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Update: Gabby and whether or not we have killed him yet. Warning: LONG.



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 9th 07, 07:58 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
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Posts: 458
Default 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  
Old November 9th 07, 09:33 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cybercat
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Posts: 4,212
Default 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  
Old November 9th 07, 11:22 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
CatNipped[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,003
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 01:43 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
PawsForThought
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Posts: 140
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 02:47 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
CatNipped[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,003
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 02:49 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
CatNipped[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,003
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 11:54 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 458
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 12:04 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 458
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 12:50 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 458
Default 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  
Old November 11th 07, 01:09 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 458
Default 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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