What to do with changes in cat behavior?

B

BAM

Cathlete
Help! A quick background. My cat adopted me back in May. She was a stray and I took her in. She was very affectionate and then after she was spayed, she didn't want to be picked up or pet but she wants to be with you and around you. O.K., I was sort of getting used to that (not really but what choice did I have :D) but she was beginning to grow on me. I bought her a great scratchboard that she absolutely loves and uses frequently. HOWEVER, in the past week, she is clawing the furniture consistently. She's done it before periodically and has gotten scolded for it but that means nothing to her. She is in the process of ruining one of my chairs. What can I do? This is not good! I was in a store yesterday looking for some spray deterrent you put on furnitute. I thought they had something like that out there but couldn't find it and don't know if it works. I don't know how to stop her from doing this.

Also, as we know cats are very picky eaters. After many trials, I found 3 foods that she did like. Well, she has now decided that she doesn't like them. I wanted to buy natural cat food and did the best I could with my finanacial situation right now. She is now refusing to eat those so I bought some regular cat food last night and she scarfed down the one I gave her. Even though I really want to buy the natural food, I can't keep wasting money on buying more of those for her to try but I feel bad at not giving her that type of food. Should I just give her whatever she'll eat for now to save my sanity and pocketbook? I know probably most people buy the cat food in supermarkets and I'm certainly not knocking anybody that does that and I know that cats are fine with that food. It was just a personal preference of giving her a different type. Oh, and one other thing. If I left the food in her dish that she REALLY didn't like, she still wouldn't eat it and then would get more wild around the house. Geesh! :eek:

So what should I do? I've got a lot of other things going on in my life and dealing with a cat clawing my furniture and not eating is not something I need. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. TIA!

Bam
 
If a cat doesn't go outside you need to clip his nails a little a couple times a year. They normally "file" them on the tree bark. That said the cat will probably still scratch your furniture. You could try spraying him with water when he gets near chair. My cat likes scratching my wicker baskets but that I don't mind getting ruined. Joan
 
This will be ugly for a while, but try covering the area that the cat likes to claw with clear tape. Just apply the tape over the scratching area. The tape underside is sticky and she won't want to claw through the stickiness. I have used lots of the deterrent sprays and frankly, not one of them worked for more than a day. The tape worked, but it took a long time (if I removed it too soon, the cat would be at it again!) and people would ask me why I had tape on my furniture. Eventually, though, the cat was broken of the habit and I could finally permanently remove the tape.

Since she does need to sharpen those claws (cat claws are shed, similar to a snake skin with a new claw underneath and they must be sharpened to get rid of the annoying old claw), try a clawing post. When you get the post and when you see her trying to sharpen her claws on the furniture, gently take her to the post and show her, with your own hands, how to claw on the new post. Then, take her paw and show her how to claw (I've found that it helps to push a little on the paw so that the claws stick out a bit when showing her). I've given daily lessons on how to sharpen claws, and the cats do catch on.

All that being said, my cats LOVE sharpening their claws on a raw piece of 2 x 4 in the basement. My husband will nail a new piece on when the old piece gets worn out, which it will over time. My older cats teach the younger ones where to claw, and it works out just fine for us.
 
First of all, cats HAVE to scratch something to keep their nails properly groomed as well as to get rid of the old nails as the new ones grow in, so my experience has shown that I have to provide them with an alternative surface that they will use instead of my furniture! Each cat has a preference for surfaces to scratch. Some like sisal, some like carpet/fabric, etc. I've had success with getting mine to use a scratching surface that looks like corrigated cardboard. They sell these at Walmart or Petsmart or probably any other pet store for around $10. They're laced with catnip, of course, to attract the cats to it.

I've currently got 4 inside, and they all will use the cardboard deal and none mess with the furniture any more. I have placed them in various places around the house. I also recommend Sticky Paws or a generic version of this---it's basically two sided tape that you put on the part of the furniture that the cat is scratching to help them break the furniture habit. It's reasonably priced as well. However, the tape doesn't do any good if you don't have something for them to scratch instead.

The combination of these two have saved my furniture---several cats ago I had one that destroyed a sofa before I discovered the Sticky Paws/cardboard scratching "post" (it's really a flat box) so I learned the lesson the hard way!

Good luck!
 
Thanks everyone for your responses! As I mentioned in my post, I do have a scratchboard that she loves. It's the cardboard one. It sounds like I'll have to get her another one although I live in pretty small quarters so the one she has is never that far away. I will also look for that tape. Hopefully this problem will get resolved soon.

Now I just have to figure out the food issue!

Thanks again!!!

Bam
 
With the food issue, I know what it's like to have finicky cats. I buy food from the Vet as little Mickey had some urinary problems a few years back and I needed to get specialized food for him. The Vet gave me several samples to try until I found one that all three would eat. Is that an option for you?
 
lori254 said:
With the food issue, I know what it's like to have finicky cats. I buy food from the Vet as little Mickey had some urinary problems a few years back and I needed to get specialized food for him. The Vet gave me several samples to try until I found one that all three would eat. Is that an option for you?
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Thanks for suggestion, Lori. Unfortunately I don't have the $$$ to do that right now. Maybe I should send her outside to try and catch her own meals and let her decide which one she thinks is TRULY the best food option! :p

Bam
 
LOL! I had some mice in my house a couple of years ago, and Puddin was in cat heaven. My precious little angel turned into a fiend -- seriously, she had this evil glow in her eyes when she caught one (after playing with it a bit). I had to set some traps because I would prefer it to be quick for the mice. Thank goodness I haven't seen one in the house since.
 
