Whenever you bring a cat into your home, you are asking a lot of him. In most cases, the situation works out very well, and says a great deal about the bond between cats and humans. You ask your cat to scratch in only one place, instead of everywhere in his territory. You ask your cat to relieve himself only where you want him to. You ask him to ignore his ability to jump gracefully from countertops and tables. And you ask him to adjust his natural nocturnal schedule to your daytime schedule.
Most cats are able to easily maker these compromises. For those who do not, you need to figure out why not before any problem solving is able to begin.
1) Stress: Cats find any kind of change stressful, and often react by altering their behavior in an attempt to cope better. A cat might mark his territory in a home that has a new pet brought in. In the mind of a cat, this behavior makes perfect sense, and is calming to him. Making the world smell like your cat is comforting to him, if not you. Limit his territory for a while, or put him on medication.
2) Medical Problems: Behavioral problems are often a sign of illness in cats. With untreated feline diabetes, for example, a cat will drink and urinate frequently, and start choosing other places to relieve himself. A cat with a urinary tract infection could associate the pain of relieving himself with his litter box, and avoid that. All of the behavioral techniques in the world will not cure an medical problem, so you will need the help of your veterinarian for that.
3) Boredom: Because you have asked your cat to give up his whole world, and have only offered a few hours with you, or some time with a toy mouse, an indoor cat has a definite tendency to become bored. Indoor cats need a lot of things to keep themselves amused, and adding some different toys, spending more time playing with your cat, or adding another cat to the home for companionship could make the difference.
4) Unreasonable Demands: Look at yourself and your role with your cat. Are you asking more from him than he can possibly give? Your cat may boycott his litter box if it is rarely cleaned, or asking him to quit scratching the couch is not fair if he has nothing else to scratch. Provide him with some alternatives before asking for good behavior.
5) Never Trained Correctly to Start With: If all you ever do is scream or hit your cat, you are not teaching him anything except to avoid you. Physical correction will never change the behavior of any cat, because they just do not understand it. Using this type of correction just stresses them out, causing even more behavioral problems.
Look at what has recently been going on in your life. How has your cat reacted to this situation, and how have you? Once you realize the behavior of your cat is not spiteful can make the problem easier for you to live with while you work to turn the situation around.
Greg has been writing articles for over 4 years. His newest interest is in home improvement products. Please visit his latest website about tools at Tile Saw Reviews and the best Dewalt Tile Saw and other tile cutters and related products that every home improvement needs.
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