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Alright sounds good, thanks for the advise guys, I'll probably end up getting rid of the door
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Apr 7, 2014 06:21
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One of my cats is being a loving dickhead. Every morning without fail, at around 5:30, the little turd decideds its cool to start clawing at the carpet. This has been going on for months. MONTHS. So far we have tried training spray in the area (basically sour apple spray which cats are meant to avoid), I've put ground white pepper down in the said area, daily we throw clothes or anything we have to hand at him, spraying him with water, dunking under a running tap and felliway. We clip his claws on the regular so they arent too long but he keeps on clawing at the carpet. It can be the middle of the carpet, it can be the edge of the carpets where he can pull the corners up. Wherever it is, it is annoying as hell and is going to be expensive to replace. We've only had the carpets a year and in places at the edges they are frayed and ruined. We can't keep him out with the bedroom door shut because he claws at the carpet and pulls it up, same problem, different location. Nothing works. He is the friendliest cat I know but he is an absolute clown in the mornings. Benjamin is about a year old, was a rescue cat after being mawled by 3 dogs if the quick back story helps. Any suggestions? Pictures for reference (of cuteness!) At the vets with his neck bandage on.  At home, with his scar on show.  Now when he is bigger and older. 
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Apr 7, 2014 12:59
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Blinks posted:One of my cats is being a loving dickhead. Do you have anything for him to scratch that he likes? As it is, it sounds like he fuckin looooves scratching carpet, but the only things it seems you've tried are things to keep him away from it or trying to punish him for it. Also, I take it you have a lot of carpet, so you can't just put down one of those sscat motion detecting things. I suggest getting a bunch of cardboard scratchers and trying to direct your cat towards those.
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Apr 7, 2014 15:05
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Sorry, should have put this in the original post. Yep, we have 2 post scratchers and a horizontal cardboard scratcher.
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Apr 7, 2014 16:01
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That sort of thing is really hard to pin down as to just why they're doing it and what the solution is. All I can suggest is putting down a small rug over the carpet for the moment and let him scratch that instead as a short-term help. Reward him like crazy for using the scratching posts/pads. In my own experience, my cats do stuff like that when they want my attention. They know it gets a reaction from me, even if it means dodging a shoe. If that's his purpose, then the question is why does he want your attention. If he's hungry, maybe leaving a dish of dry food out for him to nibble on will be enough. If he is just bored and wants to play, then the only solution I've found is completely ignoring him. If he gets no reaction, he will stop the behavior eventually (he'll get more obnoxious at first, though). It may also be because he's anxious (perhaps he can smell another cat prowling nearby at night), or some other bizarre cat phobia. Ultimately you may just have to lock him in the litter box room each night. Cats are weird, and figuring out why they do what they do is quite frustrating when you don't want them to do it. Good luck.
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Apr 7, 2014 16:18
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How often do you guys clean your cat's ears? Pizza just got over an ear infection and the vet suggested once every week/two weeks. I'll do that if that's what it takes but he hates it so bad I dont' want to torture him more than necessary.
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Apr 7, 2014 16:24
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Blinks posted:Sorry, should have put this in the original post. Yep, we have 2 post scratchers and a horizontal cardboard scratcher. I'd put them over the trouble spots, nod maybe get 2 more horizontal ones seeing as he likes likes scratching carpet. If you catch him scratching carpet, pick him up and put him on a scratcher.
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Apr 7, 2014 17:44
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Blinks posted:So far we have tried training spray in the area (basically sour apple spray which cats are meant to avoid), I've put ground white pepper down in the said area, daily we throw clothes or anything we have to hand at him, spraying him with water, dunking under a running tap and felliway. We clip his claws on the regular so they arent too long but he keeps on clawing at the carpet. It can be the middle of the carpet, it can be the edge of the carpets where he can pull the corners up. Wherever it is, it is annoying as hell and is going to be expensive to replace. We've only had the carpets a year and in places at the edges they are frayed and ruined. We can't keep him out with the bedroom door shut because he claws at the carpet and pulls it up, same problem, different location. You're trying to punish a cat for doing something. This has never worked and will never work. You need to figure out the reason he does it. It's also possible he just likes scratching that carpet texture, and you can only get a different sort of carpet to fix that. When it's time to replace it, get small pads of the new options first to see which get scratched.
