Is there a shock collar available for cats meowing?

Have you figured out why he’s meowing?

Please talk to your vet. Being cruel to any animal is wrong. My cat nips me when I am not careful; unpleasant but I take measures to avoid the trigger situations.

Try to think of another solution or wear foam ear plugs, or play music for him (or for you). Leave a little treat or extra food. Change the litter more frequently. Play with him more before bedtime (an old fishing rod with a piece of knotted string is terrific).

Its a long story, but he is a very spoiled cat. The other 2 girl cats are fine, but he has to have constant attention; the cat litter box has to be perfect, he wants to drink water from the faucet, and he wants to be stroked all the time. We change the box twice and feed him throughout the day, give him fresh water, pet him, etc…. but I need my sleep.

If it is cruel, why is it okay for dogs?

If your cat doesnt already wear a collar puting one on him now could stress him out, you have to start cats with collars young, even if it is a normal collar. you could make his behaviour worse by putting something round his neck. My friend wanted to put a collar on her cat when she moved house so that he had a name tag on. was a really friendly cat but when she tried to put a collar on him for the first time he nearly had her arm off. Not sure about a shock collar for cats but i hear floral scents calm them down.

I agree with @gailcalled. One of mine meows incessantly if the door is shut to the bathroom. It’s much easier on all of us to just let her into the bathroom than to try to modify her behavior.

Perhaps he needs to be a household where he’s an only cat. My daughter’s cat was like that. When she had roommates and there were 5 cats, he hated it! and did all sorts of difficult things. He’s much better now that she’s living alone, and he’s an only cat.

Find a home for this poor beast before you torture it.

Well, other than sending him to boarding school, I have no more suggestions. My friend has only one cat, but he vocalizes all the time. He is driving her so nuts that she actually bought a leash and harness to try to walk him.

Big failure. The cat crawled deep under the deck; my friend wiggled in and broke a finger on her dominant hand trying to drag the reluctant Max out.

Mookie does this. She wants attention WHEN SHE WANTS IT. If I push her away, like if I’m eating or sleeping, she goes into the next room and meows very loudly and incessantly. I yell “MOOK!!” and she comes running back into the room because I “called” her. I push her away again. She jumps behind the TV and looks at me with one eye sticking out from behind, and meows very loudly. Again, “MOOK!! SHUT UP!!” and she comes running back. I push her away again. She goes into the other room, meowing even louder and faster. It takes a few rounds of this before it stops. Sometimes if I smash a pillow down on the bed she runs away and calms down, and then she’ll come back normal again.

I say, you just need to find tricks like I did with the pillow. Shock collars are horrible for any animal.

Nothing personal, but I don’t think you’re reading my message. I am letting him have and do everything he wants. He is definitely not the kind of cat to be the only cat He would be worse alone, when the other 2 cats aren’t around he meows until he finds them. If he didn’t have attention from them he would meow non-stop. When we have family visit and stay with us they always go home early, because they dont’ get any rest, so why would I dump this problem on someone else? I know it sounds cruel, but it would only be for a period of time. Doesn’t my sleep, my health count for anything?

@TroyAJ: On a less mean scale, have you tried a squirt bottle?

We have tried the squirt bottle and it does stop him (at that moment), but it doesn’t change his behavior. We have to go through it all over again each day. Thanks for the advice though.

This is your fault and you want to punish your cat for it? The reason he meows is because it gets him the attention he wants. The only true way to stop the meowing is to ignore it. You should have done this as soon as he started the
meowing.

So what do you do? Put a pillow over your head and go
back to sleep. Do not harm your cat.

And this is why people need to know how to live with animals before they bring them into the home.

advice from petfinder.com

What To Do If Your Cat Wakes You During the Night to Play
Some cats need to be locked out of the bedroom because they may nip at your toes moving or swat at your eyelids twitching while you sleep. If your cat cries and scratches at the door, you can discourage him by placing something he dislikes in front of the door, such as vinyl carpet-runner (placed upside-down to expose the knobby side) or double-sided sticky tape. If your typically well-behaved cat suddenly starts wandering restlessly at night, crying or needing to eat more, there may be an underlying medical concern, such as an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) that is easily controlled with medication. Have him checked out by your veterinarian. Excessive nocturnal crying can also be due to age-related deficits, such as a loss of hearing, vision, or sense of smell. Try moving your cat’s food and water dish near his bed and put his litter box along an easily followed path. Letting the cat sleep near you may be comforting to you both.

