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Another cat saved by declawing.



 
 
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  #21  
Old February 20th 04, 12:10 AM
Mary
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I decided against declawing. It seems mean and they are really good
about peeing appropriately.


I didn't see your original post. Here are some tips on helping them scratch
appropriately.

1. Hopefully he likes catnip. If so, rub it all over the scratching post.
Scratch the post yourself, if he still doesn't use it, take his little paws and
scratch the post with them and tell him he's a good kitty. Remember to
associate positive things with acceptable clawing and negative things with
unacceptable clawing.

2. Try a scratching mat. Some prefer horizontal over vetical surfaces.

3. Try sisal, rug, cardboard, fabric... covered trees or mat. You can get cheap
thin door mats and staple gun them to a cat tree. Use canvas if he really likes
fabric. Be sure the stapes go vertical like this "|" and not horizontal like
this "--" so they don't get their claws stuck in there.

4. Put double sided tape where he likes to scratch. They won't like the
stickiness. They may then scratch a few inches over from the tape so be
prepared to add more. Keep no. 5 in mind when using the tape.

5. Don't let him in that room where he scratches when you're not around. When
you're around stand gaurd with a squirt gun and squirt him from a distance when
he scratches the furniture. If he's real persistent, put a little bit of
vinegar in the squirt gun. You can also yell "NO!" when he scratches there. I
also like to take him away from that area instantly and take him to the
scratchy tree, hold his paws and help him scratch while praising him. Make it a
fun experience, don't hold him forcefully or he'll fear the kitty tree. Make
everything associated with the kitty tree positive. I sometimes will put a
scratchy tree close to the furniture they are clawing so they have a nearby
alternative.

6. Put vinegar where he scratches. They don't like the smell.

7. Try some of that cat away spray.

8. Try a scat mat where he is scratching.

9. Get rid of fabric furniture with vertical fabric sides. Get THICK leather or
wood sofa and chairs.

10. Try soft paws.

11. Try trimming his claws every ten days. Some do once a week.

12. Whenever you see him clawing appropriately, praise and reward him lavishly.
Continue to praise him forever or he may get lazy.

13. Try Feliway to calm them down.

14. Make sure your cat tree is tall and heavy enough. Big kitties will topple a
small light one with a small base. I put weights on the bottom of mine. I get
the big ones. I also have a multi-tier cat tree they like to rip up.

15. Try this product, a cat tree that attaches to the side of your couch.
http://www.birminghamind.com/Scratchaway/index.html


  #22  
Old February 20th 04, 01:42 AM
d w a c o n
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Good thing I have that extra set of pliers in the garage. Here kitty...


--
The generation that used acid to escape reality
Is now using antacid to deal with reality
http://www.dwacon.com


  #23  
Old February 20th 04, 07:50 AM
Robert Casey
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Applying them wasn't easy. It was no more difficult than trimming
their nails but they don't like that either. It's amazing how bendy
they are when they want to escape. I did manage to get them on.

I'm not sure about their choice of plastic. It looks and feels like
polyethylene which is pretty close to inert. Hell, that's what they
put crazy glue in.


Hopefully they breathe so the paws don't get all sweaty, wet and fungus-y.

As for scratching posts, my father built a big one with a base about 2
feet square
and in teh center a 4 inch square post about 3 feet tall. Which was
covered with
carpet. Our cat liked to hop to the top of the post, as it gave him a
good view of
the room. When he was a kitten, he'd run and hop to the top. Well, as
he grew
he got more massive and could run faster as well. Well, he hoped to the
top, but
his body mass kept going and the post tipped over.... No, he didn't
get hurt, but
he did learn to not run so fast first.

  #24  
Old February 20th 04, 08:36 AM
Mark Healey
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On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 06:50:05 UTC, Robert Casey
wrote:

Day 2 and they are still on. I'm still catching them trying to remove
them, doing a pretty hard mouth yank. I suspect the trick is to keep
them on long enough so that they will think that they are a natural
part of their feet.

  #25  
Old February 20th 04, 06:08 PM
Mary
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When he was a kitten, he'd run and hop to the top. Well, as
he grew
he got more massive and could run faster as well. Well, he hoped to the
top, but
his body mass kept going and the post tipped over.... No, he didn't
get hurt, but
he did learn to not run so fast first.

This is why I anchor my cat trees and scratchy posts. I generally put one part
of the base under a heavy armoir, foot of the couch or brace it against the
wall. I also put my 10 lb weights on the base so it won't tip over. My cat Mimi
likes to attack her tree as if she's doing football tackle training. She used
to be a bad cat scratcher, took me a month to train her not to scratch the
couch and to use the trees.
  #26  
Old February 20th 04, 06:48 PM
Alton
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pam (Mary) wrote in message ...

