Understanding your cat

Training

• You cannot discipline cats as you would dogs. Many mistakes made with cats are due to the perception that they will react like dogs.
• Do not ever hit a cat or use any sort of physical punishment. You will only teach your cat to fear you.
• Since cats hate to be surprised, you can use water bottles, clapping, hissing, and other sudden noises (such as snapping, "No!") to stop unwanted behavior.
• The face-push has been described by various readers. This consists of pushing the palm of your hand into the cat's face. This is best used when discouraging something like biting. Don't hit the cat, simply push its face back gently. You might accompany it with a "no!"
• It is always best to train your cat away from undesirable behavior as soon as possible, as young as possible. You will have the most success training your cat when it is young on what is acceptable to scratch and what is not.

Socialization

Cats are territorial, and they need to be introduced to other animals very slowly so they can get used to each other before a face-to-face confrontation.

Give your new cat an area where she can retreat. Feed your resident pets and the newcomer on each side of the door to this room, so that they associate something enjoyable with each other's smell.

When you introduce pets to each other, one of them may send "play" signals which can be misinterpreted y the other pet as signs of aggression. If that's the case, always handle the situation as "aggression" and seek professional help from a veterinarian or animal behaviorist right away.

Play

Try to keep your cats entertained with cat toys. Cats get so excited even with an empty paper towel roll. Or turn on the cold water just a bit for your cat. Let her enjoy the fresh drink once in a while.

Cats & Garden

Cats are frequently fascinated with houseplants. However, you may not appreciate the attention, which can range from chewing on the plant leaves to digging or peeing in the plant soil. For chewing, try spraying Bitter Apple or Bitter Orange on the leaves. Dusting cayenne pepper on them may also help. You may wish to grow some grass or catnip for them as an alternative; plants do provide them with needed nutrients.

For digging or urinating, cover the dirt with aluminum foil or gravel. If the plant needs it, add some vinegar to the soil to counteract the ammonia in the urine

Cats & A new baby

Cats can become jealous upon the arrival of a new baby. Reassure the cat that you still love it by paying it plenty of attention.

Most cats are trustworthy around babies after getting over any jealousy, especially if it is trained not to use people as toys; however babies should never be left unsupervised around any animal.