It can be rather annoying when cats develop bad habits, but here are some tips to help you rid your cat of those bad habits.

a.  Take your cat to the vet first, to make certain there isn’t a medical cause for their strange behaviour, especially if its only just started recently. If it’s something like not using the litter pan, there could be a urinary tract infection.

b.  Be certain that you are using positive reinforcement whenever possible.  When your cat does something right, praise her.  Play with her, brush her, give her treats. Let her know what kind of behaviour you like.

c.  Try and figure out why the cat is acting this way.  It might be that they are trying to tell you something.

d.  When your cat is doing something wrong, try and avoid her.  She might just be doing it to get attention, and if you don’t react then she may not do it anymore.

e.   When you punish your cat, do it gently. Don’t shake, throw or hit your cat.  Instead, scold your cat and tap her lightly on the nose. You can also use a squirt bottle to get your point across. After all, most cats don’t like water.

f.    Change your environment – make sure your house is clean and that you have used something to get rid of urine odors because they can smell it even if we can’t.  If there is furniture that you don’t want your cat getting up on, tin foil usually works well as a deterrent.