Ripping up my carpet (While wearing soft paws)

Get your scratching posts, trees, and other scratchers placed around the house. Add a good piece or two (piece as in cat furniture) in the room that you will all be in the most. He'll want to be around you a lot. When you hear or see him scratching tell him "psst! No scratching the carpet!" and take him to a proper scratching surface. Do this every single time.

Mine will occasionally get worked up playing and will scratch at the den carpet a little, but simply saying "don't scratch the carpet" or "no scratching the carpet" stops them right away.

When picking out scratching posts and furniture, make sure there are posts that are tall enough for an adult cat to fully stretch out on. I think 32" is enough for a lot of cats.
I have a couple larger cats so I made a ~4ft post and put a platform on top of it. Cost me a total of $8 for the rope.

If they like catnip, rub catnip into the scratcher.

ONE scratcher... HA!

You will need horizontal, angled, and vertical scratchers. They need to be very sturdy. You will have to experiment with what textures are preferred. You will then also have to supervise constantly at first to try and catch em in the act and squirt em or otherwise without them associating the correction with you (or else they just do it when you're not around). Even then, there are some surfaces I have learned that are just too awesome to scratch like my office chair, and so I recovered them.

I am surprised that they are still scratching a lot with soft claws though. With mine they mostly stopped until a few shed off.

For a scratching post, mine liked this:
http://www.amazon.com/SmartCat-3832-...5043779&sr=8-1



And of course cat trees/condos usually have sisal rope legs.

I'm also surprised he can catch his claws in anything, much less damage something, with the Soft Claws on. I put them on a few of my boys just for fun, and they couldn't catch onto anything. I think it was frustrating for them; I learned my lesson and won't be using them for fun anymore. And he probably won't use any scratching apparatus until the Soft Claws fall off. It's just not satisfying to rub plastic nails on sisal. Once he can really dig his claws in he might enjoy his posts, and training will be easier. There are also some good training tips on the links in my signature. Don't allow him to scratch anything that's not allowed to be scratched, even though he is wearing the Soft Claws. They're meant to prevent damage while training, thay aren't really something to be used forever, although I guess if a cat is really resistant to training you might have to.

It's fairly easy to make a good sturdy post with sisal rope, a 4 x 4, a square of plywood, and some staples and glue. My cats do NOT like the woven sisal like the picture above--"one of them will use it! 20 cats and not one likes it, that must mean something. They like sisal rope instead.

And have hope! Most cats do not scratch inappropriately after they've fully matured. It's mostly a naughty kitten/teenager/young punk thing. Or if the cat is new and doesn't know the house rules yet.

Have you tried that particular product?

Both my cats love it, and out of 150 customers that reviewed it, 130 are five star, and almost all the rest four.

How handy is your DH? If you need a scratching post now simply go get an untreated landscaping post, some thick plywood (easier if you have scraps laying around) - a base should at least be close to 2'x2' if you make it tall. Your choice if you want to add a small platform on top. Use natural untreated sisal or manila rope - I like the smaller diameter rope because it holds up better to cat claws. Make it as tall as you want - you can use the whole post if you wish just make sure you get enough rope. Screw it together with heavy screws, cover the wood if you want to - if you don't sand it a bit. You could use carpet scrapes or even heavy fabric to upholstery with.

We trim nails weekly (or at least check them). I find in most cases when their nails are getting long they tend to scratch more then normal.

The SoftPaws should protect even if they do claw.

I forgot to ask. How old is the carpet on the stairs? How well is it tacked down?

Wow, how DID you get the Soft Claws off? Like I said, I put them on 4 of the boys (I got extra-large and none of the girls are that big) last month, and Scotty still has 2 on him. They will not come off. I snipped the tips and everything. Still on. They're driving me crazy.

Some vets won't even declaw a cat. I want to buy a new couch, but now that we have a cat, I DON'T want leather. (We've had our two year old rescue cat since March.)

And to me, training a cat with a water gun is cruel, too. When our cat began scratching at our couch, I gently picked him up and took him over to his scratching post and took his front paws in my hand and tried to 'gently' motion his paws up and down on the post. We have a floor to ceiling scratching post with three levels which he loves to run up and down (we often put treats and toys at the top). He would never be able to get to the top without his claws. He seldom scratches on the couch any more. (But, I'm STILL not getting leather!) I have another smaller scratching post in my office. It takes time, but it's worth it.

Even though we got an adult cat - it wasn't difficult to train him. You just can't use punishment - like you might do with a dog or even a child. A book that became my 'bible' in this - and still is - is STARTING FROM SCRATCH: HOW TO CORRECT BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN YOUR ADULT CAT by Pam Johnson-Benet.

lin

Way to go! Were you making the face at him?

Do you wear shoes in the house? Sometimes that spooks cats, just because shoes make more noise.

