Cats who misbehave can be disciplined in a number of ways such as spraying them with a water bottle or speaking to them in a stern, firm voice. When all else fails, what’s left? Read on to find out how the cat kennel can be used for “time out”.
Assuming that the cat kennel is not being used for any other purpose when it is not needed to transport your cat, it can also be used for cats who misbehave. Like children, cats often know what annoys their owners the most and they can use that knowledge to their advantage. If they know that their owners have a favourite pair of slippers, the cat may grab hold of them and tear them to pieces. Or the cat may decide to turn the new love seat into a scratching post, despite the fact that there is a scratching post in good working order in each major room of the house.
During times like this, a raised voice and even a few squirts from the water bottle may fail to stop this sort of behavior. But if you have your cat kennel close to hand, it can be used as a form of “time out” for cats that refuse to listen to discipline.
After exhausting all other avenues, simply pick up the cat without saying a word and place him inside the cat kennel. Shut it securely and then walk away. At first, the cat will probably try to escape and whine pitifully in the hope that you will let him go. Most cats hate to be so securely confined and will fight against this.
But in order to overcome the bad behavior, the cat must be allowed to sit inside the cat kennel for a few minutes until he has calmed down and is in a position to come on out without returning to what it was doing before being placed inside the cat kennel. It is tempting for cat owners to give in to the cat’s pleas and to open the door. But this will not work and the cat will think he has “won”.
The best course of action is to ignore the cat and not give him any attention. Just as naughty children feed off positive and negative attention in order to get their way, cats do the same. When the time is up, let the cat out, but do not stroke him and make a fuss. Just open the kennel door and let him out. After a while, when the cat misbehaves, he will associate the cat kennel as the cat equivalent of “time out”, where they are left alone and ignored. In time, even the sight of the cat kennel may make a cat think twice before misbehaving.
