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#1
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and
going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Anyway, he is now almost TWICE his original size. His frame appears HUGE to me now for some reason and he is weighs obviously more. You can tell when he lands on you that his landings are thuds rather than soft kitty landings. He is still beautiful, still looks like 90% of him is one cat, while 10% of him is ring-tailed lemur or raccoon. He comes when called, knows several words and phrases and listens all the time when it involves food and at least half of the time when it involves stopping what he's doing. He is still ferocious and attacks at will, but we can keep him calm enough. Now when I pet him, he nuzzles me keeping his mouth closed but rubs his teeth on me. Or sometimes he opens his mouth and bites with no pressure -- kind of like he took his teeth out of his mouth and just rested them on me. See #3 for more information on this note. The other day he was in a "bounce off of everything mood" so wound up halfway out of the door when I let the dogs out for the restroom before I could stop him. What he did do? He looked as if he had just been shot in the chest, totally bewildered and shocked, looked back and forth several times before spinning in a circle twice to see where he was, noticed the open door and me standing there giggling, and bolted back inside. He evidently does NOT want to go back to his stray no-home lifestyle. Who could blame him? I am quite convinced that what CatNipped sometimes says is absolutely true -- kittens are stupid. Gabby likes to sneak his head under the couch sideways (so that it fits) and then try and pull it out with his head upright (which doesn't fit). So he winds up screaming and digging in with all his might to reverse his path -- which doesn't work. A few times he has been lucky enough to realize he should crawl forward putting his entire body under the couch and then crawling out -- yep, you guessed it, by putting his head sideways out and under the couch. I say lucky and not smart because he does not do it on purpose in my opinion. Only as a last resort which makes him pretty daft. Also, we believe that we have bested his crazy "kill all" mentality (for the most part anyway). The few things we've done differently. 1. No more playing rough (thank you CatNipped and Sheelagh (quite possibly more)). 2. Timeouts - I think this was most fundamental in the "cooling down" stage. The crazier he acted the longer he stayed in the kennel in a side room. The best he got was seeing us walk past the room. He has even gotten to the point he won't cry out immediately because he knows we are ignoring him. After a significant timeout he calls softly to us and we let him out. And he stays calm for some time. (Thanks to myself for this one, and RobZip for letting me know I wasn't being cruel in doing so.) 3. Keeping those claws trimmed - Screw the nail coverings, forget the "teach him to not scratch stuff" method, none of those were effective. Cutting his nails as professional as possible and filing them have proven to be amazing! (Thanks to those who gave advice about trimming nails, how often to do it, how to pay attention to the location of the quick, et cetera. Sadly, my memory does not allow me to name specifically each individual who helped. (Although a Google Groups search could assist.)) Keeping his claws trimmed down introduced a SEVERE biting problem. I already mentioned in another post where the spouse had to "choke" Gabby off of one of our daughters. He was so worked up that he would NOT let go of our daughter and did SERIOUS damage after just a few seconds. Does she hate him? No, but it seriously damaged their relationship. She doesn't want anything to do with him as do the rest of our children. Which is most definitely sad. I hope that he continues this current streak of moderately good behavior and they can eventually calm down around him. It breaks my heart to see him in a "mood" and the girls stand at the ready in defensive postures blocking their faces or with arms extended ready to swat at him if/when he jumps at them. The only thing I know for certain is that if he does this as an adult to one of my children again (the total number of SERIOUS attacks are not at 8) he is going to the pound where he will be euthanized -- no questions asked. But enough of that negative thinking -- my boy has been behaving GREAT for almost a week! 4. NO DECLAW - This is actually part of 3. Thanks to Megan (http://www.stopdeclaw.com), cybercat, --MIKE, and several others who prevented me from harming my beautiful boy. See: Message-ID: 5. Cans of pressurized air - Thanks goes to ALL who mentioned things like shaking cans of marbles, pill bottles (that was mine), coins, et cetera to calm a kitty down. However, it didn't work. Nor did yelling. Nor did whistles. Nor did popping balloons. Nor did insert about ten other methods. Finally I got the bright idea to spray at him with canned air (NEVER at his face). One quick "SSSSSHHHHTT!!" at his bottom or his feet and he IMMEDIATELY stops the craziness. I refused to subscribe to the "he will become afraid of it" mentality simply because it was not hurting him. And luckily it worked. Considering this was a necessity to determine Gabby's fate, to us it was a gamble that was well worth the risk. 6. Grass - I forgot who initially mentioned this, but thank you! And a BIG thanks to --MIKE as well. Gabby was scared to death of this stuff at first but after only ten minutes he had snatched his first piece from the pot and was going to town. The entire family tried eating some (we always try whatever the animals have to eat) and none of us were impressed. I did try making a salad out of it since it did not have the normal bitter taste of normal grass and it turned out wonderful. I'll save that recipe for my cookbook though. : ) 7. Persistence (thank you Matt, cybercat, CatNipped, Sheelagh, and several others that my memory simply won't allow me to name). We were ready to believe that cats could not become socially trained animals, especially since he was getting worse. Thanks to the above tips amongst all of the other good advice we got here, it is definitely a keen situation again. I cannot stretch the truth and say there aren't times when he doesn't push the boundaries to the VERY limit, but at least for the most part he redeems himself. And for the times he does not, he sits in "kitty prison" (the kennel) until he realizes the error of his ways. For the most part, I have my loving and gentle kitten back and I thank you all for it. Thanks to everyone who showed patience without being an arse about it -- CatNipped, Sheelagh, --MIKE, Matthew, cybercat (yes, I said cybercat), mlbriggs, PawsForThought, and more I cannot remember. ** See my next installment in a few days entitled: "Gabby did something crazy again. We thought about killing him. Then he softened me up. Then he did something crazy again so I almost killed him. Then he did something nice and sweet. Then topic cut off due to length..." ** ; ) See ya'! -- -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
#2
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
"-Lost" wrote in message ... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Anyway, he is now almost TWICE his original size. His frame appears HUGE to me now for some reason and he is weighs obviously more. You can tell when he lands on you that his landings are thuds rather than soft kitty landings. He is still beautiful, still looks like 90% of him is one cat, while 10% of him is ring-tailed lemur or raccoon. Thanks for an excellent post. I am glad things are working out. Now then ... I NEED to see a photo of this cat! |
#3
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
"-Lost" wrote in message
... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* SNIP Gabby's adventures Hmmmm. I'm still worried about that biting - that's *not* good. A cat bite is very nasty and can cause some severe medical problems (the only worse bite is a human's). Aside from the kitten cry of "uncle", a high-pitched *MEW*, I don't know what else to tell you - that always worked for me with no further training needed. Would you be open to talking to an animal behavorist? Your vet probably knows one in your area. As much as I hate the idea of euthanasia, you really do have to think of your children first. As a precaution, you might want to make sure everyone in your household is up to date on their tetanus shots. In the meantime, I'll do a little more research on bite prevention and see what I can come up with. Hugs, CatNipped -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
#4
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
On Nov 9, 1:58 pm, "-Lost" wrote:
book length post snipped The only thing I know for certain is that if he does this as an adult to one of my children again (the total number of SERIOUS attacks are not at 8) he is going to the pound where he will be euthanized -- no questions asked. But enough of that negative thinking -- my boy has been behaving GREAT for almost a week! Gah! Sounds like your cat is acting like a playful teenager who perhaps hasn't been properly socialized, and who sounds like he would definitely benefit from another young cat playmate. I would hope before it comes to the point of you dumping him at a shelter to be euthanized, that you would rehome him to someone who truly wants to, and can, spend the necessary time with him. Yes, I know you've been trying to work with him (and thanks for not declawing, btw), but what you wrote above worries me. |
