Frodo stalking Euan!

[Dadie]

My cat is evil minded.
He has started lying in wait or/and stalking and pouncing on Euan as he crawls around.
I have a spray bottle filled with water that I use to spray him when I catch him at this antisocial behaviour.
He has never bothered with the girls like this and he used to use soft paws when telling the kids off but he is using claws on Euan.
Euan and the girls are not bad or rough to the cat.
How can I stop the little pest from treating Euan like prey!
Usually I can nip a problem in the bud quickly, but, Frodo just isnt taking the hint.....

[Liz]

Hmmm that's a strange one. Wonder why he's doing this to Euan when he didn't do it to the girls?

Does it look like playful behaviour?

I thought that spraying with water would have stopped him. Using something to make a really loud or high pitched noise might help?
Probably scare the poo out of poor Euan as well though!lol

He really has to associate this behaviour with something not nice to stop him doing it.

[Dadie]

Euan is learning faster than Frodo that the water bottle isnt nice.
And his bottom lip will tremble when I pick it up!
Might have to get a better aim...so I can chuck something at the cat without hitting the bairn!
Frodo is the same age as Iona, so he was just a kitten/youngster when she was crawling around and Lauren was walking, thats the only excuse I can think of why he didnt do it to the girls.
But he doesnt even use soft paws on Euan and he does with the girls!

[brandy]

could it be that euan is a boy?
he may have just taken offence to him.. you never know with cats..
saying that he may just be tired.. of euan pointing.. and shouting CAT!! CAT!! while pointing at poppy!
*laughs* but no idea hun.. but loud noise.. ie beans in a can.. might work..

[Liz]

How about trying a Feliway diffuser?

Can help a lot of behavioural problems. Might just be that he's older and doesn't have as much patience?

[Leanne]

You could be approaching it the wrong way. Look at it from the cat's point of view - he is learning that Euan isn't something nice to be around. In fact Euan causes Frodo discomfort... He could be 'getting one in first'. Have you tried having them both in the same room supervised and treating Frodo when he is calm around Euan? (and completely ignoring the bad behaviour). You need the cat to think the baby is something good to be around :) Negative reinforcement can sometimes work to strengthen an undesired behaviour :(

[Dadie]

A carefully aimed slipper seems to have worked!
The cat only gets told off when he is caught in the act of the antisocial behaviour.
If he is nice, he gets to stay and get petted.
He only does it when Euan is crawling around, if Euan gets up on his feet, the cat ignores him.
He still lies in wait and pounces out on Euan, but, he has stopped biting and scratching....we can live with the pouncing...
Think he just needed to know where his place in the family was....ie well below the kids and on par with Poppy dog.

[Carole]

Hope the slipper trick continues to work but - just in case - have you considered clipping Frodo's claws? I clipped my cats' claws just before bringing home the new puppy and was able to rest easier when they first met. They accepted the clipping no problem and when I realised that they no longer got caught up in my woolies and on the sofa, I continued to keep them blunted. Didn't stop them from bringing home the odd mouse but it stopped them from running up the curtains. :)

[Dadie]

It only took one well placed slipper(didnt really want to resort to violence ) to stop him using claws.
Smacked him with it on his head once while he was attacking Euan and it stopped him in his tracks.
And even if he still does the pouncing he doesnt use his claws or teeth!
I tried for a few weeks with the soft method of spraying him with water to deter him, but, he then did it more sneakily....
Oh well!