How to train a kitten

[Iono]

So while we're on the subject of cats, I have a question. How the fuck do you get a cat to not be so aggressive?

9 month Male cat, girlfriend's roommate's. She claimed it was aggressive when they picked it out from the litter. I think it's because the boyfriend likes to taunt and wrestle with the cat. Doing shit like playing screen darts with it, or sticking it on top of a door so it can't get down and has to balance itself....

GF and roommate just moved in together, so all this damage was done prior. I took care of it for a weekend when it was younger and it seemed normal.

The fucker is so evil it even bites the owner for no reason. I try to pet him slowly inching towards his paws and the lil shit tries to bite me. Drawing blood most times.

GF has a 4 mo. old kitten, and they can't quite coexist yet. It's sad, cuz it feels like they're both neglected and would enjoy each others company. But the older one keeps going for the throat or stomach....

[shaddix]

If you have cayotes or any other type of predator that you frequently see outside, I would recommend you to not get any animals that you let outside. No domesticated animal will be able to win in a fight against a wild predator (unless you for some reason keep a domesticated bear, leapord, tiger, lion etc. around) - and if they survive an attack, odds are you'll need to take it to the vet.

A Savannah cat are one of the tamest, calm and non-aggressive cat breeds you can have. Domesticated servals, too, are very calm, non-aggressive and good tempered cats. Neither would stand a chance against a wild predator, though. A wild serval might stand a chance, but domesticated animals lose a lot of their "experience", so to speak, and as such likely would lose in a direct fight against a cayote. The Savannah would likely have the largest chance of survival, though, as a Serval might try to protect it's territory (your yard), while a Savannah cat would probably go "Fuck this" and climb up a tree. All in all, I'd recommend a normal cat, as you'll lose more money if a mixed breed gets eaten than a savannah cat - and a normal cat would probably stand a higher chance of survival against a cayote due to their smaller size.

Thanks for this advice, I think what I'll do then is just get a normal cat and whenever coyote eats it I will just get a replacement cat for the one that's destroyed.

[Cream Soda]

Also, kittens bite. They are playing with you. Do you have some problems with the way kittens play? Deal with it. If you attempt to punish your animal because its trying to play with or be close to you, it will end up becoming an anti-social animal because it will soon learn that interaction with you = punishment.

To touch on this, my cousin brought her cat over, lived w/ us for a month, then moved back to her old place and left the cat here (which I guess my uncle has no problem with, since he hasn't gotten rid of it yet).

I absolutely hate when this cat comes anywhere near me. When my uncle is gone on weekends, I have to Solid Snake to feed this damn thing. I don't want it to see me filing its bowl up because this cat has tripped me over a dozen times times its been here. Runs up to me to rub on my leg when I'm trying to walk and makes me bust my ass every time (and my knee is still recovering from my car accident 2 months ago). Tried petting her a few times when she first got here, but the thing just wouldn't leave me alone, when I decided I was done petting her, so between that and the tripping, yea, I avoid the thing.

[Uzor]

So while we're on the subject of cats, I have a question. How the fuck do you get a cat to not be so aggressive?

9 month Male cat, girlfriend's roommate's. She claimed it was aggressive when they picked it out from the litter. I think it's because the boyfriend likes to taunt and wrestle with the cat. Doing shit like playing screen darts with it, or sticking it on top of a door so it can't get down and has to balance itself....

GF and roommate just moved in together, so all this damage was done prior. I took care of it for a weekend when it was younger and it seemed normal.

The fucker is so evil it even bites the owner for no reason. I try to pet him slowly inching towards his paws and the lil shit tries to bite me. Drawing blood most times.

GF has a 4 mo. old kitten, and they can't quite coexist yet. It's sad, cuz it feels like they're both neglected and would enjoy each others company. But the older one keeps going for the throat or stomach....

First of, is it castrated? If not, some male cats become more aggressive as their instincts kick in. Not everyone, but it happens. Although in this case, I would think it's because of what the boyfriend did to the cat. If he taunts, scares it and generally fucks with it, it'll associate humans to be mean and evil, so naturally it will try and defend itself. Alternatively, it associates males to be mean and evil while women are fine. As it's an adult cat, it's a lot harder to train away. As for the cats not coexisting, it's likely because cats in general don't like each other as they consider the other cat to be treading on their territory - especially uncastrated male cats - unless you introduce them to each other as they're young. Calm cats will eventually tolerate each other and coexist, though.