#5
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
"-Lost" wrote in message
... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Just wondering, have you tried hissing loudly at Gabby when he gets too rough? It doesn't do any good to yell and say "NO" because cats don't know our language, so we have to learn theirs. I've been around cats all my life, so I've learned to imitate all the sounds they make and I've learned when to make them in order to communicate what I want the cat to do (or *not* do). Regarding another suggestion to give Gabby to someone else before sending him to the pound... unless it's to someone who really knows how to train cats and understands what he/she is taking on with Gabby (and someone who doesn't have children), I wouldn't pass on a potential danger that I am not willing to face for myself or my family. Only you are there to gauge how bad the behavior is and how dangerous it makes Gabby, so all I can say is use your best judgment. I know you're doing the best you can in trying to socialize Gabby and give him a good, loving home. I thin that some people underestimate of don't understand just how dangerous a cat's bite can be (and, of course, we would all do any and everything to fix a problem rather than harm a cat in any way). Just to illustrate the danger (and hopefully I'm not scaring you with this): There was a story on Animal Planet about a woman, a pianist, whose cat fell from a second story balcony and impaled himself on a wrought iron fence. The woman rushed outside to try to help her cat, but she couldn't remove him from the fence. The best she could do was try to hold him still until help could arrive. The entire time she was holding him, the cat, in pain and terrified, continually bit her hands. She immediately got medical treatment at an emergency room, but the bites still got infected (a cat bite, unlike a scratch or a bite from a dog which has larger teeth, is a tiny hole, but a deep one, so it's extremely difficult to wash it out well - a lot of the time the outside of the wound will close, but the bacteria still deep inside will cause the wound to fester). The infection she got was very resistant to antibiotics and she ended up in the hospital again and again so she could be given intravenous medication. Every time they thought they had the infection under control it would spring up again. For quite some time the doctors thought they might have to amputate both her hands in order to stop the infection from becoming systemic. They were eventually successful in getting the infection under control without having to amputate, but her hands were permanently disabled (from the doctors continually cutting into the muscles to lance the wounds and remove pus). She was unable to play the piano well enough to continue to make her living doing so. [BTW, the cat lived and completely recovered.] Anyway, that is why I take cats' biting very seriously (and because I had a cat who was a biter and had to spend considerable amounts for my own medical treatments for cat bites). It's bad enough when an adult gets bitten, but their larger size and better immune system makes it harder for an infection to become systemic. A child who is bitten, however, can succumb easily to a rampant infection. Again, this is why I always strongly suggest that people *do not ever* play with kittens with their hands - *always* use a toy and divert your cat away from your hands, because once learned, this is a very hard habit to break (as you're finding out the hard way). As much as I love cats (and I am a complete ailurophile), I would still have to place a child's welfare over a pets'. I really hope you can find a way to get Gabby to quit his biting, I would be heart-broken to read that he had to be put down because of this. Anyway I'll keep thinking about this (so far all that I've read about curing cats from biting just lists all the things we've already suggested you do). Hugs, CatNipped |
#6
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
"CatNipped" wrote in message