I hope your homemade cat furniture is a hit with them.

That's the "Ultimate Scratching Post" picture above. My cats like it. All use it sometimes, and a couple use it a lot. I also have a carpeted post that they all use, and one of those curl things (also called "wave" or something else). They use them all, least of all the curl, though. Or, I should say they use it least for scratching. A couple of them like to sit in it and play on it.

I second the idea of rubbing catnip on the posts to make them more attractive.

I have had great luck with "Sticky Paws" double sided tape for the purpose of training my cats not to scratch the upholstered furniture. I just put in on the favored spots. They hate the way it feels on their paws, and it stops attempts to scratch there immediately. After a couple months they no longer are interested in the furniture and I can take it off. I wonder if you could try some on parts of the berber carpet? However, the humans and cats have to be able to walk on the stairs and floor, so I don't know if that is a good idea. Maybe it's worth trying it in a few places and see if it stops him.

Good for you for being committed to not declawing him! I'm sure you can figure this out, in time.

Robin

Sounds like a great plan to me.

My cats use the scratching posts 99% of the time. Very occasionally one starts to scratch the carpets. But getting their attention by saying their name and asking them to stop usually works. If not, (and this would be very rarely) I walk over to them and they stop. When I ask them to stop I'm not yelling, "No!" or anything like that. I just speak loud enough and insistently enough that they know I mean it. But really, weeks go by and no one attacks the carpets, because they prefer the scratching posts.

I save the loud, "No!" and other yelling for times when they are having "arguments" among themselves. And I don't even have to do that much yelling very often. I usually just quickly find the spray bottle and shake it and all go running. And this is their reaction even though I have hardly ever sprayed any of these cats more than slightly. Now I almost never spray it. And if I do, the spray is only in the direction of the cats because they have taken off so fast the water doesn't touch them. They really hate it.

But I only do this if someone is in a particularly aggressive mood and aggravating someone else so there is growling and hissing, and maybe even a little screeching. But, the point I'm making is the spray bottle is a great deterrent. I've read that some think it is a bad idea as the cats will become afraid of you and associate you with bad things. All I can say is that 4 of my 5 cats are all over me with affection - as much as I can stand. And the 5th one, well I'm one of only a handful of people who she has ever allowed close to her and allowed to touch her. And a lot of people tried to work on winning her over for the 3+ years she spent in a shelter, with little success. I pet her every day, and she even sometimes asks me to.

So, if one is a loving cat parent, they don't hold a little "discipline" against you.

Robin

Sometimes you have to make the decision of which is more importation to you - your stance about declawing or your furniture/carpet. We sided with our stance against declawing.

They're all (3) usually really good about scratching where they're supposed to, but we can't control what happens when we're not here. We don't use any form of discipline with them really because it's generally just not effective in deterring unwanted behavior. If I see them scratching where they aren't supposed to, I clap and call their name (non-aggressively) to get their attention, then redirect and reward if they start scratching the posts/pads after being corrected. We reward them when we see them doing what they're supposed to do also. The key is consistency in redirecting unwanted and reward wanted behaviors in my opinion.

They have damaged a spot in the carpet and there's a particular arm of a chair they've pulled some threads on, but hey - it's part of having a pet. I gave up the right to have 100% control over everything in my home LOL. Sometimes things get damaged/broken. It sucks but it's hard for me to get upset at instinct.

I would buy that cat tree off ebay.

This so true! With my indoor dogs, this was never a problem but along came the cat and I also had to give up the right to no kitty paw counters, tables, etc. and walking without being tripped at night, and putting things on the counters and them staying there undisturbed.

As far as things getting damaged and broken by cats, it doesn't have to be that way. It takes some effort to teach them what they can and cannot do, and where they can and cannot go, but it can be done. Cats are very trainable, maybe even more so than dogs. Kittens are very rough on furnishings. But my adult cats don't ruin anything. I wouldn't accept that part of having cats is that furnishings are going to be ruined and other things are going to be broken. That isn't my experience.

As far as when they are home alone, it seems they mostly sleep. Things are not disturbed or broken or marred when the humans come home. You have to make the things you don't want them to do unattractive to them. And keep the expensive, breakable things away from their reach. I don't have things on the counters that interest them. And I've used "Sticky Paws" on the counters, too, to redirect their curiosity. You have to give them things to do, places to go they like to go, and things they like to scratch.

And I often read that no kind of "discipline" works on cats. I don't agree with that either, as it is not my experience. They want to please their humans. They don't want to be in trouble. I am never harsh with them. I've explained what I do above. It's more a matter of firmness and consistency - just like with children. I use positive reinforcement, mostly, but sometimes negative reinforcement is the only way. I use praise, and petting, but also time-outs, ignoring, deterrents such as "Sticky Paws", and sometimes yelling (not so loudly), and the shaking of the spray bottle. My biggest (almost the only at this point) behavior problem is their own quarrels. They can be quite catty sometimes (lol). But, mostly, we all get along very well.


