Posted on 12/01/2015 8:04:21 AM PST by Vigilanteman
Freepers are such good sources of information (with an ocassional goofball mixed in) that I thought I'd reach out to get a little additional advice.
Recently, my daughter got a major job promotion which includes a transfer to Japan. One problem with the transfer is that they couldn't take their cat whom my son-in-law, she and our two young grandsons adore.
So we offered to take her for the duration of the assignment, probably about one year. She is a wonderful cat, sweet with the boys (doesn't bite or scratch when they get rough with her, just walks away and hides for awhile) and getting accustomed to us. After pouting and hiding for most of the first day with us, she has picked my Mrs. as her favorite person and sleeps at her feet.
We believe she is a Chartreaux cross as the description at the link fits her nearly perfectly, but she is not a purebred as our daughter adopted her from one of those pet store rescue programs, which is not a logical place for a purebred Chartreaux. She is spayed but not declawed; they advise against it for an adult cat as it cause arthritis later in life.
She is clean, litter box trained and very low maintaninence except for wanting to play laser tag and get petted which we all enjoy even if her timing isn't always best.
Only complaint is that we can't seem to get her interested in her scratching pad. She prefers the carpet or, worse yet, one of our reclining chairs. She does stop when we yell at her but, of course, often goes off to pout for awhile. Other than two active little boys who play rough with her at times, we have tried to duplicate her environment at home as nearly as possible, right down to the cat tower, scratching pad and design of the litter box.
Cat ownership requires a certain frame of mind, I’ll admit that!
If the choice is to get a cat declawed or to lose her home, declawing is the way to go.
I used to fall of the ‘inhumanity’ argument of declawing, then I had to think about it and give myself a reality check. I used to take care of abandoned, feral, and injured cats. I had cats missing a leg, tail, and eyeballs. (One was missing one of each. We called him One-eyed Jack) Had one who got into a fight with a opossum and lost all of the toes on one foot. A few were toothless.
One abandoned cat was found in a barn, already declawed. He was pretty freaking happy where he was. He caught mice and was fantastic at hunting birds. Believe it or not, the bastard could climb trees as well as a monkey. We decided to let him be a barn cat and he did a great job.
Every single one of them adjusted and went on to live happy lives.
Cats don’t feel sorry for themselves. They hurt, they heal, they adapt, and they go on as cats.
Personally, I think that a lot of the arthritis and pain that some older declawed cats have to deal with is more due to excess weight. You can’t have a declawed cat who’s twice the weight they should be and not expect problems.
The thing about cats is that they’re instinctive animals. Trying to train a cat is right up there with potty training a goldfish. You can discourage some behaviors, but in the end, they’re going to do what they want and, if you try to discipline them, they only learn to hate YOU. In a million years, they won’t connect their behavior with your displeasure.
Squirt the cat when it scratches and don’t let it know it is you. The cat has to believe that it is a direct result of the scratching. Or....google ‘sticky paws’
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=453_1448974423&comments=1
Cats are really great pets. I’ve had cats, two at a time, for the last 35 years and have loved each of them. The clawing thing, however, really is their worst habit. For the furniture clawing: Get cellophane tape that is wide and two-sided. It’s at Walmart. It’s made for clawing prevention. Cats hate sticky things. Put it where the cat claws—every place the cat claws. Then get kitty a nice scratch pad or two or three. Don’t yell at kitty, they really do need to scratch to shed the claw sheaths. They don’t connect the dots with yelling and clawing—they just pout, as you’ve noticed. Good luck and enjoy the love.
Yes, cat nail covers seem to be a good and inexpensive solution.
No way!!!! do NOT declaw. It’s cruel and can lead cats to bite.
Excellent advice!
As a side note, I wonder if that method works on coworkers who babble on about how great Hillary is.
No, you have to severly beat Hillary supporters.
Indoor kitties are miserable with that arrangement. They
like to sharpen their claws on tree trunks. - DON’T DECLAW!
She will be left totally defenseless if she does get out!!