... "-Lost" wrote in message ... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Just wondering, have you tried hissing loudly at Gabby when he gets too rough? It doesn't do any good to yell and say "NO" because cats don't know our language, so we have to learn theirs. I've been around cats all my life, so I've learned to imitate all the sounds they make and I've learned when to make them in order to communicate what I want the cat to do (or *not* do). Regarding another suggestion to give Gabby to someone else before sending him to the pound... unless it's to someone who really knows how to train cats and understands what he/she is taking on with Gabby (and someone who doesn't have children), I wouldn't pass on a potential danger that I am not willing to face for myself or my family. Only you are there to gauge how bad the behavior is and how dangerous it makes Gabby, so all I can say is use your best judgment. I know you're doing the best you can in trying to socialize Gabby and give him a good, loving home. I thin that some people underestimate of don't understand just how dangerous a cat's bite can be (and, of course, we would all do any and everything to fix a problem rather than harm a cat in any way). ACK! I'm way too groggy with cold medicine and the pain from getting not one, but TWO teeth drilled down to the bone in preparation for crowns this morning! That should have read, "I think that some people underestimate or don't understand just how dangerous a cat's bite can be." Just to illustrate the danger (and hopefully I'm not scaring you with this): There was a story on Animal Planet about a woman, a pianist, whose cat fell from a second story balcony and impaled himself on a wrought iron fence. The woman rushed outside to try to help her cat, but she couldn't remove him from the fence. The best she could do was try to hold him still until help could arrive. The entire time she was holding him, the cat, in pain and terrified, continually bit her hands. She immediately got medical treatment at an emergency room, but the bites still got infected (a cat bite, unlike a scratch or a bite from a dog which has larger teeth, is a tiny hole, but a deep one, so it's extremely difficult to wash it out well - a lot of the time the outside of the wound will close, but the bacteria still deep inside will cause the wound to fester). The infection she got was very resistant to antibiotics and she ended up in the hospital again and again so she could be given intravenous medication. Every time they thought they had the infection under control it would spring up again. For quite some time the doctors thought they might have to amputate both her hands in order to stop the infection from becoming systemic. They were eventually successful in getting the infection under control without having to amputate, but her hands were permanently disabled (from the doctors continually cutting into the muscles to lance the wounds and remove pus). She was unable to play the piano well enough to continue to make her living doing so. [BTW, the cat lived and completely recovered.] Anyway, that is why I take cats' biting very seriously (and because I had a cat who was a biter and had to spend considerable amounts for my own medical treatments for cat bites). It's bad enough when an adult gets bitten, but their larger size and better immune system makes it harder for an infection to become systemic. A child who is bitten, however, can succumb easily to a rampant infection. Again, this is why I always strongly suggest that people *do not ever* play with kittens with their hands - *always* use a toy and divert your cat away from your hands, because once learned, this is a very hard habit to break (as you're finding out the hard way). As much as I love cats (and I am a complete ailurophile), I would still have to place a child's welfare over a pets'. I really hope you can find a way to get Gabby to quit his biting, I would be heart-broken to read that he had to be put down because of this. Anyway I'll keep thinking about this (so far all that I've read about curing cats from biting just lists all the things we've already suggested you do). Hugs, CatNipped |
#7
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
Response to "cybercat" :
"-Lost" wrote in message ... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Anyway, he is now almost TWICE his original size. His frame appears HUGE to me now for some reason and he is weighs obviously more. You can tell when he lands on you that his landings are thuds rather than soft kitty landings. He is still beautiful, still looks like 90% of him is one cat, while 10% of him is ring-tailed lemur or raccoon. Thanks for an excellent post. I am glad things are working out. Now then ... I NEED to see a photo of this cat! Hey, sorry it took so long cybercat. I was checking out a few options and decided to go with Picasa. http://picasaweb.google.com/Lost.Gab...?authkey=3fwq- CIu_pQ -- -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
#8
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
Response to "CatNipped" :
