Can confirm this works, unless he gets too excited my cat is very careful about keeping his claws retracted. To the point that one time he actually slapped the absolute fuck out of my leg, that actually made a slap sound and stung a tiny bit from his pawpads slapping me, without leaving a claw mark. Chaotic little beast.

I did this so often with puppies and kittens over the years that I had to unlearn it when dealing with women, lol. Believe it or not if a woman bites you yelping isn't the response they are looking for. Well results may vary I suppose...

this needs to be the top comment!!! this is the right answer!!!!

a squeak/high pitched noise - it sounds like another cat/kitten shrieking in pain. that's usually enough to get the message through!

This is how I taught my cat.

He still tries to use his claws like tiny fingers sometimes, but he really doesn't mean it.