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Apr 7, 2014 17:58
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Deteriorata posted:That sort of thing is really hard to pin down as to just why they're doing it and what the solution is. Benjamin has always been really friendly, maybe a little bit too friendly for our grumpy 4 year old cat Arthur. A-Cat takes a good swipe at B-Cat every now and again when they get a little rough/B gets too playful and annoying, maybe he could be anxious about that but Arthur is pretty chilled at night times and stays away from B for a bit of peace and quiet. We free feed our cats and they always have access to dry food, as well as wet at set times. We have water upstairs in our room for them so maybe having a bowl of dry might help too. Locking him away is something we tried too, his incessent whining, meowing and scratching/pawing at the door was just as annoying. I think he has a bit of a complex from the dog attack. He is very needy and follows myself and my Mrs around the house while she works from home. Maybe he just wants the fuss. Thanks for letting me think aloud at you and DuckFarts. W'ell give the extra scratcher pad and dry food a go.
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Apr 7, 2014 18:06
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My cats basically ignore any short floor mounted scratchers and cardboard ones and went for the fabric backs on my chairs. The way I finally dissuaded them was to splurge on a 3 foot tall scratching pole and they've gone bonkers for it. They love scratching the hell out of stuff when they can reach all the way up and drag claws from top to bottom. The takeaway from this is to try figure out what the hell it is that might be motivating your cat, might be the low posture, the large area or the texture of it. Cats. They're weird.
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Apr 8, 2014 00:07
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My cats are super picky with their toys. The older ones (aged 10 and almost 11) aren't usually playful at all but when they and/or our younger (age 6) one get going, all they will play with are these crinkly balls filled with catnip and with a feather attached. They're only available in pack of 2, sadly. Can anyone think of a similar toy they might like?
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Apr 8, 2014 06:31
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Ellie is pretty much normal now I think. Getting a good play session before bed is helping and she's learning to play with toys at night rather than us. She's a ball of energy though. I thought 3 year olds would be mellower but she's just big kitten.
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Apr 8, 2014 12:18
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SynthOrange posted:My cats basically ignore any short floor mounted scratchers and cardboard ones and went for the fabric backs on my chairs. The way I finally dissuaded them was to splurge on a 3 foot tall scratching pole and they've gone bonkers for it. They love scratching the hell out of stuff when they can reach all the way up and drag claws from top to bottom. My cat is pretty good about her scratchers, but she still scratches the furnature, usually when I'm cooking and/or doing dishes. I suspect it's because she knows it irritates me and I'm not paying enough attention to her.
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Apr 8, 2014 12:36
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flare posted:Ellie is pretty much normal now I think. Getting a good play session before bed is helping and she's learning to play with toys at night rather than us. I still haven't gotten our 5 year old (4 year old?) chubby girl, Poyo, to stop trying to play with us at night. She's been with us since February, and she's still mostly nocturnal. When my spouse is at home during the day, he wrassles her and plays a bit, and our 11 year old cat (while very playful!) just can't wear her out either. Chubby girls do have all the fun. She prefers us to the toys. I just want to sleeeeep. She likes to trod all over us (literally--she'll step on my face, groin, chest, buttcrack, whatever), purrs like an idling semi, licks any exposed human surface, and paws at our sleeping faces. Never thought I'd have a cat that gave too much affection. She also likes to claw hardwood, not carpet. It's a mystery.
