Cats are lovely animals. They are very affectionate and are often happy to sleep on a person’s lap and be petted. However, some cats can be more aloof, and the most they will allow is a little pat on the head before going off to do their own thing. Other cats are like hell on earth. They scratch, raise and lower the curtains, bite people and ruin furniture.
The first thing to do is try to understand why they do the things they do. Some cats behave as they do simply out of boredom. Other cats misbehave due to transitional changes as they go from kitten to adult. Sometimes a cat’s misbehavior can be a sign of an impending or ongoing illness. Understanding this can help you avoid worse problems in the future.
Once you have some understanding of the reasons for your cat’s behavior, you can start working to turn things around. Make a list of the cat’s bad behaviors, putting the worst behavior at the top. Then go through each bad behavior one at a time, to avoid overwhelming the cat with too many changes at once, which could lead to even worse behavior.
Cat training relies heavily on patience, and it’s important not to let frustration get the better of you. If you yell at your cat, it will only annoy your cat, which could create a whole new set of problems.
Make sure you don’t try to scold a cat like you would a dog. Cats don’t respond well to this kind of thing. Instead, you need to get to the actual root cause of why the cat is behaving the way he is, and then make the changes at that root level, rather than just getting mad at the cat.