Reply to What am I doing wrong? So frustrated with toddler and cats

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there's a big difference between a toddler who chases a dog around with cars and a toddler like OPs who deliberately causes harm to a cat (stepping on tail, kicking cat).

We had two cats when DS was a toddler and now we have a dog.  We have always modeled kind behavior and luckily for us, our son has always been gentle towards animals.  I am frankly shocked that your cats are as well mannered as they are.  DS came to us crying once when he was about two - he had a two inch scratch on his backhand from the cat.  The location of the scratch made it clear that he was messing with the cat and he confirmed it.  I didn't coddle him or yell at the cat - just said if he was going to mess with the cat that's what was going to happen (this was a particularly unfriendly cat who hated my son).

I have suggestions for what *I* would do in this situation, but I am pretty sure I will get flamed for them on DCurbanMoms.  So I'll keep quiet.  Good luck to you and be thankful you have such nice kitties.
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PP with the kid who used to chase the dog with cars here -- it was no different IMO than what OP's toddler is doing. My DC was enjoying that the dog ran away from him. The dog ran away to avoid having his paws run over by toy cars, but my toddler didn't know that -- he just enjoyed the dog's reaction. OP's toddler is likely enjoying getting a reaction from the cats, not enjoying hurting them. That's my take on it.[/quote]

OP here. Yes, thank you, that's how I feel too, that he just likes the reaction. He thinks it's funny. I don't believe he does this in order to make them feel pain. Of course, sometimes he pushes a cat off the arm of the couch because he wants to use the arm of the couch as a racetrack. He sometimes will pull a tail because he wants the cat to come out from under the table to play. Sometimes, like today when he kicked and then stepped on the cat's tail, I got the sense he just did it because he wanted to see them run away or jump.

PPs, yes, we do timeouts (has not stopped the behavior) and all the other consequences I listed in my original post. And we model good behavior of course. He's been scratched by them  and even bit by one (one cat gives little bites that amount to just putting her teeth on his skin, but not breaking the skin). But they are more likely to squirm and run away than they are to scratch him. [/quote]

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