It’s no secret that cats are kind of weird and sometimes act strangely. However, sometimes their behavior goes from strange to downright naughty. If you’re struggling with bad cat behavior, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. There are tons of pet parents that are also having the same problems and we have some answers to help you deal with these behavioral issues.
Top Cat Behavioral Issues:
- Urine Marking or Spraying
- Litter box avoidance
- Aggression
- Destructive Scratching
- Anxiety (Stress/fear)
- Meowing and Yowling
5 Steps to Dealing with the Bad Cat Behavior:
1. Contact Your Vet – There are a host of medical conditions that could be the underlying cause for bad behavior. They could be in pain, have urinary tract issues, vision problems, or hormonal issues. Even if they get a clean bill of health, your vet will be able to give you excellent resources in correcting the undesired behavior.
2. Nip Bad Behavior in the Bud – Don’t shrug off bad behavior thinking that it will stop on its own. The sooner you act on on unwanted behavior the easier it is to fix. If you wait until it’s a habit it will be much harder to stop.
3. Try Problem Solving Their Behavior – Try thinking like your cat to figure out what is the cause of their behavior. Are they peeing because they are feeling threatened by another pet around the litter box? Has there been a change in the household that may be the cause of anxiety and aggression? Working on behavior problems starts with uncovering the cause of it as best as you can.
4. Avoid Punishment and Negative Reinforcement – Spanking, shaking, yelling, squirting water or even rubbing your cat’s nose in their mess will only cause things to get worse. All this will do is make your relationship with your cat even more fractured. It may cause the one behavior to stop but could cause a whole other problem in the long run.
5. Stay Calm and Consistent – Losing your temper and being stressed will stress your cat out. Cats are actually very sensitive to tension and when you stay calm and consistent with training recommended by your vet or a behavioral specialist, the behavior will sort itself out soon.
There is nothing more frustrating than having a cat that you love to pieces act out. Some Days you’re left wanting to pull your hair out and selling your cat to a zoo. But don’t worry. Both your hair and your cat can survive this. If you can try to think like a cat, get to the root of the problem and stay calm during the storm, soon their bad behavior will be nothing but a bad memory.
Have you had a hard time with cat behavior? We’d love to hear your story, how you handled it and what you did to correct their behavior. Let us know in the comments below!