Robin

One thing to be careful of with soft-paws is once they start falling off.

Buttercup's are mostly fallen off with the exception of three. These are now hanging down quite a bit from the root since the claw has grown.

Well, the problem is that it now creates a harpoon like claw, and just like a harpoon it can get stuck in cloth. Luckily I was there, as she got one claw stuck in my chair and I was able to calm her and carefully extract it which no way she could have done herself and might have spazzed out if alone.
For sure, but lets not pretend that all cats have the same temperaments and are all adopted at the same ages with the same background. Its like with human kids whenever the kid is rowdy its always blamed on incompetent, absent, or lazy parenting, but then you look at the other three kids raised just the same in the same household that are angels.... so lets say uuuuuusually.
I agree, positive reinforcement and negative behavior avoidance can work together well. I don't see how any amount of positive reinforcement could keep them from playing with the feather on one of my Samurai helmets, but the SSSCAT that scares the bejesus out of em sure did. After a couple times getting startled by that, which is definitely a negative reaction, they want nothing to do with the evil spitting helmet of doom, heh!

I dunno that they actually want to PLEASE me like dogs do, but they definitely understand "do this = instant positive response" and "do that = instant negative response to avoid".

I think people just have problems when they expect their cats to connect the dots on complex action-reaction comprehension, especially if time has elapsed.

I agree that cats don't all have the same temperaments, any more than people do. But, for my job, I am a special education teacher, and along with students with a lot of other issues, I work with children with behavior problems. I say that the vast majority of the time, a child's behavior problems are due to less than great (or even sensible) parenting. I do realize that most people do the best they can and want the best for their children. Some just can't seem to get it together sometimes.

The cats I have now all came from a shelter where they lived, in cages, or loose, for 10 months to 3.5 years. They all had personality or behavior problems that made them difficult to adopt. However, with time, patience, behavior modification techniques, and most of all love, they have become good pets.

Well, I can't say that for the new cat, yet. I've only had her for 2.5 weeks. She still has a long way to go. Excessive shyness is her problem. She'd rarely come out from hiding, or let anyone hold her at the shelter. That's why she was in the shelter for 2.5 years and the fears were that she'd never get adopted. She was even put in foster care for a while to socialize her, but it didn't help. She had come to the shelter as a stray age 6 months with 2 kittens. I considered her for 10 months and finally decided she had to come home with me. My other cats are ready for her to emerge from the guest room, and she is jumping in my lap and cuddling now when I spend time with her in there. But, she doesn't want to meet my cats yet, even though she lived the last couple years roaming free in the shelter cat room with about 30 other cats (including some of mine part of that time). But, these things take time. All the behavior changes in cats take a lot of time, sometimes lots and lots of time. I have one I've had for 3 years, and it took a good 2 years to settle him down. I have another that I've had for nearly a year. We still can't pick her up, but she lets me pet her everyday, and sometimes comes to me to be petted. That is way more than she ever allowed in the 3+ years she was in the shelter where she wouldn't let most people even near her (came in as a 5 month old kitten stray). I have desensitized her enough in this year so she will be touched without freaking out. There is still a ways to go, but it will come.

As far as the feather on the Samurai helmet, I wouldn't expect a cat to avoid that (though you found a solution, for that problem). It would be too much temptation. I do keep breakable things under wraps in my house. All glass, with a few exceptions, is kept in cabinets, for example. I avoid situations where things can get damaged. But, I can't avoid upholstered furniture, carpets, and kitchen counters. And I am able to control my cats behavior regarding these things. I don't remember when any of my cats damaged anything - not in years. I did have one in the past who seemed more monkey than cat. He would open drawers, for example, when no one was home, and take out all the socks, or whatever. He did scratch the finish on the wooden drawers and chests doing this. Nowadays, if I had one who did that, I think "Sticky Paws" when end the matter.

If I have an issue with one of my cats and I become peeved with them, they most definitely try to make up with me after a little while. That's what I mean about trying to please. They do know which side of their bread is buttered, so to speak. I'm Momcat to them and they want me to keep on caring for them and everything else. They are smart enough to know that if Momcat's not happy, no one is happy.

I want to add that I know there are some really difficult cats in the world. One of the things I do at the shelter where my cats came from and where I volunteer 2-5 hours a week, is work at changing the behavior of some of the cats so that they are adoptable. A few cannot be tamed, and they are never considered adoptable and are kept in cages in separate rooms until they are ready (health good and neutered) to join feral colonies and farms. But most of them can be made more sociable and home compatible.

Robin