Oops..I lost my temper dammit

PawsForThought wrote:
(...)

Firstly, I did not give a diagnosis.

Near as dammit. A meta-diagnosis, anyway!

Secondly, sure we all lose our tempers, myself
included, but most of us don't take it out on an innocent
animal by hitting the animal, caging it and putting it out in
freezing weather. Don't you think that
is a bit extreme for just losing his temper?

Yes, it's a bit extreme, but...

The OP said he is not familiar with cats, and so he probably did not
know that hitting a cat is a Bad Thing. Moreover, 'hitting' in some
contexts is usually considered OK, such as a light-but-firm (hm, sounds
a bit erotic) tap to the nose.

He also clearly did not know how long a punishment should last, nor
what 'appropriate' punishments might be. Some of this might seem like
common sense, but you'd be surprised at what some people new to pets
think.

Now, if the OP feels a Hulk Moment coming on again, and he finds
himself once more stomping atop the cat's noggin, then he may have A
Problem. But until then, he's potentially a caring cat chap.

Steve.

"mystro" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm a new first time cat owner who adopted a nice 1 year old male who
for the most part is very happy and contented but certainly likes to
push the limits. Not knowing better,I allowed the cat to roam mostly
wherever it wanted when it first came home but now he
wants to get in the way in the kitchen and that includes grabbing meat
or fish that is defrosting on the counter..I lost my temper last-night
when he grabbed some hamburger while I was out of the room..I ended up
slapping him and putting him in his carrier then putting him outside
for an hour..it was cold and I couldn't leave him any longer and I'm
not sure that will do any good anyway. I've tried putting sticky tape
down,spraying him and yelling NO when I catch him but to no
avail..somewhere I read I need to train ME..any suggestions.

I don't know about your neck of the woods but in UK smacking a child is a
crime and should be for animal abuse. Smacking leads to hitting then
punching with a closed fist then worse. Next thing is a Court appearance.
You clearly need help and a Counsellor can teach you anger management. It
will mean giving up time for attending classes, but hey, you accepted that
when you got a cat.
In your favour, at least you recognise that you have a problem.
Seek qualified help - quickly, and become a better person.
Sounds like the cat has already sussed out your personality weaknesses

We've only owned Chloe for a couple of months and been through the same
exasperations but would NEVER smack her, even though I have to vacuum up her
lost hairs many times a day. We have bonded so that she won't eat before
we do even though food is available all day ad lib -her choice, not ours,
and she never steals food or milk.

Just look at your cat, hard. If you don't see love and respect in his eyes
then you've lost already!!!

Good Luck.
Tony.

Icedog

On 2005-01-19, icedog penned:

I don't know about your neck of the woods but in UK smacking a child is a
crime and should be for animal abuse. Smacking leads to hitting then
punching with a closed fist then worse. Next thing is a Court appearance.
You clearly need help and a Counsellor can teach you anger management. It
will mean giving up time for attending classes, but hey, you accepted that
when you got a cat. In your favour, at least you recognise that you have a
problem. Seek qualified help - quickly, and become a better person. Sounds
like the cat has already sussed out your personality weaknesses

Um. A "smack" could mean a wide variety of things. I have certainly "bapped"
Oscar a time or two, and she seems none the worse for wear, and I would never
hit or punch her, or smack her with any force.

Now, if a person is very angry, it's probably a bad idea to touch the cat, as
the person might not have the control to softly "bap" and could instead really
hurt the little one.


--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

Some cats can be trained with enough patience on your part -- you have
to know how much punishment to give without doing permanent damage to
the cat. Some cats are just plain stupid and you'll end up killing them
before they learn. Either way, it is much easier to train yourself.

Ray

mystro wrote:
I'm a new first time cat owner who adopted a nice 1 year old male who
for the most part is very happy and contented but certainly likes to
push the limits. Not knowing better,I allowed the cat to roam mostly
wherever it wanted when it first came home but now he
wants to get in the way in the kitchen and that includes grabbing
meat
or fish that is defrosting on the counter..I lost my temper
last-night
when he grabbed some hamburger while I was out of the room..I ended
up
slapping him and putting him in his carrier then putting him outside
for an hour..it was cold and I couldn't leave him any longer and I'm
not sure that will do any good anyway. I've tried putting sticky tape
down,spraying him and yelling NO when I catch him but to no
avail..somewhere I read I need to train ME..any suggestions.

