How To Tell Your Cat Not to Do Something

In this video, we will discuss how to Discipline your cat and how to train your cat.
Perhaps your cat jumps on the counter, knocks things over, or scratches your household items. They may even steal food, chew on wires, or miss their litter box when going to the bathroom.
And while you may be tempted to discipline your cat by hitting them, yelling at them, or spraying them with water, these forms of punishment will damage your relationship with your pet.
In this video, we will discuss how to tell your cats not to do something, and how to help them understand when you don’t approve of their behavior.

Do cats understand when you say no?
Cats don’t understand human language. This means that cats don’t understand the word “no”. However, they can be taught to understand that saying "no" means you want them to stop what they are doing.
If your cat is performing a behavior that you want them to stop, say No firmly with strong Body language. Remove them from the activity and move them onto something more preferable. Repeating this will help the cat get used to the sound, associating it with being told off.
Make sure the sound of no carries some weight and identification.
As well as saying no, look the cat in the eye and hiss at them when you give the command. Cats understand this noise and behavior and are more likely to realize that the word “no” has negative associations to their behavior.
Body language also has a significant part to play in how well your cat grasps the command. Using your finger to point at your cat while saying no is an effective way to get your cat’s attention.
How do you stop bad behavior?
Sometimes saying the word no alone isn’t enough to stop your cat from doing what they shouldn’t be. Simply saying “no” won’t make them fully understand what they are doing wrong but rather just associate the behavior with you directly.
The key to successfully stopping undesirable behavior is to associate an unpleasant consequence with the undesirable behavior
Punishing the cat remotely, while you remain out of sight is an effective means of deterring undesirable behavior. For example, if you setup a motion-activated air-spray that squirts air whenever your pet jumps on the counter, the cat will learn to associate jumping on the counter with something unpleasant.
Likewise, many cats don’t like double-sided tape or aluminum foil because of the way they feel or sound under their paws.
If your cat is scratching your furniture, a few strips of double-sided sticky tape will deter your pet and send them looking for another place to scratch.
If your pet exhibits destructive behaviors such as chewing, you can use taste deterrents.
Common mistake when scolding a cat
It is important to remember that scolding your cat long after any wrongdoing doesn’t make any sense. Cats aren't able to associate something that has happened minutes or hours ago with the current punishment. Instead, a timely response is key. If you catch your cat scratching on your furniture and quickly intervene, then they will get the message.
Another common mistake is rubbing a cat’s nose in their feces when they have a potty accident. This can lead to stress and anxiety, as well as associated health problems.
What you should do before disciplining your cat
Cats do not have malicious intent; they are not out to do bad things. Most times, what you see as your cat misbehaving is just them expressing their natural instincts as animals.
If your cat scratches up your furniture, ask yourself if they have access to enough cat scratching posts.
If your cat is a big fan of running water out of a faucet and jumps on the counter to drink from the faucet, make sure there is running water in the form of fountains in your home.
And remember, if your cat pees outside of their litter box, maybe it needs to be cleaned, or that they don’t like the type of the litter.
Why don’t cats listen?
Oftentimes, your cat refuses to obey your commands due to lack of the motivation and incentive. One of the best ways to train a cat is to offer up some rewards for good behavior. Those incentives, coupled with a lack of negative tactics such as yelling or using a spray bottle, will motivate your cat to the do right thing. If nothing positive is offered up, then your cat could simply lack the motivation to follow your commands.
For example, you can encourage regular use of your cat’s scratching post by rewarding her every time she uses it.
Rewarding undesirable behavior
When disciplining a cat, one thing to avoid doing is rewarding the bad behavior with attention.
If your pet jumps on the counter and they get cuddles, food, or attention, they will probably keep doing it. But if nothings happens when your pet jumps on the counter, like no attention, no food, and no petting, they won’t have a reason to continue jumping on the counter.

[normalewis]

Cats do understand what you say. Mine does. When I tell him no he will run to the other room. There are a lot of things they don't understand, but if you repeat something over and over they will understand what you mean and say to them.

