cats clawing furniture and carpets

Gloomendoom

cyberbob wrote: »

Hitting animals what a great Idea. :T What do you use a rolled up newspaper or a piece of wood.

Maybe a look at the Animal welfare act

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=animalwelfareactadvice

Are you serious?

madget_2

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Are you serious?

Originally Posted by cyberbob
Hitting animals what a great Idea. :T What do you use a rolled up newspaper or a piece of wood.

Maybe a look at the Animal welfare act

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Sate...lfareactadvice

The first part of the post is being sarcastic. The second part, suggesting you take a look at the Animal Welfare Act is the serious bit, and I think it might be a very good idea.

Gloomendoom

madget wrote: »

The first part of the post is being sarcastic. The second part, suggesting you take a look at the Animal Welfare Act is the serious bit, and I think it might be a very good idea.

No, I've looked. I can't see what you are getting at.

JackRichardPT

Maybe he just used his hand?

I hit my dog on odd occasions, thats when he knows he has done wrong, and he learns from it.

Not enough to harm him, just to not do it again.

It's a law under the children welfare act too, but people still discipline children. The world is going crazy, You cant discipline anyone without having a court case.

madget_2

JackRichardPT wrote: »

Maybe he just used his hand?

I hit my dog on odd occasions, thats when he knows he has done wrong, and he learns from it.

Not enough to harm him, just to not do it again.

It's a law under the children welfare act too, but people still discipline children. The world is going crazy, You cant discipline anyone without having a court case.

Being hit is a very traumatic experience for an animal. In a similar way to babies, they really don't tend to understand why you are inflicting pain upon them. I work with rescued animals and have seen the results of people harming them - from behavioural problems which stem from "physical disciplining" right down to serious trauma which stems from severe abuse.

There are ways of discouraging an animal from acting in a certain way. Hitting them is not necessary and can actually be harmful.

Whilst I certainly would never encourage hitting a child, I received plenty of "good hidings" as a girl. It certainly was not ideal, but that was how many kids were disciplined when I was young. However, at that age, I actually knew why I was being hit (even though it was unjustified); animals don't possess the same understanding - you're more likely to make them afraid of you.

Providing discipline and inflicting physical pain needn't be the same thing.

madget_2

Gloomendoom wrote: »

No, I've looked. I can't see what you are getting at.

This bit: "protection from and treatment of, illness and injury" - which includes not inflicting injury by hitting an animal.

Also from the "Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats": http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/cruelty/documents/cop-cats.pdf

"Never shout at or punish your cat. It will not understand and will just become more nervous or scared.

You should only use positive reward-based training, and avoid harsh, potentially painful, training methods."

If you saw the state of some of the animals we rescue, you'd understand precisely how important these guidelines are. You wouldn't believe what some people are capable of with regard to animals.

Gloomendoom

madget wrote: »

This bit: "protection from and treatment of, illness and injury" - which includes not inflicting injury by hitting an animal.

What injury?

Also from the "Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats": http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/cruelty/documents/cop-cats.pdf

"Never shout at or punish your cat. It will not understand and will just become more nervous or scared.

The only time I saw my cat looking nervous was when the stack of Whiskas tins got a bit low. I don't think he was ever scared of anything, certainly not me.

You should only use positive reward-based training, and avoid harsh, potentially painful, training methods."

Quite how do you reward a cat for not scratching something? My cat got smacked on top of his head with two fingers... just like his mother used to do when he was a naughty kitten. I didn't have to do it very often... and I have no scratched furniture. Does it work? Draw your own conclusions.

If you saw the state of some of the animals we rescue, you'd understand precisely how important these guidelines are. You wouldn't believe what some people are capable of with regard to animals.

Absolutely. For the first five years I had my cat he actually belonged to a neighbour. I never fed him but, nevertheless, he preferred to spend his time with me, going home just for meals. When I moved house the neighbour kindly let him come with me. He stayed with me for another ten years (nearly ). He was free to leave at any time if he didn't like the way he was kept. He didn't.

Unusually for a cat he also used to come with walks with me across the fields. He would also come on camping holidays too. He never ran away.

Does that tell you something about the way he was kept?

I really do wonder if you really do know anything about cats, or cat behaviour.

rita-rabbit

for the 100th time: trim the claws regularly!

I find shouting or clapping hands stopped errant behaviour in the past or banging something (an inanimate object on another - not on the cat)

madget_2

Gloomendoom wrote: »

What injury?

The only time I saw my cat looking nervous was when the stack of Whiskas tins got a bit low. I don't think he was ever scared of anything, certainly not me.



Quite how do you reward a cat for not scratching something? My cat got smacked on top of his head with two fingers... just like his mother used to do when he was a naughty kitten. I didn't have to do it very often... and I have no scratched furniture. Does it work? Draw your own conclusions.



Absolutely. For the first five years I had my cat he actually belonged to a neighbour. I never fed him but, nevertheless, he preferred to spend his time with me, going home just for meals. When I moved house the neighbour kindly let him come with me. He stayed with me for another ten years (nearly ). He was free to leave at any time if he didn't like the way he was kept. He didn't.

Unusually for a cat he also used to come with walks with me across the fields. He would also come on camping holidays too. He never ran away.

Does that tell you something about the way he was kept?

I really do wonder if you really do know anything about cats, or cat behaviour.

I certainly know enough to be aware that instead of using pain as a form of discipline, you can use methods of reinforcing positive behaviour, such as rubbing catnip on scratching posts to encourage them to use that instead. Also, the use of a water pistol (whilst trying to make sure that the cat preferably doesn't see you using it) helps to put them off scratching in inappropriate places. There are plenty of non-pain-inflicting methods available.

I'm glad that your cat was happy with you. It is sometimes the case that they do decide for some reason to leave even a previous good home. He obviously preferred to be with you.

Having said that, hitting cats (and even rubbing their noses in their faeces, etc) used to be the norm when it came to discipline - but that doesn't mean that there aren't better ways (some of which I have outlined above). I also remember people routinely drowning unwanted kittens - thankfully, this tends not to happen these days either. The old ways aren't always the best.

As for not knowing anything about the behaviour of cats, I grew up with them from the age of 1 year old and have had them for over 40 years. I've also worked with the cat side of a rescue charity for over 15 years. Still, I'm always learning new things about cats and so could you.

madget_2

rita-rabbit wrote: »

for the 100th time: trim the claws regularly!

I find shouting or clapping hands stopped errant behaviour in the past or banging something (an inanimate object on another - not on the cat)

Clapping hands has worked for me in the past, too - they come to associate the noise with the inappropriate behaviour.