It is most beneficial for you and your cat if you accept the fact that cats are animals, not "furry kids." Cats are  excellent animal companions. They are intelligent, beautiful, and loveable creatures. Even though, people take care of cats for centuries, they still have their instincts. Good communication helps to discipline your cat. A disapproving tone and gentle tap on the cats nose all that are needed in most cases. The most important is to make the rules of the house from the very beginning and stick to them.      Cats are night animals. They are more active in the early mornings and late evenings, which is the best times for cats to hunt. They rest and sleep the rest of the time.  Cats cannot possibly understand why they have to be quiet at night, best time for playing and eating. Your cats could adjust to eat in the evenings and late mornings, if you do not get off your bed at 4-5 a.m. and feed them at night. If a cat get a response from his human when he plays at night, the human become a squeaky toy for a cat. Do not encourage your cats to be active at night time, and they will get used to your schedule. Feeding dry food in the mornings and wet foot and other delicious food in the evenings or afternoons might help - your cat will not become excited about his morning meal and sleeps more.      If your cat urinates out of his litter box, he might have urinary tract problems. You have to check his health as soon as possible. Some cats just have "bad manners." All you could do is to make your cat's litter box more attractive. Put it in a place where your cat can have some privacy. Buy a few litter boxes in different shape. Try to offer your cat different litters. It is possible he doesn't like the sent of the litter you are using for his litter box.  For cats that dig too hard and make a mess around their litter box, try to use a litter box with an entrance from the top of litter box.      Scratching is cat's natural behavior. Introduce the scratching post to your cat on the very first day. Encourage your cat to use scratching post. Let your cat know you disapprove his using your furniture for scratching and you like when he use a scratching post. You could spray it with cat nip or attach some of cat's favorite toys to it. Trim your cat's nails tips. When you choose furniture for your home, keep you cats scratching behavior in mind.      Cats do not understand physical punishment - it's just does not work for cats.  Lean how to punish your cat in a cat's way.  Hissing might be very effective. Cats understand light tapping on nose and cheeks. You can hold your cat by grabbing his skin between his shoulders, where mother cat grabs her kitten to carry them, lift cat's upper body and hiss at him looking into his eyes. This technique works very well on male cats. Cats don't get mad at his human and they don't think they were treated badly when punished this way.  Cats should know their place in a family hierarchy, as they do in nature. It is not comfortable living with a cat who thinks he is a boss of the household and he can do whatever he wants to.