Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauren D
I dont hit him hard. Lightly. I would want to hurt him!! We let him outside and watch him and he never goes that far. I am 17 by the way. He is doing fine now . Thank You
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At 17 years old you are old enough to learn pet responsibility. Not sure if you picked up on it but you just said you
would want to hurt him. I know it's a typo but by doing what you are presently doing you
are hurting him.
Have you taken him to the vet yet to have those claws of his checked, his first needles, to be dewormed? All of that is also responsible pet ownership.
When you take on the ownership of a pet there are a few "rules" to follow in order to be responsible. Ask yourself if you would put a six month old baby outside by itself. Of course you wouldn't. That is what you are doing with your kitten. He is essentially a small baby . Why would you risk his life by putting him out by himself? At the very least if you insist on putting him out
go out with him on a harness. It only takes a second for him to dash in front of a cars' wheels.
Also ask yourself if you would hit that same six month old baby. Again, I hope the answer would be no. Why are you doing that with the kitten? What is he learning except that humans are big bad things that hurt? This means when he is older and he starts exploring more, which he will if you insist on his going out, he is not going to trust
any person.
A little scenario for you...... Kitty is being put outside every day because his people don't want to listen to him crying in the house from boredom. It's so much easier to put him out than to listen to him. An easy fix would be ten minutes of playtime with him but they have no time. So out he goes. He has been hit for doing what comes naturally to him. Playing. So he doesn't trust any human. He is at the age when his hormones are kicking in because that's another thing his humans haven't gotten around to doing... fixing him. He can smell a female in heat the next block over so goes looking.
A well intentioned person comes along who is in the position to save him. Let's say this person has watched the kitten being put out for a while and knows eventually he will come to harm. She thinks this is the perfect time to try to get him because he is now wandering further from home so she tries to convince him to come closer. Of course Kitty has no intention of getting close just to get hit so he dashes away..... right in front of a car. He won't have a chance to find out she wanted to help him. He won't have a chance at all.....
Please reconsider putting him out. Please also reconsider hitting him or "tapping" him. Please take the time to do some reading about being a responsible pet owner. Please please please.......