My beloved pet is becoming a problem

[99problems99]

Firstly I’m fully aware of the fact ‘a pet is for life’. So please be kind i am desperate for some
constructive advice.

4 years (almost 5), I purchased a pedigree British long hair cat. She is the most beautiful girl, she was welcomed into the home and we love her. She was from a reputable registered breeder and cost me £950. Money wasn’t the issue I just dreamed of her for so long.

From the start she was always very particular with food.. no problem.. I just chopped and changed when she lost interest. She’s had the best of the best since the day she arrived. She’s groomed every day, she has lots of toys, up to date with vaccinations and is solely indoor. She has treats and cuddles (when she allows). She’s always been a little anti social and doesn’t like ‘new people’ until she has investigated them fully. Some she decides she doesn’t like at all and can be quite snappy and scratchy.

When she arrived my now 9DS was 4. They were fine together.. I’ve since had another boy who is 18m. She is awful to him. I’ve taught gim
to be gentle, he’s noisy of course but she used to just leave the room. Now it’s like she’s antagonistic towards him. I watch his every move but she has snarled at him and has scratched lightly twice. I’m on edge all of the time.

I teapot of course love her, but the safety of my son is paramount, I can’t settle knowing she may just get so fed up of him and hurt him. I suppose as he gets older this might settle but I don’t know what to do.

any advice is welcomed and please be kind this is breaking my heart I wouldn’t even know where to start if I ever considered rehoming her. I have posted in some local groups I am in for her breed and people have been so horrible.. as if i am saying she’s disposable now I have another child.. it’s not the case but I have to be realistic.

YABU- thinking of rehoming
YANBU- completely understandable to re home.

thanks for reading.

I’m replying to someone that quoted me and have only replied twice on this whole thread – so no, not accurate.

She's straight up jealous, OP.
Presumably, your youngest cries and gets attention? Your cat has noticed this, so behaves in a way that she knows will get her the same attention.
Sounds like she'd got very used to being spoilt and, now your attention is elsewhere, she doesn't like it.
There was a dog just like this on C5's Dogs Behaving Badly. The trainer encouraged the owners not to respond to bad behaviour but to always reward their pet when she's good, so that she knows this is the behaviour that will give her the attention she craves.
Hope this helps in some way.

That isn't how cats think @Jumpingthruhoops - and don't take animal behaviour advice from Graeme Hall, his qualification is a self certified agreement that he has trained x dogs for x hours and an annual fee. He's on TV because he's good in front of a camera, not because he actually knows what he's talking about.

Simply not responding to unwanted behaviour leaves animals frustrated and owners suffering, its a massive over simplification that doesn't give the animal direction or management, which means the chances of them guessing the desired behaviour is very low!

I keep doing this I don’t know how to use this bloody thing. Ha ha so sorry I did this to another lady too. Now can you tell me how the flip i actually reply to the people who are mean 🤣 sorry xx

Well, whatever he did, worked. So I'm inclined to believe what I've seen with my own eyes over the musings of some random on the Internet! 🤷‍♀️

hit the 'quote' button directly below someones post to reply with a quote of their comment, it will still appear at the end of the thread though.

Hitting the reply button anywhere within a thread will just put a reply at the end of the thread.

Qualified animal behaviourist randomer... but yes, it does seem to work because TV editing is very much a thing.

Most methods will appear to work if you edit out all the bloopers and fuck ups, and just use the bits gathered by tiring an animal out working with them all day, filling their house with a bunch of strangers (tv crew) and exhausting them.

Suit yourself, by the way, cats are not dogs, I don't know if you've noticed that. You can find a lot more information on why Graeme Hall is very much considered a joke within the dog behaviour/training community if you do a quick google.

Cat behaviourist.

Until then try feliway, a plug in to calm her. Also make sure she has many high places to jump onto so she can be away from him. Even on same level might antagonise her.

Cats need high up spaces to feel safe.

Click ‘Quote’ on the left under their post

Is she spayed? Unspayed indoor cats can become very aggressive and basically psychotic