[ixoraroxi]

I simply told her "no". She was a very smart sweetheart. Well, a chair and a mattress were sacrificed throughout the years, but that much she could do.
She was our family for 17 ½ years, and we miss her like nothing else in this world.

[thethrashyone]

I tend to think a hissing sound works better than the word no. Usually when I tell my cat no, she'll just look me dead in the eyes as she continues to do what she's doing (usually scratching the futon). A hiss, on the other hand, usually ends the behavior immediately. While cats can learn to associate negativity with a human utterance like "no", a hiss basically tells a cat, in its own 'language', "I'm warning you!"

[FFM]

I gave my cat a treat every time he came home. He quickly learned the association between coming inside and getting a treat, resulting in him wanting out only to come in 1 minute later and expect a treat.

[downlowmagwheel]

I sing badly when she's misbehaving. She stops what she's doing and comes to me to demand me to stop. We both get what we want and I see her being cute! :)

[TheKimykali]

My cat understands many basic words and commands. She may not always agree with me, but she does understand.

[thesuperdak]

Hissing works. I also do a sharp HUP! instead of saying NO. It really gets their attention.

[gaylestegall]

I am pretty convinced my cat knows exactly what I am saying to her. 😅

[solracer]

I've heard that the best way to get a cat to stop scratching you is to yelp in pain when they do so, perhaps slightly exaggerated, so they realize that what they did actually hurt.

[glendaw.]

I put up a strip of 1x4 cedar on the outside corner of my hallway, rubbed it with catnip and lured my cat to it with a tassel toy. Worked like a charm. He regularly uses the rough surface to exercise his clawing tendency. I did this after he destroyed a corner of a chair slipcover and have since recovered the chair which is in perfect condition to this day! Great tips on this video. Kudos!!!

[kenkozawa]

I raised all my current cats from birth and they definitely listen pretty well in regards to their names and telling them no..& pointing really does get their attention!

[gunfisher]

I was lucky with my present cat she virtually self trained except for the only time I saw her climb the shears it was the only time I ever yelled at her but she never did it again. For everything else she reacts very well to commands that are given at a lower tone of voice. every time I ever got a new addition to the family the first thing I do is show them the litter box that has never failed yet, In 8 ears she has only pooped on the floor near the box twice but it was evident that she could`nt help it and you could tell that she was not pleased with what she did either. I find that if you show them love at every corner they do very well, cats are just little muffins for the most part.

[Cwgrlup]

Hahahaha I think they actually know more than we think they do 😍

[Iknowknow]

My cat immediately stops doing whatever she was doing as soon as I say “Sophie no”, but it’s usually because it’s something she already knows I’m gonna admonish her for anyway. She definitely understands the word “no”.

[phineasthegreat]

I can assure you that I am a big boy who always gets my way. Not quite malicious but definitely mischievous. My human is my servant. It took me years to train her. I’ll be 17 in May, she’s completely under my control. 😺

[someguy]

I taught my cat not to knead directly on me in bed by consistently (and calmly) laying a hand over her paws when she started doing it. Over time she learned to move off to the side to knead, and then come back to lay down for cuddles.

[TrlliPop]

The part with incentive makes a lot of sense. When you tell anyone or any animal to do something (or not to), they will probably think "And why should I?"

[irenemulcahy]

Cats are very intelligent but do have minds of their own just like children.What you have shown here is spot on. They just choose not to listen sometimes but can be persuaded Ha Ha. Rewarding them for good behaviour and expressing that we aren't pleased with the bad works as well for kids too. Bad behaviour to me is attention seeking. Sometimes not meaning to we dont give them enough attention in our busy lives. How we start is what will be embedded for good. Love your reassuring tips and cat toys etc.

[klausmuhlhoff]

I have a shelter cat, she is very polite and she learns very quickly . Saying no stops her and she remembers .

[rcisneros]

This is 99% spot on. Excellent work. There are differences between boy and girl cats though. Also a negative touch, not hitting them, can work. Like a tap on the head to get their attention when you tell them something negative. It doesn't hurt the cat, but they see you are not happy. And I mean a tap like you would tap a person, not a smack.