I didn't see your original post. Here are some tips on helping them scratch
appropriately.


4. Put double sided tape where he likes to scratch. They won't like the
stickiness. They may then scratch a few inches over from the tape so be
prepared to add more. Keep no. 5 in mind when using the tape.

5. ..... I also like to take him away from that area instantly and take him to the scratchy tree, hold his paws and help him scratch while praising him. Make it a fun experience, don't hold him forcefully or he'll fear the kitty tree. Make everything associated with the kitty tree positive. I sometimes will put a
scratchy tree close to the furniture they are clawing so they have a nearby
alternative.

14. Make sure your cat tree is tall and heavy enough. Big kitties will topple a
small light one with a small base. I put weights on the bottom of mine. I get
the big ones. I also have a multi-tier cat tree they like to rip up.


Everything you said really rings true. Early on, I had various
furniture and loveseats ripped up -- with great poufs of padding
blossoming out and shredded upholstery fabric. The ripping didn't
stop until I used tons of double-sided tape all over the backs, sides,
and arms of furniture for a month or two -- and also I got cat trees
and posts with various textures for scratching. I placed the cat
furniture (sprinkled with catnip at first) near my upholstered
furniture and placed the cat posts (rubbed with catnip) at entry
areas.

They like putting their scent on entry areas (e.g., door jambs, doors,
foyers, stair railings and newel posts) by scratching and/or rubbing
because their scent announces their presence and their right to live
here to all who enter. I haven't had a kitty scratch my upholstered
furniture since I first used the sticky tape and placed the cat
furniture in strategic places.

Alt.
http://www.lovethatcat.com
  #28  
Old February 21st 04, 07:14 AM
m. L. Briggs
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On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 04:26:37 GMT, Laura R.
wrote:

circa Fri, 20 Feb 2004 07:36:36 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
Mark Healey ) said,
Day 2 and they are still on. I'm still catching them trying to remove
them, doing a pretty hard mouth yank. I suspect the trick is to keep
them on long enough so that they will think that they are a natural
part of their feet.

They're too large. I know I said this already, but if the cats are
noticing them, it's because they're on too large and they're covering
too much of the claw. They should only cover the part of the claw
that sticks out when the claws are *retracted*.

Laura

I had Soft Paws put on TuTu twice. The first time the Vet used medium
size because TuTu is a big cat. She decided to use the small size the
second time. She did trim the nails first. TuTu apparently learned
her lesson about being so quick to scratch. I do not have the Soft
Paws on her now. She never bothers the furniture, but has several
scratching posts.
  #29  
Old March 9th 04, 05:32 PM
Michael Stokes
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WHAT THE HELL HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH LOVE?
"Mark Healey" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 23:52:24 UTC, (He Who
Walks) wrote:

My cat (DQB) had been tearing up my furniture (as well as my patience)
by clawing everything, particularly when I would have to be being out
of town for two or three days at a time.

My friends Ken and Kathy told me about the success they had with
declawing their equally destructive cat so I thought I would give it a
try. I only had the front ones done, as DQB was not doing much with
the back ones.

DQB walked gingerly for about a week or two, but since then no
problems.

The owner (moi) is much happier now.

Another cat saved from the knackers.

Thank you Jesus for seeing DQB through the brief recovery and helping
me have the perservance .... Amen!


I don't know if this guy is a troll or not but I've been seriously
considering it. I have a couch at the upholstery guys place right
now.
I told him to make some pieces that go over the arms from the scrap
but that is a temporary measure. I'm not home to be Joe vigilant
training them not to scratch. They have a cat stand that they ignore.
They have torn up my box spring, the above mentioned couch, a $100
leather covered book.

That is all live-with-able. What isn't is that one likes to scratch
my Mame-cab at night. It is pretty much a Formica covered hollow box.
There isn't much damage but it is all kinds of noisy and he seems to
only like to do it when I am just starting to doze off.

I would like the pros and cons without a bunch of high abstractions
about mutilating their natural form (they are already eunuchs).

--
Mark Heaely
marknews(at)healeyonline(dot)com



  #30  
Old March 9th 04, 06:18 PM
Cheryl
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"Michael Stokes" wrote in message
news:1km3c.71851$6Z.48009@newsfe1-win...
WHAT THE HELL HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH LOVE?


What's love got to do [got to do] with it?


 




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