I’m sure I talked about when we found Courage here but I’ll recap so people who haven’t read the post won’t have to search for it.

The summer of 2008, we found a small 3 mo. old kitten crying on the top of his lungs at a wayside rest area. I talked to a landscaper working there about the kitten and during the conversation, he said he had to yell at some morons who decided to entertain themselves by kicking at the kitten and chase him when he ran.  Courage was so terrified of our feet at first, we had to hide them with a sheet in order to be able to walk in his direction without him bolting and hiding under the bed in terror. Courage and I hit it off from day one but he was so fearful of my husband, it took several weeks to get him to start trusting Terry.

I don’t think that incident was the only time he was abused because of how he acted after we brought him home. The morning after his first night with us, he was sitting on the couch when we walked out of the living room. The second he saw us, he shot off the couch and acted like he fully expected to be beat for it. It took a good two months to convince him we don’t care if he sits on the furniture. Heck, we don’t care if he sharpens his nails on the couch. That is why we took my sister’s shabby couch and gave away our fairly nice one to someone who needed it. Our cats are more important than some object that can be replaced.

For the most part, Courage has healed mentally from the abuse he suffered. Somethings will be with him for the rest of his life I think, such as his phobia of strangers.

We recently added a rescued kitten to our small family. We introduced them gradually and when they finally got see each other face to face, it was instant best friends for them. In fact, I have never had an easier time introducing a new cat to a resident cat. The problem I am having with Courage is he gets carried away when him and Cinder are wrestling each other and gets a little too rough. When she squeals in pain, I yell in a deep voice “Hey” to warn them they better stop. Courage isn’t being aggressive towards her…he wants to play with her like a kitten but the problem is even though he isn’t much more than a kitten himself, he is a HUGE cat with lots of strength. Even his doctor is amazed at how big of a cat he is, especially his huge paws.

Sometimes Courage gets so excited when playing with her, I have to put him in a time-out to get him to settle down.  His time-out room is our bedroom. I put him gently on the bed, make sure the curtains are open, then sit on the other side of the door and check on him every few seconds to see if he settled down enough to be let out again. The time-outs never last longer than 60 seconds.

The behavior I want to discipline him for started a couple days ago. When I go to put him in a time out, he grabs my ankle with his front paws and bunny-kicks my foot with his back feet so hard, if I don’t have shoes on, my foot would be shredded and I’d have to go in for stitches.

Squirting water on him does not work. He loves water and doesn’t mind in the least being wet.  Other people have suggested I flick him on the nose with my finger but I really don’t want him to experience pain from my hand, especially after what he had been put through as a young kitten.

I tried grabbing the scruff of his neck firmly and press him to the floor until he stops, but it doesn’t seem to be getting the message across. Another person told me I was scruffing him wrong and in order to properly scruff a cat, I need to pick him up by the scruff of his neck while supporting his hind legs with my other hand.  Courage does have a bad hip because he was shot with a pellet gun. He had a bad limp when we found him. We were on vacation when we found him and weren’t able to get him to see the vet until we got home again. I did move that leg in different directions to see if he was in extreme pain from his leg, but he didn’t react to it and I pressed my fingers gently down the leg he was limping on to see if he had a broken or cracked bone, but no reaction from that either so we waited until we got home so he could see my favorite pet doctor.  The doctor didn’t find anything but a week later, a plug of hair and a scab fell off that leg and I saw a plastic pellet close to the surface that popped right out when I touched the skin around the sore to get a better look at it.  The vet can’t find physical damage but sometimes Courage will end up sitting down when using the litterbox, plus he has a funny gate.  I don’t think picking him up by the scruff of the neck while supporting his legs with another hand is safe for him.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to discipline him (that doesn’t involve pain) when he takes his frustration out on my ankle to let him know that behavior is unacceptable?

Better consult it to a Vet..They are the ones who best knows whats good for your cat..

Regards,
Maria Ann
Pret voiture

Actually, the average veterinarian is not equipped to address behavioral issues unless they’re directly related to a medical condition. Even then, the best thing to do is visit a veterinary behavior specialist if you have a problem.

Another option would be to find a cat trainer in your area. A positive reinforcement or clicker trainer is your best bet. 

As a professional cat (and dog!) trainer, I recommend training alternate behaviors or behaviors that are incompatible with the unacceptable one. For instance, if I have a cat that walks on the counters, I might teach him to sit on a stool in the kitchen instead. Physical punishment is not recommended because it tends to only affect the occurrence of the behavior when you are nearby and it is not often understood by the cat what he or she has done to provoke your wrath.

While time-outs generally work pretty well, Courage has figured out a way to delay the punishment and dump a bit of frustration. Causing pain and injury to people is obviously not acceptable.

When my cats get too rough, I usually ask for 1-2 easy behaviors and then reward them by providing other ways for them to dump energy. My kitties enjoy a variety of rewards. I throw down a kitty-sized Kong stuffed with goodies, or call them to me and reward their compliance with a vigorous game of “chase the laser” or “catch the string toy!” Keep in mind that you do want the cat to do something for you before rewarding or else your redirections will have the opposite effect.  If you see your kitty getting too wild and you throw the Kong down, he’ll soon learn that good things happen when he gets a bit crazy.

Another option would be to do more with your cat. Taking him for a leash-walk outside (my cats like the park and playing on playground equipment!). Trick training is a great way to get him tired out and also use his brain some too.  Puzzle toys are also fun. I often buy the ones meant for tiny dogs!

I hope this helps.  If you’re interested in finding a great trainer in your area, you might like to visit http://karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer  - the trainers that attend the academy often specialize in dog care, but are required to demonstrate proficiency with other animals as well. If they don’t train or work with cats, they are likely to know someone who does! All of these trainers practice methods which are kind and don’t involve physical punishment or force.