If your cat wakes you up during the night to be fed, try an automatic feeder with a built-in timer to dispense food according to a preset schedule. Set it to open once or twice during the night. Your cat should learn to wait by the feeder rather than bother you. Feeding several small meals during the day may also help curtail your cat’s excessive nocturnal appetite. Save the largest meal for right before bedtime. Bon nuit!

“Torcher it” lolololol.

If you can’t handle a cat’s natural behavior without having to use a form of cruelty, then maybe you should re-think being a cat owner…

And in no way is your health more important than your pets. They should be equal. Pets are part of the family.

Tiny Faery,
wow now its my fault, I changed his cat box, fed him food and gave him fresh water and then petted him, I am so terrible, remember I have 2 other cats that are fine. I might just have a cat with a behavioral problem, just like humans have and they get treatment.

thanks for caring

@TroyAJ ..just like humans have and they get treatment.

So if you start acting out, do we get to put you in a shock collar?

Bongo thanks for the advice, finally somebody with logic and some real help.

Yes it’s your fault. And I care about the cat not you. Just like kids, a cats behavior is formed by interactions with others. If you ignored the meowing when it started the cat would not expect anything when he meows and, therefore, would not use meowing as a tactic to.
get attention.

Maybe you need a shock collar to prevent you from getting anymore pets.

@TroyAJ Your sleep counts for nothing on Flutter Fluffer Flufther whatever it’s called. Fluther. But I DO care. So invest in a citronella collar for dogs. All it does is spray a GENTLE, SWEET SMELLING LEMON SPRAY when they bark. Then they stop barking, for petessake. I doubt it would work but in your case??

Rangerr
Yeah I have no problem with that. Cats can’t get counseling or mental help or certain medication like humans can. If I had an addiction lets say smoking and I tried the patch and the gum and other meds and someone offered a shock patch that gave me a minor shock if I put a cigarette to my mouth I would welcome it. Then at some point after I had been off of cigarettes I would quit wearing the shock patch and then write the company who made it a big thankyou.

@TroyAJ: You know what works for me sometimes? Instead of pushing her away, I grab Mookie and hug and squeeze and kiss and rock her like a baby… all of which she hates. Doesn’t hurt her… she just doesn’t like it. For a little while, she learns not to play that game with me.

Also, the squirt bottle isn’t an instant fix… the cat has to learn the routine. He meows that early that loud, he gets a squirt. He will have to be trained.

Aster I will do that, thanks.

So you are going to try something used for dogs, recommended by some random person on the internet without checking it’s safety or efficacy? As my mom used to say, “you’re a real winner”. Ugh.

But to answer your question about a shock collar.. shock collars generally aren’t breakaway. Cats NEED a collar that can easily break if they get caught on something. They are a lot more agile than dogs are, so they can fit into and climb on places you wouldn’t think of. Those collars get caught, and your cat is going to get strangled to death. You said you didn’t want to torture the cat, but you want to put something on it that shocks it? That makes a ton of sense. I’ve had a shock collar put on my leg before, and I have NO idea how anyone considers it not painful. It hurts. Which is torture to an animal.

I also just saw your last post.. the difference with that is YOU would be the one making the decision for yourself. In that scenario, you are the one getting yourself help.
Cats have no say in whether they want help or not. They don’t want help anyway. Cats think [rightfully so] they are perfect.
Humans can say “Hey, I need counseling for this problem.”
Cats say “Why the fuck are you hurting me?”
There is a big difference there.

Rangerr, good point, but something is got to give. A sacrifice is going to be made. I have been making mine, it might be his turn. Remember the collar would only be put on at night when the cat is inside and then when I wake up I would take it off. Just it is unlikely to get snagged on anything.

@Aster I would highly recommend that you know what you are talking about before you suggest something. Citronella collars are designed to react to a bark. They are designed to not react to whimpering, growling and whining. Cats meows are on the level of a dog’s whining. The collar would do nothing at all.

