Waterboarding My Cat For Behavior Modification

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
How about "Sleep Deprivation"

She likes to sleep during the day and rip loose at night.
A friend suggested that if she sleeps during the day we wake her up and play for a while. Just keep her awake during the day so she sleeps over the night.

We already have her locked out of the plant room because she digs and sleeps in the pots, but I hate to restrict her access.

Keeping her awake during the day might help.

Thoughts ???

I had a cat one time and the minute my head hit the pillow he would come alive. At that moment when your trying to get some rest a cat sounds like a galloping horse running down the hall way. And let him find a paper sack to play with somewhere. By that time it's time to get up and do something, put him in a room or something. Mine always end up outside at night for that reason. I love cats but they can sure try your patients.

I love cats but they can sure try your patients

I have the same problem with my patients.
When they come over, my cats are always trying them. It is really getting obnoxious.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


I have the answer to this problem!!!!!!!

Get a dog!
They have a much more developed pre-frontal cortex.

I highly recommend them over cats. They can actually process a command and they seem every once in a while to live for something other than pure instinctive drive.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Easy fix for the plants. Fill it in with stones, a plastic cutout circle. Or what I did was just filled it in with pine cones. Functional and looks nice. And free with a walk around the yard.

What is the issue that you want her to sleep at night?

[edit on 22-12-2009 by nixie_nox]

reply to post by Voyager1


One time my husband and I woke to the most horrific noise you could ever imagine. We could not figure what the heck it was. We stared at each other daring to see who was going to investigate, and possibly get killed.

So I went to investigate, and upon opening our bedroom door, a very frightened cat dashed under the bed.

We had chicken the night before, and we thought each other had thrown the bag away but it was left on the table. My cat, enticed by chicken, tried to get into the platic bag, got it wrapped around her middle, and proceeded a full blown kitty panic around the house, knocking stuff over, going under things, trying to get rid of the evil bag.

She dove underneath the bed, where the bag finally tore off.

After our hearts got under 130bpm, we laughed till tears ran down our face.

My cat didn't come from underneath that bed for 18 hours. I looked, and saw two of the largest golden saucers you had ever seen.

Originally posted by nixie_nox

Easy fix for the plants. Fill it in with stones, a plastic cutout circle. Or what I did was just filled it in with pine cones. Functional and looks nice. And free with a walk around the yard.

What is the issue that you want her to sleep at night?

We tried the stones in the plants, but I obviously didn't get large enough rocks. She gets them out and plays with them on the hardwood. The neighbour downstairs even complained about the noise because our room for large plants is above their bedroom.

I broke some heavy slate tiles for one of the rubber trees and so far so good, she can't dig in that pot anymore. Yesterday she pulled up all the new cuttings I started though.

As far as sleeping at night goes...
She likes to rip around at night and meow like she's in heat. Of course that wakes us up when she's so very loud.
And of course she's not in heat, I have the vet certificate that she was spayed, and she has the belly scar to prove it.


We trimmed her front nails carefully the other day with clippers. It stopped the scratching right away. The hall rug was almost $500.00 and she's torn up some of the edge stitches, and I guess I have to touch up some door frames with a bit of paint, but the claws stay trimmed from now on.



EDIT:

As much as I love her, I hope there's a special spot in Hell for naughty cats.





[edit on 22/12/2009 by anxietydisorder]

Originally posted by anxietydisorder

Originally posted by nixie_nox

Easy fix for the plants. Fill it in with stones, a plastic cutout circle. Or what I did was just filled it in with pine cones. Functional and looks nice. And free with a walk around the yard.

What is the issue that you want her to sleep at night?

We tried the stones in the plants, but I obviously didn't get large enough rocks. She gets them out and plays with them on the hardwood. The neighbour downstairs even complained about the noise because our room for large plants is above their bedroom.

Sorry but that is just plain funny.

I broke some heavy slate tiles for one of the rubber trees and so far so good, she can't dig in that pot anymore. Yesterday she pulled up all the new cuttings I started though.

As far as sleeping at night goes...
She likes to rip around at night and meow like she's in heat. Of course that wakes us up when she's so very loud.
And of course she's not in heat, I have the vet certificate that she was spayed, and she has the belly scar to prove it.

