CAT EDUCATION

House Cat Training: Deal with Play Fighting and Spraying

Ok it's a fact that most cats like to play around, running here and there, scratching furniture or biting you. But Sometimes cats can be so energetic that can cause damage when playing. And what about spraying? All cats spray their territory to mark it and make it their own. Do you have a house training tactic to deal with these issues?

Let's start with play fighting. Cats are carnivorus animals, they like hunting, attacking and biting their preys with their claws. They like playing like that and they do not really understand that this behavior can cause any damage. It's their natural instict that orders cats to behave likewise.

So what is the best house cat training method to prevent your cat from damaging you or your child when playing? Here are some possible solutions to the problem:

- Buy some cat toys allowing the cat to play with another cat or alone. You can also find some time everyday to play with the cat by having the pet chasing a string.

- You can use a squirt bottle (You can find it in any pet shop). Fill the bottle with water and spray your cat when, for example, you thing it's trying to use it's claws on you. You can buy a few small bottles and put them in different places in your house and use them accordingly.

- Never try to hit your cat because of rough play fighting. This is a totally unacceptable house cat training method and will have no results.

Now a few things about spraying.

This is a common cat behavior performed especially by male cats. The best solution to that would be to neuter the cat. This generally solves the problem.

If your cat still sprays after that then there's probably a new cat in the neighbourhood and is walking around your house. In that case you can disable physical contact with new cats or other pets in the neighbourhood until your cat feels comfortable.

You can also try buying a repellant (you can find it in any pet store) and spray it around your house so that other cats will not approach the territory.

That is all! Happy House Cat Training.

The above article is written by an independent author and may not represent the views of The Refined Feline