"-Lost" wrote in message ... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* SNIP Gabby's adventures Hmmmm. I'm still worried about that biting - that's *not* good. Believe me, I know! Gabby's last two attacks have been VERY serious. He gets himself worked into such a frenzy that he refuses to let go. This last episode he actually shook his head back and forth on one of my daughter's shoulders ripping several tooth holes in her shirt and of course her skin. A cat bite is very nasty and can cause some severe medical problems (the only worse bite is a human's). Aside from the kitten cry of "uncle", a high-pitched *MEW*, I don't know what else to tell you - that always worked for me with no further training needed. Would you be open to talking to an animal behavorist? Your vet probably knows one in your area. As much as I hate the idea of euthanasia, you really do have to think of your children first. As a precaution, you might want to make sure everyone in your household is up to date on their tetanus shots. In the meantime, I'll do a little more research on bite prevention and see what I can come up with. Well, I have actually contacted all the vets in this area and none have any idea about anything like that. I also asked about a "cat trainer," "cat whisperer," "cat anything," and the best they came up with was the free awareness classes the refuge holds. The refuge said that I was already up to speed on everything they teach. ....and again, she (the refuge owner) strongly urged that I get Gabby declawed for safety reasons since it is evident he gets a mean streak once in a while. ANYWAY. I even contacted my friend's dad who runs the top notch dog training school around here and he had no clue what to do with a cat aside from training dogs with one. He meant to teach them how to behave, not how to eat the cat! And please do (more research), because so far you are the only one (that I remember) who has offered any real help in regards to his "violence." I have to note for the record though, that he is STILL being good. For I think almost a week or a little over a week he has been outstanding. Hyper as hell and doing some of the craziest oddball stuff I have ever seen, but its not US he's doing it to so it's fine by me AND the other occupants of this house -- furry or not. -- -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
#9
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Another LONG one. Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
Response to PawsForThought :
On Nov 9, 1:58 pm, "-Lost" wrote: book length post snipped Hey, I issued a warning in the title stating it was LONG. The only thing I know for certain is that if he does this as an adult to one of my children again (the total number of SERIOUS attacks are not at 8) he is going to the pound where he will be euthanized -- no questions asked. But enough of that negative thinking -- my boy has been behaving GREAT for almost a week! That should have been, "are noW at 8..." Gah! Sounds like your cat is acting like a playful teenager who perhaps hasn't been properly socialized, and who sounds like he would definitely benefit from another young cat playmate. Not going to happen. I would hope before it comes to the point of you dumping him at a shelter to be euthanized, that you would rehome him to someone who truly wants to, and can, spend the necessary time with him. Yes, I know you've been trying to work with him (and thanks for not declawing, btw), but what you wrote above worries me. I'll start by saying this reminds me of one of my spouse's friend's wife. She is a hateful woman who always starts some trashy, idiotic statement with, "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but..." (And this does not mean I think this of you, merely that it reminded me of that. You said something that could be taken hard, but try to ease out of it near the end.) So, "someone WHO TRULY WANTS TO, and CAN, spend the NECESSARY TIME with him" actually bothered me quite a bit. I have busted my arse to show Gabby he is loved above and beyond what the little fur ball deserves sometimes. I am the one who used their insomnia to good advantage and stayed up with him the entire first week or so he was here so he didn't have to be kenneled all night long only to be let out during the day when 5 other people and 6 or more animals would be running about the house scaring the hell out of him. I brush him, feed him, teach him, clean up after him, removed parasites from his nasty little hide, saved him from a thunderstorm that lasted almost 20 hours, vaccinated him, have kept him safe from the other animals here that could harm him, protected him even when HE did something to said animals to make them pounce back, I have rescued him from his fat head being stuck under the couch, under the bathroom door when he HAS to be nosy and see what I am doing, I am the one who did not sleep for nigh on 36 hours because the jerk ate a peanut M&M to watch for ill effects, and I absolutely KNOW due to my disability that I am surely missing even more stuff that I have done to go above and beyond the call of duty for an animal that has done nothing but be extremely cute, amaze