How You're Hurting Your Cat Without Realizing It

[@lisacox4984]

When my cat heads for/is at someplace she shouldn't be, I say "No ma'am, no ma'am!" and then when she heads away/leaves, I say "Good girl! Good girl! " And when I have to go someplace she shouldn't be and she is sitting near but doesn't move, I say "Good girl! Good girl!" I also say "Good girl! Good girl!" when she's someplace it's ok for her to be, like the coffee table :).

[@CatParentLife]

Lisa your cat sounds smart and adorable. Great job training her well!

[@lisacox4984]

@@CatParentLife Thank you! She is. The other night she was in the kitchen about six feet away from the fridge and I could see her put one leg forward then bring it back as I opened and closed the fridge quick enough to get a water bottle but not quick enough for her to get to it. She also learned her revised name quickly. I thought she was a boy and called her John "Muggsy" McGraw (manager of the baseball team the New York Giants), but at the vet found out she was a girl, so back home I 'net researched and found that Mrs. McGraw's first name was Blanche and started calling my kitty "Muggsi Blanche" instead of Muggsy. At the vet she's still officially Muggsy McGraw. Two days before my best friend phoned about the six kittens abandoned in her sister's yard of which Muggsi Blanche was one, I rescued a severely ill (cerebellar hypoplasia) kitten from the backyard and gave it the name Jake Stahl (player/manager of the 1912 Boston Red Sox), and a day after I got Muggsi, I rescued another severely ill kitten from the back yard and called it Zane Grey, because of its color. Jake and Zane didn't live very long but I took care of them as long as they were here to be taken care of. At my best friend's, Muggsi Blanche was the only kitty who paid attention to me and she also didn't bother Jake who I'd taken over there to see how the kitties did with him, so I reckon she chose me :).

[@Leonardo-ql1qu]

There is another, often overlooked, thing you should not do, and that is stroking and flattening your cat's sensitive ears! They clearly don't like it - aside from the lightest touch - and you should use your finger tips to just go around them!

[@CatParentLife]

Very interesting, Leonardo. Thanks for sharing this tip with us. I will keep this in mind with my cat