I am not going to add many more words other than those in the infographic as I believe it explains the difference well. A problem is that people can understandably relate to their cat companion as a little human and family member because that is what they are for many cat caregivers. Or they see their cat as a dog and have misplaced expectation management. Humans understand the concept of punishment because they are self-aware and they learn the difference between right and wrong or they should do. They think rationally rather instinctively. Appropriate punishment can work for humans.
Cats have an entirely different level of consciousness. I don’t believe that they are self-aware. I mean they can’t look at themselves and assess themselves against life rules. They are more instinctive. Although I believe they can employ rational thought when self-training by observation.
But cats don’t understand the human concept of punishment which has been created by humans to be used on humans. Divine intervention is a nice modification of punishment if you are stuck on the idea of an anonymous form of punishment.
Bearing in mind that cat owners punish their cat for things that THEY dislike and which for the cat is NORMAL behaviour, I’d dump the idea of punishment AND divine intervention and accept feline behavior unless it endangers the cat. The correct response for me is for the human to change not the cat. But that is just me, I guess.
Is it effective to tell-off your cat?
The do’s and don’ts of owning a cat
Why a robotic vacuum cleaner might be better than a standard one for a cat owner
Should I rub my cat’s nose in his pee?
Do cats understand “No”?
Cat punishment versus divine intervention
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