Sister-in-law did that and was forced to keep the cat inside
forever after that. (Afterwards, SIL absolutely HATED the
cat and wanted to kill it. Not a very nice person!)
Brutus, our cat, has NORMAL claws and comes and goes out her
own cat door at any time of the day or night. She’s tough as
nails. We have coyotes; and I pity any coyote who fancies
himself able to tangle with her. - Also, get a fly swatter
and swat her butt IF she does something destructive or
naughty. Not hard or violent! It’s kinder than either
declawing or “putting down” as some guy on FR threatened.
- He was fussing about his cat not eating anything but
treats! WELL, I told him HE controls the treats; so limit
them and the cat will eat her regular food when she gets
hungry.
Horse hockey. That’s complete nonsense. If your cats are indoor cats, there is no reason not to declaw them.
They are tender for a day or two after the surgery, just like they are when they are spayed or neutered. After that, there is zero difference in their behavior. Nobody calls it ‘cruel’ or ‘painful’ to spay or neuter a cat, so why do it here?
Stop spreading ignorant nonsense. I have 30+ years of experience with declawed cats unlike the people who whine about it because they read about it on some blog post somewhere.
Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate them. I’m only thinking about the front paws. I just cannot go through the continuous procedure of waylaying this cat every 2-3 weeks and clipping her claws. It takes a blanket, a towel, some welding gloves and my daughter to drive up here to do it. I have to hold her head tightly and the paw being clipped while the others are under the tile while my daughter clips. She does NOT like it at all. Never will.
[My daughter sent me a video of her clipping her cat’s claws. Calmly sitting there with no bother while she picked up the paw and clipped them one by one. I got sooooooo pissed and envious]
I've always heard there is more than one way to do it.
I've never seen any tanned domestic feline hides. It must have become something of a lost art.
Wrinkly-faced Shar pai canines are known to give it a whirl though, or one solid chomp in the center of the spine, anyway.
About a month ago two muscled-up pit-bull terriers murdered one of the semi-feral cats that a neighbor lady down & across the street had been feeding, slinging it around, both of the dogs ripping at it, right outside my window. I didn't make it outside fast enough to be able to stop them.
That reminds me --- I should contact the animal control officer who was looking for the two dogs to see if he located them or not.
I'd seen those two before, a couple of times. Two together like that can be dangerous. Although I like dogs, and pits can be good dogs if they have an owner who knows how to train them to not be mean, having a pair the likes of the ones who killed the cat running around is no bueno.
Other cats and small dogs are in danger, and then children too, not to mention possibly adults also.
The control officer mentioned that these sort of dogs were a problem in the area I live in -- it's turned tough, quasi-ghetto in the last few decades.
Adopt a coyote.
You could get her a rug or piece(s) of carpet to scratch. Rub it with catnip, generously. Put them in the places she is scratching. You can cover a chair she’s honed in on with a blanket until she’s trained to use her carpet patches. I have a cat post covered in carpet.
You have to be loudly disapproving and consistent whenever she scratches where she should not. Take her to her rugs to scratch and give her some extra catnip when she uses the right place. They don’t like doing things wrong. Keep her claws trimmed, too. They can grow into the paw if they get too long and then you have to do surgery to remove it. It’s real painful.
If you don’t know how to clip them go to a vet and get them to do it while teaching you. Ask them how often you should cut the claws. It’s a pain. If it does not cost too much, just let them do it. It’s only a year. Use a carrying case to transport cat anywhere.
I can’t find anything for that in my Betty Crocker.
Drape a sheet over the chair she is scratching.
You gotta have a sense of humor...
My catalog prefer the scratch boards made out of cardboard. The paper pieces get on the floor, but I’d rather pick that up than buy a new couch. And catnip on it works too.
get some of these and attach them to things you don't want them to scratch on.
We've always had good luck with the cardboard scratchers. The larger the better. Years ago, I made a scratch post out of cedar fence pickets, and they like that too. Some cats like to reach up high and stretch out when they scratch.
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