Climbing with claws

Jack is almost 7 months old now and he only purposefully scratches on the cat tree--but he does like to climb up things rather than jump and its starting to get old.

In particular he climbs the quilt on our bed and my husbands leather chair at the computer.

Is there any hope that he'll decide to actually just jump instead of climb? Is there any way to stop the climbing and encourage jumping?

I think we are going to have to declare the office off limits--my husband is going to be livid when he really looks at the amount of damage Jack has done to his office chair.

Thanks
Leslie

Hmm that is strange. Has he been examined by a vet to check on his coordination. Usually only kittens under 4 months old will "climb" cause they don't have the coodination or strength to do the jumping.

But a 7 month old cat should be able to jump from the floor to the bed and even higher. I'd look into possible problems.

He does jump up to things but those two things he climbs.

I mean he jumps from shelf to shelf on the cat tree without issue.

I will say that he has never attempted the counters and will not jump from the floor to the dresser or night stand he climbs up the bed first and then walks onto them.

I really hate to soft paw him because overall he isn't destructive and he isn't purposefully scratching the chair or pulling the quilt.

Leslie

maybe try double sided sticky tape on the sides of things for a litle while and see if that encourages him to jump instead of climb?

Talley stays in the dog's crate during the day when we are away. It's for her safety as she gets into everything and sometimes needs help to escape. It's the largest plastic crate made, so she has lots of room for a litter box, bed, play space and food. I call it kitty jail.

Our leather sofa and chairs are temporarily covered in quilts. I know that she is going to eventually learn bettr claw control and life will be back to normal.
At night, I will often hear her try to climb up the sofa and chairs in the livingroom. A quick "Do you want to go to kitty jail?" usually stops it. Though I have had to put her in kitty jail a couple of nights.

The best way to deter them from climbing thing is to trim their claws. The younger you start, the better, and hes still young! Just the tips, a few times a month. Just keep an eye on him at first he may try to run up the side of something then suddenly realize he has lost his super powers!

We trim nails once a week--it doesn't effect his ability to climb those two things and leave marks.

Leslie

Have you tried Soft Paws? I haven't used them yet myself but plan on it when I get my new kitten in order to try and save my new leather sofa. I would think it would be difficult to climb in them since they are soft and pretty blunt tips. Just a thought.

Clawing things is one thing. But to climb up the quilt to the bed does NOT make any sense for a 7 month old cat. My rex kittens were jumping onto the bed (pretty much) by the time they were 4 months old. And rexes are small cats

I had one 4-5 month old that wanted so bad to go from the table to top of the curio cabinet (about a 4 or 4 1/2 feet jump). She watched her mom, and uncle do it many times. One day she decided to just take a leap from the table and she scrambled up the front of the glass - how I have NO clue; and managed to get on top of the cabinet.

She couldn't get back down herself but she did get up there.

I'd still have a vet check him out on those back legs. Can he jump in the air easily after a string toy? Not a little one, but clear the floor by about 2-3 feet (height of the bed)?

I'll try and do some more observations of him and see just how far he is jumping etc.

Thanks for all the help I'll update soon on what I have observed.

Leslie