us, and hurt us physically. Now, believe me, I know EXACTLY where you are coming from and I know your heart is in the right place, but this fanatical cat worship that prompts you or anyone else to be concerned about a problematic cat (he's not really that problematic in my opinion, it's just the violence, more on that in a minute) and not mention a SINGLE thing about my young children who live in fear of this little beasties' crazy hyper-rage spells does NOTHING in the way of making me remorseful to what MAY have to happen to Gabby one day. The problematic cat topic. I view Gabby as non-problematic but with one SERIOUS flaw. It is kind of like, what if the love of your life was the greatest person on Earth and you would literally die for them because they are so perfect in every way... the only problem was that one to three times a week he attacks one of your children beating, biting, or scratching them to the point that their skin is ripped, torn, bleeding, whatever. Like an angel with the soul of a demon. I am not sure if I am explaining that right. Anyway, point is beyond all the good we cannot handle nor correct (so far) the one serious flaw and that leaves but one other solution. I have actually mentioned in other posts several key things that you may have missed. 1. I tried finding him a home around 2 weeks ago before his recent good behavior spell. NO ONE wants cats. 2. The refuge is full. 3. The pet store does not take strays, or cats under normal circumstances during the holiday months October through December, and being that the owner is a friend of mine I had to tell her the reason we thought about relocating him. Which made the answer a definitive, "no." Surely you wouldn't want me to give him to a place that would euthanize him in a non-humane way once they found out he is mildly psychotic would you? 4. That ONLY leaves the pound which euthanizes after 5 days. So I didn't mean to sound as if he had only done one thing and immediately I opted to extinguish his life. I meant exactly what I said. We are dealing with the madness now, but if he latches onto one of my children as a much larger, late adolescent or adult cat and does what he does now, he is going to hurt one of my children severely. At that point waiting several days, to weeks, maybe longer for a home to open up will NOT be an option -- I will remove him from the home to protect my children effective immediately. They've already been through enough. 5. He has attacked a total of 8 times now. The last were REALLY serious. He tore a PLUG out of one of my daughter's hands AND her wrist and that was compounded by the 20+ deep grooves cut into her arm as he jockeyed for a better position. 6. This does not include the 1,435,384 other times he has playfully attacked and by playful I mean, didn't do ANYTHING damaging or even painful. 7. Not ONCE have I mentioned the laptop cord he chewed through, the set of earphones he chewed through, the mini-blinds he has chewed holes in, the exquisite pair of handmade chopsticks my grandfather gave me that cannot be replaced PERIOD, the stack of dishes he broke when he wedged himself behind the dish drain and the microwave sending an entire sink worth of dishes onto the floor, pushing my Betta fish aquariums off the shelves -- TWICE now, the 3 or maybe 4 pairs of flip flops and sandals he has chewed through, the shoelaces on my tennis shoes that he chewed through, uprooting a cactus we have had growing for years, carting off my keys so many times that I had to first call a locksmith to get into my car and also cost me more money to buy one of those things that help you locate stuff that had to be put on my keys, my glasses that he ran off with and we found chewed to pieces several days later in his KENNEL (I know, it cracked us up too), and anyway, the list goes on and on. The physical pain some of us in this household have to endure is the ONLY problem I have with Gabby when it boils down to it. On the other side of things I am ALWAYS open to more behavioral modification techniques or tried and proven methods of making him cease and desist mid-attack. You have provided great suggestions before so I'll eagerly listen. The canned air is still doing wonders too, by the way. In closing, I hope I didn't offend you, I wasn't angry or anything, just excited (I am excitable) and I normally come off wacky or agitated sounding when I am excited. Not to mention Gabby let me have a Red Bull: http://picasaweb.google.com/Lost.Gab...?authkey=3fwq- CIu_pQ So here's to Gabby living a long life with us assuming we can afford plate mail if things get out of hand again. See ya'. -- -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
#10
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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.