They are nocturnal creatures. I don't know what to tell you. Some species of cat are very talkative and can just talk and talk for no reason. Siamese are famous for this.

We trimmed her front nails carefully the other day with clippers. It stopped the scratching right away. The hall rug was almost $500.00 and she's torn up some of the edge stitches, and I guess I have to touch up some door frames with a bit of paint, but the claws stay trimmed from now on.

Please still get some scratching posts.



Some biologists or whatever cat expert believes cats are tame, but not domesticated.

so yea, they basically let us keep them.

Originally posted by nixie_nox

Some biologists or whatever cat expert believes cats are tame, but not domesticated.

so yea, they basically let us keep them.

Yeah, they grace us with their presence, and grant us their company.
And other than love, I also get a lot more in return.

I sure don't have any mice, and any insect in the house is as good as dead.
That look she gives me when I cook fish is to die for, and she gets a few bits.
Plus she has a most amazing purrrr when we cuddle.........


I just need to control my desire to kill her.:bnghd:

If you don't want to hear meowing or have things messed with do not get a cat. That is what they do. You are the one who needs behavior modification. I would hold your head under the water and tell you " the things that bother you about your cat are very insignificant". Dealing with the mess and the sound is much less effort than torturing the poor animal. I have 10 cats and I deal with what they do. Only the worst offenses get disciplined.

You've gotten a lot of great advice in this thread and now I'm here to crush your dreams of a happy, non-scratching, well-adjusted kitty.

She's a calico (I say she because calicos are almost always female). End of story.

I have a beautiful 16 year old calico and they have a reputation for being crazy. My vet insists there are studies out there that prove calicos have similar DNA to psychopaths. I don't know if that's true but over the years, every vet she's been to has made a comment about the temperment of calicos.

The only thing that worked for me is the scratching posts, I have 3 in a one-bedroom apt. I did try the spray gun, but she came to see it as an easy way to get a drink of water without travelling to her bowl.

Stupid, wonderful kitty. :shk:

First, if your cat hasn't been checked at the vet (with this behavior as a consideration), that is something you could do. Sometimes behavior can indicate medical issues, and it's probably a good idea to eliminate that possibility so that you can work on helping her become calmer.
And as a newer addition to the household, your calico lady could be stressed out from changes to her territory (important to cats) as well as just being a bored cat with high energy.

Playtime is very important, especially to energetic and easily bored cats.

A great tip I learned about the water spray: try not to let them see you do it. You want them to associate the unpleasant shot of water with their behavior, not with you. That associative technique is also something to consider with the lack of any lasting effectiveness of the "water-boarding"

I would agree that any assertive punishment may backfire with more behavioral problems. Instead, if you give her lots of affection normally (which is great), when she's bad, correct her with the spray or a diversion and be prepared to withhold attention/affection if there's a prolonged period of undesired behavior. Example: If she's doing her annoying yowling in the middle of the night, resist the temptation to get out of bed and see what she wants (if she's yowling for attention at an inappropriate time and you get up and give her the attention, she's just made that connection - so resist). Also, before bedtime is also a good time to get into a habit of making sure the food water and litter bin are all attended to (if you don't already).

The following may sound like an advertisement, but it's not. Just products I'm currently having good results with.
The story so far:
I started out with two cats, and upon my out of state move four months ago, I brought two more with me (they were in a bad situation). Both pairs are boy/girl, so now we have two of each. Although the integration hasn't been as bad as some that I've seen, there are definite territorial issues. Two products I've had good results with are Feliway and Pet-Ease.
Feliway (sold under it's own name and also as part of a product called Comfort Zone) mimics the facial hormones cats release when rubbing up against objects to mark their territory - originally a deterrent to urine marking, it's also been found to have a calming effect on hyper or stressed cats. Do not apply the product to the cat. There's a diffuser for large areas as well as a spray to target furniture and other objects which may face destruction.
The Pet Ease brand has similar products as well, plus some others. Seem to be more naturally based. I got this calming gel that comes in a tube and smear it on their fur which makes them lick it off - it's got catnip in it, so they like it. They used to "get into it" with each other overnight and waking us up with little hissy spats. I would put that on them at bedtime, which preoccupied them all with cleaning it off. After that, they'd all get nice and sleepy :-) You can overdose them on the gel, so once a day at bedtime is my reccomendation. (I accidentally gave our trouble-boy a second dose within a day and he was in such a flopsy deep sleep that I had to watch him to make sure he was OK)
I have one diffuser from each brand (covering two floors) plus the gel. They are very pricey at the local retailers, but I've found the best prices on Amazon.
They still will grumble and stalk each other, but it's so much calmer now. None of the bug howling spitting chase scenes since I got this combo together. Hardly even have to break out the gel these days...

