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.
Determine if she is a sky or cave cat and then get her either perching carpet covered climbing things or hut like cat cave.
Don’t worry about your furniture. You can get it upholstered when your daughter takes the cat back. Unless a couple hundred bucks is worth crippling and maiming a cat. Declawing should be illegal. It is the equivalent of removing a dogs larynx so he doesn’t bark. No sane person would do so.
Squirt the scratches on the boys with 70% alcohol. Cats are carriers of bacteria which yields easily to alcohol. The boys will learn and avoid scratches if it really bothers them.
First catnip where you want her to be.
Second, get a phermone diffuser for the room the chairs are in. Feliway or Comfort Zone. You might have some sticker shock, but they are 90% effective.
Third, double sided pet tape on where she is scratching.
Cats don’t take well to direct correction (yelling, water bottles, etc.). They are creatures of comfort and gently making the scratching item less desirable workks. You can also try foil over the scratching area as well.
How smart is that!!!! Great idea! Did you still have to trim the nails or did this tip work?
Now that's a brilliant idea! I may steal that one.
LOL! not really... I ain't got much, as I always have a dog around to 'git that cat'... Once the dog knows what the cat ain't 'sposed to do, he will enthusiastically enforce your wishes, even when you are not present. The downside is that the dog enjoys going on tootsie-roll hunts in the litter box - so keep some breath mints handy, and take him to the car wash and spend about 4 bucks before you let him lick your face...
LOL! sommore... no really - without a dog to keep them in line, catnip where you want scratching, capsaicin, or sour apple, where you don't...
or you could just nail dead birds and fish to the scratching post - but most women won't stand for that for very long. I think they're jealous.
I’ve got a block of wood on my lounge-room floor, my six year old female loves it, uses it several times each day. They NEED something on which to maintain their claws, yes, she does sometimes try to scratch the furniture, but a spoken rebuff is enough to make her stop.
A piece of timber about 4 inches by 4 inches and 18 inches long should do the trick for you. A little rough, not planed smooth...
Do not declaw the cat... cats need their claws.
Suck on a peppermint and lightly breathe in the cats direction.
Excellent advice...that works for naughty dogs also. Comes the time they only need to see the bottle and off they run. Then comes the time they associate the act of scratching itself with the coming shower, and stop altogether.
I had a dog that would insist on jumping onto the outdoor table. A few squirts and he stopped.
It’s usually easy to trim a cat’s claws with a human style nail trimmer if you can see well enough at close distances to aim it short of nipping the vein. This in turn will encourage the cat to scratch, in order to regain the points on its claws. Test various products to see if you can find one the cat prefers. Oh, and remember the gainful attitude towards cats is that, while dogs have masters, cats have staff. You can train a cat but you have to put much more effort into pleasing it first.
Declawing is traumatic (like us getting amputated down a finger joint). But the claws can be trimmed or there are little caps to slip over each claw. Your vet can help. Another option is to pick one room, the cat room, filled with furniture of little value. And visit the cat. Use the cat’s room for your napping, reading, watching TV. This way you can still love the cat and protect your better furniture. I am a part time animal sitter so I get to see a lot of what works and what does not work.
Did you add perfume to the squirt gun with which you squirted the SIL and brother? My ex-brother-in-law would not have taken being squirted, not for a minute!
Well thank yew fer askin cause I need to know too. LOL
Darn cat has somewhere on the order of 3 different scratching posts but wants to shred good furniture. Won’t play with toys, either. Leaves papers & books looking like we have a teething puppy.
Our girl is ~5 y.o. so maybe too late to change her patterns. She’s never had a sense of humor, the least playful cat I’ve ever met. (3 y.o. when we took her in.) She seeks attention (for instance, by deliberately biting shower curtains when we’ve in the BR or book corners while we’re reading) even tho she anticipates a negative reaction.
[Did you still have to trim the nails or did this tip work?]
No. I knew I had to something because her claws kept getting caught in the carpet and because she was once feral and there are some things, even though domesticated, you just can’t do.
[I may steal that one.]
You’re welcome to it.
I have a cat tree that has heavy duty ruff rope tied around the limb. My cats have enjoyed scratching at that a lot. I have to get some more and recircle it and secure it as they have scratched the rope clean off from the tree limb.
I got a spray bottle not long ago for naughty cats. Each cat has a different personality; some take a few more squirts to get the message, some less. Now I just have to show it, and for the blind two, shake it so they hear what it is.
I love it. Saves fuss, muss and howling.
:-)
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