Curbing Your Cat's Natural Nasty Enthusiasms

If your cat's bad behavior is driving you crazy, here are the best solutions to the most common problems you may be facing.

1. Eliminating Outside the litter box.

Is it your fault or the cat's fault? Many cats won't use the litter box if it is too dirty. They just don't like it. If you think this may be the problem, change the litter box twice as often as you currently do. When your cat goes outside the box, make like a speed demon to clean all the places the cat goes. Spray the areas down with Lysol or something similar with a nice strong smell that will obliterate the blessed odor of you know what.

What is your cat's favorite place? Put the litter box there. Maybe if you simply put the litter box in the bathroom, the situation will change. If it's not in too obnoxious a place, you can put the litter box on top of the place your cat has chosen to go to, just to make the point. As a last resort, put down bleach, safely, in those spots, and cover the area with aluminum foil.

2. Spraying

Male animals of many different species do this to mark their territory, and cats are no exception. You may find your cat does this when it feels threatened, especially by dogs and small children, or maybe perhaps when other male cats are around. There is little to be done for this beyond neutering your male cat. Don't punish your cat for this behavior though. They won't understand at all.

3. Clawing people

This is another example of something cats tend to do when they feel afraid or threatened. But again, is it the cat's fault, or the people around him? If you have a cat that is generally afraid of children, you should do something about it. Try exposing the cat to young children in small doses until he gets used to it. Don't just let children loose around the cat. Have the child sit in your lap or next to you and feed your pet kitty treats.

Some cats are afraid, but let's face it, some are just mean to certain people. As soon as the cat starts clawing or growling, quickly pick her up and remove her from the situation. If the object of derision is a family member, try spraying lemon juice to keep the cat away. Again, try exposing the cat to the person in small pockets of time, until your pet gets used to being around that individual. If the derided person is your mother in law, there may be nothing you can do.

4. Caterwauling

What is that sound? Who hasn't wondered or thought that some disaster has occurred after hearing their cat making ululating noises in the middle of the night. Siamese cats actually do this by nature, so you may not be able to get them to stop, but other cats do it because they are tired, hungry, or sick. There aren't many things you can do about this unfortunately. If you think it's a hunger thing, feed your pet more promptly, and refuse to feed her when she caterwauls. She won't understand what you are doing, but she'll almost certainly quit after she figures out it does her no good. If she caterwauls because she is in heat, you should get her fixed. For other caterwauling problems, try to ignore her, and keep her as far away from yourself as possible. However there are times when your cat caterwauls to let you know she has done something good. If you approve of the behavior, by all means praise your pet to let her know.

5. Running Outside

Curiousity killed the cat. The clich exists because it's so true. Indoor cats get very curious about the outside, what's BEYOND THE DOOR. The first thing you should do is not open the door when the cat runs out. Try to get the cat accustomed to the outdoors by getting a cat leash and walking her on it or by carrying her in your arms when you go outside. Once the mystery of what's out there is gone, she's less likely to want to get to it, particularly if you expose her to snow or other extreme conditions.

Your cat can be by turns lovable and frustrating. Like children, pets often behave in ways that perplex us. By being aware of what makes your cat do the things that it does, you can learn how to curb its' enthusiasm for undesirable habits, as well as to accept those you cannot change.