Friday, July 31, 2009
how do you make sure a kitten never starts scratching furniture and stuff?
Answers:
Try something called Soft Paws
www.softpaws.com
They are little slip on soft plastic claw covers that stay glued in place. Eliminates the need for declawing, but keeps kitty's nails under cover, so when they do scratch, their claws won't damage anything.
The company makes smaller sizes for kittens, as well as larger sizes for adult cats.
I like the blue ones. :)
get a scratching post for it and teach it how to use it
u put one of the scratching poles and have them scratch that and if they try to scratch the furniture tap them on the nose and say no
get her lots of toys and scrating posts. when she is old enough declaw her. i recumend only the front so she can still get up on things easily and defend herself if for some reason she did get out side.
make sure you have a couple of scratch posts. and use a spray bottle to spray him if you see him start to scratch. if you find he is scratching somewhere use double sticky tape on the area.
1) get rid of all your furniture
2) find some spray that will not attract your cat
3) kill your cat.
MUAHAHAHHA!!
. jk
Get it a scratching post, as above. If it doesn't use the scratching post, and prefers furniture, teach it that scratching furniture is bad by lightly hitting them with a rolled up paper, or so, but remember that it's still just a kitten, so be gentle about it!
If the habit becomes a major problem, you could declaw the kitten, but I would recommend that as a last resort, and ONLY if it's an indoor cat.
Our cat was declawed and she got mauled in the neighbor's backyard by their dogs. Front paws only. Don't recommend it. She was an indoor cat but liked outdoors and I didn't want to trap her.
well you have to watch them and make sure they dont and if they do ounish them
You can't make absolutely certain they never try it. The behavior has to be trained out of them, and their instinct to scratch needs to be redirected.
Scratching posts and cardboard scratchers (which my cats seem to prefer) should be kept in various places in your home. Catnip can be sprinkled on them to make them more enticing. Praise your cat for scratching on acceptable devices.
When they attempt to scratch something they're not supposed to, a quick blast of water from a bottle or squirt gun will deter them. Just be consistant. My male is so sensitive that all I ever had to do was clap my hands once and let out a resounding "No!". He got the picture pretty quickly, and now doesn't use anything but his scratchers. Our new female took to the scratchers right away..but she's 3, so someone obviously trained her a little before we adopted her.
Keep kitty's nails trimmed on a regular basis to keep them healthy. A pair of cat clippers or human nail clippers work just fine. Hold the cat, push the pad of the foot lightly so the claw will pop out, and clip the very end of the nail. Be sure to avoid the pink part inside the nail. This vein (known as the quick) will bleed profusely and cause a lot of pain if cut. Keep styptic powder or pads in your home in case of any accidents. Once applied to the nail, styptic powder will stop the bleeding.
I would recommend having a second person help you while trimming the nails. My husband usually holds our cats while I clip. Talk to them in a calm voice, do not get forceful, and don't get jumpy.the cat will sense this and become jumpy, as well. If you're uneasy about clipping your cat's nails, you can have a vet or groomer do it for a small fee. Most PetSmart stores offer this service, as well.
To keep your furniture safe during the training process, double sided tape can be applied to the edges of sofas and chairs. Cats don't like the feel of it on their paws. You can either do this yourself, or buy the ready-to-use sticky pads;
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr.
You can also apply a spray;
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr.
All in all, cats are not very hard to train as long as you're persistant and patient. Too many people take the lazy way out and have their cat declawed. Read up on the process..and hopefully, you'll find it as repulsive and cruel as I do.
And NEVER hit a cat with ANYTHING. This only succeeds in making them distrustful, jumpy, and sometimes mean.
Good luck!
getting a scratching post and if the kitten trys to scratch on the furniture then spray it with water
Don't declaw. That's just cruel. Suppy the kitten with a lot of things to climb on and scratching posts. Once the kitten is about a 8 months you can try cat nip spray on the posts to encourage it to scatch the post and not the couch. using Catnip too young is pointless, most kittens wont develope the smell for catnip till they are older.
Cats mark there territory with their pads of their feet. I have worked with over 300 rescue cats and from my experience.there are some cats no matter what you do who will always scratch the furniture.
Scratching post with a little cat nip helps to train them to use it.
Squirt bottle with water helps to stop the action.
Though of my 2 boys I have one you would not know has claws and does not use them at all and the other I had declawed at a young age.
You can also trim their nails (they get use to it)
Or put temporary tips on their nail. They keep you furniture from being scratched up. Your vet can help you with this.
scratching post, durable toys, rubber mat. if that doesnt help, then u might as well get rid of the cat.
i agree with the person who recommended soft claws, they're great. and start now while your kitten is still young and more agreeable.
get a spray bottle of water my cat learned that way .
Get a really sturdy scratching post, with at least some sisal on it. Place it in the main living area in the house. Cats generally enjoy scratching posts as long as they don't fall over, and they are tall enough to be able to really stretch on.
Over the last 15 years, I have had a total of 6 cats, and one scratching post/cat condo, about 5 feet tall, made by Arubacat. I have not lost one piece of furniture or one rug since having the cat condo. I have also not declawed anyone.
Good luck.
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