BS: Bad Cat!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 07:42 PM

Those who have suggested ignorin' the cat are real close to what you can do with yer kitty. If the kitten is scratchin' and biting when you first pet the cat then, yeah, you may have to leave it alone and let it come to you. But the larger question is how are you petting the kitten. Do you pick it up? If so, the act of being picked up may freek it out.

Is the cat okay for awhile about being petted and then bites? If so, pet the cat less. Almost evey cat in the world can be petted to the point where they bite and/or scratch. So if that's your case you'll just have to learn how much is too much...

Good luck but keep one thing in mind. As long as you are nice to kitty, kitty will be nice to you. No thumping on the head or squirking water on them unless you want a messed up kitty. They don't respond to punishment too well...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Burke
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 06:41 PM

Pogo, your cat sounds like one of mine. He had a healthy 3 months with mom before I adopted 2 litter mates. Of the 2 Oscar initially was more friendly & does let me pick him up & hold him. Unfortunately, he seems to think interacting with me is 2 licks and a nip. Sometimes when I'm in bed he skips the licks & goes straight for nipping my nose. I either push him off or dive under the covers.

I wait for my cats to jump in my lap. Felix will jump up & settle down for being petted. Oscar will jump up, but mostly stands in my lap. Felix plays more with the toys I have as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 06:07 PM

Believe what ever your little mind needs to, to get you through the day sinsull....

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: SINSULL
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 05:54 PM

Just like we know that you are the alpha animal here at Mudcat, Clinton. I bet your arrogance amuses the cat too.

Pogo,
My Lizzie was anti-social for years until a friend dropped by with a bag of cat treats. Lizzie loved them and now does tricks for them and allows me to pet her. She still hates being picked up. There is a threshhold of opportunity for socializing cats with humans. Past a certain age, kittens who have not been held and petted will never adjust. For now, allow him to decide when he wants to come to you and if he gets rough, walk away. That's how mother cats and littermates deal with it.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 05:24 PM

"cats have staff."

Bollox! My cats KNOW -I'm- the alpha-animal of our little herd....

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: maire-aine
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 05:13 PM

My cat Little One was the most anti-social cat I'd ever met. Momma Cat had her kittens under the next door neighbor's porch. I rescued/adopted Little One, her mother and a sister & brother. It was years before LO would even come out of hiding, let alone come close enough to be petted. But she loves to have her ears scratched, and loves to spend her time sleeping in the sun, or sleeping on top of the heat vent. And a few years ago, she started coming up into bed with me. Now she waits for me to come to bed, lays down next to me and lets me pet her. Your kitty will come around in his own time. Good for you for having him neutered.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Pogo
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 04:56 PM

heheheheh...that's so true Mick {O)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Pogo
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 04:55 PM

Clinton: I know but it hurts, dang it...little bugger. His nickname's Brat Cat :) perhaps when I get a place of my own I'll find a friend for him. *sigh* he's my child and I guess I have to accept him

PDC: He's a mutt...domestic longhair I think is how he's classified at the vet's. I wouldn't be surprised. Actually he looks like he's got a lot of Persian in him, he's white with black spots (looks like a cow) He enjoys getting his chin scratched.

He comes when you call him. Sometimes. When he feels like it.

He freaks out whenever another cat comes in (we have several outdoor cats) I don't know if he knows he's a cat. Maybe he thinks he's a mouse {O)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Big Mick
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 04:47 PM

Always remember:

Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

The sooner you come to grips with your place in the cat box, the less grief you will suffer.

All the best,

Mick, proud pet of Esmerelda the Cat.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 04:31 PM

"habit of jumping up on the chairs and trying to ambush you as you go by"
That's just a cat being a cat... One does not fault a duck for quacking... One think that'd help take the edge off is another cat actually... They are social animals...

"If I thump him (with an open hand) he gets blissful, and stretches out for more"
I have a cat that's exactly like that... not Siamese enought to be noticable, but ya.. she's a bit of a freak... She also plays a better game of fetch than ANY dog I've ever seen!

LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: GUEST,peedeecee
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:54 PM

Question: is there any chance that he is part Siamese? I have a Siamese cross that gets really annoyed if I pet him like I would pet another cat. If I thump him (with an open hand) he gets blissful, and stretches out for more.

He also likes to hide around corners, up on furniture etc., to ambush me when I go by. He and I have learned to play tag, and he loves it.

One weird cat, but mine own.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Pogo
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:39 PM

Thanks Clint...

and thanks yawl previous posters for the chuckles ^_^

Yes, I kinda of figure that about the biting and scratching. It's more annoying than anything else but the cat gets rough about it sometimes...he also has a bad habit of jumping up on the chairs and trying to ambush you as you go by *sigh*

Mike, I contemplated shaving him bald once when I was really annoyed with him and then decided that public humiliation probably wouldn't work well on a cat ;O)

his name's Delmar...cause he got saved :)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: open mike
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:25 PM

bite him back--maybe he will understand if you respond in his own terms

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:23 PM

Ummm... ya might have to leave him alone, and let him come to you... Don't try to 'force' affection on him... Say for instance that yer sitting on the sofa and he comes to you... if he jumps up beside you, pet him... but don't pick him up and put him beside you... And when he starts to bite and claw, that's when you firmly push him away... right off the sofa if needs be... He may change his behaviour so that he gets more attention....

Then again, he might not... they you might have to resign yourself to having a 'bitey' cat... But still, let affaction be on his terms... You'll get less scratches that way...

Remember that to other cats, that gentle biting and little scratching IS affection... The problem is we monkeys don't have the protective fur that they do, so it hurts us much more than it does them...

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: grumpy al
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:19 PM

Ignore the cat totally, untill he comes to you for some affection

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Peace
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:15 PM

You wouldn't like my suggestion, so I won't say it.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:04 PM

some cats never tolerate petting unless *THEY* initiate it.

Subject: BS: Bad Cat!!!!
From: Pogo
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 03:00 PM

Bah...for the cat behavior experts and those with cats...

I have a cat just out of kittenhood and he's developed a bad habit of biting and scratching when you try and pet him. He's jumpy about being touched suddenly which I think goes back to when I rescued him as a kitten one night from two big chow dogs that were trying to kill him. I've tried the taps on the head and the water sprays. I had hoped he might calm down once he had been neutured but that doesn't seem to have worked either. I don't want to give him away so any suggestions from the cat lovers on how to curb this bad habit of his and reinforce good behavior?