Conference misery::feline_v1

    Even cats who love water can be trained that a squirt from the spray
    bottle means "knock it off!!". :^)  Try keeping COLD water in the
    bottle, put the bottle on spray mist and get up close to her when you
    do it.  Sometimes the hiss of the spray mist is enough of a deterant.
    
    My method of training kittens is to not allow them access to things
    that they may want to scratch when I am not right there ready to
    redirect them if they screw up. That means leaving them in my bedroom
    during the day when I am not home.  Also, I have found that a post
    covered with Sisal rope is much better for initial training as it is so
    much more fun to scratch than the sofa or carpeted trees.  The cats
    really go for the sisal.
    
    Be consistent, never let her get away with the scratching when you are
    there to correct her.  Use a spray bottle to correct her.  Never throw
    her onto her post in anger after she has scratched the sofa (creates
    negative connections with the post), give lots and lots of praise when
    she uses the post.  Try moving the post to a new location.  Make sure
    the post is sturdy and doesn't wobble when she scratches on it.  Clip
    her nails once a week at least.  Be consistent.  This takes a lot of
    work but it is worth it.
    
    Jo

    I think there are other scratching post notes in here, but in brief:
    
    Is the post tall enough for her to stretch out?
    
    Heavy and stable enough so that it won't start to tip over and frighten
    her?
    
    Tried putting catnip on top and them scratchng the post with your
    fingernails?  This tends to attrack a cat's attention, they come over,
    smell the catnip, reach up for it, putting their paws on the post, and
    viola get the idea.
    
    Are there enough posts in the house?  Some cats need one in every room,
    esp. the room with"attractive" furniture.
    

    To find the other notes that deal with the problem of scratching, type
    "show key/full scratching" at the notes prompt.  This will give you a
    list of topic numbers that are keyed to the keyword "scratching".
    
    Jo

Tasha just loves to be squirted with the spray bottle.  She immedately starts 
purring or if she's on the floor will roll over so I can get her belly as well.

And she has plenty of scratching posts.  All of which are quite sturdy.  She
does play with/on them.  She loves it when I add a pinch or two of catnip on 
top as well.

Now that I think about it some more, it seems like she's doing most of her 
destruction when she's playing (she forgets what is right or wrong when she's
playing), or when she wants attention (like when I'm busy cooking dinner).  I
can't recall her ever doing it while we are vegging out in front of the 
boob-tube (she absolutely has to be in my lap the instant I sit down anywhere).

    Can you temporarily put something over the couch or chair to make them
    less attractive to her, say for a month or two so that maybe she'll
    "forget"?  I have an afghan thrown across some of my furniture in the
    feeble hope that it will reduce cat hair;  I would think that might be
    a less appealing "scratchable" surface....
    

    It sounds like your kitty has too much energy.  Probably loves to
    see mom go spastic when furniture is attacked.  I had to use the
    following games to get mine "down": 1) Practice golf balls--the sort with
    holes just right to hook claws into--you sit on the floor and roll them
    at great speed across the room and against the side of the brick 
    fireplace apron; 2) string pulled through the house at a run up and down
    stairs and into the basement.  If that doesn't exaust your kitty, it
    will you.  (Even this wasn't enough for Chuckie, he has to be taken for 
    a walk in the evenings, in the winter, otherwise he's impossible
    
    Reverse psychology--"don't touch that scratching post" sometimes works.
    
    If you choose to have the kitty declawed be aware that they are in some
    measure of pain for ever after.  Their paws become tender around the
    claw area and the constant irritation can make them grumpy.  (Now
    hords of people will write and tell me that their cat is declawed and
    as sweet as honey.)
    
    

    Another great distraction for our kittens is a ping pong ball in the
    bathtub.  Keeps them entertained for a *very* long time. :^)
    
    Jo

    Don't leave the string around unattended however, as cats can be harmed
    by swallowing strings.
    

    Hi Lisa,
    
    It's me, Aud...
    
    I leave paper bags scattered over the house and Chum-Chum loves
    to dive into them and run around with them on his head.  Occasionally,
    he has run into some preety hard things, then he turns around and
    heads in another direction.  This wears him out.
    
    Then there is the little tiny stuffed mouse that is light enough
    so that when he swings at it, it flies across the room and he
    flies after it.  This wears him out.
    
    Something else that Chum-Chum loved until the maid threw it out was
    a dancing toy.  It was a little bit of paper attatched to what looked
    like coat hanger-wire.  When the cat pounces at it, it bounces right
    out of reach.  This is a killer.  He'll rest for hours.
    
    I left Chum-Chum scratch two of our couches but won't let him touch
    out leather.  Since he has an outlet he does OK.
    
    Good Luck.
    
    aud...

Tasha is getting plenty of exercise.  Her and Heidi play until they both
fall over on top of each other and pass out.  They both have plenty of toys
between the 2 of them.  