Thanks everyone, this was a little helpful and educational, but more entertaining than anything. Gotta go.

@Aster Your comment was very irresponsible.

Why do people own animals if they would rather electrocute them than spend time training them?

They misbehave, I just know how to deal with it. My boy cat goes on meowing fits, I ignore it, he stops. Problem over.

Thanks @tinyfaery. It’s a matter of simple operant conditioning, which has been proven many times to work best without any aversion stimuli. I wish I knew where this guy lived so I could kick his ass.

Please consider consulting with your vet or an animal behavior specialist. A shock collar is not the answer. It’s is not your cat’s “turn” to “sacrifice”. You are the pet owner – you do all of the sacrificing.

the great part about my second solution is that it gets out all that “violent love” toward the cat… where you love them so much you just want to shove them in between couch cushions and take big bites out of their furry mushiness!

Ha ha, @poofandmook I did like that one. I think my Ulthar would eat me alive if I tried to “cuddle” her. She’s a “yes, pet me, but don’t hold me with your pathetic humanness” cat.

For heavens sake. Crucify me for suggesting a teensy little spray of lemon so the poor girl can sleep. I purchase untested things over the internet Constantly. You guys need to cultivate a caring attitude towards human beings! Lemme tell ya: that cat would not Hesitate sticking a collar on a human if it meant the difference between getting a can of tuna or nothing. It would bite you. Would YOU bite a cat?? I don’t think so. Get your priorities straight, you well-rested obsessives. Sheesh.

@Seek_Kolinahr: LOL Mookie gets so confused. She purrs because you’re touching her, and that’s the ultimate goal, but she hates how you’re touching her. She purrs like a madcat but her eyes are huge and her ears are back. She’s really very stupid LOL

Shock collars are illegal in Europe for a very good reason. They’re extremely cruel. For dogs as well as for cats.

If you can’t bear your cat as he is, take him to a humane shelter, where he can be rehomed with a family that can.

[mod says]: I’ve removed some of the derails and a little bit of the chit-chat on the thread. It’s great to disagree, just try not to take potshots.

@TroyAJ To answer your question: a shock collar is a horrible idea for a cat—they don’t train in the same way as a dog; they aren’t pack animals.

It’s also a horrible idea because of the tear-away aspect that @rangerr mentioned.

Take some of the advice about behavioral correction. You also might consider getting a cat pheromone disperser (Feliway).

Really. Bad. Idea.

@TroyAJ It’s not “okay for dogs.” It’s never ok to hurt or abuse an animal.

How do you think your cat feels when you talk? Their hearing is much more sensitive than yours. Perhaps it’s revenge on the feline’s part? How about you try wearing a shock collar from dusk ‘til dawn. You can take it off whenever you want. Your cat wouldn’t have that liberty. And it’s not okay for dogs, either. Dogs are just pack animals, so they’re more likely to listen to a leader. It doesn’t make it any less wrong if it works. If shooting someone’s nads made them spill their guts in court, would it be okay? I’m sure the rest of humanity thinks so, but that’s because humanity has no honour.

Shock collars are inhumane, and it’s unspeakably brutal to declaw a cat. There are reasons why such things are, or should be, illegal. I respectfully offer a bit of advice for life—if something causes any creature to suffer or feel pain, don’t do it.

When I had a cat like that (when I first got her) who didn’t believe in allowing humans to sleep, I just got a second set of food and water dishes and another litterbox and set them up in another room as far away from the bedroom as possible.

As soon as the yowling to wake me up started, I simply picked her up and deposited her in the other room and shut the door.

It only took a few days for her to get the connection. No harshness was necessary at all, either verbal or otherwise.

Simple cause and effect got the point across. Excessive yowling = isolation until stupid human wakes up next day.

Cats are really smart. She got the point and whenever she reverted to the yowling in the future, it only took one reminder of a night alone to jog her memory. I’m sure that if I wouldve ever slacked off and let it go on rather than getting out of my comfy bed, we wouldve been back to square one.

I guess you’ve never dealt with children. Exact same principle. You just have to create a consequence for the undesirable behavior which motivates them sufficiently to discontinue it. Then you need to firmly, without anger, apply the consequence CONSISTENTLY EVERY SINGLE TIME.