As for how to fix it, don't scare the cat, be nice towards it, and don't forcefully pet it. Don't do any sudden movements towards it to scare it. Also, try to hold something it likes in your hand and let it come to you, and eventually after having repeated it a few times (or when it's less hesitant to move towards you) try to pet it. If it hisses (it likely will at first), take your hand away. Once you can at least pet it without it biting you, pet it when you feed it and while it's eating until it stops hissing at you.

The last part should be done to all cats, usually when they're kittens - especially if they're getting adopted by a family with children. When they're kittens you should remove the food every time it hisses though, and then give it back to them when they stop, as that will train away any aggressive protective actions they have towards food. A lot of animals have this protective instinct towards food (hell, even humans have it), and it needs to be trained away if you have children or other animals in the house as it may cause injury otherwise, as small children have a tendency to remove objects from the animals mouth, or pet them whenever they feel like it (including while they're eating).

[Cream Soda]

Lol @ the above post. I'd rather someone cut my toes off than my sack, lmao

[Uzor]

Difference being that male cats don't really receive any harm or negative side effects by being castrated (other than having an easier time gaining weight). It's actually something I would recommend for indoor male cats, as they will run around pissing on everything, and that is something that's extremely hard to train away. They also become more calm, less aggressive and more relaxed. Let's face it, an indoor male cat don't really have a use for their balls anyway, unless you have a female cat and you want to breed your own cats.

You can't compare your own testicles to those of a cat. Men in general have an extreme fixation towards their testicles, something a cat doesn't.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Yes clearly maiming an animal so that you don't have to risk a possible annoyance is the way to go. Man up. If you can't take care of it right, don't get a fucking cat. End of story.

ITT: the joys of maintaining the animal = the reason you have the animal

Maiming is a retarded word to use. Sure, I'm certain its drastically unpleasant at the time, but lets not pretend we're sewing the up the vaginas of 13 year-old African girls here. Be a responsible pet owner, don't let your cat escape the house(three cats, happened zero times), pet suffers no long-term physical or psychological damage, your furniture and body parts suffer no damage.

We now return you to the animal rights movement that will say I'm a lazy prick(spoilers: don't give a fuck).

[zoobernut]

pet suffers no long-term physical or psychological damage

Part of this is highly debatable and the other part is flat out wrong.

[Snick]

Over the last 14 years, I've lived in 4 different places, with 8 cats total, all with totally different families etc etc. Never had a problem with one clawing furniture. Dunno wtf people are doing wrong.

But I should only count 7 of those cats since one my mom adopted and was already declawed.

[Qalbert]

Except as others have already pointed out IT DOES CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS. Goddamn. The fact is having pets requires a certain level of responsibility. If you can't deal with that then you have no business having a pet.

[Uzor]

ITT: the joys of maintaining the animal = the reason you have the animal

Maiming is a retarded word to use. Sure, I'm certain its drastically unpleasant at the time, but lets not pretend we're sewing the up the vaginas of 13 year-old African girls here. Be a responsible pet owner, don't let your cat escape the house(three cats, happened zero times), pet suffers no long-term physical or psychological damage, your furniture and body parts suffer no damage.

We now return you to the animal rights movement that will say I'm a lazy prick(spoilers: don't give a fuck).

No complications, eh?

Complications

Declawing is not without complication. The rate of complication is relatively high compared with other so-called routine procedures. Complications of this amputation can be excruciating pain, damage to the radial nerve, hemorrhage, bone chips that prevent healing, painful regrowth of deformed claw inside of the paw which is not visible to the eye, and chronic back and joint pain as shoulder, leg and back muscles weaken.

Other complications include postoperative hemorrhage, either immediate or following bandage removal is a fairly frequent occurrence, paw ischemia, lameness due to wound infection or footpad laceration, exposure necrosis of the second phalanx, and abscess associated with retention of portions of the third phalanx. Abscess due to regrowth must be treated by surgical removal of the remnant of the third phalanx and wound debridement. During amputation of the distal phalanx, the bone may shatter and cause what is called a sequestrum, which serves as a focus for infection, causing continuous drainage from the toe. This necessitates a second anesthesia and surgery. Abnormal growth of severed nerve ends can also occur, causing long-term, painful sensations in the toes. Infection will occasionally occur when all precautions have been taken.

Psychological & Behavioral Complications

Some cats are so shocked by declawing that their personalities change. Cats who were lively and friendly have become withdrawn and introverted after being declawed. Others, deprived of their primary means of defense, become nervous, fearful, and/or aggressive, often resorting to their only remaining means of defense, their teeth. In some cases, when declawed cats use the litterbox after surgery, their feet are so tender they associate their new pain with the box...permanently, resulting in a life-long adversion to using the litter box. Other declawed cats that can no longer mark with their claws, they mark with urine instead resulting in inappropriate elimination problems, which in many cases, results in relinquishment of the cats to shelters and ultimately euthanasia. Many of the cats surrendered to shelters are surrendered because of behavioral problems which developed after the cats were declawed.

