Boy Mean to Cats

Hello! This is just a brainstorm, and it may have absolutly nothing to do with your problem. But, I noticed that you said in your "about you" that you have a 3 mo. old. Could your son possibly be acting out this way to get attention from you? I'm not saying you're ignoring your child, but when my son was born my daughter picked some naughty habits. Mistreating an animal definitly needs to be addressed, but maybe he gets enough of a reaction out of you so that you're focusing attention on him. When my daughter started her antics, I was at a total loss! She had never done things like that before, but when I made the connection between her behavior and her new sibling I made a few small changes and it worked like a charm. Sometimes bad attention is still attention. When my daughter would start on her attention getting antics, I would focus attentionon her for 10-15 minutes, we'd read a book, play a game or anything to "distract" her I guess.

She did finally grow out of this stage, and she didn't need to do as many attention grabbing things. Kids can react to a new arrival in ways we wouldn't think they would. The safe place for the cats like the other person suggested sounds like a really great idea too. Good luck with your kiddos, year 2 can be tough. Have a great day!

C.,
You son is mostly doing it to get attention so stop him of course but don't make a huge deal out of it he will learn to treat the cats nice when he is bigger but right now this is a way to get your attention away from everything else and on to him. kids love anything they can do to get all there parents time and energy like you said they are very smart. don't worry about the cats they can move fast then him make sure he is not alone with them and the one the bite has all of his shots. but if you have to stop you son just move him and find something goo he is doing to show him the same amont of time and attention the cat thing gets him.....
P.S. get the cats some extra treats for putting up with the babies go luck hun..
J.

Don't know what to tell you, my 4yr old annoys, hits and whatever our dogs every chance he get. A lot of times I think he wants attention, because I'm to make dinner or doing something else, or he cranky.

i have a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old, and my oldest learned when he got scratched a few times, trust me. if your "onery" one still doesnt learn, put a baby gate up somewhere, so that the cats have a "safe area" until your little one loses interest.

Hey C.,
My family owns seven cats. NOPE THAT WAS NOT A TYPO! All 7 are indoors. All living in harmony with our child. If i were you i would take advantage of your son's age. You can really use "molding" to your advantage here. What i mean is that because your son is two his emotions are still being built but he can speak and understand alot of whats going on around him. I would continue showing him how to treat your cats (maybe he can help you feed them and groom them) but add a little sensitivity into it by taking him to an animal shelter(YES! A TWO YEAR OLD AT AN ANIMAL SHELTER) take him to the kitty section and talk to him about all the kitties who don't have homes and about how lucky his kitties are to have a good family. They look like toys to him in your house. Maybe seeing other kitties in cages will help add a little humanity to their little kitty lives.
Or you could just bring him to my house LOL
-C.

i have a 2yr old son who does the same thing to our two dogs. i don't believe what michal w. said at all. i don't have any other children. are the cats new? because my dogs are about 3mths recently new to our family. and i am thinking its because they are an addition.