Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Cat Behavior

Picture reproduced under creative commons credit: urabanmkr flickr

There has been a bit about cat behavior on the internet recently. Actually it's always on the internet. The general view is that a cat's behavior is something to be corrected on occasions. For example, jumping on a kitchen counter.

The way I see it is like this. For the cat jumping on a kitchen counter is normal behavior. We decided to live with the cat and he decided to live with us. We didn't set down any rules and anyway you can't with a cat.

So, we shouldn't really complain when a cat jumps up onto a counter. Your cat may dislike some of the things that you do. Such as making noise or locking your cat in a room for some reason.

Your cat might not like the fact that you argue with your partner sometimes as this creates a hostile atmosphere for your cat and she picks this up.

There are then numerous instances when your cat has a chance to complain but doesn't, about your behavior. Except, of course, when your cat walks out and never comes back. That happens not too infrequently. You know how often stray cats or cats that are thinking of moving mouch into your home looking for food. I've got two that come to my place.

The point I am making is this . We should accept our cat's behavior as much as possible. If it is natural to the cat. If however, you don't like your cat jumping onto the counter for hygiene reasons (I personally don't see the hygiene problem as I have never had any problems with health issues arising out of my cat), you should gently train her to jump on a construction that is a good substitute.

Personally I just think it is so much easier and more sensible to accept our cat's behavior and enjoy it.

From Cat Behavior to Cat Chit Chat

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