Many declawed cats become so traumatized by this painful mutilation that they end up spending their maladjusted lives perched on top of doors and refrigerators, out of reach of real and imaginary predators against whom they no longer have any adequate defense.
A cat relies on its claws as its primary means of defense. Removing the claws makes a cat feel defenseless. The constant state of stress caused by a feeling of defenselessness may make some declawed cats more prone to disease. Stress leads to a myriad of physical and psychological disorders including supression of the immune system, cystitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)..

There's a reason it's illegal in most all European countries. Declawing is, unlike what the name suggest, actually an amputation. You don't simply remove the claw - it would just regrow then. What they're doing is comparable to amputating the tip of your fingers and toes all at once, then leaving you to walk around and go about your normal business while it heals - including, but not limited to, digging in the litter box.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Part of this is highly debatable and the other part is flat out wrong.

Spare me the pseudo-scientific nonsense about long term psychological damage. I had three fat, happy cats, and none of them had claws. Never tried to escape, always perfectly lovable.

And unless you're going to lump fucking nose jobs into "long term physical damage", get the fuck out. Temporarily painful + irreversible =/= damage. Its debilitating in the sense that it keeps your domesticated animals from being able to explore nature. Say it ain't so! What was it somebody said? Don't want to let your animal be itself, don't get one? ohok. Pretty sure domesticating an animal falls under "not letting it be itself".

[Qalbert]

Quit your bullshit trolling of the thread, now.

[foopy]

Quit your bullshit trolling of the thread, now.

not trying to mod sass, but it doesn't appear he is trolling.





edit: inb4 poe's law.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Don't like my opinion so I'm trolling? lol

[Uzor]

domesticated animals are themselves. There's a difference between bringing in a lion in to the house and domesticating that, and purchasing a house cat who's been living in the house since birth and have through countless of generations been exposed to human influence, much in the same way dogs have learned to read human body language.

The psychological complications are highly debatable and can't be directly proven to be caused by declawing, no, but they can't disprove the correlation either - hence the "highly debatable" part. It's why I left it in for people to make their own opinion. If it would satisfy you I can go back and edit that part in.

[Yuri-G]

ITT: one person's experience trumps vast amounts of research and literature on the subject

Don't like my opinion so I'm trolling? lol

this is not a matter of differing opinions. this is a matter of hard facts backed up by years of research, which you're saying are untrue simply because that hasn't been your experience.

I'm just saying, tsuko or numerous different veterinary associations, who are you going to trust?

[Snick]

ITT: one person's experience trumps vast amounts of research and literature on the subject

Idk, my parses say declawed cats are better.

[Tsuko_Asura]

When my experience clearly shows that an procedure's "psychological effects" can be avoided by love and attention from a capable master, yeah, it does. My cats were just ducky, and no amount of literature can disprove that(inb4 silly debates about what animal happiness entails).

[zoobernut]

Spare me the pseudo-scientific nonsense about long term psychological damage. I had three fat, happy cats, and none of them had claws. Never tried to escape, always perfectly lovable.

And unless you're going to lump fucking nose jobs into "long term physical damage", get the fuck out. Temporarily painful + irreversible =/= damage. Its debilitating in the sense that it keeps your domesticated animals from being able to explore nature. Say it ain't so! What was it somebody said? Don't want to let your animal be itself, don't get one? ohok. Pretty sure domesticating an animal falls under "not letting it be itself".

If you notice the psychological part I said was debatable I didn't say that was flat out wrong. I know that it would take a very long time and lots of extensive studies to see the psychological effect the process would have on cats. Before I continue though LO fucking L at your anecdotal "evidence" of your cats to refute the psychological impact. You can't call my statement pseudo science then follow up with that garbage. Not all humans that experience horrible traumas suffer from PTSD but that doesn't make PTSD any less real or horrible for those who do experience it.

Also are you fucking retarded it has been shown time and time again that declawing your cat has a very high occurrence of complications that can be very severe and terrible for the cat. Including long term debilitating arthritis and pain in their paws, legs, and back. There is no debate on the physical effects of it, they are very well documented and known.

Edit: Your last post shows your ignorance on the subject even more. We still don't know how or why some animals react to situations differently and why some will develop psychological issues and others won't. This is the same reason why we don't understand why some people develop severe lasting psychological issues after war and others don't.