I was thinking about buying a cat tree.  Something that she can literally 
climb up.  The others ones I currently have are all kind of low to the ground.
This might give her something that she can climb other than the curtains.

    Thanks for everyones advice.  For now, I think I'll just continue
    trying to get her to behave.  I called the vet and cancelled Tasha's
    declawing appointment.  I didn't have the heart to go through with it
    anyway.  
    
    Besides, my little girl is going be mad enough at me next month when
    it is spaying time.                    

    .7  - Nice one, I hadn't thought of that.  I'll try the ball in the
    bathtub this weekend--hope I remember it's there Monday morning shower
    time.  
    
    Sorry--should have said don't leave string laying about. I keep
    it, and the balls, in a box.  If a cat tree is too expensive try a
    couple of cardboard boxes with holes cut in them--they don't look as
    good but they are usually free (Xerox paper boxes are specially good for
    this).

    Or you could try one of the Bizzy Kitty boxes I found at the pet
    supply store.  Its just a small cardboard box that you press some
    catnip into.  I know many folks in this file have tried them and
    raved about them.  Add me to the list.  Mine prefer scratching on
    this box to scratching on the cat tree.
    
    Jan

We had (have) a similar problem. The kitten only appears to scratch on
the side of the kitchen door, when we are in the kitchen. So we made a
post, the same width as the door and push it up against the door. Once
he's got used to this we, move the door slowly away. He now scratches
each approx 50%!

Try placing posts in front of the furniture, and then move slowly away.
As someone said earlier, scratching your nails on the post seems to
attract them!

Greg

    re: .-1, Bizzy Kitty...what a great invention.  It's really cheap and
    my little blind kitten, Beth, who is also a holy terror, just loves it. 
    I put her toys (the favorite of which are those Hartz Balls With Bells
    In Them...Bizzy Balls, I think) into the Bizzy Kitty and she spends
    hours trying to get the toys out, which she does.  She then trys to put
    them back in so she can play some more.
    
    After all these years, I've learned that, like toddlers, kittens have
    to find an outlet for their terror and my job, as the parental unit, to
    provide that outlet, lest they find one on their own...
    
    Mary
    

    Hi,
    
     Since it was brought up in this note, can anyone tell me where I can
    buy a Bizzy Kitty in the Marlbor/Hudson MA area? Or Framingham area?
    And around how much do they cost?
    
    Thanks!
    
    Y

    I got mine from Haddleigh House at the Bedford show.  It was only
    $5.00...such a bargain.  I'm sure they have them available thru
    mail order and I'm sure someone out there has Haddleigh's phone
    number at their fingertips.....right????
    
    Mary (and Beth, who loves her Bizzy-Kitty!)
    

    Hi!
    
    Well, the kitty cat box that you press catnip didn't work out too well. 
    Tasha didn't find it appealling at all.   I'm still looking out for a
    cat tree that she can physically climb.  That might make the curtains 
    less appealing.  
    
    Unfortunately, Tasha as also found a new "toy" to play with.  She
    absolutely adores swims in the toilet!  Of course, I was not at all
    pleased last night when after one of her midnight swims she decided to
    come sleep on top of "mommie"!   
    
    BTW, how can you reprimand something that is so pitiful looking as a 
    soggy kitty!   I'm now convinced that I've adopted the kitten from
    hell!
    
    							Lisa-Marie
    
    

    My roommate and I each have a cat - mine without claws, hers with.
    Mine was unfortunately a terror with the claws, but the other rarely
    uses them...until lately. 
    
    We've found that they each react to verbal warnings, spray bottle
    and a light tap on the butt.  Of course there's more jingling, rolling
    and interesting things in our house than we care to mention.  but we
    did find one interesting deterent for both of them - mothballs!
    
    By placing some moth balls in a plastic bag (sealed ever so tight) and
    puncturing a few holes in it to let the "fragrance" out, we've found
    that we can keep the kids clear of a few areas.  We just place the
    bag in their favorite want-to-be-but-shouldn't-be spot (like by the
    front door) and voila, they don't go near it!  This also worked on
    window sills (of which I've hears aluminum foil also works too), etc.
    
    We do still hide our earrings, pens and other assorted kitty
    entertainment, but there are just some things little kitty's shouldn't
    be doing.  In fact, to make our scratch post more fun, we tied a long
    string (actually a belt from a sweater dress) around the top of the
    post giving it a maypole effect!  But the only way to truly exhaust
    the little buggers is with the "fly toy" - a clump of feathers tied
    on the end of a string attached to long metal rod.  It's like fishing
    from the couch!  We get to sit and as the artificial bird flutters
    about the cats go nuts!
    
    C.
    

    Be careful about the mothballs though;  I believe they're poisonous to
    cats.
    

not to mention what they can do to humans if the fumes are inhaled over a 
period of time.  (I tried this same 'trick' and it took me a while to figure 
out why I had headaches and felt nauseous every morning (and no, I wasn't 
pregnant ;^)))  As soon as I tossed the moth balls, I felt MUCH better.