The Reason Why You Should Never Scold Your Cats

VIVA – Cats are one of the animals that are favored by some people because they have very cute behavior. Some of their behavior will entertain the owner or people who see it, but some of them are considered bad.

For example, cats like to damage furniture, pull curtains, climb on tables, and do other annoying things. Unfortunately, some of these actions that are considered destructive, are fun behaviors for cats. 

Therefore, you should not immediately yell, scold, or be rude to them. Scolding cats may not be an effective way to fix their behavior, and it can also damage your relationship with your cat. 

Also, cats have associative memory. These are short-term memories where pet cats associate a certain activity with what they smelled, saw, or heard. 

Then does the activity have or produce a positive or negative memory about it? A cat's associative memory occurs when something triggers it, but if there is nothing involving the action, its real or long-term memory will be present.

According to a 2006 study, cats have only limited short-term memories of hidden objects and remember the location of objects for only up to a minute.

However, in another study, it was found that some cats have short-term memories that last more than 24 hours or may last longer. The short-term memory of these cats is known to be equivalent to that of a 2- or 3-year-old child.

Associative memory is one of the reasons why you shouldn't punish your cat for actions, such as scratching furniture or something else.

It won't know why you are angry and yelling at it, but it will associate the action with punishment and will continue to remember it. Once a cat associates something negative with an activity, it will be difficult to change its behavior, as it will be associated with something unpleasant.

In addition, the cat will also remember people with whom it has a strong bond, such as you and your family, and will then give it a sense of empowerment. When a "trusted" person scolds or is abusive to a cat, they will remember it and find it difficult to trust that person again.