Our beloved cats. Some of us have had cats our entire lives and can’t imagine life without them. There’s just something about coming home and being greeted by your lovable little bundle, or bundles of fur as you walk in the door. Their excitement and relief to see you is only matched by our excitement to see them. These are the good times. But what about the bad times? Well, let’s talk about the bad times and explore different tips and tricks as ways to train our cat and resolve the problems.
The common toilet paper issues
One of the more popular problems we have with cats stems from their insatiable curiosity about anything. The most famous of which would be the toilet paper roll. You walk into the bathroom and find yourself ankle deep in what looks at first like a snow drift only to discover yet another 100′ of toilet paper shredded and efficiently dispensed throughout the bathroom floor. One way to train your cat from indulging in this practice is to place an item, preferably something that will make noise when it falls, on top of the roll, like a small metal bowl or partially filled water bottle. When this falls as your adventurous little friend proceeds to devour yet another roll, the fall and noise as it hits the floor will startle your cat, and as few as just one experience like this will likely eliminate the problem.
Aggressive Behaviors
Aggressive behavior like scratching at the furniture, tearing up the plants, jumping up on the counters can stem from you just not giving them enough attention. If you want to have a cat as a pet you have the responsibility to them to give them some of your time. At the very least, 15 minutes twice a day. If you have moved recently and your cat is in new surroundings, this can also often result in this type of behavior. This behavior could also stem from noises around the home or simply persistent barking dogs from outdoors.
Litter Box issues
If your cat has begun eliminating in places other than the litter box, this could be the result of multiple causes. First, if you just brought you cat home for the first time, you should choose an open area in a room that you prefer to leave the litter box permanently and keep the cat isolated to that room for the first few days. This will reinforce the what and where for your cat after you give them the full run of the house.
Other reason’s that may contribute to this problem could be something happened, possibly a sudden noise or disturbance that occurred while your cat was in the litter box which has made them apprehensive about returning. You can try moving the litter box to an alternate location to see if this will resolve the problem. Be sure to keep the litter box clean with fresh litter regularly.
The Water Bottle Option
Bad behavior should not be dealt with physically. Cats do not like water so keeping a spray bottle handy is a very popular and successful way to discipline you cat when bad. It is very important that you try to do this without the cat seeing you, so exercise stealth in deploying this disciplinary action.
Finally, rewarding your cat for good behavior is crucial to minimizing undesirable actions or habits. If you happen to see them exiting their litter box for example, simply giving your cat attention with stroking or playing briefly with them is sufficient reward. It does not always have to be a treat but love, affection and attention is your kitty’s favorite reward.