I guess I've blown it with Dempsey

[sugarplumkitty]

Or more like, he's blown it with me. Nearly a week ago, we were in a snuggle fest and he chomped my wrist pretty hard. It bled in two places. Luckily, they were scratches and not punctures. Neosporin and bandaids took care of them. I didn't accept his apology that night but I did the next day. He has to understand biting is not acceptable.

After that, he'd cruise through the house a couple of times a day and if I didn't drop what I was doing to go pet him, he'd leave. Guess he didn't want loving all that bad, hm?

Three mornings ago, he was cruising through the house while I was posting in LJ. I wanted to finish my thought. He sharpened his claws on the cardboard scratcher and stood on it looking at me. I spoke sweetly to him asking him to wait just a minute and I'd snuggle him. His tail started jerking and a wet spot appeared behind him on the cardboard box behind the scratcher. I yelled "HEY! NO PEE!" and interrupted my post to chase him out. The last thing we need around here is another cat who marks INSIDE the house. I quickly cleaned it up and soaked the box with enzyme cleaner. I haven't seen Dempsey since. Eric saw and petted him one night in the garage when he was doing his laundry, but Dempsey is completely avoiding me.

I've even called him every night. Damn. And we were just about to the point of getting him neutered, too.

Comments

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

still, he HAS to understand that peeing is not allowed all over the place

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

maybe he's testing you, like kids do. And you're setting a boundary, which is needed for co-existing!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

I think he's a bounder who will leave at the first sign of unpleasantness.

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

awww...I hope not.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

He came for dinner tonight. I was, of course, at school.

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

Kids can be very trying!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

He came back last night and was contrite. When he stood near the pee spot I said "ehhh" (cat for "behave!" and he hopped away from there. During our snugglefest he started to move his head to give me a "love chomp" and another "ehhh" stopped him cold.

He's trying to behave.

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

He was testing you and you're doing the loving thing by letting him know what is and isn't acceptable. All kids (human, feline, and canine) need loving boundaries to feel safe =)

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Yup! I'm just glad I can speak cat!

Danger Will Robinson

[remontoire.livejournal.com]

I've grown much less patient over the years with dominant mammals. I tend to identify them early and make my corrections robust. Have you read Adam's Task by Vicki Hearne? It's an interesting book about communication in animal training. Her mentor was William Koehler who almost single handedly put K9 on the map in North America. He did all the early Disney stuff too. Maybe I've mentioned her before, I don't remember. Adam's Task opened my mind. I've read it more than a dozen times carefully. Each time I walk away with more. Not an apolitical read.

Another interesting book, but not nearly as challenging as Adam's Task is
Monty Roberts book called The Man Who Listens to Horses. This book makes a good read irrespective of your interest in the language of training. This is a heart warming story of a great man doing great things in the world.

I wouldn't trust Dempsey as far as I could throw him by his tail.

Re: Danger Will Robinson

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's a full-fledged tomcat with attitude. I'm fluent in cat. The first step to cat training is to get them caring enough to want to please you.

New information is always a good thing. I'll check out Adam's Task. I've read the other book. Horses are more like dogs than cats.

Re: Danger Will Robinson

[remontoire.livejournal.com]

I hope it offers some insight to you.