When Does Mischief Become Bad Behavior?

Everybody loves a mischievous cat – they are so full of running and eccentricity that they are just about the cutest thing you can bring into a home. They will bring a lot of joy into your life just from watching them. From the kitty who places their paw on your book as you go to turn the page and looks at you with an expression that purrs “Now it’s time for me to have your attention!” to the one that deposits its cat toys in your shoes when you are not looking, they all give belly laughs and delightfully surreal moments to the human lucky enough to be adopted by them. But there is a line that can sometimes be crossed, between mischievous and badly behaved. For both your sakes, it is good to draw that line.

If your cat’s mischievous behavior extends as far as occasionally trying to drown its squeaky mouse in the water dish and playing with your hair as you nap, then you haven’t got a problem. You have a delightful, silly little creature who if they could talk would have some very interesting explanations to give. If it goes further, then you need to look at things differently. Is it regularly stealing food from your plate? Is it scratching up the furniture even after you have shoo-ed it away from the sofa for the 40th time? Is it going to the toilet in places where it should not? Then you need to look at remedial training, and a reward-and-punishment system that leaves your pet in no doubt.

Persistent unacceptable behavior is something that can only be cured by taking a firm line. One of the best ways to enforce this is dependent on catching your cat behaving in the way that you wish to prevent. If you do this, you must swiftly lift the cat up and carry it to the carrier that you use to take it to the vet or anywhere else. Place the cat inside – you may experience resistance – and lock the carrier. Your cat will not be too pleased at the period of enforced confinement, although it may attempt to make the best of it initially. It will come to associate this reaction with their own action, and this will lead to an improvement in time.