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From: suze@terak.UUCP (Suzanne Barnett)
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: Re: Is my kitten "normal" or "mentally unbalanced"??
Message-ID: <874@terak.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 14-Nov-85 10:59:52 EST
Article-I.D.: terak.874
Posted: Thu Nov 14 10:59:52 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Nov-85 07:22:05 EST
References: <2480@sunybcs.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Calcomp Display Products Division, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Lines: 45

> He seems to be very active when I am in.  He likes biting my feet and fingers
> as well as slaping (scratching sometimes) my face when I go to sleep.
> No matter how I yell and tell him NO, BAD, GIT, etc, he does not seem to
What seems cute in a kitten, such as the things mentioned
above, are not cute in a full grown cat. You can't EVER
encourage it if you expect to train this behaviour out of him.
One time of letting him "get away with it" because its cute
will undo many previous scoldings. As with children, different
reinforcement methods work different cats/kittens. One thing
that many people have found effective is a spray bottle or
squirt gun filled with water. In some cats its more effective
with a light mist, in others with a stream of water. When you
scold, you might try a firm, disapproving voice rather than an
angry yell. I've been told to "thump" a cat on its nose for
punishment when it did something wrong. This worked on my
first cat, but on none of the others I've had.

> learn.  He also likes drinking from the bathroom sink and getting his
> paws and head wet.  He also helps himself to my dinner while I am eating.
I have two cats who fight over the bathroom sink, it shouldn't
be a problem since one likes to drink the falling water and
the other likes to drink that that collects in the sink
bottom, but, they are not exactly the best of friends. I keep
toilet seats down so that that doesn't become a problem. As
for eating off your plate at dinner, you might try feeding him
his dinner at the same time you eat, continually removing him
from the table, putting him in another room (even a bathroom
or closet) while you eat, or teaching him to beg for morsels
off your plate rather than grabbing them :-).

> 1-Is my kitten "normal" or "mentally unstable"?

normal

> 2-Should I get him neutered when he reaches 7 months old (or before/after 7)?
Check with your vetrinarian
-- 
**************************************************************
Suzanne Barnett-Scott

uucp:	 ...{decvax,ihnp4,noao,savax,seismo}!terak!suze
phone:	 (602) 998-4800
us mail: CalComp/Sanders Display Products Division
	 (Formerly Terak Corporation)
	 14151 N 76th street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260