Destructive Cat

rediguana

Hi.

I recently moved into a plush new apartment along with my cat (and girlfriend). The cat has recently taken to dragging her claws over everything. This isn't a problem with anything except the soft leather furniture, which is taking a battering. How do I get her to cease and desist? I bought her a scratching post from Argos. It may as well be invisible.

We're considering just covering the furniture with sheets, but it's hardly ideal.

The lease says we're not even supposed to have a pet.

Help!

bounty_hunter

Hi rediguana

You need to teach your cat to use the scratching post, she won't just automatically choose to use it when she has the option of lovely leather sofas instead

Any time you spot her doing it, grab her quick. The key to this is IMMEDIATE response, because even a couple of seconds too late and the cat will have no idea what she's being reprimanded for. Grab her and firmly tell her "no". Carry her straight away to the scratching post, take her paws in your hands, and gently show her what to do. When she tries it for herself (it may take many attempts before she gets the idea, but be ready with the praise), immediately reward her with a cuddle and by telling her how good she is. The more of a fuss you make the better, if possible involve your girlfriend too.

Make very sure that as well as rewarding her good behavior, you make it clear that the scratching is not acceptable. Don't show any kind of compassion when reprimanding, only when rewarding. I see so many people telling their animals off, then petting them a split second later because they feel guilty, and then wondering why the animal isn't responding to training

Then repeat, repeat, repeat!

Some cats catch on very quickly, but for others it can take a lot longer to break bad habits. The most important things to bear in mind are patience and to-the-second action when reprimanding/rewarding behaviour.

In the meantime, and especially considering you're not even supposed to have her in the apartment, you need to take immediate action towards preventing any further damage. A very easy trick to deter her is to place double-sided tape on any prominent areas such as furniture legs, the stickiness should completely put her off. For things like sofas, cover them.

EDIT: You need to make the alternative to scratching furniture as interesting as possible for her. If you've got one of those €8.99 posts from Argos, forget it. The post needs to be big enough for her to stretch herself out completely, and it needs to be made of a material that appeals to her. It would also help if toys or other interesting objects could be hung from it, or if it had a little perch or something. Make sure you also provide her with plenty of toys and other things to keep her occupied, some cats begin destroying things purely out of boredom.

Also bear in mind though that it is a cat's natural instict to want to sharpen their claws, so you cannot reasonably expect her to completely cease this behaviour. All you can do is provide alternative ways for her to satisfy this instinct.

tk123

You should invest in a cat tree - they sell them in argos but i got mine from pet-bliss.com. I had a small 2 level one that was he grew out of and started knocking down(onto my then new floor) so I spashed out and got one with loads of platforms and goes up to the ceiling. My cat lounges around on it, scratches the posts and jumps up and down on the platforms. He even climbs the posts like a tree trunk. I have small cheap argos one in the sitting room too - he uses that instead of the furniture.
They sell catnip spray in pet shops and some supermarkets - if you give the scratcher/tree a spray the cat will be drawn to it. Sometimes when you get something new the cat doesn't like the smell - once they smell the catnip they'll roll around in it and put their own scent on it..

Ruu_Old

tk123 wrote:

You should invest in a cat tree - they sell them in argos but i got mine from pet-bliss.com. I had a small 2 level one that was he grew out of and started knocking down(onto my then new floor) so I spashed out and got one with loads of platforms and goes up to the ceiling. My cat lounges around on it, scratches the posts and jumps up and down on the platforms. He even climbs the posts like a tree trunk. I have small cheap argos one in the sitting room too - he uses that instead of the furniture.
They sell catnip spray in pet shops and some supermarkets - if you give the scratcher/tree a spray the cat will be drawn to it. Sometimes when you get something new the cat doesn't like the smell - once they smell the catnip they'll roll around in it and put their own scent on it..

Agreed with the cat tree, we built one for way less than it cost to buy them new. Regarding the scratching post, the cat needs to be shown what to do. The way it worked with our kitten was, she was scratching the corner of the couch. I put the post in front of the couch and when she went for the couch to scratch it, I pointed to the post and that was that. Shes been fine ever since but sometimes you have to be patient and keep at it until she realises its wrong.