If you wisely choose the right consequence, the undesirable behavior will vanish. And you DO NOT NEED CRUELTY to accomplish this.

It ain’t Rocket Science.

The reason people are telling you that you created this situation is because that’s the truth. You didn’t realize it at the time, but your cat was training you with his attention- demanding behavior. You were the one who spoiled him and now don’t like the results.

You figured he should be appreciative and not be even more demanding. But evidently he’s smarter than his sisters and recognizes a pushover when he meets one :)

So now it’s time for you to train him. You may have to put up with an initial increase in the yowling when he protests being isolated, but if you ride it out and refuse to cave, he will get the point. Kids are the same way. When their bratty behavior is thwarted, they increase their temper tantrums but once they realize it gets them nowhere, they get with the program.

Your cat was smart enough to train you so he’s certainly smart enough to realize when the jig is up. He won’t like the isolation one bit and will protest mightily. But if you don’t give in to him, he will get the point.

You don’t have to be physically cruel to him to accomplish your goal. He has a logical brain that will have little trouble grasping the equation yowling = isolation. He wants your attention and that’s why he’s yowling. Deprive him of that attention every time he yowls and you will have trained him instead of the reverse.

Don’t know if you’re still checking answers to this question anymore, but…

I noticed no one in this thread asked whether your cat is fixed or not. Full, non neutered males do yowl a lot more than neutered ones (fixed cats are in general better behaved). If your cat is not neutered it, I suggest getting it fixed. That might be enough to solve the problem, and it’d prevent other unwanted kittens from being born.

If he is fixed, go for the squirt bottle or shut him in a room that has a cat box, bedding and some food/water—and nothing too small, either. I do that with my cats in the summer time and they’re perfectly fine with it.

You’re absolutely right and it’s true for females in heat as well.

You haven’t really heard howling and yowling until you’ve heard that.

The only room I had available with one cat was the bathroom so I had to resort to that.

She ended up sleeping in the tub but that certainly wasn’t cruel. Probably much less comfy than snuggling in bed with me but it did get the point across :D

Here is the way I see it, many dogs and cats who were once loved pets but develop bad habits end up in rescue or dead. It doesn’t really matter whether the bad habit is the fault of poor training or whatever, the end result is often the same. So I am an advocate of solutions to problems that don’t include death. Therefore I would say try a remote training collar, I don’t think bark collars would work for a meow. When the cat starts howling you will have to manually activate the shock collar. The charge can be set at it lowest and most have a sound first and animals quickly realize that if they don’t cease and desist the behavior when they hear the sound they will get zapped. That is the training and unless the animal is really dumb they learn after one or two zaps and then it never happens again. Now which is worse, death or a zap or two??? I vote for the zap. I assume anyone who protests that this is cruel and irresponsible is a vegetarian because the meat you are eating is treated in a decidedly less humane way than a shock collar correcting undesireable behavior in a pet.

As was said above though, the cat should be desexed.

I had a male and female cat (female cats in heat are the worst). Got her spayed and that problem was solved. I had somewhat of a similar problem with my male cat except he would meow constantly because he always wanted them cookies/treats but he meowed to the point where it drove me crazy, i would desperately try to sleep between 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm to get up for work at 8:00 pm and it was a hard enough time to sleep to begin with from noise from other people outside, 4 wheelers, etc so the meowing didn’t help much. I’m not sure why your cat is doing it but in my case it was me spoiling him with treats throughout the day from the time he was a kitten that caused this problem to begin with, a real firm voice combined with not giving him his treats (sometimes i needed the small squirtgun) but eventually his behavior got better and he realized he would only get treats when i came home from work in the morning and on my way to work. You spoiling him might be causing it as well, cats also have their own personalities, some species of cats are more “vocal” than others, try to find the underlying reasons for the meowing. I don’t recommend the collar however, i would have never done that to my dogs either. I work as an electrician so i know what it feels like to get shocked so i could never do that to my pets .

Most cats meow in the early morning. It is in their nature. I suggest you put the cat somewhere away from your bedroom before retiring for the night. Zapping the cat is cruel and chances are the cat will not understand why it is being zapped.

