One of your New Years Resolutions may be to break your bad habits, but what about your pets? Kitty can be trained to modify her bad behavior, making 2015 a more rewarding year for the both of you!

1. Waking You Up in the Middle of the Night

It’s 4 am and the cat is pouncing on your feet, meowing like a banshee to go outside! You drag yourself out of bed to toss the kitty some kibble, and if that still doesn’t quiet her down, you open the door and scoot her outside in order to obtain peace and quiet… but that is exactly the wrong thing to do!

You have just unintentionally rewarded the cat by giving her what she wanted: to be outside.

“The key to training a cat and understanding cat behavior is to make sure that whatever you want your cat to do is exceedingly rewarding and pleasurable. Whatever you don’t want your cat to indulge in must never be rewarding or fun, in fact, it must be unpleasant.”

Step A. Exercise the kitty before you go to bed

Step B. Have a water bottle or air-spray ready for when she jumps on the bed to discourage her from waking you

Step C. Have toys sitting out for her to play with. If possible, leave a window open for her to look out of
2. Scratching Furniture

A bored cat will find a way to entertain herself! Cats are known to become overly active and destructive, clawing furniture and shredding curtains, unless they have an outlet.

Step A. Reward your kitty for using her scratch post with a massage, treat, and lots of praise.

Step B. Discourage her from clawing at anything other than her post by immediately startle her with either a blast of water from a plant sprayer or a sudden loud noise. She will soon realize that unpleasant things happen when she tries to scratch the furniture

Step C. Place tin foil around corner of furniture she likes to claw, put her scratching post nearby or a cardboard claw station

3. Biting

Sometimes, cats are unintentionally trained to view your fingers as toys if you play with them this way, or do not n also

Step A. Provide some bite-able alternatives, like a feather wand or a catnip banana — and be sure to experiment with a variety of toys to see what he likes. Then play with him every day.

Step B. Withdraw attention when your kitten doesn’t get the message. If the distraction and redirection techniques don’t work, the most drastic thing you can do to discourage your cat from rough play is to withdraw all attention. Go into the other room for a bit, leaving behind a toy or paper bag for cat to play with.

Step C. Another option is to adopt a playmate for him, preferably of the opposite sex. There are several cat rescue non-profits in the area:

Alley Cats and Angels (919) 303-3500S

Cat Angels Pet Adoptions (919) 463-9586

Second Chance (919) 851-8404

**Consider neutering your male cats that bite. Male cats tend to be more aggressive, but will calm down if neutered.