Do Cats Get Jealous?

Cats can get jealous of other cats, dogs, or people. The behavior they exhibit can very a lot but most of the time, they will hiss, swat, bite, or scratch. Sometimes they can even become very vocal. While sometimes people label this behavior as jealousy, sometimes they are actually exhibiting dominant behavior.

A cat might view another pet or person as a rival for your affection. In order to maintain your affection they feel like they need to keep the offending pet or person away from you. Will a cat ever get over these feelings of jealousy? Well, that depends on how you handle the cat.

Eventually they will get used to this new pet and in most cases at least tolerate their existence in the house. If they do not come around to behaving in a more civilized manner you can punish them when they act up. Ways that you could punish your cat include, ignoring them for a while after they act up, or putting them in a different room for a time out.

No matter what manner you choose to use to discipline your cat, make sure you do it right away so the cat associates the punishment with the behavior. If you wait to long to correct your cat's behavior they will not learn as quickly or not at all.

So if you are wondering if cats get jealous, yes they can. How long they act that way depends a lot on how you handle the situation, and how quickly.

Whatever the cause of your cat's bad behavior, the important thing is to correct it quickly. To learn how to do this correctly, visit: Solutions To Cat Behavior Problems