@rooeytoo That is some self-centered bullshit. If you take an animal in your home you accept responsibility for it.

If there is trouble, oh well. The animal will just have to suffer because you are to lazy or too stupid to stop the behavior without causing harm to the animal.~

Sounds like the American way.

@rooeytoo But if they’re dead, they can’t suffer. Any animal is better off dead than in the hands of a selfish human.

@tinyfaery: Rooeytoo says, ”Fell in love with an Aussie and now live in the middle of nowhere in the NT of Australia.”

@Rooey

I understand the principle behind what you’re saying because so many pets end up in shelters needlessly.

But cats are very different from dogs. Some of them are tremendously over sensitive and using something like a shock collar could well end up producing a severely neurotic or totally anti-social cat. And then you have created a worse problem than you started out with.

Cats just don’t respond to aversive or negative training the way that dogs do. Dogs want to please you. Cats really have a totally different mindset.

They will do (or not do) what is in their own best interests.

I think one of your first sentences is the most accurate. Shock collars likely won’t work for meowing.

And could very well have the potential of producing a really neurotic cat, so the risk is greater than the perceived reward.

@Buttonstc Exactly. A traumatic event like getting shocked will more likely cause the cat to fear and hate its owner than stop the unwanted behavior.

I worked in shelters and rescue for too many years to be overly idealistic about this. There are many sad cases of animal cruelty in this world today but shock collars are not among them. A high percentage of animals surrendered to shelters or euthanized is due to behavioral issues. If a zap or two cures it and the pet keeps its otherwise happy home, then zap away. It is not a continual thing, it is a quick tingle and the animal learns. Cats learn too, it is not much different than shaking the can of marbles.

So rail away folks but here in the real world where the shelters are full, I am all in favor of shock collars. I save my ire for nuts who enjoy crush vids and the cruelty to the cattle, hogs, chickens etc. who provide the meat you buy at the supermarket. Check that out and see some real cruelty.

@rooeytoo “I save my ire for nuts who enjoy crush vids and the cruelty to the cattle, hogs, chickens etc. who provide the meat you buy at the supermarket” I practice veganism, not hypocrisy.

@Primobabe – good on ya, but I wonder how many others do???

This is the last I will say on the subject, there are dogs and cats being put to sleep, some humanely some not so by the millions in so called “developed” countries all over the world. No need for euthanasia in under developed countries, there the dogs die of starvation or parasite infestation or the bitches simply breed themselves to death. Actually that happens all too frequently in the developed countries as well. Not to mention factory farming, stockyard fattening, etc. The mares used to produce HRT products don’t have a great life either. These are the real cruelties in this world, address them not the person who is willing to try any and all available methods to keep an animal with behavioral problems rather than abandoning them to a shelter.

I also wonder how many have seen a shock collar used properly or have you simply watched a few “horror” videos on you tube? The collar used by someone who has read the book absolutely will not harm an animal physically or mentally. I use invisible fencing, I guess that too makes me a sadist instead of a responsible pet owner. The farmers who use electric fences to keep cattle off the road are bad guys too by these standards.

@downtide points out they are illegal in Europe, I don’t know if that is true or not, but I find it interesting that a country who allows packs of dogs followed by humans on horses to chase a fox all over the countryside before allowing the dogs to tear it to shreds deem it inhumane to use shock collars, does that make sense to you???

@rooeytoo

Ever heard of ‘coon hunting?

@rooeytoo I tried on a shock collar once. If it’s painful for a 100+ lb human, I doubt it’ll be painless for a cat or a dog that is a fraction of the weight. As for bigger dogs, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Like I said, if shooting them in the nads worked, would it be considered “okay”?

@rooeytoo I don’t think any of us are saying the OP should do nothing to fix his cat’s bad habits, we’re just saying there are more humane ways of doing so than with a shock collar. A quick spray with a squirt gun will have the same effect as a shock collar without the trauma and pain.

Cats are very smart animals, and they’re quite good at training us. Your cat is telling you that he’s lonely and wants your company, so he’s teaching you to wake up at 5:00 am and be with him. If you ignore him, he’ll stop his behavior. The change won’t happen instantly, but it will happen. Cats are much too smart to go on pursuing a fruitless endeavor.