reply to post by phrankie79

You wouldn't run a child under the faucet for bahaving badly

Because a child understands our language...a cat does not?

Just a guess.

Besides...cats don't make good pets (no offense OP) im a Dog guy myself

reply to post by anxietydisorder


OH I am not saying I don't love it. Heck, I like that they have their own minds.

I love dogs. But cats naturally show you affection, not because of a pack mentality. I heard once that cats dont' show much affection in nature, so what you get is the real thing.

Unless it is just cupboard love. *grins*

I find it funny when I don't give her what she wants and she prances away with her ears back.

But she also howls at me to come to bed. *laughs* And she sleeps at my fight and gets mad when I kick her.

Its not my bed, it is their bed.

The other cat will insist on sleeping on it no matter what. I take off a sheet and she is back. I plop her off to take off another layer and she is back.

Sometimes they are so dang smart and so stupid.

What my cat does that is mega annoying, and strange. Is she has food issues. She runs away hissing if you come near her while she is eating. She runs away and hisses if I don't get her food fast enough. Even my professional animal caretaker friend has never heard of that.

I use to have a cat that loved get in my bed and I could deal with it until she started that clawing like a kitten, sucking on a nippel thing.
Time for the old parachute toss all the way to the ceiling then. (raise blanket about four feet with one foot and two hands really fast) if you can picture that.

I found the solution for her tipping the garbage can and emptying it on the floor.
Vick's Vapo Rub.......

A little dab smeared around the top of the bag stopped her in her tracks. They don't seem to like the strong menthol smell and it masks any food odors from scraps we throw away.

We tried this stuff with one of the house plants with a little put on the rim of the pot. She squints her eyes and walks away.

A perfect passive deterrent, but does anyone know where to get a kitty tazer.

Yea I think if you're trying to discipline a cat its something silly like if you dont do it within 5 seconds of them misbehaving then they wont have a clue.

Apparantly orange peel is supposed to be a good deterrent.


reply to post by Duzey


Psychopaths
I have a calico that behaves wonderfully. Apart from she broke another cats leg once, and is slightly over-possessive of my bed. Always pretends to be asleep when I want her to move. Ahh I love my kitty

Originally posted by Bluebelle
Yea I think if you're trying to discipline a cat its something silly like if you dont do it within 5 seconds of them misbehaving then they wont have a clue.

Apparantly orange peel is supposed to be a good deterrent.


reply to post by Duzey

 

Psychopaths

I have a calico that behaves wonderfully. Apart from she broke another cats leg once, and is slightly over-possessive of my bed. Always pretends to be asleep when I want her to move. Ahh I love my kitty

Orange peels?

I have never heard of that.

Now antifreeze. I have heard of that.

I think you have to 100% understand how cats think, before attempting to teach them things.


Good luck.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I think you have to 100% understand how cats think,

I honestly don't think anyone is capable of that, unless you're a cat.
Having had cats all my life, you'd think i would have a better grasp on this, but no.....

She is the most contrary animal that I have ever had around, and I worked with cattle for a couple summers. Even the donkey we had as kids was more cooperative than this cat.

I love to have her beside me or on my lap, but now she wants to walk/lay on the keyboard. Not to mention that the mouse arrow on the screen is damn tempting for her.
If she could only type faster I'd be able to dictate this post.

I guess things are gonna go her way until she gets out of the kitten stage.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


OK, you win the prize for best thread title EVER!!! I would recommend one of those Super Soaker Pump Action squirt rifles... Worked wonders on one of my ex-roommates cats... Shaped him up in record time!