How do you control a cat's behavior?

I acquired a roommate and she has a cat. I knew this to be the case before she moved in, but the cat has never been disciplined by its owner.

It's over a year old and so far it scratches my furniture, has broken my DVD player and knocks my movies and books from my shelves everyday. I really enjoy my roommate, but the cat has got to change its behavior or it has to go.

Any advice how best to keep this critter under control?How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
The first thing to do is to confront the roommate. If you start disciplining her cat she may resent you for it and it could cause serious problems in your future housing arrangement. After that...a squirt gun works wonders and is not harmful to the cat. Also, scruffing works (scruffing does not hurt the animal if you do so gently--the mother would scruff her young and gently shake them when they did something bad)...I'm not suggesting you to scruff with all your might and shake-that is abuse.How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
You can buy special spray for the scratching problem. You can get it at petsmart. All you have to do is spray it on the furniture and they dont scratch there. When it does something bad, use a squirt bottle and RIGHT AWAY squirt it. If you dont do this right away, they wont know what they are being punished for. Also, clap your hands and sharply yell %26quot;no!%26quot;. Good luck...!How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
Try a squirt bottle. Whenever it does something you don't like squirt it with water.How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
we have used a squirt bottle on all 12 of our cats from day 1 and now all we have to do is point it at them and they run and stop whatever they were doing bad. Also you can put some pennies in a coffee can or something metalish and shake it, its pretty loud and startles them to get them to stop.How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
First of all, if you have a cat you'll have to adapt YOUR environment for the animal. Cats also do better in pairs instead of single cats; they get bored and get into everything if people are gone during the day. If you will imitate the cat's behavior and %26quot;hiss train%26quot; it, it will think you are the alpha cat and YOU run the house. Hold the cats head and hiss and growl at it until she shows signs of submission; like rolling over. The best way to %26quot;discipline%26quot; a cat is to hiss at it. You can't physically discipline a cat or yell at it; doesn't work. But you can follow their behavior patterns and watch how they communicate. Trim the kittys nails or get it some %26quot;cat nail tips%26quot; to go over the sharpies and put up your stuff. When the people are away, the cat will play. Godloveya.How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
SQUIRT it in the face with water!! They hate that. Be sure to do it immediately though or they have no idea what they did to get in to trouble. As for the scratching of the furniture - some people will disagree and some will agree - have the cat declawed!! Good luck ! Hope all goes well for Ya!How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
I would %26quot;accidentally%26quot; leave the door open and hope to never see that cat again.How do you control a cat%26039;s behavior?
You don't control a cats behavior, they pretty much do what they want, when they want. They are just being what they are and mean nothing personal by it.

Cats are not like dogs. They are habitual animals. This makes correcting them hard if not impossible. Some are more laid back, some are more curious and into things.

You just have to pretty much let them be what they are going to be. The best you can try to do is keep PLENTY of cat toys around for it to entertain itself with. Get it a new one every so often to keep its attention to them. Good luck. p.s- Patience, patience, patience