Correcting Your Cat's Bad Behavior

Written and verified by the lawyer Francisco María García

Last update: 27 December, 2022

It’s quite common to hear people complaining about their cats’ bad behavior. Maybe the cat climbs everywhere, destroys curtains, or tries to escape from the house. If you want to train a cat, it will require patience and dedication, and it’s completely possible to correct your cat’s bad behavior. The tips below are great to help you retrain your cat.

Causes and solutions for your cat’s bad behavior

Cats misbehave in several different ways and they bad behaviors are triggered by multiple different causes. This is why you should pay close attention to any change in your cat’s behavior to prevent them from developing greater behavioral issues later on in life.

Below are some of the common causes that might be responsible for your cat’s bad behavior.

Pathological Origin

Some conditions can cause pain or damage your cat’s sensory functions. Due to your cat feeling vulnerable or weak, they may develop defensive behaviors or new habits. This tends to be more common in older cats but it can happen at any age.

If your cat starts hiding a lot, is more aggressive, or shows signs of unusual behavior, it’s important that you take him straight to the vet. At the clinic, the vet will be able to assess your cat’s health and rule out any causes for their bad behavior.

Your cat will also need to receive the right preventative medical care to keep them healthy and keep them well-behaved. This is why it’s very important to take them to the vet every six months, be up-to-date on their vaccinations and de-worming schedule, and provide them with a high-quality diet.

Not enough training or socialization

Just like people, cats learn most of their habits during infancy. This is because their personalities are more easily influenced during the first months of life, which help enables them to learn better. If you want to have a well-trained and obedient cat, you need to invest your time in their training and socialization at an early age.

The first step to preventing bad behavior in an adult cat is not ignoring their bad behavior when they’re kittens. For example, if you don’t want your cat to jump up on the sofa or the bed, you shouldn’t let them do it as a kitten. If you let a kitten get away with certain things because they’re cute, they will learn bad habits.

When a cat learns that a certain behavior is allowed, they won’t understand why they are suddenly not allowed to do it anymore. Therefore, it would be best to start training them as soon as a cat comes into a new home.

Sedentarism and not enough stimulation

Domestication has brought cats serval benefits, such as less exposure to predators and having their food more available. However, life in a home also means much less physical exercise on a daily basis. By not needing to find and hunt prey, their exercise levels drop.

The lack of physical and mental stimulation can cause many cats to develop symptoms of stress or boredom, which can cause bad behavior and even more aggression.

If you want to prevent your cat from misbehaving, you need to pay special attention to your home and make it a very stimulating environment for your cat.

To make your home a more enriched environment for your cat, it’s important to buy toys, scratching posts, and things to stimulate his body and mind. Nowadays, there are mazes and entertainment centers for cats that provide them with everything from exercise to relaxing massages.

You can also provide your cat with stimuli that activate their senses. For example, catnip is a great option for stimulating their sense of smell. Videos and interactive games can be good for their hearing and vision. By combining all these stimuli, you’ll have an active, healthy, and calm cat.

Use positive reinforcement

Traditional training methods are no good for training cats. In reality, they’re not that useful for any animal because they’re based on provoking negative emotions like fear or insecurity. Cats won’t submit to people who behave irrationally or use violent methods.

Positive reinforcement is the safest and most effective way to train an animal and correct your cat’s bad behavior. When training your cat, remember to offer them a reward to recognize their good behavior and stimulate learning. It doesn’t have to just be biscuits. It could be toys, compliments, petting, or a delicious homemade meals.

Avoid scolding him

When your cat behaves badly, it’s not a good idea to scold them. By telling them off, you’re just increasing their stress levels and generating negative feelings.

To point out bad behavior, you just need to say “no” in a firm but calm tone of voice. Once identify good conduct, give them a nice treat.