I would never in a zillion years hurt a small animal (including a small person.)
In fact, I trained as a veterinary office assistant, and had a dream of being a vet-tech. But I had to discard that due to prolonged illness.
There has never been a dog or cat that I couldn’t get close to, even those whose owners say the animal doesn’t like people. So I’m not about to hurt an animal who acts on instinct.
However, when the “mom-cat” methods don’t work, something a little stronger is needed. I only had to do it once. She is stubborn, not stupid.
I think your trick with the remote was a stroke of genius, actually.
The only animal I’ve ever had respond negatively to my presence was a dog that had been abused by a neighbor kid. I’d met the dog when I was little, and had no problem with it. I saw the dog again a few years later, when I was about the age of its former abuser, and it attacked me. Fortunately, it only bit my thumb, and that not seriously.