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#21
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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. |
#27
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#28
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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
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#30
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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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