Training Cats
Our cats hate our children.
Maybe “hate” is too strong. “Hate” implies that the cats actively seek ways to harm our children, be it the physical harm of scratching and biting, or the emotional harm of peeing on their stuff. Our cats have never tried to physically harm our children, even on those rare occasions when a little hand grabs hold of a tail and pulls. They don’t emotionally harm the children either, preferring instead to just pee on the parents’ stuff.
It’s more accurate to say that our cats avoid our children. Perhaps they dislike the children and the attention they drain from the adults even though the cats were clearly in the house first. More likely they fear the children with their loud noises and poor coordination. Sometimes the children scare me for those same reasons plus their pooping prowess.
We’re trying to encourage the cats to accept the children, in much the same way that we might lead a horse to water and encourage it to drink from the lake with the scary fish visibly lurking just below the surface even though the horse isn’t really thirsty anyway. I let Abbie feed the cats now. The cats love food more than they dislike Abbie, and they hang around the dishes while she scoops food into them. My hope is they start to associate Abbie with food. They currently associate me with food and will rub against me purring fiercely until I finally tire of them and drop food in their dish so they’ll quit shedding on me. Abbie would be infinitely happy if a cat would rub against her, or at least not flee in terror whenever she walks near.
I also let the kids pet the cats, but this takes preparation. I have to find a cat, usually downstairs, and quite content because they’re protected behind the gate. I carry the cat to the children, holding tight once the cat realizes my machinations. I then sit with the cat in my lap within children’s grabbing distance. I encourage the children to be gentle while hoping the cat doesn’t emotionally damage me as soon as I let go.
For the most part the kids do great with the cats. They’re mostly gentle. They’re mostly quiet. They’re mostly calm. And I emerge mostly claw mark-free. The cats don’t do as well with the kids. They sit tensely in my lap, eager to yowl at every sensation and ready to flee the instant I loosen my grip.
Both the kids and the cats are learning to co-exist and treat each other well. The kids need to learn to be nice to the cats or they’ll hide all day. The cats need to learn to be nice to the kids or they won’t get fed.
Maybe “hate” is too strong. “Hate” implies that the cats actively seek ways to harm our children, be it the physical harm of scratching and biting, or the emotional harm of peeing on their stuff. Our cats have never tried to physically harm our children, even on those rare occasions when a little hand grabs hold of a tail and pulls. They don’t emotionally harm the children either, preferring instead to just pee on the parents’ stuff.
It’s more accurate to say that our cats avoid our children. Perhaps they dislike the children and the attention they drain from the adults even though the cats were clearly in the house first. More likely they fear the children with their loud noises and poor coordination. Sometimes the children scare me for those same reasons plus their pooping prowess.
We’re trying to encourage the cats to accept the children, in much the same way that we might lead a horse to water and encourage it to drink from the lake with the scary fish visibly lurking just below the surface even though the horse isn’t really thirsty anyway. I let Abbie feed the cats now. The cats love food more than they dislike Abbie, and they hang around the dishes while she scoops food into them. My hope is they start to associate Abbie with food. They currently associate me with food and will rub against me purring fiercely until I finally tire of them and drop food in their dish so they’ll quit shedding on me. Abbie would be infinitely happy if a cat would rub against her, or at least not flee in terror whenever she walks near.
I also let the kids pet the cats, but this takes preparation. I have to find a cat, usually downstairs, and quite content because they’re protected behind the gate. I carry the cat to the children, holding tight once the cat realizes my machinations. I then sit with the cat in my lap within children’s grabbing distance. I encourage the children to be gentle while hoping the cat doesn’t emotionally damage me as soon as I let go.
For the most part the kids do great with the cats. They’re mostly gentle. They’re mostly quiet. They’re mostly calm. And I emerge mostly claw mark-free. The cats don’t do as well with the kids. They sit tensely in my lap, eager to yowl at every sensation and ready to flee the instant I loosen my grip.
Both the kids and the cats are learning to co-exist and treat each other well. The kids need to learn to be nice to the cats or they’ll hide all day. The cats need to learn to be nice to the kids or they won’t get fed.
posted by Matt at
11:43 PM
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