Harassing Cat from Toddler

Hi, My two daughters did the same thing until they were about 4 years old and, finally, they "respect the cat" My one daughter actually climbed up to get safety scissors (a quick trip to the bathroom for me, not quick enough apparently) cut off his top and one side of his whiskers, and he just laid there and let her do it. Couldn't believe it. Honestly, I've been there and done that, but the only thing that helped was age. Now the cat sneeks in to sleep with either/or at night and walks into the bathroom when they are on the potty to get a quick petting while they have "nothing else to do" so it seems he doesn't hold it against them. Unfortunately she is just going to have to learn in her own time. And, as for declawing, I work for a vet and if you could see how pitiful those poor things look after surgery you would never even think about declawing them.

i understand where you are coming from. my almost 2 year old nephew now climbs the cat tree meowing all the way to "love" think chew on the kitties.

i think you should within reason let the cat show your daughter that he doesnt like being pulled. ok so with in reason is dont let him bite her but if she pulls his tail let him give the response not you. that might be why shes doing it-if you go tearing across the room everytime she touches the cat it might be funny to her and encorage her to continue.

good luck-and if you can get a cat door so they can escape and not have to be ontop of the fridge.

lots of luck,
K.

Your daughter does need to learn to respect animals. Consistency and postive reinforcement should help. Reward her for good behavior. Please do not get your cat declawed. That is extremely painful for the cat and is against the law in most countries and in most parts of California. You can clip your cat's claws to keep them short. I don't believe it will help to "get rid" of your cats because your daughter still will not have learned to respect animals. That is very important. Just have patience and be consistent and reward for good behavior.

Deb

MY son used to the same thing until the cat bit him. Then he never did it again. I was lucky that she gave him a warning nip, and that was enough. I tried seperating them, punishing him, taking toys away, talking to him, but nothing worked like that bite.

On the short term, separate her from the cats.

On teh long term, it is pretty normal for a two year old to experiment with this behavior. Just keep punishing, she will eventually learn. As other posts suggested, she is not old enough to understand animal cruelty.

Trust me, I'm a mother of two little boys (8 and 10) and we have had our kitty for 5 years now. My boys don't mess with the cat anymore. Your daughter will get tired of being scratched and your cat will always have an additude so try not to make a big deal out of it, separate them when possible and keep showing your daughter the nice way to handle a kitty. Make sure kitty has all of its required shots and keep some Neosporin handy. Good Luck!!