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Cat Scratch Fever!



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 10th 07, 03:28 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.misc
[email protected]
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Posts: 1
Default Cat Scratch Fever!

On Oct 31 2002, 7:01 pm, Melissa wrote:
I appreciate that this is going to sound totally nutty, but I can accept
that. I also apologise for the length of my message, as it will take
awhile to explain the situation.

I have 3 cats. All adult females, all spayed. One is super, well
behaved, nothing phases her. We won't talk about her anymore.

The other 2, Aubrie and Rusty are the problems. Well, actually it's
mostly Aubrie.
When we first got Aubrie, she had an accident in the bathroom and has
since been known to pee in there if the door is left open. So it stays
closed and her out of it, unless we are in there with her. However,
after we had Rusty about 3 months, she decided that she was going to
scratch on the bathroom door atnight. We couldn't figure out why and
tried to get her to stop, which essentially meant covering the door with
tape sticky-side out and generally ignoring her when she did it (instead
of yelling or getting out of bed which we also tried). She stopped after
about 3 months (it was rough). That was this Spring.
Also, Aubrie has an obsessive-compulsive mirror-scratching issue. If the
mirror onourcloset door is left uncovered, she will sit and mindless
scratch on it (I'd think she was after herself but she stares off
sideways and her eyes get all glazed over), so I have a towel taped over
it.
Up until we got married a month ago, these issues (though not entirely
solved) were dealt with. But we got married and took a two week
honeymoonduringwhich time all doors were closed inourapartment and
they were not allowed to go into the bedrooms or the bathroom. When we
got back, everything seemed pretty normal until about a week ago.
Aubrie started doing her mindless scratching on my wood dresser (solved
by tucking a towel in the top drawyer to cover it) or on laundry baskets
which we kept in the closet (door has to be open as she'll scratch on
the mirror and I can only cover one door)--so we took the laundry
baskets out of the room. Problem solved? Nope. Now shescratches
mindlessly on theWALLin the middle of thenight. I think she's hungry
(she's on a diet), but I will NOT give in and feed her as she will just
get hungry again by the time I get up for work or learn that scratching
gets me to feed her.
So here comes the oppositecatproblem: if I close the door and lock all
three cats out of the room, Aubrie can't wake me up by scratching on
anything. However, Rusty will scratch on the door to come back in and be
with us or just to get the door open (she has always hated closed
doors!). So I can't lock them out and I can't leave them in...

What do I do?? Declawing is NOT an option and otherwise all 3 are in
perfectly great health. We have asked the vet about this and she
recommended closing them all in another room, but that's not an option
givenourapartment and the fact that the 3 cats are not the best of
friends, and would probably kill each other if they were locked in the
other bedroom! I've also tried the squirt gun method, but they come back
in 10 minutes and do it again no matter what I do (yell, stomp near
them, threaten to take them back to the shelter, squirt them, etc etc).

So, any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm losing
sleep and patience. We are not willing to give any of them up but I
can't continue to be sleep-deprived because of my cats!!

Thanks in advance,
Melissa


Hi Melissa,

I realize that you posted the above nearly 5 years ago... I hope that
you're still able to get email at the same address. I also hope that
you solved the scratching problem with your kitty. We have to 2
cats... one docile & sweet & nothing bothers her (except her sister),
the other cat is younger & pretty active. We are having the same
scratching problem with the younger cat... she scratches on the walls
in the bedroom, she scratches on the dresser & on the closet mirror
which is on the outside door of the closet. It's always in the middle
of the night... It's SO ANNOYING & is driving us crazy! We can't block
her out of the bedroom.... b/c of the way the house is layed out. I
don't know what to do already... okay we can cover up the mirror but
we can't cover all of the walls! I can't impagine trying to put those
softpaws on her, I doubt she'd let me. We have a hard enough time
holding her down to clip her nails. It's a real ordeal & takes 2 of
us... we do come away injured most times.

If you solved your problem, can you please tell me what you did? I
would appreciate any suggestions.... if anyone knows WHY cat's do
this.. could you please clue me in?

Sleepless, soon to be Catless in NY.

Please send replies to me ...... not sure what
my hotmail password is since I haven't used the account in quite
awhile.

  #2  
Old March 24th 07, 06:05 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.misc
Catlover Medway via CatKB.com
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default Cat Scratch Fever!

Connie did all the right things: covering up the substrate and ignoring.
However, scratching is natural behaviour and alternative cat scratching posts
need to be provided. They have to be high enough for the cat to do a full
vertical stretch and to take a cat's full weight. Many are not robust enough.
I suspect these are indoor cats who need more stimulation. Have a look at the
"Indoor cats" section in the link below.

http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour.html

wrote:
On Oct 31 2002, 7:01 pm, Melissa wrote:
I appreciate that this is going to sound totally nutty, but I can accept
that. I also apologise for the length of my message, as it will take

[quoted text clipped - 54 lines]
Thanks in advance,
Melissa


Hi Melissa,

I realize that you posted the above nearly 5 years ago... I hope that
you're still able to get email at the same address. I also hope that
you solved the scratching problem with your kitty. We have to 2
cats... one docile & sweet & nothing bothers her (except her sister),
the other cat is younger & pretty active. We are having the same
scratching problem with the younger cat... she scratches on the walls
in the bedroom, she scratches on the dresser & on the closet mirror
which is on the outside door of the closet. It's always in the middle
of the night... It's SO ANNOYING & is driving us crazy! We can't block
her out of the bedroom.... b/c of the way the house is layed out. I
don't know what to do already... okay we can cover up the mirror but
we can't cover all of the walls! I can't impagine trying to put those
softpaws on her, I doubt she'd let me. We have a hard enough time
holding her down to clip her nails. It's a real ordeal & takes 2 of
us... we do come away injured most times.

If you solved your problem, can you please tell me what you did? I
would appreciate any suggestions.... if anyone knows WHY cat's do
this.. could you please clue me in?

Sleepless, soon to be Catless in NY.

Please send replies to me
...... not sure what
my hotmail password is since I haven't used the account in quite
awhile.


--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/cats/200703/1

 




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