kind of abscess somewhere, and you keep on poking that painful spot when you play with it. It is advisable to take your cat to a vet for a thorough checkup, just in case it is something worse.
In the absence of any underlying medical condition, perhaps you have simply overstimulated kitty. This is probably the case if you can usually play with your cat normally without being bitten and scratched to the point of bleeding. There is no cure for this. All you can do is to be alert for a change in behavior when you play with your cat. If it suddenly flattens its ear and hunches its body, this is a sign that you should stop playing. For its own reasons, playtime is no longer fun to kitty and it wants to stop. If you fail to respect it desire, then it will attack you. Simple as that.
If your cat always plays rough, always biting and scratching too hard, then this is a symptom that it was taken from its mother and littermates too early. Properly socialized kittens quickly learn that rough play leads to stopped play, so they learn to moderate their strength when biting and scratching. Fortunately, in this case, all you need to do is re-train kitty not to bite or scratch too hard. Every time it causes you to bleed, you stop playing. Eventually, kitty will learn to control its strength.
This last behavior may not involve cat biting and scratching, but can still be dangerous and troublesome. This has to do with kitty's hunting instincts. You may find that your cat likes to ambush you when you are busy doing your chores, or just before you go to bed. Partly, it is just exercising its hunting instincts, and partly it just wants your attention. Your first step is to put a collar with a bell on kitty. This way, you will be warned whenever your cat is trying to ambush you, and you can be more careful. Sure, the collar may not be comfortable for kitty at first, but it certainly beats having you fall down the stairs and ending up in traction. Your second step is to have a fixed schedule of playtimes with kitty. One of these playtimes should be before your own bedtime, so that you can bleed off your cat's excess energy.
By: Katherin Towers
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Just some simple actions can help to control bad cat biting behavior. Click here to learn other cat training methods and stop your cat's bad habits in 13 days.
Aggressive Cat Behavior: How To Stop Your Cat From Attacking Other Animals
Your cat can show several different forms of aggressive behavior. Although these behaviors may be alright and even useful in the wild, in a housecat these behaviors are disfunctional. Animal behaviorists classify different kinds of aggressive cat behavior differently. When your cat attacks a bird or mouse in the garden, or even your son's pet hamster in its cage, this is called predatory aggression. Kitty is playing great white hunter, following its instinct to hunt for prey. Unfortunately, you cannot just shut down this instinct, so other measures need to be taken. The simplest one it to put a collar with a bell on your cat to keep it from sneaking up on its prey.
Kitty can also behave aggressively when it is afraid. At first, this seems like a paradox. But you may better understand this behavior if you recall the human fight-or-flight instinct. When your cat is afraid of some other animal, like your pet dog, but cannot run away, it may go nuts and attack the source of its fear in a berserk fury of claws, fang and fur. So, what to do? The natural reaction of most cat lovers is to try to pet and console kitty. Unfortunately, in the long run, you are conditioning your cat to behave this way. You are reinforcing the idea that it is okay to behave aggressively whenever it is afraid. Generally, the best way to handle fear aggression is to remove the source of the fear, then ignore kitty. Yes, pay no more attention to your cat until it calms down on its own.
The third form of aggressive cat behavior has to do with territory. This is especially common in unneutered tomcats. In this case, kitty will attack your new cat because it feels that the newcomer is invading its territory. This is yet another natural behavior which can give you a big headache. If this happens, you need to introduce the two cats to each other slowly. Mealtime is usually an important part of this process. In simplistic terms, both cats only see each other when it is time to eat. Otherwise, they are kept apart, out of sight of each other. This lets them associate the other cat with the pleasure of eating.
Another form of aggressive cat behavior is called maternal aggression or protective aggression. This is just a fancy name for when mama cat attacks anyone who approaches her new kittens. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do here. Just be patient, and eventually mama cat may let you play with her kittens.
Generally speaking, aggressive cat behavior is driven by a cat's natural instinct for food, territory, fear or protectiveness. The first step of treatment is to identify the trigger for this aggression. After that the specific approach varies. Regardless, love and patience is a must.
By: Katherin Towers
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
It is possible to keep bad cat behavior under control. If you want to learn more about how to train your cat and stop its bad behavior in 13 days, click here: cat training.