I have four cats and a little squirt of water (not in the face or ear area) and a firm no seems to work best. Be patient, if it is a kitten its behavior will greatly improve in time. Kittens are into everything and don't know what food left out is not for them. I remember my first cat. It was Thanksgiving and I had two pumpkin pies on the counter. When I went to serve them, my little fellow had nibbled on both of them. But, I thought it was cute and just was more careful next time. The patience will pay off tenfold in the love and affection you will receive.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

On 2005-01-19, Karen Yassem via CatKB.com penned:
I have four cats and a little squirt of water (not in the face or ear area)
and a firm no seems to work best. Be patient, if it is a kitten its
behavior will greatly improve in time. Kittens are into everything and
don't know what food left out is not for them. I remember my first cat. It
was Thanksgiving and I had two pumpkin pies on the counter. When I went to
serve them, my little fellow had nibbled on both of them. But, I thought
it was cute and just was more careful next time. The patience will pay off
tenfold in the love and affection you will receive.

Kittens are definitely much bigger trouble makers than (most) adult cats.
When Oscar was a kitten, she would swat objects down from ledges just to get a
rise out of me. She also destroyed all of the blinds in my apartment, and I
had to put away the Christmas lights I had in my office because she would
alternately chew on them and climb them.

Kittens also have seemingly supernatural athletic abilities, allowing them to
get *everywhere* you don't want them to be.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:09:21 -0800, mystro wrote:

I'm a new first time cat owner who adopted a nice 1 year old male who
for the most part is very happy and contented but certainly likes to
push the limits. Not knowing better,I allowed the cat to roam mostly
wherever it wanted when it first came home but now he
wants to get in the way in the kitchen and that includes grabbing meat
or fish that is defrosting on the counter..I lost my temper last-night
when he grabbed some hamburger while I was out of the room..I ended up
slapping him and putting him in his carrier then putting him outside
for an hour..it was cold and I couldn't leave him any longer and I'm
not sure that will do any good anyway. I've tried putting sticky tape
down,spraying him and yelling NO when I catch him but to no
avail..somewhere I read I need to train ME..any suggestions.


Yes, you need to train yourself to do things differently. Cats are
hunters by nature so don't leave things out to entice them. A
suggestion: when it is time to prepare your dinner, feed your cat first.
MLB

mlbriggs wrote:

Yes, you need to train yourself to do things differently. Cats are
hunters by nature so don't leave things out to entice them. A
suggestion: when it is time to prepare your dinner, feed your cat first.
MLB

Wow, talk about reviving an old thread! You're not trying to turn this
into a cat newsgroup, are you?

Candace

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:19:39 -0700, Candace wrote:

mlbriggs wrote:

Yes, you need to train yourself to do things differently. Cats are
hunters by nature so don't leave things out to entice them. A
suggestion: when it is time to prepare your dinner, feed your cat
first. MLB

Wow, talk about reviving an old thread! You're not trying to turn this
into a cat newsgroup, are you?

Candace


Something weird has happened this PM. This is one of nine old posts of
mine that have popped up on the monitor I have been deleting old
messages and must have stirred something up I cannot explain it. MLB

"mlbriggs" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:19:39 -0700, Candace wrote:

mlbriggs wrote:

Yes, you need to train yourself to do things differently. Cats are
hunters by nature so don't leave things out to entice them. A
suggestion: when it is time to prepare your dinner, feed your cat
first. MLB

Wow, talk about reviving an old thread! You're not trying to turn this
into a cat newsgroup, are you?

Candace


Something weird has happened this PM. This is one of nine old posts of
mine that have popped up on the monitor I have been deleting old
messages and must have stirred something up I cannot explain it. MLB

It's been happening me also, I thought it was my mailer.