Irish-Lass

get feliway spray which vertical scratching

rediguana

Thanks everyone.

She shouldn't really be bored as we let our go outside to roam the local trees and gardens. Having said that, she started out as an outside cat but now she much prefers being indoors.

Yeah, the Argos post is pretty but it looks too small. Her litter's too small too, she can barely squat into it. What's the story? She's a petitie cat, but all of the feline paraphernalia we've splashed out on make it seem as though she's just lumbered in from The Land of the Giants.

*TK123 -> That cat tree sounds like fantastic fun, but it sounds like something that might be difficult to hide if the landlord popped round.

*Bounty Hunter -> Have you studied ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis)? You're describing it perfectly in your cat-training technique. Makes sense though, thanks.


RedIguana.

rediguana

Also, she's getting too fond of her litter. It was only supposed to be used during the transition phase after we moved. Now, even though she might spend hours outside, she'll still wait til she comes in to use the nice, pebbly litter.

Sometimes we remove it, but is this risky? My head spins at the thought of her defiling our cream carpets. I also don't like the idea of her 'holding it in'.

The problem is that in our old place, we could always leave a window open, even if we weren't there. In our new place, though, she can only wander in or out when we're there. Otherwise she needs to be confined inside or locked outside.

bounty_hunter

rediguana wrote:

*Bounty Hunter -> Have you studied ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis)? You're describing it perfectly in your cat-training technique. Makes sense though, thanks.

Not formally, no I just love animals.

Best of luck!

FranknFurter

I put a sheet (flap from a medium sized box) of cardboard on the wall at the right height (I found head height, as in, place the bottom of the cardboard sheet as high on the wall as her eyes) did the trick nicely.
Took her a few days but I played with her favourite toy by dangling it over the cardboard so that when she reached up the wall she had to put her paws on the cardboard. Worked well, only problem is the cardboard leaves a bit of a mess when its shredded and has to be replaced after a short while.

As far as the litter tray etc goes size-wise, you are probably using one meant for a kitten. A lot of places seem to assume people only buy for kittens for some reason. You can usually buy a larger one in a good pet store, and I *think* there is one in argos.
Its my personal opinion that all cats should be indoor only, but if you are letting her out, make sure its supervised then you can see if she has toileted outside before you bring her in.

B

B

bounty_hunter

FranknFurter is correct, there is a very large hooded tray available in Argos for the very reasonable price of €19.99 (considering how much more it would cost in your average pet shop). It's designed to minimise over-the-edge mess and smell (it comes with odour filters). No such luck on the mess side with my cat, the door has to be left off because he just can't figure it out, so he just digs everything out the open doorway :rolleyes: Anyway, perhaps your cat will manage with the door.

Be aware that with hooded trays you need to be extremely careful about the smell inside. You may not be able to smell anything because it's covered, but kitty has a super sensitive nose and he/she has to actually be in there to use it. Stick your head inside every so often and have a sniff (no, seriously). If you don't like it, kitty most certainly doesn't! Not only are you risking your cat avoiding the tray if it smells bad, but it's also extremely cruel to expect him/her to put up with it. Just something to note.

bullets

The Cat spending hours outside only to come back in and instantly
use the litter tray is all too familar. If this is new behaviour I reckon
theres a new cat in the vacinity that your cat has met outside
and its provoked an emotional reaction out of your cat.
(Only a guess) I have only seen this type of behaviour when there
are new cats in the neighbour hood.

Our cat who was a stray which we took in was good as gold and never needed a litter tray.
we kept him in at night and left it out when it came knocking.
But as soon as some other cats in the neighbour hood started to
visit (all 10 of them) his behaviour changed to using the litter
tray even when it did not need to.

From the Earlier post about you getting an Argos scratching post
They are too small. They are only good for kittens. An adult cat needs
to stretch more. The one I have the cats only sit across the base and
the odd time make a feeble attempt to scratch.

Try nailing a strip/bit of carpet to the inside of a door in the room with your
leather sofa in it. If a male cat spray some cat nip on it. Should do the trick.
cat nip spray for males can be great if used in moderation and if your
cat reacts to it.
~B