- Joined
- Jun 19, 2018
- Messages
- 3
- Purraise
- 3
hi. i adopted a cat a month ago from a family who had problems with him bullying their older cat. he's about a year old now, and he's pretty well-behaved for the most part aside from usual irritating cat behaviours such as not letting me sleep and pulling my bath panel away to hide under my bath for whatever reason and chewing whatever small objects he can find in whatever tiny corner he can pull them from like my own personal roomba.
another issue he has is scratching furniture and curtains. i don't mind cats needing to scratch, and he has a post that was given to me by the owners alongside some of his old toys, and it seems very well-used which the owners said was pretty much all his doing since he was younger, so i know he's fond of this post. i put it next to my couch, the areas where he scratched most, because clearly he liked scratching something there, and it's elevated so he can sit a few feet above the couch and look out the window. i figured he'd enjoy it that way, and he does, but he keeps scratching my couch, and my curtains, and my rug. some of my next paycheck will be spent on getting him some more posts with different materials based on what he scratches most around my house, but that's a few days from now. one thing that deters him is vaporub, because the smell is too strong for him (to the point where he'll run as soon as i open it), but i'd rather not rub vaporub on my furniture past, like, cupboard doors and bin lids where it's easy to rub off. i've also tried tinfoil, but he seems to... enjoy that? and also just lifts the foil to scratch the couch under it LOL. he's crafty, i'll give him that.
ANYWAY... i've been trying to teach him that using his current post = treat, and using my couch, curtains, or rug =/= treat. it's simple cat maths, i guess. the only issue is he's very aggressive about the treats i offer him. he's not a food aggressive cat, i can grab his bowl and move it slightly or take pieces out while he's eating and he won't care, and he doesn't beg for my own food except porridge and chicken and fish. it's just treats that drive him crazy in a sort of scary way! it's nice to know he likes the things i pick out for him, but his attitude is horrible once i break out the dreamies. he'll eat them out of my hand easy enough at first, but if i give him a second one or spoil him with a third, he starts becoming really rude about it.
for example, i'll hold the treat up to the post to encourage him to put his paws up on it somehow, or even sniff the post, with the idea that i'll click once he does and give him a treat. more cat maths. the only problem is, once i hold the treat behind the post, he'll attack my arm by biting and batting at it; nothing overly serious, but enough to hurt. i'll tap the post to get his attention on it, and he'll attack my hand, or i'll scratch the post myself to get him interested in the noise and he'll do the same, even if there's no treat visible. he also displays pretty rude body language (tail whipping, ears back, that look in his eye that says he'd murder me if he had the thumbs to do it) when i tell him off, as if it's my fault he's being mean!!! like i said, he does this when i'm not training him either, just giving him a treat for letting me sleep through one night.
i don't use my hands to play with him. Most of our games involve minimum contact with my hands, so he knows hands are for feeding and petting, so the worst i get is a lovebite when i'm petting him. i'm not entirely sure what happens when he sees the treats. i'm assuming it's excitement, but i'd prefer he was excited in a different way! he's a very excitable cat to begin with (to the point where when we're playing a vigorous game of fetch or with one of his on-a-stick toys, his tail will puff up... which i HOPE is out of excitement and not anything i'm doing!) so if it means i just need to be more hands-off with my approach to scratchpost training, then so be it.
in the meantime, i'd prefer he stopped shredding my curtains. i was hoping i wouldn't have to use fellaway or anything similar, but if that's the other case, then... i guess i'll add that to my cart lol. i know his last owners sprayed him when he was bad, because he's very afraid and aware of squirt bottles even when i haven't used them against him, but i'd rather he just lived with me and was good because i was kind to him than lived with me and was good because i scare him!
sorry for the long as hell post... i'm trying to give as much info as possible.
tl;dr, my cat really likes dreamies and uses his claws and teeth to show it.
another issue he has is scratching furniture and curtains. i don't mind cats needing to scratch, and he has a post that was given to me by the owners alongside some of his old toys, and it seems very well-used which the owners said was pretty much all his doing since he was younger, so i know he's fond of this post. i put it next to my couch, the areas where he scratched most, because clearly he liked scratching something there, and it's elevated so he can sit a few feet above the couch and look out the window. i figured he'd enjoy it that way, and he does, but he keeps scratching my couch, and my curtains, and my rug. some of my next paycheck will be spent on getting him some more posts with different materials based on what he scratches most around my house, but that's a few days from now. one thing that deters him is vaporub, because the smell is too strong for him (to the point where he'll run as soon as i open it), but i'd rather not rub vaporub on my furniture past, like, cupboard doors and bin lids where it's easy to rub off. i've also tried tinfoil, but he seems to... enjoy that? and also just lifts the foil to scratch the couch under it LOL. he's crafty, i'll give him that.
ANYWAY... i've been trying to teach him that using his current post = treat, and using my couch, curtains, or rug =/= treat. it's simple cat maths, i guess. the only issue is he's very aggressive about the treats i offer him. he's not a food aggressive cat, i can grab his bowl and move it slightly or take pieces out while he's eating and he won't care, and he doesn't beg for my own food except porridge and chicken and fish. it's just treats that drive him crazy in a sort of scary way! it's nice to know he likes the things i pick out for him, but his attitude is horrible once i break out the dreamies. he'll eat them out of my hand easy enough at first, but if i give him a second one or spoil him with a third, he starts becoming really rude about it.
for example, i'll hold the treat up to the post to encourage him to put his paws up on it somehow, or even sniff the post, with the idea that i'll click once he does and give him a treat. more cat maths. the only problem is, once i hold the treat behind the post, he'll attack my arm by biting and batting at it; nothing overly serious, but enough to hurt. i'll tap the post to get his attention on it, and he'll attack my hand, or i'll scratch the post myself to get him interested in the noise and he'll do the same, even if there's no treat visible. he also displays pretty rude body language (tail whipping, ears back, that look in his eye that says he'd murder me if he had the thumbs to do it) when i tell him off, as if it's my fault he's being mean!!! like i said, he does this when i'm not training him either, just giving him a treat for letting me sleep through one night.
i don't use my hands to play with him. Most of our games involve minimum contact with my hands, so he knows hands are for feeding and petting, so the worst i get is a lovebite when i'm petting him. i'm not entirely sure what happens when he sees the treats. i'm assuming it's excitement, but i'd prefer he was excited in a different way! he's a very excitable cat to begin with (to the point where when we're playing a vigorous game of fetch or with one of his on-a-stick toys, his tail will puff up... which i HOPE is out of excitement and not anything i'm doing!) so if it means i just need to be more hands-off with my approach to scratchpost training, then so be it.
in the meantime, i'd prefer he stopped shredding my curtains. i was hoping i wouldn't have to use fellaway or anything similar, but if that's the other case, then... i guess i'll add that to my cart lol. i know his last owners sprayed him when he was bad, because he's very afraid and aware of squirt bottles even when i haven't used them against him, but i'd rather he just lived with me and was good because i was kind to him than lived with me and was good because i scare him!
sorry for the long as hell post... i'm trying to give as much info as possible.
tl;dr, my cat really likes dreamies and uses his claws and teeth to show it.