Any cat owners....?

miss notax

I have always had cats, and after a gap of a few years I got the lovely Alice last week. She's only a year old so still quite small and kitteny, but seemingly quite a smart little thing (phew - no-one wants a stupid cat )!

I think maybe i'm just out of practice with kittens, but the most commonly heard phrase at home now is ALICE NO!!!!! I've tried the usual moving her to the scratching post when she starts on the sofa, picking her off as soon as she jumps on the table blah blah but none of it seems to be sinking in :? I heard once that cats never mature beyond the 'thinking' of a 4 years old toddler - I'm not used to 4 year old kids so not sure that's overly helpful!

My previous cats got the hang of the scratching post, not jumping on the table etc (obviously they ignored me a lot of the time but at least they knew it was wrong!)

Any ideas to save my sofa / sanity?

big_p

get some cat nip spray and give the scratch post a good dousing, then use pine or lemon scented surface cleaner where you don't want the little bugger to go.

when said little bugger is on the table/work surface, you should push it off quite firmly while simultaneously making a disagreeable noise.

when you feed the little bugger, don't place it's bowl on the work top while you fill it, do it on the floor, if the little bugger see's you doing it on the work top, it'll associate that place with feeding time.

i have always had a cat in my life since the day i was born, i have 3 of the little buggers at the moment, you need to accept that they own you, not the other way round, you'll never truly train them, but you can guide them.

and if all else fails, they hate the smell of surgical spirit......but then, so do most humans.

bollo, naboo and spud cat wish you well.

hopper1

When I had my last cat (sadly, now gone) I used a little 'plant sprayer', filled with water. If she jumped on to the work surface, or anywhere I didn't want her to, I'd just give her a little spray with the atomised water... No harm done, to cat, or furnishings. She hated the hissy sound that the spray gun emitted, too... Bonus!
Soon, all was well in the Hopper household.

cooldad

Spade, ditch, head on backwards.

Or am I in the wrong forum?

The Rookie

We have a number of cats and are also fosterers with Cat's protection Charity so go through about 30 kittens a year.

A sharp 'Ah-Ah' works wonders (use it right and the cat/kitten will stop what it's doing) - As used by Victoria Stillwell (Phoar) on the dog traing program, then stop them doing what you don't want and get them doing what you do, wait to seconds and then congratulate them - they soon learn what makes you unhappy with them!

For scratching take them to the scratching post (or use a floor pad - some prefer that) and hold there paws and make a scratching motion, cat's aren't stupid, they soon pick it up.

Cat's are far smarter than a 4 year old, they know what they want to do, they know pretty soon what you don't want them to do, it's making the latter 'stronger' than the former that makes them behave.

Shame on you CD!

miss notax

Thanks guys (apart from cooldad )

I think maybe i'm expecting too much too soon - my previous cats knew exactly what was what, but they were a lot older and wiser! I love the way that cats are independant thinkers so even when they KNOW what they should and shouldn't be doing, they might just sod everyone else and do what they want anyway

Alice is picking up the important things (cat flaps, litter tray etc) so that's enough for now!

The Beginner - Alice came from CP and the forsterer I collected her from was the most lovely lady - huge respect for you guys! I would be in tears every time one of them left

cooldad

Yeah, I'm sorry it was a stupid statement to make. A microwave is much simpler, but they taste awful.

EH_Rob

This is my cat.



No problems with scratching to report.

cooldad

Catfish - yummier than plain cat.

cat_with_no_tail

Miss Notax, are you not single now?

Is this the start of you turning into crazy cat lady?

miss notax

Yeah, i'm working on it

pesky_jones

hopper1 wrote:

When I had my last cat (sadly, now gone) I used a little 'plant sprayer', filled with water. If she jumped on to the work surface, or anywhere I didn't want her to, I'd just give her a little spray with the atomised water... No harm done, to cat, or furnishings. She hated the hissy sound that the spray gun emitted, too... Bonus!
Soon, all was well in the Hopper household.

This ^^^

I've just got a jack russell pup and am stuggling with him and the cat... the jack russell goes mad whenever he sees the cat, and the cat just runs away for the night. The jack russell doesnt want to hurt the cat, just play with him. Its a bit off topic but I think the thing with terriers is the chase, they're not that fussed by what they're chasing - as long as its small and furry then they're game.

But yeah use some type of water sprayer. It will take a while but eventually they'll learn

bennett_346

Treat when they use the post, tell them off when they don't. Or maybe it enjoys being mischievious.

OCLV74

Dogs have owners, cats have servants.

