Feline Manners

[kyra_ojosverdes]

How in the world does one teach a cat manners? Dogs, sure. Cats?

Jack will not eat off people-dishes. The first time Mark offered Jack some bits of chicken, on a little plate, Jack looked horribly conflicted. (Sort of like when Mark picked him up and put him on the table. He knew he wasn't allowed to be on the table, but he also wasn't supposed to jump away from the kid, that'd just be rude.) He obviously wanted to eat the chicken, but was also obviously certain he was not allowed to eat the chicken, and confused as hell as to why the kid was trying to trick him into eating the chicken. We've since discovered that he'll happily eat the people-food scraps if they're put into his food dish. Only if they're put into his food dish. Not beside his food dish. Inside his food dish.

Jack will meow to be fed in the morning, but only if he thinks you're already awake. If one of the kids is up, he doesn't bother with me. He meows to get the kid's attention, then walks to the top of the stairs and waits for the kid to follow. If the kid fails to follow, he meows again. He then leads the kid down the stairs and to his food and water dishes or, if his litterbox needs some attention, to said litterbox. Then he sits and waits expectantly as his needs are tended to.

If my room is messy, he's in a terrible fix. He won't step on clothing, phone books, papers... he likes to spend lots of time under my bed, so a blocked path is a real problem for him. Before I realized what the issue was, I'd watch him stand there all perplexed, trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B without stepping on anything. Interestingly enough he'll step on the phone, which sits on the floor. It's the base to a cordless phone, and so has a nice big speakerphone button right in the middle of it. He'd step on that button everytime, then jump a foot or two at the very loud dial tone. Poor Jack.

Now, he'll pee in corners and on clothing left on the floor. He does look guilty when caught, and runs to hide under my bed. We still have occasional problems with his biting the kids during a petting session. He won't jump up on the counters. He won't jump onto the table, and was very relieved, that one time, when I told Mark that Jack wasn't allowed on the table and to please lift him down. He only jumps onto beds in order to cuddle, never to wake anyone. He's never broken anything.

Who taught this cat manners, and how??? (For those who don't know, we got Jack at the animal shelter in November. He was neutered and declawed and is an indoors-only cat.)

ETA: general opinion in comments is that Jack's former owners were awfully (as in awful) firm in their discipline. This makes me sad. Jack is such a sweet kitty. :-(

Comments

[weedblossom.livejournal.com]

I trained my cats with a water bottle. They don't get on counters, try to get out the door (MOST of the time, though I don't make it a point to offer that temptation), or claw things to shreds. And they know better about trying to get at People Food - I simply won't let them, because it could mess up their digestive systems. If you have a really precocious cat, you can put a drop or two of ammonia in the water bottle - it doesn't hurt them at all (as long as you don't spray it in their eyes!), it just makes their fur smell bad. Now, all I have to do is reach for the water bottle and if they're doing something (or thinking about doing something) wrong, they high-tail it out of there. I know this sounds BAD if you've never actually made it a point to train a cat, but it's actually an approved training method that I picked up from a trainer at PetSmart.

And in case anyone thinks that this is abusive - please... I'm the worst about pampering my cats. They get their nails trimmed and bathed every two weeks (usually), cat treats every day, catnip and tuna on special occasions, regular brushings, clean litter boxes every day, and I let them sit on the furniture (some people don't do this because of the fur issue; I just vacuum the fabric every other day or so). I even used to brush their teeth when they were smaller. My cats are like my kids, and I would never do anything to hurt them.

Your cat could just be well-trained. If he doesn't run from you everytime you try to pet him, hold him, or pick him up, then he probably wasn't abused. Any animal that's been abused will usually avoid humanity and try to get away at any cost. Again, it could just be his personality. I used to have a cat that no matter what I did to train her, she was still VERY BAD. I still have the scar on my lip to prove it.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

We're a geek household. We have a lot of electronics around, so a water bottle isn't the safest cat trainer. However, we have an alternative that works just as well: compressed air. Air dusters, for blowing computer innards clean of dust and hair and so forth? Makes a nasty hissing sound that resembles a REALLY ticked-off cat. They don't like the sudden, sharp noise accompanied by the heavy air shock... and they REALLY hate it if you turn the can upside down and then spray, since that lets the CO2 come out still partially liquid and extremely cold. No harm at all from a short burst, and also no threat of water going where it shouldn't.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

That I'll have to remember... same general problem, but in our case it's books everywhere as well as electronics.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

We've books, quite a few, in the house as well. Those however are mostly out of the way, up on shelves.

[canyonwren.livejournal.com]

And in case anyone thinks that this is abusive - please...

Not calling you abusive, but ammonia is toxic and anything you spray on your cat's fur will be groomed off by the cat. Straight water would work just as well, but if you must have that touch of sadism, add vinegar.

Another thing--to cats, ammonia smells like urine, not suprisingly. You're not supposed to treat areas pissed on by a cat because it'll just reinforce that this is a great place to pee. So, if sprayed by ammonia, it's comparable to you wearing lots of urine perfume. And it sticks around way longer than the incident that caused the cat to be sprayed.

Thirdly, you may not aim for the eyes, but mistakes happen. If I wouldn't want it accidentally in my eyes, I'm pretty sure my cats wouldn't want it in theirs.

*shrug* But then, my cats and I commicate with eye contact and a stern tone of voice.