Response to "CatNipped" :
"-Lost" wrote in message ... Nope, he's still kicking... or should I say scratching and biting and going ape bouncing off of walls? *shrugs* Just wondering, have you tried hissing loudly at Gabby when he gets too rough? It doesn't do any good to yell and say "NO" because cats don't know our language, so we have to learn theirs. I've been around cats all my life, so I've learned to imitate all the sounds they make and I've learned when to make them in order to communicate what I want the cat to do (or *not* do). I have often wondered about that. How come dogs can come to understand verbal commands but cats supposedly cannot? I say supposedly only because Gabby comes when I call him. And if I say, "gabby-gabby-gabby" really fast and in a high-pitched voice he will bolt right past me and head for the food dish -- doesn't matter where I am, he knows that means food. However, I have tried hissing and it was because of what you taught me about crying "Uncle" in kittenese. I don't think I can make it loud enough without causing myself to choke. HAHAHA! One thing that I know I have forgot to mention is that Gabby listens to and responds to ME the most. So if I cry uncle right in his face, by the second or third time he is done. Thing is he goes on to easier prey -- the spouse, the puppies, the children. Regarding another suggestion to give Gabby to someone else before sending him to the pound... unless it's to someone who really knows how to train cats and understands what he/she is taking on with Gabby (and someone who doesn't have children), I wouldn't pass on a potential danger that I am not willing to face for myself or my family. Only you are there to gauge how bad the behavior is and how dangerous it makes Gabby, so all I can say is use your best judgment. I know you're doing the best you can in trying to socialize Gabby and give him a good, loving home. Exactly. I have not been able to locate (nor have I looked in a week or more) a suitable environment to put him into. Like I explained to PawsForThought, I am so immersed in that cat's life it's no wonder he likes me best and responds to me well. Everyone else is too scared to stick with it long enough. Remember you and Sheelagh actually had to tell me to STOP the rough play with him initially. I couldn't get enough of it -- either could he. I thin that some people underestimate of don't understand just how dangerous a cat's bite can be (and, of course, we would all do any and everything to fix a problem rather than harm a cat in any way). Exactly. I am no cat worshiper, but I definitely think I could be called a cat slave. Granted, I may lead a revolution one day but master treats me well enough for now. Just to illustrate the danger (and hopefully I'm not scaring you with this): There was a story on Animal Planet about a woman, a pianist, whose cat fell from a second story balcony and impaled himself on a wrought iron fence. snip Nope, didn't scare me a bit. And although I don't totally agree, I would have stood there holding the poor kitty too. And I kind of knew that about the teeth when I actually thought about it, so thanks for bringing it up! I really don't want a horrific cat bite... just for the record. Anyway, that is why I take cats' biting very seriously (and because I had a cat who was a biter and had to spend considerable amounts for my own medical treatments for cat bites). It's bad enough when an adult gets bitten, but their larger size and better immune system makes it harder for an infection to become systemic. A child who is bitten, however, can succumb easily to a rampant infection. Again, this is why I always strongly suggest that people *do not ever* play with kittens with their hands - *always* use a toy and divert your cat away from your hands, because once learned, this is a very hard habit to break (as you're finding out the hard way). As much as I love cats (and I am a complete ailurophile), I would still have to place a child's welfare over a pets'. Oh jeez, I know. Crazy thing is, I still believe this "violence" is mostly my fault. But jeez, I only roughhoused with him for maybe a week. He sure knows how to fight though. And agreed. I think I could be called an ailurophile as well. I adore Gabby. But like the "angel with a demon's soul" post I made, I have to think about everyone, definitely my kiddies. My beautiful, beautiful girls already have so many scars from this little bundle of sinewy terror. I really hope you can find a way to get Gabby to quit his biting, I would be heart-broken to read that he had to be put down because of this. I am really excitable and emotional at times, so just you mentioning that sent me down imagination lane and currently has me stifling watery eyes. To be honest, it may be a cop out, but that is why I would take him to the pound. I could not bear to take him to a vet and sit there while it happened or to know it was happening while I waited or even as I left. OK, now I am crying a bit. Anyway I'll keep thinking about this (so far all that I've read about curing cats from biting just lists all the things we've already suggested you do). Thank you, CatNipped. As always, I appreciate your help. And I know Gabby does too. Gabby as of yesterday: http://picasaweb.google.com/Lost.Gab...?authkey=3fwq- CIu_pQ -- -Lost Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am kidding. No I am not. |
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