3 Non-Violent Ways to 
Discipline Your Cat

By Teri Champigny

You should never hit or smack your cat! And never give your cat the idea that discipline is coming directly from you. That may sound like a strange request but it is quite fitting, especially since your goal is to create a strong bond with your little feline friend. 

If your cat relates discipline, anger, and pain with you, then all you will do is create fear in your cat's mind anytime you approach him.  In other words, disciplining your cat should be done in a way so that he directly relates the action with whatever is he was doing “wrong” - not you.

This is indeed the best way to train cats.  This system of making them believe that whatever it is that they are doing wrong will trigger an automatic response that they do not like, but has nothing to do with you, is the only way to teach your cat right from wrong, while at the same time developing a loving and strong relationship with your pet.

For example, if your cat has enjoyed clawing and scratching at your expensive sofa, and you start to yell, discipline, and express anger towards him – this will do nothing more than show that your cat that you are to be avoided, but your sofa is still his scratching post.  That situation sounds frustrating, doesn't it?

Now imagine that instead of using all of your anger toward your cat and letting him know it, you use some sort of “booby-trap” that the cat experiences whenever he approaches the couch.  This experience should be agitating, but not painful. Many cat owners use a specific type of sticky coating that will produce static electricity when rubbed by cat's paw. This creates a small shock and the cat is on his way away from the couch.  And as you may understand by now, he will start to directly relate the couch to an experience that he does not want to feel again.  And the good news is that it has nothing to do with you!

Below is a list  of some discipline tools that you can use to divert your cat's attention:

1. Use loud noises. Cats cannot stand the sound of loud banging noises.  In fact, they hate it and will run for cover as if being sprayed by bullets. A very simple solution would be having a tin cans full of rocks or pennies that you can shake every time you see your cat doing something.

2. Use spray water bottles: This is my personal favorite technique. However, do not get too trigger-happy.  Your only goal is to give a light squirt to your cat whenever you see him doing something wrong.  Although you are the one shooting the water, he doesn't realize that.  All your cat knows is that whenever he approaches the couch he feels shocking spurts of water hit the side of his head or body.

3. Try placing some sort of liquid that cats dislike on the surface areas that he is destroying:  A good example of this would be some Tabasco sauce or vinegar.  Cats despise the bitterness of the substances and it tastes terrible to them.