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Apr 8, 2014 14:57
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aghastly posted:I'm in the same boat you are, but Toast was much, much younger when he was rescued — like, only 6 weeks old — so he's been an indoor cat way longer than he's been an outdoor cat. A number of different reasons keep me from getting a second cat right now. Sorry for the late reply! Thanks for everyone's advice. I'll keep in mind that she's probably sleeping and not depressed. I guess I have to be less guilty. I'll check regarding the netting definitely, before I go crazy. I do have another issue. My cat is currently like 5 to 6 months old, and she's really BIG (in my opinion at least). I'm guessing she's going trough that "teenager phase" because she misbehaves greatly while I'm sleeping. Today she stole two sponges and broke a complete roll of Kleenex. She doesn't seem to lose any energy either during the morning, she drives me crazy while I try to get ready. So I need a suggestion on how to play with her to tire her out. Remember I have a very small apartment, so I can't really run like crazy with a string because I'll just run into everything.
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Apr 8, 2014 15:33
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Hello guys, I'm looking for some help / suggestions. Apologies for the rather lengthy post, it's probably easier if I just give a full background to the situation so people don't need to ask a load of questions about things I've already tried etc: Background: I've got two cats, brothers, both about 2.5 years old. One's a grey tabby, the other is completely black, and I've had them since birth. Both have all their jabs, are neutered, and are micro-chipped. About a year and half or so ago I forked out a rather large sum of money to replace both my front and back doors. It needed doing anyway, but I prioritised it because the black cat (which is the runt of the litter, and less dominant than his brother) would refuse to use litter trays once his brother had been in them, instead opting for my duvet. The new doors allowed me to fit a cat flap (which I had not been able to do with the old doors as they were the full glass pane type with old aluminium frames). This solved the toilet problem, as both the cats started going outside and were happy to find separate areas. Also, no more smelly litter trays or my house being covered in pellets. Great! The Problem: My neighbour's husband works for the RSPCA, and she has six rescue cats. The house after hers has four, and the house after that has two. In short, there are lot of cats. Unfortunately, my neighbour locks their cats out all night (they don't have a cat flap, they let them in through the window). A few weeks back she approached me rather aggressively asking whether or not my cats were neutered because my grey one kept fighting with her ginger and white one. I explained that they had been since shortly after birth. The grey one developed an abscess about a month back from fighting, and had to have it drained followed by a course of antibiotics for two weeks. I had noticed that my black one, who is considerably less dominant and who I've never seen have a 'proper' fight (ie. nothing more than playing with his brother) had started spending extended periods of time away from the house. To begin with I thought that this was because his brother bullied him / an old lady was feeding him somewhere, but I now suspect it's because he's scared of the ginger one belonging to the neighbour who has been coming in to the house. The neighbour has also said "I've just seen my ginger cat on your windowsill!", as though I was at fault for the intrusion having just walked in from work (which scared her cat one out of the house, although I hadn't personally noticed it inside). My cat flap is a Sureflap cat flap, which works off of the cat's internal micro chips (no collars), and is battery powered, but the catches on the cat flap are quite small and the ginger cat has clearly worked out that by pushing hard enough it can just pop the door open. Since then, he has understandably taken to coming in to my house rather than being locked outside in the cold all night, eating my cats food, and last night I woke up to hear the carpet on my landing being ripped up at 4am. I had initially thought it was one of my two (despite not being something they would normally do), but then noticed that the black one was on the bed with me and grey one on the windowsill. As my foot touched the floor from the bed you heard it rush down the stairs, and a 'pop' as it forced it's way back out the cat flap. I ran down and turned my kitchen light on (illuminating the garden) to see it stroll off across the grass. The Question: So at this point I'm pretty much out of ideas of how to deal with it. I know people in other threads have told people with similar issues "shoot it with a water pistol, it will soon stop", but the thing is it's very cautious about doing it while humans are around, I've never actually caught it, and trying to use the "in only" setting on the cat flap to trap it is no use as it's the same locking mechanism that is suppose to stop unwanted cats getting in / out anyway (ie. it would just force it's way out still). The complete opposite, however, is true when it's around my cats. It's incredibly hostile and will often attack them. I don't want to keep my cats in the house all the time again, and I'd prefer not to have to replace a £70 cat flap in the hope that the new one might have a better locking mechanism (though I'm beginning to consider it). So has anyone got any other ideas for steps from here? Dominionix fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Apr 8, 2014 |
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Apr 8, 2014 16:05
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DressCodeBlue posted:So last week I had my apartment heat treated for bed bugs (gross) and left Butts with a friend for the day. He immediately warmed up to her and when I came to pick him up, he looked legit shocked. Since then, he's started doing something he's never done before: actually being a cat and climbing on things. His new favorite spots are the back of the couch, the dresser, and a super high-up windowsill above the dresser. I think he finally understands that this is his permanent home and I do not care if he climbs on the furniture? If he keeps this up, I'm going to get him a cat tree. So pumped. 
