Training your cat to stop biting or clawing

Preventing Aggression in Cats

One day when I was a child our grey & white Cat, named Pepsi, saw a massive Dalmatian dog walking past his house.  Our cat, a male, calmly puffed up his body to make himself look bigger making a chilling hissing noise.  The dog perplexed backed away a fraction.  Pepsi whipped out his claws, slashing the huge dog near his nose, who howled and ran away - dragging his owner with him, by the lead, who wailed "Who is this terrible cat?"  Pepsi just stared at them as they hurriedly departed.Of course Pepsi was fine with me as a child, as well as my brothers & sister - he grew up with us, so never knew any different than a noisy house with lots of children - we will remember him.  However if your cat has lived all their life in a quiet, private home and you suddenly bring in some energy fueled children they will feel threatened and react defensively.

Play sessions provide the best opportunity to teach your cat not to bite, claw or attack you. Cats will bite and claw when they are playing and acting out their hunting instincts.  This makes playtime ideal to teach your cat that they must be careful and gentle.  The cat is only allowed to play using his paws, not his claws.  They should be taught never to bite you - only their toy.

Begin a gentle game of play fighting or use a toy, string, an old soft toy, a feather or an old cloth is fine.  Praise the cat all the time they remain gentle, you can even give them a cat crunchie as a treat.  A little bit  at a time, increase the excitement and intensity of the game, watching your kit.  As soon as you see that the cat is getting too excited or he begins to expose his claws or teeth, tone down the play session or immediately freeze and play dead - as if you were a dead mouse.  This usually causes a cat to calm down and retract its claws.  If kitty complies, then resume playing. However play must not resume until your cat calms down and retracts his claws.  If your cat bites hard or scratches you, sharply shout stop (or similar), plus immediate stop playing, walk away and ignore the cat.  Cats, especially kittens, love to play.  By abruptly ending a play session is an extremely aid in stopping aggression.  By repeating this over days or weeks, your cat will soon learn that it is their choice of using rough and overly aggressive behavior that causes the abrupt end of an enjoyable play session.

While your cat is learning not to bite and claw you, it is important that you provide cats with something they can pounce on, attack, grab with his claws and sink his teeth into, even for play.  I always have 2 scratching posts in different areas inside.
Cats are of course predators, and most predators cannot exercise restraint.  I have seen a lioness hunt down a whole herd of wild donkeys - when one would have been more than enough for three days food.  Even though at home, you provide your cat with all his meals, his instinct to hunt still exists and will always be part of his nature.  Thus you should provide an outlet for this behavior or your cat will love playing and testing their  hunting skills on you and their toys.  It simply is not enough to leave a few balls, string and other cat toys around and hope they will use these entertain them.  By making the toys fun (made or adapted toys from anything at hand) your cat will appreciate the play.  Play should be similar to interactive game between you and your cat.  Try to stimulate your cat's interest and participation - often the adapted toys from bits of string and old fluffy toys can give the most pleasure in their originality.

Despite being warm, furry, adorable exterior of cat is an animal when they are upset many will bite and scratch. Instinctively pouncing and attacking - It's in their nature.  For thousands  of years Cats have been highly territorial.  A cat, especially an indoor cat, can become very stressed and worried if their territory is being invaded by other animals of even new children.  Unless a cat has been raised with other pets and has been socialized with them, most will be happy by themselves - if you introduce a new pet or child, go gently.  Also remember, if the Cat becomes over-stimulated after 5 minutes of petting and stroking, then stop at 3 minutes.  If a cat is frightened or feels threatened, it will naturally try to defend itself. Don't push them.

Try one or two 5 minute to 15 minute play sessions a day - which helps venting your cats excess energy as well as fulfilling his predatory instincts.  If however, your cat still sneak-attacks you, get some plant sprayers with water and place around the house.  Two or three defensive-squirts sequence should convince him or her to attack their toys instead of you!

Comments or thoughts welcome.  We also discuss more cat training techniques on Twitter & YouTube.

Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance's reintroduction program

Update readers on the 'Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance's' reintroduction program...

...In Russia's far east of the critically endangered Amur Leopard, ALTA is doing everything they can to save this noble beast for generations to come. I am a long-term supporter and contribute in a small way to this, most worthiest of causes. For more details & donations, here is a link to their site: 

http://www.altaconservation.org/amur-leopard/amur-leopard-reintroduction/

There are thought to be just 35 wild Amur Leopards in Russia's far east. Each year ALTA conducts a census of Leopards using camera's to photograph as many leopards as possible. The Amur Tiger (also known as the Siberian Tiger) is also facing similar problems and likely extinction, unless poaching and habitat loss is stopped immediately - unlikely as demand from China for tiger parts is increasing.

Recently known amur leopards are still living and thriving in the wilds of Russia, despite all the odds stacked against them from poaching, habitat loss, forest fires, inbreeding and other problems. 

The WCS's 2011 camera monitoring survey took 156 photo's including this nice picture of a very unique individual that I'm nicknaming 'Bobtail the Amur Leopard' thanks to ALTA & ZSL (Zoological Society of London) for the photo from their website (see link above). It's possible that another leopard damaged  his tail as a cub or in an adult fight:

Interestingly Bobtail has been identified as Pp16 by the scientists. There was 17 leopards in total identified (presumably Pp01 to Pp17), though only 2 of these were cubs. As males have a greater range it's also likely that more males than females were 'camera trapped'.

Camera traps have been able to capture photos of the ultra rare wild amur leopards, whose spots are unique to each individual. In 2010 there were 12 identifiable leopards (from 63 photos); 9 identifiable leopards were photoed in 2009 (though another 72 other photos could not identify the sepcific leopard); 8 identifiable leopards were photoed in 2008; 13 identifiable leopards were photographed in 2007.

With continued support the leopards can return to this protected area in Russia, as the region has a plentiful supply of food for these rare leopards. There are also plans to reintroduce some cubs from the Amur Leopards kept in zoo's throughout USA, Europe and Russia. In other parts of the world, the leopard who is supremely adaptable to all climates has lived beside humans, despite all the odds against this. In our lifetime we should see this amazing creature take it's rightful place in this cold, hard land that has been home to leopards for millenia.

Did you know these things about cats & kittens?

Interesting facts about cats & their kittens:

• Cats usually have 5 toes on both their front paws but only 4 toes on their back paws. Cat's with more are called 'polydactyl'.
• Cat's hearing is so good, that the ultrasonic sounds mice make can be heard by them. Often when you call them from far away they will hear - try shaking their cat crunchies and see how quick they return!
• Cats sleep for 66% of their day.
• A group of cats is called a “clowder”
• Cats cannot taste 'sweet' instead they have a range of bitter taste's which help detect if food is safe to eat.
• 'Schrödinger's cat' is a thought experiment, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 and recently made famous by a top US sitcom.
• Cat's do not have a collar bone.
• In 1963, a cat named Felicette travelled into outer space.
• Usually a cat's eye-sight is fantastic. At night they can see better than most creatures, with  superb peripheral vision.
• If a cat's tail shakes near you it means they love you. Cat's emotions are similar to human's. Also they will know when you are speaking lovingly to them or if you are yelling at them. Your cat will not care if he/she gets into trouble though as they cannot understand.
• Cats perspire through their paws.
• One cat reached 36 years old back in 1939. An English cat named Puss. Some exceptional cat's can reach 17 or even 20 years old - let us know how old your cat is.