You already have plenty of Fluther recommendations for effectively, yet humanely, dealing with this problem. I hope you’ll try them.

[mod says]: Removed off-topic remarks.

OK. I’ve read all the responses on this post. A lot of them had very good points. You did get the cat. He’s an indoor cat, the level of equality is not half and half. it’s forty percent you and sixty percent him. Yes, he’s old enough to know better, but he can’t get his own food and poor it into his bowl. Same goes for his water.Even if he ages, he will still be like a child who can’t tell you what he wants.

I’m actually having the same problem with my cat. But I just can’t afford most to all of these solutions. You and your family might not like it, but you might need to give her away. you get more sleep, no more stress, no harm to the animal. Win win for you and him.

my cat cried all the time and I bought this calming collar for her…omg she’s like a different cat, now she only cries when she wants to eat! Try it, here’s the webpage.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3446914&siteID=q5QZHUbCIj8-I98PNIPTqEyowXKSa_DEeQ

It is unbelievable to me how much vehemence most of you are answering this persons question with.

If this is how you act toward a person you haven’t even met, how is your poor cat or dog being treated at home? Granted, even though it was a training issue that probably caused the original problem, who cares? Are all of you INFALLIBLE? What if everybody crucified you anytime you made a mistake? It’s so very easy to type type type away your snide, cruel, worthless garbage of an answer when your in the comfort of your own home, knowing you will never have to see this person. Exactly like what a coward would do…

Anytime I need to see how people are “loving their neighbours” all I need to do is look at online stuff like this. Embarrassing…

“Buttonstc” couldn’t have said it better with the training. It’s all about consistency.

wow. you people are crazy. the guy has been miserable dealing with a cat with a serious behavioral problem, while also taking care of the other two cats without an issue, and he was simply asking for input for his healths sake and that of his family. if youve never had a cat that meows for hours on end for no reason, i hope that some of you get one, merely to relate to this guy.

Hey william ki welcome to fluther. There are some rabid types here and sometimes they gang up on anyone with a different opinion. But most of the time, it is an interesting and informative place to be. You just have to develop a bit of a thick skin to survive! Stick around, you will see and learn when to stand up and when to duck!

A friend of mine has an animal just like this. Vet says he’s fine. He’s 11 to beautiful black cat. Requires constant attention at times, the other times he growls and hisses when I try to pet…but he wakes her up at all hours…yowling in 4 different voices. The vet ordered xanax but we can’t get it down him…I would love to shock him or maybe waterboard him lol…he needs to be taught respect or hit the road…I love friendly cats but hate one that growlsvand meows constant for NO reason. I hear you man. I glad he’s not my cat cause I would get rid of him and make no bones.

Have you tryed putting it in the litter box and tapeing it shut, mine stopped peeing on the carpet, about 4 hours in the box might solve the meowing problem.

hey i found a great cheap shock collar at amazon for 18.95, im getting 1 next week.

people cut off animals ears, beat them , mistreat them, and generally abuse them. Why is it wrong to get a collar that gives a small shock? Its not much more then a pinch of shock and its basic psychology. Havlos law of learned behaviors. All animals (including humans) learn from a stimulis’s. You shock it when it does bad it will learn the behavior is bad and has consequences and will stop it. The only possible way i could see this as inhumain is if he didnt get a cat safe collar and just tazed it.

ok so use this http://www.petco.com/product/122198/Sentry-Calming-Pheromone-Spray-for-Cats.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGoogleAdExtProd%20-CollarsSentry_-2130327&gclid=CM-s17qpzLkCFQkSMwod1hwAkA

i glanced threw this post briefly and I’m not sure which comments are newer so i don’t know where you are at and when this was even posted. but i know that certain breeds of cats are Highly vocal such as the siamese. Unfortunately, in that case you will have to tire him out before bed. I noticed you said he was drinking from the faucet, this is a sign of kidney failure, altho it may not be the case but it is worth checking into. Also wanted to make sure you had him neutered, if he is mature enough his hormones will drive him nuts! its not the same as humans being horny, this is a very very frustrating thing for male cats that have not been fixed. a success snip should only last a day or less, they recover a lot faster then the females. Onces thats done he will be highly affectionate. but if thats done already i would still visit the vet or a feline specialist make sure there is no kidney problems. best of luck!
-Shana

