Toddler and cat

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My 22 month old has become obsessed with screaming at our cat - top of his lungs, high pitched squealing till the cat runs away and he finds it hilarious. How do I get him to stop doing this?

Sometimes he's so good with the cat we show him how to be gentle, to use his inside voice and he can be really loving with him. Other times it's a mad dash to catch whatever he's trying to throw at the cat, or stop him hitting him or try and stop the screaming!

Afraid we haven't really solved this. Our cat is just very good at being out of reach and now ignores the shouting..... My eldest was always so good at being quiet/gentle with him, so it was a total shock when my twins seemed determined to terrify him! Poor kitty.

Ours doesn’t scream at our cat but loudly meows at him and sometimes will get a little too rough. Because he’s elderly and has a lot of health problems we’ve had to be swift and firm with her not to bother the cat or get too loud with him!

They are too young to teach that a swishing tale = angery cat. So sometimes she thinks we’re just being mean. lol

Because of that we usually keep a close eye on her with him. Like yours she’s usually very gentle and we try to model gentle interactions with the kitty but sometimes without realizing it she will rest her weight on him and squish him when cuddling.

It might be falling on dead ears but we try to tell her “The kitty is old and can’t handle that.” or “The kitty is smaller than you and his ears are sensitive/easily hurt.”

We’ve created a little sanctuary for him in our high up window sill so he can get up and away from her where she cannot reach him in case he gets too stressed. Honestly I recommend this for any cat but especially an elderly cat!

Ah thanks both, must be a lot of poor cats out there getting terrorised by little toddlers!

I was a little worried as he's an outdoor cat I thought one day he might just not come home, but so far he's still his same old self, possibly too greedy not to come home despite the toddler.

Good idea on creating him a bit of a sanctuary I'll do similar and hope the screaming subsides soon