I've tried all 3 - the cat loves water - he jumps into the bathtub when I fill it up for my children bath time, and the clicker/citrus scent did not work either.
He just ignored it. The kitty trainer said to try hissing, as his mother would when she shows her displeasure.
We've been trying it (and looking like a crazy cat family in the meantime) but has anyone had success with this? We only hiss at him if he's scratching furniture, knocking things over, etc. We don't hiss if he's just playing or being curious - only when needed.
Does hissing really work to train him? Whenever we hiss, he jumps/cowers and runs away looking frightened.
Just want to know if we should keep this up or find another deterrent to curb his naughty behaviour.
Answer
Kai:
Yes! I use hissing because that's what other cats would use to tell a cat "hey, stop it or I'm going to hurt you!" They understand that a hiss is a serious warning. But you have to hiss more like a cat, not with your teeth together (like you would to make a snake hiss). It's actually a "HEEEEE" sound elongated.
What you also need to do is look the kitten in the eye when you hiss and hold him there. He'll freeze, afraid to move because he might get whacked. Just hiss, look at his eyes, and raise your "paw" as if you were preparing to cat whack him (but don't, just hold the position and make him freeze).
If he moves, pull your lips up and scrunch up your face and hiss even louder (means your getting mad). And just hold him there, hissing at him, for 5 or 10 seconds.
Then stop and act like nothing is going on. You do have to be consistent, that's the trick.
He doesn't know he's doing anything wrong and it'll take him a while to sort of what, exactly, he's being hissed at for so you (and everyone else) needs to be consistent while he figures it out. Don't hiss if he knocks something over accidentally though.
Hiss when he scratches something he ought not to, and then after a few minutes after the hissing, take him gently over (give him kisses and cuddles) to the scratching post and extend his claws and make the scratching motion with his claws, and purr just a little while you're doing it.
He knows purring means you're content with him. It does work, even on adult cats.
Bernard:
I'm no expert, but I've never heard of hissing at your cat for training purposes.
I have kittys, and will say this, cats do not respond to anger and yelling. Itl just make them fearful of you. It will not make your cat cooperate any quicker.
Youll get more outta firmly saying no, or gently picking up cat off an area you don't want them to be in. Obviously, itl take some time n persistence. But eventually must catch on. Good luck =)
Jason:
Cats that are annoyed or are frightened, tend to hiss.
So, when you hiss at your cat, it already understands that there is a problem. But to really let the cat know that you are serious and not merely practicing from a Berlitz Cat Language lesson tape,
you need to get the cat to associate your hissing with something unpleasant
Elaine:
None of those worked for us. What DID work was patience, distraction, GENTLE removal and positive enforcement.
For the very worst (reaching to chew on cords) I used an 'akk akk akk akk' staccato sound that mom cats do to halt kittens in their tracks. It's like saying uh uh (no) to a kid, only you do four of them in a row very fast.
This is used sparingly. Kittens are hard wired to stop when a mom cat does this. I've used it on a feral who was going to the road as a car was coming and he stopped dead and turned and watched me (when nothing else would have done it).
Nikolai:
I don't think hissing at your cat will work. Sounds weird to me. If I were to his at my cat, she would stare at me as if I'm crazy.
Just speak to him in a firm voice and your cat will feel ashamed if he'd done something wrong. Reward him when he does something good- that's probably the best idea.
