We often hear that you should teach his cat to obey so that he understands who commands, but does that have a use?Should you punish your cat and above all it works?On the occasion of the release of her book "Understanding your cat" at Editions de l'Impén, Sonia Paeleman, behavioral for cats, explains everything to you.
One day or another, your cat will necessarily do something that you don't like."Nonsense" that we tend to want to punish when it does not have to be because it is completely ineffective.
Punish your cat, does it work?
Punishment is a big subject when you coexist with a cat, a subject that also implies the notion of "stupidity", that of education and a received idea which would be to teach your cat to obey so thatHe knows well who is the boss.
But it is a way of seeing things that is rather erroneous ethically questionable and that pragmatically does not work.Ethically, there are several elements.First of all this notion of "stupidity" which would mean that the cat has integrated values such as good and evil.
When the cat adopts a behavior that does not please humans, it is never to investigate them, take revenge or make their lives impossible.These are human notions that we project on the animal.The cat simply seeks to meet its basic cat needs in a semi-human environment that is offered to it.Most behaviors that are considered "nonsense" are simply fundamental behaviors that it absolutely needs to express.
For example, if you consider that it is a stupidity to get on the shelf, know that your cat absolutely needs to explore its environment.If your cat develops an aggressive behavior that you want to punish, know that it is a situation to which it could not respond other than by this shot or tooth stroke because it was badEasy or frightened.
Among the "nonsense" that we always want to reprimand in a cat, there is the very frequent situation of Pipis outside the litter.When we understand that the cat that eliminates outside of its litter does not to annoy you, but because it has a problem or that it is stressed, we understand that it is perfectly unfair to punish it.
To summarize, we often punish a cat to be a cat when the animal has no choice of these behaviors.It is therefore deeply unfair.
Punishing your cat is useless (except to stress it a little more)
Pragmatically, you should also know that in addition to being unfair, punishment is ineffective.What your cat will learn when you reprimand it is not that he has done badly, but it is that you can suddenly transform yourself into a person who scares him.Your cat is not going to learn to do well but to fear you.When the cat fears you, it is afraid and is stressed and needs to adopt a tension evacuator behavior, such as peeing your carpet.
In addition to being unfair and ineffective, punishment is completely counterproductive.It is therefore not useful at all to punish your cat.
Find the book "Understanding your cat" by clicking here and discover how to make your cat relationship the best possible.
Read also: Why does the cat always go to the person who does not like cats?
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