This is a YouTube video titled "¿Cómo educar a un gato pequeño que muerde? - ¡Pautas efectivas!" created on November 15, 2017. The video features a single speaker providing expert advice on how to handle and train kittens that bite, explaining feline behavior, socialization stages, and training techniques such as positive reinforcement and negative punishment to manage biting behavior effectively.
Hello and welcome to this new video from Animal Expert. Today we're going to talk about kittens that bite, a very common behavioral problem that can be very annoying for owners. Find out how to handle it. Do you know why it happens? During the kitten stage, cats go through a period called dissociation, which begins around three weeks of age and ends when the cat is about three months old. We know that socialization is over when fears appear. During this stage, the kitten must discover its surroundings as well as how to relate to people or other animals. The mother teaches it to urinate in the litter box, to feed itself, and to learn and express feline language. During play, the mother and siblings teach the kitten the limits of play. Therefore, in their absence, many cats do not learn to properly control scratching or biting. They may also bite and scratch for other reasons. For example, if the cat has experienced a traumatic event or has learned that biting is a positive thing, then they bite to play, ask for attention or show affection. How should we proceed? Let's start this process by using positive reinforcement and negative punishment. Positive reinforcement involves rewarding the cat for doing something we like. As we repeat the reinforcement, the cat will begin to associate a reward with a specific behavior. We can reinforce it for playing calmly or for biting and scratching its own toys. We must remember that the hunting instinct is innate in felines and that it is not a behavior that we can eliminate. However, we can mold it. On the other hand, we will use negative punishment. This consists of removing something pleasant for the cat when it carries out an unwanted behavior. For example, if we are playing with the little one and it bites us, the best thing to do is to show our pain with a small cry of annoyance, move our hand away and end the game. On the other hand, if the cat comes and bites us, we will ignore it because if we pay attention to it, it may associate biting with us requiring attention. Be careful. Negative punishment does not mean scolding, locking the kitten up or isolating it. We should simply ignore the behaviors that we dislike so that little by little, it begins to associate that when it bites, the game is over. This way, there will be a greater chance that it will start biting. In any case, extinguishing a behavior is not easy. It takes time. We must be patient, have very clear guidelines to follow, make sure that all members of the household comply with them and ensure the well being of our feline. Likewise, before starting work, you should make sure that the kitten is completely healthy, since you should never work with a sick animal. And that's it for today's video. What did you think? If you liked it, give us a like, subscribe to our channel like. And don't forget to leave us a comment with your suggestions and requests. Until next time, experts.
