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I could use some advice! One of my cats, Olivia, has been very destructive lately. This behavior is only a few months old. She scratches on doorways leaving deep claw marks in the wood and shreds the carpeting around the thresholds of the doors. She has plenty of things to scratch. I play with her a lot so I doubt it could be extra energy. If she wasn't completely destroying things, I wouldn't care. I can make the home repairs myself, but I digress....there's a lot to fix and how many times can I repair things? Declawing is absolutely NOT an option. (Please lets not get into that "debate.") I was going to use Kitty Kaps but when I was restraining her (I have a special restraint bag. Burritoing her didnt go well either.) She got so upset it broke my heart and I couldn't do it. Ive never seen her get that upset. I'm not sure those things will even stay on anyway. Another thing I've tried is spraying lemon (kitties dont like lemon) in the areas she shouldn't scratch. It only works for a few hours. I tried making loud noises when I catch her in the act. I tried a spray bottle....she "talks back" and continues!!! I'm desperate and any advice would be greatly appreciated. If you need more info, just ask.  Feb 01 13 10:22 am Link Spray bottles are only a minor irritation. Get a super soaker!   Maybe she just needs to get laid? Put a little catnip where she should scratch? Any ideas Fergy/Jen? You're the domesticated animalz eckspertz! Feb 01 13 10:41 am Link Jake freaks out when we point a canned air can at him and spray air at home would it perhaps work for olivia? Feb 01 13 10:44 am Link Marc Damon wrote:
Feb 01 13 10:46 am Link SPierce Photography wrote: Yup. But then she goes right back. She's so persistent. -_- Feb 01 13 10:47 am Link Its a behavior issue. Have you been away from home or otherwise not soending quality time with the cat? A quick shout/yell should work if she is reasonably well adjusted. Feb 01 13 11:03 am Link Do you trim her nails regularly? That will help cut down on the destruction a bit. Blunt nails will do less damage. Ummmm... hm. Nip won't work, I agree about the declawing thing, lemon doesn't work for long enough... Have you called your vet for ideas? My sister is a vet tech and cat person, I can ask her when I get off work if she has any suggestions. Paging Jen! Come in Jen! Feb 01 13 11:18 am Link move the furniture if possible. tape cardboard to trouble areas. move cats water dish, clean the litter box, check cats teeth - sometimes they are trying to tell you something else is wrong. maybe she wants outside. some cats can't live indoors. Feb 01 13 11:50 am Link Robb Mann wrote: We have lots of quality time. As I stated before, when I holler at her, she "talks back" and continues. Feb 01 13 01:47 pm Link HellBelle wrote: Gosh I feel stupid. I hope she will let me trim them. That's what I was attempting to do last night, so I could apply the Kitty Kaps. I will have to try again. Thank you!!! Feb 01 13 01:49 pm Link how old is she, and is she fixed? My kitten was super incredibly destructively hellish for about a year or so, then she cooled it the fuck off. Feb 01 13 01:52 pm Link Tore wrote: It costs money, but your vet will put them on for you, and you dont have to feel like the bad guy. Feb 01 13 01:53 pm Link sdgillis wrote: Where's a cat psychic when you need it? Feb 01 13 01:54 pm Link Laura UnBound wrote: She's about two and yes, she's fixed. Feb 01 13 01:55 pm Link Laura UnBound wrote: I don't care about the money and that's a fabulous idea. Thank you so much! Feb 01 13 01:56 pm Link I throw empty pop bottles. My older cats learned that the squirt bottle was evil. They didnt care at first but the more they got squirted for being naughty the more they hated it. Just keep squirting. My older cats still freeze and blink their eyes like "ohh, I know its coming!" I have two little kitties who are the biggest mooches and steal food. They've been learning that its not nice - by getting pushed out of their warm spots on my lap. I'm just glad I dont have as many kittens anymore. Do you know how hard it is to eat when you're getting mobbed by 10 kittens?! Feb 01 13 01:59 pm Link Tore wrote: They don't work. Feb 01 13 01:59 pm Link -Jen- wrote: They worked on my fatcat. Any time I found him scratching the couch we'd start the procedure of clipping his nails and putting the caps on (until I got them all on or he escaped. I usually got them all on) Feb 01 13 02:48 pm Link Tore wrote: My mom spends a lot of time outside, especially in the summer, gardening and stuff, so the cats go out with her. Luckily theyre both scared of cars so they dont go out in the road. Fatcat is pretty much afraid of everything so he stays close to the door or my mom and doesnt like to be out for too long. My other cat has decided our 1.5 acre yard is so boring, shes begun adventuring in the neighbors yards and field but she always comes back. (so far) She'll be out for hours but eventually she gets bored/tired/hungry/lonely. We try to keep her out of the field and bring her in before it gets dark so she doesnt tangle with any foxes/racoons Feb 01 13 02:53 pm Link You could get her a harness if you decide to go the "take her outside" route. My cat has one and we take her out in the spring (summer is too hot for her, she's a Maine Coon and 16 lbs of dark grey puffball in the midwestern heat/humidity... yeah. bad.) Good luck on the nail trimmings! They suck. My cat was a rescue a friend found outside and she was already fully declawed, but some of our other cats at home have claws, and they're a bitch to catch hold of to trim. Usually my sister does it, since she knows how to restrain them properly to do it. Sometimes it helps to have another person restrain (if you can't get them into a blanket burrito) while you trim. Feb 04 13 06:02 am Link -Jen- wrote: Thanks Jen. Feb 05 13 08:43 am Link |
He learned what the bathroom drawer that holds the nail clippers sounds like. He'd scratch and Id yell "HEY", hed look at me, Id get up and go to the bathroom, when I got back he was hiding. Eventually he quit.