I suggest picking up a vertical scratching post (she may like the other scratch board, but also want some variety). Make sure it's tall enough, and of the right kind of fabric. Many of those sold in stores are less appealing than upholstery (and IMO, the manufacturers who make them should be the subject of a class-action lawsuit from cats who have been declawed because they wouldn't use them).

This one is excellent:http://www.purrfectpost.com/ but if you know someone handy, you could get them to make you one like this. Notice how tall it is, and that it has rough material covering it. I have one, and two of my cats absolutely love it! Another can prefers the flat scratch board or an angled scratch board (the "Alpine scratcher").

www.declawing.com has advice on getting kitties to scratch something other than furniture, and how to trim claws (trimming them won't make kitty stop scratching, but if you trim them as close as you safely can. Proceed gingerly if you are not used to doing this. Be sure you avoid the pink triangle inside, which is the blood and nerve supply, as well as the opaque 'halo' around it, but trim off the thin, sharp hook part of the claw).

All cats will scratch (even declawed cats will go through the motions) because they have scent glands under their paws, and its a way of them marking their territory. (In fact, the more they like where they are, the more they will scratch!)
 
My husband wanted to get our cat declawed. To prevent that, I have done several things. I cap his claws with plastic soft claw caps(he looks like his nails are painted!). However, he can still claw loose tweedy like fabric with those on, just not do as much damage. I found a couple things at Petsmart online that work great and have saved his poor feet. The first is called a Scatmat. It is a clear plastic mat that has a battery operated charge through it. It feels like when you snap yourself with static electricity. I put it on a new couch we got to keep him off. It works, and since it works when you are not home, even better. The other thing is called SSSSST. It is a small can with a motion detector and loudly sprays a steam if the cat makes it go off. I pointed it at the corner where he likes to scratch and now he associates that corner as bad. If he changes furniture, I change where it points, and he avoids. Again, don't have to be home. Also, cats learn fast, so after awhile these items don't have to be on, just visible.

Since he is a fairly big kitty, he likes to stretch out nice and tall and scratch, so I spent a good amount of money on a tall tweedy like cat scratching post, rubbed it with catnip, and play with him around that. I have it in the room that he likes to romp and play and scratch and he loves that.
 
lori254 said:
LOL! I had some mice in my house a couple of years ago, and Puddin was in cat heaven. My precious little angel turned into a fiend -- seriously, she had this evil glow in her eyes when she caught one (after playing with it a bit). I had to set some traps because I would prefer it to be quick for the mice. Thank goodness I haven't seen one in the house since.
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Oh yeah, cat vs. mice = mince mice! :p (wanted to insert devil icon but don't know where it is :mad:) I had one mouse several years ago, pre-cat, but I know my kitty now would probably be like your Puddin if she ever encountered one. I have a toy mouse for her but somehow it just doesn't seem to do it like the real one would. :)

Bam
 
Kathryn, thanks for those great links! I was in a store last night and almost bought an angular scratching post that seemed like it would work really well. I was figuring that she also needed a scratchpost that she could reach up towards and was considering putting the cardboard one I have against the chair she's scratching as a support. My BF was going to make one for my cat but he won't have any free time for at least another month and I don't think I can wait that long but the one I saw yesterday kind of resembles the PurrFect Post. At least I know I'm on the right track.

Dorothyrd, thanks for mentioning that Scatmat. I had heard about something like that but didn't know any details. I will definitely look into that as she jumps up on the counters and stove at night as well. I always hear a *thud* after I go up to bed at night and also hear it in the morning and I don't think she's moving things around doing some cleaning! :p I'll also look into that SSSSST which also sounds great!

I bought some two-sided tape last night and put it on the chair that she is clawing. This morning I found some of her fur on the tape so I know she tried to scratch it and hopefully has learned that it's not a good idea for her to do that anymore. I'm still trying to figure out the food problem. The new can of food that she liked the other night she chose not to like the following day. I tried a different one today and she ate it but who knows the next time I feed it to her. At least I know she won't be starving and she will have a choice of whether to eat it or not but it is frustrating.

I want to thank everyone again for all of your great suggestions. At least I'm confident that I can get the clawing problem under control.

Many thanks!
Bam
 
my cat used to love her turkey and giblets canned and would eat the whole thing but now she will only eat 1/4 of canned food and some dry. i read that some cats need variety so i'm going to try chicken and liver.or, keep her off canned food for awhile. also,plastic bowls can still have a soapy smell to them after being washed.

laura
 
josiespcah6ojsh said:
my cat used to love her turkey and giblets canned and would eat the whole thing but now she will only eat 1/4 of canned food and some dry. i read that some cats need variety so i'm going to try chicken and liver.or, keep her off canned food for awhile. also,plastic bowls can still have a soapy smell to them after being washed.

laura
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There is a dry food she likes but I can't give it to her first thing in the morning because she throws it up. After she's had her moist food, then she can tolerate the dry which I generally only give her for an overnight snack or if she's absolutely starving during the day. She has a ceramic bowl which gets rinsed very well. She's just becoming a fuss-n-boots! :D

Bam

ETA: My cat only chews the dry food once or twice and then swallows it so it's mostly whole. Is this normal? I'm thinking that it's not good for her digestive system if it's not broken down more.
 
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since cats gobble up thier food real fast some of it is not chewed,which is normal. i use a large round bowl filled just enough to cover it. oval bowl she eats too much at once then trows up.
 
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