1.    A cat is not a person. It never does anything "out of spite.

People often attribute human qualities to cats, and usually not the best ones.

• How many jokes have you heard about the vindictiveness and harmfulness of these furry cats? But to be vindictive, you have to be able to think abstractly. Cats don't have that, and neither do dogs. Their thinking is linear, they live in the here and now. They don't think about the past and they don't worry about the future.A human can give up something useful for ideological reasons. A cat, on the other hand, simply survives. It remembers everything that causes pain and stress, that is, unpleasant experiences. The animal tries to avoid such things.It is characteristic of every living creature to avoid pain and seek pleasure. The survival of the species depends on this.

• A cat's mind can be compared to a computer. The latter "thinks" on the basis of its programs, while a cat uses its instincts. The kitty thinks differently than we do. "Danger, safety, pleasure." A cat reacts to a situation in this way.
  He has different "programs" written in his head: how to run away from an enemy, how to hunt, how to give birth and raise kittens, how to fight for a female, how to call a male, and much, much more.

My cat used to run away and hide when she heard sudden sounds from the street. The program is "flight from danger." When she had kittens, she would growl and cuddle her babies when she heard the same sounds from the street. The program is "protect the cubs." The situation changed and the program changed.

• The cat is NOT jealous, NOT resentful, NOT hurtful, NOT vengeful. It simply survives. A cat doesn't do anything for nothing or out of malice, its behavior is always driven by something. If you treat your pet (or pets) well and she sees that you give her pleasure with food, affection, security, then of course she will trust you, pet you, cuddle you and show her affection in every way possible. If you hurt and frighten it, it sees that you are a threat to its survival and will of course try to get rid of you. It all makes sense. For example, if a cat attacks you and scratches you, it means, the cat's danger defense program has been turned on. And you need to change your behavior and environment to "turn off" this program and "turn on" another "cat is safe" program.

• If the cat's behavior has changed, it means that something in its environment has changed: the environment, people and their behavior, new pets have appeared. But it could also be that the kitty is just sick.

• If a cat's graceful paws scratch wallpaper and furniture, it means that the animal is not only sharpening its claws, but also marking the territory. A cat has odor glands on the pads of its paws, and by scratching wallpaper and furniture with its claws, it leaves its odor there.

• If you want to keep your apartment in one piece, buy a few scratching posts and place them in places where the cat scratches. The cat will usually switch to the scratching posts and leave the wallpaper and furniture alone.

• If the cat is actively marking its territory, it is very insecure. Find the reasons for this behavior and try to boost your pet's confidence. Perhaps there is an "aggressor" child in the house, or noisy guests have arrived. Make a few shelves upstairs, then the cat will have its own territory in an inaccessible place for people, and it will become calmer, stop actively marking everything around.

You and I will definitely learn to understand the reasons for cat actions and correct undesirable behavior of furry pets.

2 It is useless to punish a cat

It is especially useless if you punish her in the evening for something she did during the day. The cat cannot understand why you are scolding it, because it does not remember what it did and cannot connect the punishment with its actions. All the more all its actions and behavior in general are conditioned by its nature. Is it possible to punish a cat for being a cat?

If the animal does something wrong, it is useless to poke it with your nose, yell at it or beat it.

Hitting a cat is cruel, because we are in different weight categories, and if you throw a slipper at a cat, it will be the same as if a chair was thrown at you.

If you scold and hit the cat, it will start to see you as an enemy, will not trust you and will "turn on" its defense program against danger. The cat will either attack you (to ward off the dangerous invader) or hide (then it will do its business surreptitiously and most likely past the toilet).

You'll need to figure out how to organize your cat's space and environment so she doesn't have a reason to engage in destructive behavior.

• You can correct the cat's behavior by making a sharp sound AT THE EXACT MOMENT it does something, or by spraying it with water or a jet of air..

  NOTE: It is better, of course, that these unpleasant things are not related to the owner.

• You can use drink tins to keep the cat out of the wrong place. Place them unstably and they will fall down with a rattle when the cat tries to jump into the forbidden place. The cat will not like it, will try a few times and lose interest.

• You can put near the place where the cat can not go, an automatic sprayer with a motion sensor. It will come up, and a trickle of water will jump on it. It is enough a few times for the animal to begin to bypass such dangerous places.

  In this case, the cat will not be afraid of you, since it is not you who negatively affects it.

3.    Before correcting the cat's behavior, you should check its health

If your pet's behavior has suddenly changed, you should immediately check its health! The onset of an illness can lead to a change in the cat's or cat's behavior.

For example, the cat has stopped going to the litter box. She may have gotten urolithiasis and it is painful to urinate. She associates the litter box with pain and avoids it. And she pees in all sorts of places. What if it doesn't hurt there? Or the cat has joint problems and when you pet her, it hurts. She throws herself at YOU because YOU are the one causing her pain.

So, before you correct the cat's behavior, you need to take it to the vet, get it checked out, and start treatment if necessary!

4.    You are not the owner of your cat

If you think you are the cat's master, the cat doesn't know it and won't do what you tell it to do. Remember: a cat is not a dog! It has a completely different behavioral pattern. She sees you as a member of the family, just like another cat. It is believed that pets retain "childlike" behavior, like kittens near their mother, which in this case is you. Because you take care of them, you feed them. If you don't do anything bad to the cat and only pleasant things are connected with you: caress, food, games, then the cat will trust you and "obey" you. And will calmly allow you to conduct not particularly pleasant procedures, such as injections, for example. After all, kittens do not resist the mother cat, it is an instinct.

You only need a little bit of training to be able to "explain" something to the pet in a language understandable to her. There is nothing complicated about it. You will succeed!

5.    You are communicating all of your emotions, bad or good, to the cat

A cat has very developed senses. That's why it can sense your mood, whether it's bad or good. In a home where people fight, yell and argue a lot, these animals become nervous or aggressive.

Next to a calm, confident and kind person, the kitty is calm and playful, healthy and cheerful. She perfectly feels when she is afraid and may bite such a person or another cat.

All this is also instincts: a mother cat is calm and peaceful when she feeds her kittens. And they, in turn, do not attack the cat, do not hunt her. It is necessary to show aggression when chasing away an opponent and defending your territory. The cat is afraid of the prey, and the prey must be attacked.

It's simple. You need to become a mom to your cat. Well, or dad.

Calm and confident behavior, friendly attitude, and the cat will feel it.