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Apr 8, 2014 16:39
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Dominionix posted:Hello guys, I'm looking for some help / suggestions. Apologies for the rather lengthy post, it's probably easier if I just give a full background to the situation so people don't need to ask a load of questions about things I've already tried etc: It seems the only way you're going to stop the cat getting is to block up the cat door. My cats have gotten very good at letting me know when they want to go out (rubbing up against me, pawing my chair, meowing, etc.), so maybe they can learn to let you know. Letting them in and out manually is a hassle, but keeps foreign cats out. That plus a litter box for night-time emergencies may work. A sturdier cat door is an iffy proposition, because it's a lot of money for something that may not work. If you want to go more techno, a SSSCat-type thing that makes noise and an air blast near the door which the chips in your cats will deactivate so they don't get blasted might work, but I suspect you'd have to build it yourself. I have no ideas, otherwise. You have a tough problem to solve. I hope something works out for you and your cats.
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Apr 8, 2014 17:07
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Deteriorata posted:It seems the only way you're going to stop the cat getting is to block up the cat door. My cats have gotten very good at letting me know when they want to go out (rubbing up against me, pawing my chair, meowing, etc.), so maybe they can learn to let you know. Letting them in and out manually is a hassle, but keeps foreign cats out. That plus a litter box for night-time emergencies may work. Yeah, unfortunately I'm out of the house a lot. The cats were originally purchased for my ex but when we split she moved back with her parents who have dogs, so she couldn't take the cats. That's not to say I don't like / want them, just that people are not in the house as much as they used to be.
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Apr 8, 2014 17:24
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First off you need to train your cats to be inside. They really will be okay indoors and it will keep them from getting mauled by the neighbor's cats. The litter box issue can be hopefully fixed by simply getting a second litter box. Then you need to contact the RSPCA about the neighbors cats and report them as a nuisance. It's wrong to lock your cats out all night and causes a public situation. Lastly: there's no reason cats and dogs can't live together unless the dogs are known cat eaters or something. We had Manx cats and St. Bernard's rooming together just fine growing up and you can't get a bigger size differential than that!
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Apr 8, 2014 17:35
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Yeah please. One of my childhood pets died after receiving a nasty bite to the face in a fight. Her sinuses/face got horribly infected and she couldn't eat. Antibiotics, stitches, and daily cleanings did nothing. We very nearly lost our other cat from that time the same way (sure wish my parents liked cats more...refused to bring them in even after all that) Cat mouths/claws are horrible and filthy and if your cat gets a bad enough injury it could spell the end.
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Apr 8, 2014 17:37
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flare posted:Ellie is pretty much normal now I think. Getting a good play session before bed is helping and she's learning to play with toys at night rather than us. I hear you there. That's what I thought when my Robbie was 3 years old and he thought he was still like a 3 months old kitten energy wise. Now, he is older, and at 17 (in June) he has finally decided that maybe he isn't 3 months old. Maybe 4 months old but not 3 any more. I guess that is something  He still zooms around the house and chases the other kitties, plays with his toys...he even does the kitten sideways crab hop. It's quite funny watching him do that since he is so big and his legs are so long!
