Tips to raise a cat well
Research has shown that both humans as well as animals learn more easily when desired behavior is rewarded and undesirable behavior is ignored as much as possible. Moreover, undesirable situations are tried to be avoided. This is called positive reinforcement. This is especially for cats the best method, as educating them by punishment doesn’t work with them. Cats oppose violence, but are not against change.
1. Never use violence
Renounce violence. This includes the famous “rubbing in his own urine by his nose” Don’t do this! The animal becomes so upset by doing this and then it really starts to urinate. Don’t hit the cat with a newspaper or another light object. He will associate this with you and will always try to escape when he sees you if you're unlucky. However, you shouldn’t keep smiling and ignoring, if there’s really a reason to punish (for example, if the cat can’t jump on the table but still does it). Put him with a clear "No!" on the ground or spray him with a spray bottle. This clearly demonstrates that something is prohibited. If a cat scratches your hands, blow then in the way a cat would. This may seem odd, but means in a clear way: "Enough is enough!"
2. Respond immediatelyDo it immediately or not at all. Sanctions are completely meaningless if the misconduct already happened some while ago. The cat just doesn’t understand why the boss is so angry. It makes him insecure. He doesn’t know where he stands and may develop a tendency to uncleanliness or even a scratch mania.
3. Praise as often as possible
Motivate your cat! Praising also only works as positive reinforcement when it directly follows after the rewarding behavior. But if not, it can’t hurt in any case. Amazing educational achievement can be made with praise, reward and motivation, for example if the cat has gone to its litter box nicely, if it has used the scratching post, slept in its basket or if it has eaten out of its bowl, or has been pretty quiet in the car. Teaching a cat something special only work with positive reinforcement, and without penalty or expressions of anger. Failure behavior is thereby absolutely ignored. But this usually doesn’t work to unlearn shenanigans. If a cat regularly molests the flowers in a vase, then praises if he leaves the flowers untouched once, will probably make him just as unperturbed.
4. Remain consistent
Don’t create precedents. We say that exceptions prove the rule, but for cats they are just confusing. When in doubt - and this already starts with one single exception - a cat does what he wants himself, not what people want him to do.
5. Keep a distanceUse small educational tricks. If shenanigans aren’t able to be corrected with a strong "No!", you can try a deterrent therapy. That means that the animal gets a salutary shock during his crime, for example by a clapping mousetrap or a huge whistle blow. What’s more, the cat shouldn’t notice that the cause of his fear comes from you, and he notices this faster than you think. Rule 5 of the cats education is therefore: make sure you keep a distance if you want to correct a vice of your cat by scaring him.
6. Keep your patience
Ignore setbacks. If you want to retrain a cat or get him used to something he is afraid of, you must have a lot of patience. Give the animal time, praise it if it’s doing something good and ignore failures. Never give the impression that you are annoyed. Rule 6 is therefore: realize that patience, time and strong nerves are key!