From: stanton@athena.cs.uga.edu (Cat Stanton)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spanking Cats? yes/no
Keywords: physical punishment
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:54:45 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <1992Apr9.195852.11835@cbnewsd.cb.att.com> jlevy@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (janet.s.levy) writes:
>I'd like to introduce a topic for discussion.  My roommate
>and I disagree about discipline of cats.  I have three cats
>and she has one.  Her cat occasionally gets miffed about something
>and leaves a message on her waterbed.  She spanks her cat for
>this, sometimes rubbing its nose in its mess.  I have explained
>to her that cats cannot make the association between avoiding
>punishment hours later and an action they are committing (for 
>their own good reasons!).  

I come from a background of 'spare the rod spoil the child'.  HOWEVER,
a cat is not a child and cannot be effectively told of what it is getting
punished for.  

My cat, Steve, has been known to urinate in areas other than his litterbox.
My mother (yes, she's back again, but necessary to prove a point) was told
that he was spraying, even though what he does in my house is simply urinate.
I have never seen him spray anything.  She would find the area later, and do
the whole rubbing nose, spanking routine.  When I finally was able to take 
Steve he was obviously spooked.  I don't think I know the full story of what
she did to him, just what I saw.

If I catch Steve sniffing or urinating in a bad area I shout "STEVE!!!" very
loudly.  This gets his attention and usually stops him.  Half the time he comes
running to me, forgetting all about what he was going to do.  If I find something
that he has urinated on, I sigh, pick it up, and try to wash the smell out.
As far as I can tell, my house doesn't smell too bad.  :-}  But I feel it
is totally useless to do the nose rubbing spanking routine.

Sometimes Steve walks on me begging for attention.  He's the most spoiled
cat attention-wise that I have ever met.  Usually I put up with it, but
at times it becomes too much.  (Like these past two weeks when I've been
sick and can't handle a 16 pound cat in my lap).  At these times, I push
him off of me and say "go somewhere hon".  That's all.  Only once, when
I was physically ill and he wouldn't leave me alone did I not push him
very gently, I basically rudely shoved him off me.            

I also hold with the theory that cats aren't meant to be trained like dogs.
You can hope that they cooperate with what you want them to do, but if I
wanted something to do tricks and be perfect, I'd get a German Shepherd.
The thrill of cats to me is that they have a mind of their own and sometimes
we as human owners have to simply get more creative and witty than they and
outwit them into doing what WE want them to do.  At the same time, making
them think they want to do it.  :-)

Cat Stanton
UGA/UCNS

>
>I also feel that with possible exceptions it is NOT NECESSARY to 
>physically punish a cat in order to train it.  I never hit my cats 
>and I have to wonder if there is a relationship between that and 
>the fact that all my cats are very gentle while hers will sometimes 
>bite or swat at you for no apparent reason.  Perhaps I am blessed, but 
>I have never had a biter or scratcher.  If they bite too hard in play
>when youngsters, I use my voice to reprimand them or show pain.
>I have come to believe that using your hand to hurt your cat
>leads to resentment.  I am not against the occasional flip to
>the nose for overly aggressive play.
>
>For discipline, I express my displeasure by escalating use of my
>voice, physically stopping the behavior (repeatedly if required),
>and sometimes intimidation by stamping my feet or a short rush
>forward.  For many cases of misbehavior, I feel it is best to
>prevent the behavior (put tasty plants out of reach).  If the
>cat responds to my voice, I often give it a hug.  I feel this does
>not reward the bad behavior, but rewards the correct response and
>fosters trust.  This is very different from the way I discipline
>my dog (who I also never hit).  I ignore him for a while after he
>is bad.  This is a VERY effective punishment for a dog.
>
>I'd be interested in other opinions and people's experiences?
>Do you spank your cat? For what reason?  Is your cat gentle?
>Does it sulk?  Do you get positive results?
>
>Janet Levy
>jsl@ihlpm.ATT.COM
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats