How To Discipline a Cat

It’s Ann here today. Andy is over in OurLittleCorner trying to convince us that Corgis and giraffes may have much in common.

You probably remember that we have 2 Siamese cats, OnoMoore and Chocolatte, and a Cardigan Corgi, Wynnsome. Our Corgi is a little bull-headed but does not like to be in the “dog-house”! If you speak harshly to her, she becomes very submissive and nervous, even though the worst discipline she ever had was being put in our bathroom as a puppy for a “time out.” 🙂

The cats are another story. They clearly do not understand “discipline.” And it’s not just our two cross-eyed lovelies; it’s cats in general.

The need for discipline arose recently with Ono, our female tabby-point. We adopted her 11 years ago from the Santa Rosa Humane Society, which had named her Feisty (red flag). Another family had returned her (red flag), so she needed to find another new home. Unfortunately, we didn’t ask why the family had returned her.

The Humane Society of Huron County MI has this to say: Many of us have had the pleasure of petting our cat, when all of a sudden the cat bites your hand and runs away. This is called petting induced or overstimulation aggression. It’s a common behavior in many cats, and is something that can be both frustrating and frightening until you learn how to manage this behavior with your cat.

Yup. That’s our Ono. She purrs and rubs against you and gets on your lap and snuggles up – but then will turn on you…very aggressively. We have scars to show.

How to react is the question. Disciplining with a time out in our bathroom is clearly not going to work. A swat on the head could result in more blood and wouldn’t teach Ono a thing, except maybe to be more aggressive the next time.

Here’s advice for dealing with overstimulation aggression from the same Humane Society (and it’s working with Ono): Realize some cats just do not like to be cuddled. Each cat is unique. Some cats enjoy human contact, love to be held, and never seem to get enough petting. Others, for whatever reason, may enjoy human closeness (sitting on your lap) but not necessarily human-initiated contact. Understand that you will not be able to change the basic personality of your cat and need to accept him as he is.

If you want more tips on discipling your cat – or not – here is an article from “The Dog People” (on Rover.com) entitled “Can You Discipline a Cat? 5 Training Tips and What to Avoid.” (Maybe “The Dog People” is not a reliable source for discipling cats?)

Thinking about cats and dogs – and learning to accept our differences and to be nice – reminds me that I want to effuse a little about the new Latvian film Flow (heres a link to the trailer). The film, which appears to take place in a post-apocalyptic world, features the relationship between a cat, a dog, a ring-tailed lemur and a capybara (look it up!). Oh, and a secretary bird joins in and adds another philosophical element to the film.

Here’s a lovely summary of the film from RogerEbert.com: In all their unspoken wisdom, they [the animal stars] are trying to tell us we can only save ourselves if we see ourselves as part of a whole, and not as distinct factions warring over trivialities. As we confront our imminent climate crisis and the many other cataclysms that plague our reality, we’ll only have each other to make it through. “Flow” boasts a hopeful outlook; it suggests these storms won’t be permanent and that the deer will freely run through the forest again. Life, in all its splendor and blameless tragedy, will, indeed, flow.

So just like Flow and The Humane Society suggest, we’ve decided to accept and love Ono as she is (and not return her once again to the Santa Rosa Humane Society); and in the broader picture we’ll work on being accepting and loving of one and all, since we’re all part of the whole. But tell me…how do we get that bit of philosophizing to resonate with everyone else?

Because the cat in Flow did a good job of catching fish – and sharing them, a recipe with fish seems to be in order. Maybe a little fish…something the cat could easily handle. Maybe anchovies.