I have to say, I love my cats – All three were brought home from a shelter and I take great care of them. One of them does wake me up every morning from 3–6am (that entire time) with incessent meowing, or batting my nose. I work full time during daylight hours, so this is a problem. I have tried everything from spray bottles to trying to ignore him hoping he would get the idea, but this behavior is hard wired. I came to this site hoping to find some help. If he were a human, i would talk to him sensibly, with reason, but he’s not. I would take him to counseling if necessary. I AM looking for an alternative that will help change this behavior, and I feel for the guy who was simply looking for some unbiased feedback.

I thought about this too. My kitty is starting to abuse his very powerful whining to wake the whole house. he gets bored and that’s it. loud af. but.. I considered that cats are slightly more bewildered and unconscious to calming down to solve a problem. if the cat got shocked it might start making noise and clawing its neck as if it were attacked. making the situation become very violent and scary.. too scared to try this.. unless the collar has a feature preventing a constant shock in a panic situation.

I am in the same boat as troy… I have four adorable, well loved and rescued cats aged 20, 4, 3, and 4 months, all fixed, all very well behaved… well most of the time. I have three girls which are a delight and one highly active highly vocal ginger male. He will cry from the moment we get home. He would be well fed, walked (on a harness daily and he loves it) and played with but still continues to cry. He has been to the vet and had every test under the sun, there is no problem. All four cats are very well trained, responding to voice commands and congratulated when they do so. He however just wants more. More, more, more. At some stage there is a point where he has to know his boundaries. We have an elaborate set up involving solenoids and garden sprays, squirter bottles, you name it we have it yet still no relief. He is now 4 and still doesn’t get it.
He starts from before dawn locked up or otherwise. This is definitely a behavioural problem with my Jack and any suggestion that we would give him up is completely irresponsible and cruel to him as he adores us and his sisters.

What I’m trying to say is that I consider myself a responsible and humane cat owner (for want of a better word) and I reckon try the cat collar. I certainly am considering a once off low powered zap that reinforces my very loud and direct “no”. He knows he is pushing his limits, I can see it in his eyes with his submissive body language and eye blinks. This is however my very last resort for my little man. I haven’t had a decent nights sleep in a VERY long time! Ignore the comments by those who have not been in this situation and exhaust every alternative option first. I feel as though there aren’t many options left for us! I hope you and your feline companion find peace and plenty of fluffy times!

What happened??? Did the shock collar work? Did anything work?

I am yet another cat owner who has been deprived of his sleep for about 2 years now. My cat is 18 years old and he starts having his moments at random times during the night. After taking him to the vet, it turned out that he has Hyperthyroidism. Depending on the case, there are different remedies that could be applied, but unfortunately, in my case, none of them helped.
My friends say that I should put the cat to sleep, but would this really be more humane than a shocking collar that would sting him a few times?

Seriously the cat is killing me.

What was the outcome of this???

I, too, turned to the Internet, out of extreme desperation, looking for answers to the same problem. I ended up here and read through most of the comments. Unfortunately, this wasn’t very helpful with practical applications and a quick one-thing-fixes-all solution, but it did get me thinking about what I’ve seen my cats react to. For instance, I have seen them wince when I’ve let them smell orange peels. They don’t like the smell of perfume or nail polish and they don’t like wind blowing on them. Water has an effect on one, but not the other, and I won’t add vinegar or lemon juice to a sprayer cuz that may effect their eyesight over time, etc. After noodling around all the things my cats don’t like, I thought of the most immediate, least impactful, least stressful, etc. solution and put a large floor fan outside our closed bedroom door facing away from the door. We’ve done this the last three nights and I am telling you all here and now, with great success, we’ve gone from approximately 47,000 robust meows to only TWO sad little defeated whines!!! It’s working! And my husband and I have enjoyed our very first quiet Saturday morning we’ve had in a long, long time. In fact, my husband hasn’t had one complaint about the cats waking him up in the three mornings since we implemented this. This may have saved our marriage!

Us =1. Cats=0

Next step, we have decided to try changing up their feeding times and locations to hopefully stop the race and incessant meow game in the kitchen.

