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.
Get a dog...put catnip on the dog. enjoy the show
The double sided clear tape that you can get at a pet store may work.
I agree with the posters above who suggest catnip on the scratch pad. That and praise after she uses it.
A change in the location of the scratch pad might also be considered at some point. Mine likes to go to the scratch pad after eating or drinking water.
Put the scratch pad next to where the cat scratches most. Also, get a scratchpad that hangs from a doorknob or is vertical and stands free.
Get a piece of scrap carpet and rub some catnip on it.
If the scratching pad is not made of carpet, get her one that is. Make sure it is solid and won’t move when she scratches it.
Put some catnip on it as others have said.
Pick up a spray bottle of some type of Off for cats (I can’t remember the name/brand) at a pet store and spray on the recliner.
Keep her claws trimmed.
Good luck.
Of course, she is a sweet kitty we are keeping for my daughter and family when she returns from her overseas assignment. Kitty is very clean, kind and affectionate with just one bad habit we are trying to break.
You’ve heard all the good suggestions. Catnip where you want her to scratch. Deterrent where you don’t want. Double sided tape or some sort of spray. We had a spray with a sour apple scent they don’t like.
Or, just use a water sprayer, but you have to be there to catch them in the act. The other methods work when you aren’t around.
I can’t say how to get her to use a pad, but they do sell plastic covers for their nails for a few bucks... could try them out. They basically slip over their nails, so when they “scratch” they don’t do any damage.
Yep. Definitely catnip.
I was asking if you want mine? My son in NYC dumped her on my wife with a bunch of fairytales about his fiancé being ‘allergic’.....yeah, allergic to a cat from pestering hell.
I’ve had many cats. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get them to stop scratching furniture. They’d be okay while I was home, but I always returned to new scratch marks.
In the end, I adopted cats that were already declawed.
Good Luck.
.22LR works on cats.
.22 Shorts inside city limits.
I would just do the declaw anyway. I’ve had declawed cats all my life and have never had any with arthritis or any other problems. They still do the whole scratching motion, so their muscles get used all the time, but they just don’t actually scratch anything.
I have a blind cat and I was afraid to declaw him, because I thought it might make it harder for him to get around. But, after getting some really fancy leather sofas, I went for it. You’d never know it. He’s been fine for years now without claws and I don’t have any more little holes in my shirt from when I pick him up, which is quite nice! :-)
Yeah. You can go a few routes on that front. Make your own with some hot pepper (little bit of cayenne or chili) and water, it doesn’t take much since they have sensitive noses. Or there’s stuff you can buy in the store, Boundary is one we’ve bought. Could definitely be the texture, the major types of scratch post/ pad are carpet, wound rope, and sideways cardboard. Might try getting the types you don’t have and see if the cat shows a preference. Another angle to try is putting the pad “in the way” lean it on the chair corner she shows a preference for, could be the cat just likes that chunk of the house.
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