How to teach tamed feral not to scratch when playing

iluvcats3

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I tamed a feral cat (which has taken about 2 years and a lot of consistent effort) and she is almost ready to move into my house.  I have recently taught her to play by throwing leaves in the air and she chases them, and I'm working on chasing string now. When I play with her, sometimes she gets really wild and claws me enough to bleed quite a bit.  She doesn't seem to know that she needs to keep her claws sheathed when she plays with me.  How to teach her this?

(She was a mama and is spayed now. She lives in an outbuilding that is much like a house and I lock her up at night in there so she can mouse and not get eaten by a coyote.  I plan to train her to tolerate phones ringing, the radio, the TV etc. this summer so she can move into my house this fall. It is a pain in the neck keeping her warm in and unheated outbuilding in MN in the winter)

Thanks!
 
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iluvcats3

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I should add that she was probably 2 - 3 years old or older when I got her and that's why it was so difficult to tame her
 

ondine

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When she claws you, retract you hand with a sharp "no!"  You can also hiss - it is how other cats would tell her she'd gone too far.  She will soon recognize these as signs she needs to back off.

Also, watch her closely - she will give you signs she is overstimulated (and ready with the claws).  Eyes wide, jumping around, her muscles may quiver and he tail may lash about in annoyance.  If you observe her acting this way, you can stop or slow down the play until she calms down some.

Thank you for helping her.  Your arrangements must be wonderful - this winter was brutal!
 
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iluvcats3

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I guess she was obviously overstimulated. She was so cute, though! I haven't had a young cat in a long time. She rolled over and over like 6 times in a row, she was so happy to be outside after the long winter.

I did have an elaborate setup for the kitty.  My brother built a large cage with platforms in it that I used when she was with her kitten, which my brother adopted that kitten. .   I covered it with lots and lots of rigid insulation and sleeping bags, then put a cat heating pad and a light bulb heater in there (a design from Bird Dog magazine) and when it was colder than 10 below, she just had to live with an extra light bulb on there. I also got a remote theromometer so i could monitor her temperature in there at all times.  I still worried about if a light bulb would burn out on a 30 below night, but she could always jump up to the top platform and it would be warmer there.  There are these super heavy duty light bulbs that I got which are really energy wasteful for lighting, but for heating, those heavy duty filaments are really reliable.

It's a good thing I have a nice setup, because I notice another mama cat has moved into the burned down barn foundation.  I dunno if she has had her kittens yet.  So this fall, Mama cat moves into the house, and the new Mama cat gets the granary and another 2 year process gets started, i guess.  My husband isn't a cat lover (but he has his own lap cat, LOL) but I guess he just puts up with it. He's a better animal trainer than I am, too.
 
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