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Apr 8, 2014 17:44
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Disco Salmon posted:crab hop This is the cutest thing 
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Apr 8, 2014 18:57
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Stairs posted:First off you need to train your cats to be inside. They really will be okay indoors and it will keep them from getting mauled by the neighbor's cats. The litter box issue can be hopefully fixed by simply getting a second litter box. Then you need to contact the RSPCA about the neighbors cats and report them as a nuisance. It's wrong to lock your cats out all night and causes a public situation. Lastly: there's no reason cats and dogs can't live together unless the dogs are known cat eaters or something. We had Manx cats and St. Bernard's rooming together just fine growing up and you can't get a bigger size differential than that! Regarding staying in, my two generally do now (exception obviously for when the black one goes away for extended periods) stay indoors. Please don't feel I have a problem about them being in the house, I actually prefer it. The litter box issue was not resolved by getting an extra box. Prior to the cat flap I actually had three litter boxes (following the one per cat + one extra rule), it didn't help, the grey cat would just use each box and then the black one would hold his wee in until we got home (presumably until he felt safe) and go on the bed. In fact despite disinfecting the boxes each time we emptied them I suspect the black one was still able to smell his brother in them, so even if his brother had not yet used one in that cycle of emptying them he would still avoid them. The neighbours husband works for the RSPCA, these literally are the rescue cats that I'm having the problem with, so I fear reporting them would likely just result in awkwardness between me and the neighbour when he found out from work. The ex / dogs situation is well passed. That was over a year ago, we no longer talk, and I wouldn't want to give them up now anyway.
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Apr 8, 2014 19:14
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Dominionix posted:Regarding staying in, my two generally do now (exception obviously for when the black one goes away for extended periods) stay indoors. Please don't feel I have a problem about them being in the house, I actually prefer it. The litter box issue was not resolved by getting an extra box. Prior to the cat flap I actually had three litter boxes (following the one per cat + one extra rule), it didn't help, the grey cat would just use each box and then the black one would hold his wee in until we got home (presumably until he felt safe) and go on the bed. In fact despite disinfecting the boxes each time we emptied them I suspect the black one was still able to smell his brother in them, so even if his brother had not yet used one in that cycle of emptying them he would still avoid them. Build two plywood boxes, one for each cat's litterbox. Relocate the chip-reading doors as entrances to each box. Put litter box for each cat in its own box, other cat can't get in. 
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Apr 8, 2014 19:25
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This thread's reminding me that I have to take some new pictures of Mufasa. I have plenty from the first year or so, but since then I've been taking a lot of photos for my job and my get-up-and-go for grabbing more pictures at home has been lacking. These shots are from somewhere within the first three months. Not sure how old he was when I got him (though the paperwork guessed it was around December of the year prior, so this would be him around the one-year mark if that's true).    He's a mischievous little poo poo, but he's also the cuddliest cat I've ever known. Toaster Beef fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Apr 8, 2014 |
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Apr 8, 2014 20:03
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Cat picture dump! This is Estrella, the cat I talked about earlier who seems to reflexively nibble/bite, sometimes without any provocation. She's calmed down a little now that she knows it pisses me off and that I will just throw her off my lap. Last night I was bit on the foot when she wanted me to go to bed, even though she doesn't sleep next to me. Absolutely dedicated lap cat who has screwed up my ability to play Diablo 3 several times now since I got her early last month from the humane society.            
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Apr 8, 2014 20:40
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Those are two adorable cattes. 
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Apr 8, 2014 20:48
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Dominionix posted:The Question: Drag something heavy against the door overnight and set up a few cat boxes again just in case one of yours needs to go in the middle of the night. If your cats are overnighting indoors anyway it shouldn't make much of a difference in their habits, and it should cut down on the fighting (although obviously not completely get rid of it). You can set up a motion-sensitive sscat or sprinkler outside the door for a few nights and see if the jerk neighbor cat knocks it off.
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Apr 8, 2014 22:51
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Dominionix posted:The Question: Lock your cats in your room with you one night and set out an actual cat trap for the rear end in a top hat cat?
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Apr 9, 2014 17:14
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Drythe posted:Lock your cats in your room with you one night and set out an actual cat trap for the rear end in a top hat cat? Suppose I could try this, yeah. Past experience with cats makes me think a single "scare" is unlikely to deter it in the long term, but certainly worth a go!
