The Cat Club

[Angela273]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to post in here to let people know that I have a cat and dog train that will be heading out this week and I am looking for passengers. Please take a look and pm me if you are interested.

[Angela273]

My fiance and I each have a cat. We adopted both of them from the humane society and they were previously abused.

My cat is named King. My fiance's cat is named Elvis.
They are sweet lovable things and certainly have their own personalities. I am allergic to cats, but have always owned one.

[Skippy]

How do you get your cat not to do so?
DW won't let me get him declawed. Is it possible to get his nails trimmed?
If this keeps up he'll be an outdoor cat.

[Natalka]

I've successfully trained all cats we've had over the years to not scratch - but that's been done from kitten stage, I've never done it for a grown cat. Always started with a water spray bottle, along with a firm NO, then after just the 'no' works. The biggest thing is to have an alternative place for them to scratch - ideally a scratching post. We've always just made one of wood covered with pieces of old carpet.
As for nails, some people get the vet to do them. Others do them at home with special cat nail clippers. However, I've always just used baby nail clippers (they are a lot smaller than adult ones), and cut the tips off all nails. You have to be careful to only cut off the sharp tip, not go lower to the quick, where the blood supply is for the nail. I do our cat's and kitten's nails about every 10 days. Best is to use a good old 'football hold', cradling the cat and gently holding the paw, and pressing to expose the nail. Now both of our cats have lots of fur between their toes, so we have to be careful with that as well.
Good luck!

[Natalka]

[matrix82]

I now have three cats...two are living nova scotia while I am on internship in Ontario, and now I have one in Ontario (our apt had mice), so when I get back to NS, I will have three cats...the one here in Ontario is oddly nice...the two in Nova Scotia, bite and chase me all the time

[Andit]

How do you get your cat not to do so?
DW won't let me get him declawed. Is it possible to get his nails trimmed?
If this keeps up he'll be an outdoor cat.

Quincy was a 4 month old feral & doesn't scratch the furniture. So it can be done.

There are different tactics you can use. You can try putting double-sided tape on the area he's scratching - most cats don't like touching sticky things. You can also try putting tinfoil on spots where he tries to scratch. But you really need to teach him *where* you want him to scratch. If you have an old coarse door mat, that can work. Either rub it with fresh catnip or sprinkle dry catnip on it (I think there is also a catnip spray) - basically you want to encourage him to go there & scratch. So, when he goes to the right place, he gets praise. If he goes where he's not supposed to, either spritz him with water or clap your hands loudly & say NO. You want to interrupt him & then show him where he should go. Hopefully this makes sense.

As for trimming nails, you can take him either to the vet or to a groomer (if he freaks when you try) or if he's manageable, you can do it yourself. I trim Quincy's nails once a week. I just sit him in my lap & do one paw at a time - he gets a treat when all nails are done.

Check in your local pet shop - some have employees who can & will do it for you. The Pet Valus are usually indpendents - I took my dog in when I first got her to buy a nail trimmer & the owner was there & did her nails for me, told me to bring her back once a month & she'd do it for free.

Hope this helps.

[smb127]

I ended up wrapping the wooder post that runs up the stairway in carpet. The cats love it they can climb and strach all the want. They still try to scrath the furnature and I just stamp my foot and yell no. They stop, but I get a dirty look from them. If they keep it up I do though them outside, but they are indoor/outdoor cats. Just more outdoors in the summer and more indoors in the winter.

[Andit]

Quincy is attempting to help me by emptying my basket & ensuring it's big enough for his purposes:






Sorting papers is not an easy task with my little helper around.

[puddin57]

I DUNNO IF I ALREADY POSTED THIS.....BUT HERE IS MY DEAR PATIENT KITTY WHOSE PROPER NAME IS "SIRIUS"....BUT KNOWN AS "PUPPY"

[Miss_April]

LMAO thats hilarious, this really made me laugh and I cant stop!

[Miss_April]

I like meatloaf, observant spiral, and I dont trust you people here in my apartment.

[Justine]

Over Christmas, I had lots of tissue paper from gift wrapping, I threw some on the kitchen floor to organize and my cats were both laying on the stuff for days. They were playing in it, biting it, etc. So weird. I had to throw it out recently because it got so messy but ya, weird what cats find entertaining.

I have one of those green bins from RCSS, and when their litter box is dirty, they will pee in that, I guess it resembles their litter box!

[thecountess]

My cat has a full bin of cat toys.... which he sniffs at and walks away with a bored expression on his face.

And yet if I drop a pen on the floor, he goes ballistic and plays with it until I take it away.

[Angela273]

My cat has a full bin of cat toys.... which he sniffs at and walks away with a bored expression on his face.

And yet if I drop a pen on the floor, he goes ballistic and plays with it until I take it away.

My cat generally prefers to play with human things like my hair elastics, pens, mechanical pencils, tennis balls, the plastic tie off milk jugs, etc.

I give him the milk ties.
I give him hair elastics when they are worn our and pens when they run out of ink. It discourages him from helping himself to the good ones. He will literally sit on my desk while I am writing and try to take my pen or pencil away. When I do my hair he hops up at the bathroom sink and tries to take away the hair elastics that I had pulled out. Silly kitty.