Bad temper

Question
I have a 3 1/2 Domestic cat. She's a wonderful little cat but since she was little shes had a bad temper. She'll be sweet and loving but then turn on you in sec. For some resons she'll hate certain people but love others. I've come to reconize her warning signs and back off when shes getting annoyed, but me and my fiance want to try for children next year and i'm scared the baby will get scratched. Is there anything i can do to correct her behavoir. I dont even want to think of getting rid of her but i dont want my child to get hurt. Please help

Answer
Hi
I can understand your anxiety but it is inevitable that your child will get scratched now and again.

At three and a half her behavior will be pretty ingrained and this is now a habit / learned behavior. This means that it can be difficult to change completely. The best you can hope for is that it is less regular.

The way to try and change the behavior is to use the negative / positive training method.

A negative response to a cat is not getting attention or a response from you. So when she bites or scratches you need to walk quickly away from the situation in a quiet way with no eye contact. So if she is on your lap, you quickly and quietly put her on the floor and walk away from her. If this is done every time the cat will soon realize that they get a negative response when they bite etc.

At the same time when she is not biting when being stroked etc you need to give her lots of praise and attention i.e a positive reaction.

If you all practice this same method over and over again by the time your baby comes along this behavior should be less of an issue.

I have a web page which describes this cat discipline method here

/cat-discipline.html

best wishes Kate