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Apr 9, 2014 17:16
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If anything you can show your neighbor her cats are being dicks and she needs to start taking responsibility.
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Apr 9, 2014 17:19
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Drythe posted:Lock your cats in your room with you one night and set out an actual cat trap for the rear end in a top hat cat? This is the A+ solution, really.
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Apr 9, 2014 17:57
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Short background: My cat Bean has gingivitis, we get his teeth professionally cleaned every year or so, and we use the C.E.T. dental treats because our vet said it helps. Issue: Mother loving C.E.T. has temporarily stopped making them because of an issue in manufacturing. Honestly, we're planning on giving him some of those greenies and brushing his teeth while C.E.T. figures out their poo poo, so I'm not really looking for suggestions. However, I wanted to see if anyone had any information on this problem. Does anyone know when they are going to be available? Does anyone have any more information on why they aren't being made right now? The biggest reason I'm curious is because those things are Bean's favorite part of the day. He loves to play with them and he loves to eat them to the point that he begs for them. He seriously goes to the sideboard that we keep them on, stands on his hind legs and reaches as far towards them as possible while whining and staring at us. We're down to less than two weeks worth of the treats and I'm afraid he's going to start writing letters to the International Criminal Courts for violations of the Geneva Convention when we run out.
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Apr 9, 2014 17:58
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I adopted a cat from the humane society a few weeks ago. He's about 3. At his recent appointment, the vet gave him a clean bill of health, other than being a tad overweight and having eye goop caused by feline herpes, which she gave us some lysine for to put in his food. He LOVES being brushed and I noticed after a longer session the other day that he had a couple bald spots in his fur. I thought it was my fault for over brushing, but I've not brushed him since then and the bald spots aren't really getting better. Today, my partner caught him grooming the bald spots, and now we think that he may be over grooming and causing his own baldness. I thought over grooming was linked to stress and anxiety, but other than the bald spots he seems totally normal. I work part-time so I'm at home with him a lot. He eats fine (we're feeding blue buffalo wilderness, if that makes a difference), plays with da bird, and snuggles with us whenever possible. How can I keep him from being all patchy like this? Has anyone else experienced this in a seemingly healthy cat?
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Apr 9, 2014 18:11
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Sea Pancake posted:How can I keep him from being all patchy like this? Has anyone else experienced this in a seemingly healthy cat? My old girlcat does this too. We've tried limited diets, parasite treatments (and mange dips!), regular baths, and drugs. For us, the only thing that "solved" the issue was courses of prednisone, which were obviously short term only. Some cats seem to have this problem due to allergies as well. Some cats are just neurotic! (I'm pretty sure my ol' gal falls into this category, but she hates pilling so much that I don't have the heart to try kitty prozac.) If you can afford another vet visit, you might want to do that and explain the issue to your vet.
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Apr 9, 2014 18:18
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Yeah, we've got a cat with allergies that make her skin itch, so she'll overgroom to the point of bleeding if she eats the wrong food. We have to give her tetracycline (an immunosupressant) to keep it in check, in addition to watching her diet.
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Apr 9, 2014 18:26
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The cat I just got had this problem and I figured the only thing it could be was her food. I changed her over to science diet, which was what she was on at the humane society, and she's doing fine now. Cats can be delicate. The one I had before that would almost randomly break into hives, which led to drugs.
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Apr 9, 2014 18:34
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Yeah, my cat does that as well. His are always in the same spots and they seem to be related to stress and seasonal allergies. I'm actually expecting a few to show up in the next couple weeks since spring is starting.
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Apr 9, 2014 21:08
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Anyone have tips on how to clip a cat's nails? One of my cats is totally fine with it and will let me clip all his nails without any trouble whatsoever but I'm having a hard time with the other. Throwing a towel over her doesn't really help because she's very squirmy and my fiancee can't help because she's disabled. Would it just be easier to take her to the vet or is there any other methods I can try?
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Apr 10, 2014 23:12
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