Kitty can also behave aggressively when it is afraid. At first, this seems like a paradox. But you may better understand this behavior if you recall the human fight-or-flight instinct. When your cat is afraid of some other animal, like your pet dog, but cannot run away, it may go nuts and attack the source of its fear in a berserk fury of claws, fang and fur. So, what to do? The natural reaction of most cat lovers is to try to pet and console kitty. Unfortunately, in the long run, you are conditioning your cat to behave this way. You are reinforcing the idea that it is okay to behave aggressively whenever it is afraid. Generally, the best way to handle fear aggression is to remove the source of the fear, then ignore kitty. Yes, pay no more attention to your cat until it calms down on its own.
The third form of aggressive cat behavior has to do with territory. This is especially common in unneutered tomcats. In this case, kitty will attack your new cat because it feels that the newcomer is invading its territory. This is yet another natural behavior which can give you a big headache. If this happens, you need to introduce the two cats to each other slowly. Mealtime is usually an important part of this process. In simplistic terms, both cats only see each other when it is time to eat. Otherwise, they are kept apart, out of sight of each other. This lets them associate the other cat with the pleasure of eating.
Another form of aggressive cat behavior is called maternal aggression or protective aggression. This is just a fancy name for when mama cat attacks anyone who approaches her new kittens. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do here. Just be patient, and eventually mama cat may let you play with her kittens.
Generally speaking, aggressive cat behavior is driven by a cat's natural instinct for food, territory, fear or protectiveness. The first step of treatment is to identify the trigger for this aggression. After that the specific approach varies. Regardless, love and patience is a must.
By: Katherin Towers
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
It is possible to keep bad cat behavior under control. If you want to learn more about how to train your cat and stop its bad behavior in 13 days, click here: cat training.
Cat Training: How To Prevent Messes
A cat is a cute furry animal that does not usually need to be given a bath like we give dogs. This is because cats are able to clean up themselves very well. But there is more to just giving them food or brushing their fur and there are certain things the owner must foresee.Cats, like dogs that have not been trained how to behave indoors, can create a lot of problems for the owner. Cat training is not very difficult. The claws of a cat can scratch and ruin the furniture. Kitten training normally involves teaching it not to scratch furniture, which can be remedied with the help of a scratching post. If the cat has not been toilet trained, then the house will smell badly.Clawing is a problem in many kittens, and has several solutions. Some people feel that declawing is a viable solution. Many people feel that declawing is cruel, and prevents the cat from climbing or protecting itself from other animals. Teaching a kitten when it is young to use a scratching post is a much kinder solution to the problemBecause the kitten is not aware of the use of a scratching post, it is best to coach it by taking hold of its paws and repeating the motion. The cat may take some time to get trained. If this cat training is given regularly, then the cat will learn how to use a scratching post.The litter box is yet another important part of cat training. It is the means by which you teach a cat what to do when it has to go so that you can eventually collect and discard the animal's waste products. You can buy one at any neighborhood pet shop. Your choice, of course, must be dependent upon how big your particular feline companion is.It will take a while before the cat gets used to the litter box, so you should keep an eye on your pet. If it looks like the cat is about to go to the bathroom, pick it up and transport it to the litter box. Another thing to pay attention to is exercise, since cats need to keep physically fit. To distract the cat from playing with your trinkets and furniture, buy it a squeaky toy or ball.There are many varieties of cat training products available in the market which can be found in the local pet store or online. The person has to identify what is needed in order to make the pet good for the indoors. Many owners do not know how to clean cat urine. Cat urine smell is very difficult to remove even after cleaning the spot with a good cat urine cleaner.
By: Kathrynn Kelley
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
There is more to cat ownership than feeding them and brushing them. There are also things an owner must be able to foresee. Cat training products are available on the market and come in different varieties and can be found at your local pet store or online. The person must identify what is needed to make the indoors pet friendly.
By: Kathrynn Kelley
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
There is more to cat ownership than feeding them and brushing them. There are also things an owner must be able to foresee. Cat training products are available on the market and come in different varieties and can be found at your local pet store or online. The person must identify what is needed to make the indoors pet friendly.