.blitz

How big is the scratching post? When our cat was a kitten we bought it a kitten-sized post it was about 2 ft high but she hardly used it. Got another leopard-size post over four feet high with a big base and the cat went straight to it and clawed it to death all the time, loved it

My theory is they like to really stretch out and get stuck in when they are scratching. If the post is too small or doesn't support them they won't use it.

miss notax

.blitz wrote:

How big is the scratching post? When our cat was a kitten we bought it a kitten-sized post it was about 2 ft high but she hardly used it. Got another leopard-size post over four feet high with a big base and the cat went straight to it and clawed it to death all the time, loved it

My theory is they like to really stretch out and get stuck in when they are scratching. If the post is too small or doesn't support them they won't use it.

That's an interesting thought.... It is quite a sturdy one (as opposed to one of high street ones that fall apart) but it is quite short. I'll have a ponder about that.

The scratching post has been temporarily replaced by something much more exciting - the christmas tree She still isn't allowed outside, so I can only imagine her sheer delight at having a REAL TREE appear in the corner of the lounge. She's pretty good with the baubles but it's rather strange seeing a little cat face peering out inbetween the branches from 4ft up a tree :shock: Obviously as soon as I get the camera out for a £250 YBF moment she disppears :roll:

The heavy duty base I got when I got the tree is without doubt the best £15 I have ever spent....

Thewaylander

As i always say,

buy another cat, if one gets out on line execute in front of the rest and the others shoud fall in line

miss notax

YeehaaMcgee

miss notax wrote:

no-one wants a stupid cat

I've got a stupid cat, and I like it. It stares gormlesly at people with it's tongue lolling out. It's also huge, and has never hunted, and has never scratched any furniture.
After getting a birdfeeder in the garden, it decided that about 8 years old was the perfect time to start using a scratching post, and has nearly cut the thing down. The birds still take no notice of him.

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that maybe you should have got a stupid cat. They're much less hassle.

The Rookie

miss notax wrote:

The Beginner - Alice came from CP and the forsterer I collected her from was the most lovely lady - huge respect for you guys! I would be in tears every time one of them left

No probs, you do get used to kittens coming and going, we rehomed 2 from a litter of 6 yesterday, glad you didn't buy a kitten and encourage more unnecesary breeding.....

YeehaaMcgee

Thewaylander wrote:

As i always say,

buy another cat, if one gets out on line execute in front of the rest and the others shoud fall in line

That's how I used to operate the nursery/daycare center I ran. Until it got shut down.
Hellishly effective.

Gazlar

Not being a cat owner, it seems the way to look after cats is to leave them outside and then when a neighbour opens their door they move in there temporarily and scratch their stuff.

I remember returning from a weekend away one summer and I'd left an upstairs window open. The spare bedroom was full of grey fur and faecal matter as the neighbours cat had decided to climb on the kitchen roof and move in. It was sat there pleased as punch when I got back and gave me a look that said " yes can I help you"

Alternatively, ask the pope, he's a cataholic

sanchez89

1. cat+bag+brick+canal = win

2. buy dog

bennett_346

Dogs are smelly, unclean and stupid animals that are needy of their owners attention. Cats are intelligent, self sufficient animals that don't need constant care and attention, and can often do most of the things dogs do anyway (ours happily played fetch).

The Northern Monkey

Only 1 place for a cat...

miss notax

Awww - poor kitty :shock:

Well, my efforts to keep Alice away from my sofas / Christmas tree etc etc isn't exactly working yet....



Obviously as soon as I put the camera (in anticipation of my YBF £250 8) ) down she was up the Christmas like a rocket. Hey ho :roll:

projectsome

You want a lazy cat like mine. I know exactly where my cat is, and I'm not even home.

My cat also has a rolled up bit of rug she scratches.

snoopsmydogg

sanchez89 wrote:

1. cat+bag+brick+canal = win

2. buy dog

this

Raymondavalon

hopper1 wrote:

When I had my last cat (sadly, now gone) I used a little 'plant sprayer', filled with water. If she jumped on to the work surface, or anywhere I didn't want her to, I'd just give her a little spray with the atomised water... No harm done, to cat, or furnishings. She hated the hissy sound that the spray gun emitted, too... Bonus!
Soon, all was well in the Hopper household.

Pah, my cat Milo (who has been resettled in France) also liked to tread on forbidden grounds
I used MucOff bike cleaner, he'd spend hours licking himself until the bubbles finally subsided.

Yes, I do like cats, they're clean, independant, cute and also make a damned good curry or stir fry should poverty ever kick in...

wmorgs

I own two trained german shepards and two cats, people come to the house look at dogs and think o fark.....

I say its not the dogs its my black cat that you need to worry about, has attacked staffs, a fox, sheepdogs etc
I was bricking a wall up in the summer and a woman asked me if i owned a black cat and i said yes she said it had been attacking here lab for the last five mins.....
I also get Paul Potts the Opera dude walks past with his white german shepard and he has even attacked that

bobs bikes

here is my girlfriends cat simba, this one is stupid!