So, what I realized, is, there may not be ONE solution. Observe the cats’ patterns and behavior in each room, study them, think about the triggers, possibly your own behavior that has “trained” them to react to you, even inadvertently, put your thinking caps on, and get creative! Too be continued…

I know this is an old post, but because my male cat is doing the same thing, I googled “shock collar for cats,” and found this post. It’s astonishing what some consider to be “abuse.” In general, I have noticed basically three categories of people, or some combination thereof, who have overly strict classifications of abuse: the young, who tend to be idealistic and with limited experiences and respond to the world from the emotions, not from experience and reason; those who themselves have been abused and project their wounds onto animals so much so that everything becomes “animal abuse’; and those who generally don’t have (satisfying) human relationships such that animals assume an importance that is extreme and delusional—and sad. In most of these cases, people just anthropomorphize animals. As someone mentioned above, you can’t reason with animals. And like the other people, spray bottles, stern voice, and isolation have not worked. As to making a cat neurotic, that may actually be the original problem! At any rate, with stringent concepts of “abuse,” people become limited in what they can do to effectively and reasonably train an animal, which ideally is a temporary measure that will permanently modify behavior and enable both the human and the animal to co-exist. Otherwise, there will be more homeless animals (as someone else mentioned above.) To expect the human to be terrorized or driven to the brink by a cat because “they chose to have a pet,” is ridiculous. That’s is similar to telling a parent to not (effectively) discipline a child because they chose to have the kid. And as with kids, different measures are effective with any given pet depending on the demeanor of the animal. I am not saying that there is no such thing as animal abuse. People who get their jollies from inflicting harm on animals are definitely abusive and sick. Using a shock collar to temporarily modify behavior is not in the same category. It’s a training device for those animals who are otherwise difficult to train by using “softer” tools and methods. I hope the original poster was able to find peace.

I think it’s funny and so many people would rather he give up his cat than find a proper way to discipline it so it shuts up. I hope they don’t feel the same way about their children. I’m sure the cat is missing something or wanting something. But at 5 in the morning, it needs to know I don’t care. I’ll take care of it when I wake up.

My cat used to do the exact same thing. I kept a large towel next to my bed that I would throw over her when she meowed like that, and she would have to fight her way out from under it. It never hurt her, that’s for sure, but she hated it. She got the hint, and she doesn’t meow at 5 a.m. anymore. For all those people that are saying the cat wants something, you’re right. She wanted outside, but I don’t want her out at 5 in the morning.

My cat used to also like to try to get on the counter and drink from the sink where it’s sterile and where I cook my food. I broke her of that habit. There’s nothing wrong with trying to break your cat of annoying behavior. Sometimes we don’t care if they want attention at 5 a.m. They just need to stop, just like kids.

How about, instead of accusing OP of being a dick for wanting some peace and quiet, please offer up some alternatives to shock collars. I am also here to find a solution for my Mum’s screaming (yes, SCREAMING) cat at night.

I’ve heard it all, “poor cat, what a horrid owner, shock collars should be illegal, if you use negative reinforcement you’re a souless demon, everybody knows cats are the best, blah blah blah”. If you’re not going to offer a solution, please leave.

I’m taking care of my Mum’s cat who is 8, male, desexed, indoor, vet checked, healthy (apart from over weight, which I am in the process of correcting), untrained, and incredibly spoiled.

I don’t want a shock collar because I believe they are inhumane, but a spray or vibrating collar would be great. If anyone knows where to find one please let us know! I would like to be getting more than 3 hours of sleep, and I would also like to not get kicked out of my place because of some stupid, screaming, four-legged arsehole.

EDIT- thank you to the people who see reason and offer advice or solutions. There’s a lot of people in this thread who are actually trying to help, and not offer criticising or accusatory comments. Thank you, and I agree with a lot of what you guys are saying.

To answer the actual question at hand, YES, SHOCK COLLARS WORK GREAT ON CATS! The hard part is finding one with the right sensitivity for a cat meow. You’re happier and the cat is happier to because it gets to be around you rather than getting shut in another room. If you don’t believe me, read the reviews of people who actually use it on their dogs. Fearing something you don’t understand is not a relevant answer on this forum.