Have a couple questions.please.(need help)

[crazycritters]

First question is how do you keep or teach a cat/kitten to stay off something? we have a small kitten that likes to get up on the entertainment center in my sons bedroom..His room is not that big so we cant really move the furniture around to keep him from getting on it he goes from the foot board of the bed and on upto it.. he is just a little wild man!!!

Second, we have a ? 4 yr old cat,a 7 month old cat(that is getting ready to go get neutered) and now a 10week kitten... the two younger ones love to play but the older one he like to make a lot of noise if the little one gets near him and sometimes even the 7m.old cat?? see when we go away and at night when we go to bed the older boy(cowboy) and the 7m.old (Ranger) go into our master bathroom for the night. and get let back out in the morning they get along great ,and the little one(Dasher) he stays in my sons room when he needs pinned up. but now if they are all out, Cowboy will even be defencive to Ranger sometimes? I was thinking maybe (it might be mean ) but maybe I should leave just Cowboy,and Dasher out together and keep Ranger in the room. you see Dasher will go toward Cowboy and he has a hissy, so he just goes the other way and plays w/Ranger but if it was just them two then he would not have Ranger to occupy him and they would be forced to interact more? I think this is what helped Cowboy and Ranger (we had cowboy then got Ranger about 5 or so months ago and then got Dasher about a month ago)
Thanks for any help...

 

[taryn]

Do not 'force' any of them to interact. That is just asking for trouble. Dasher is giving Cowboy space and is reacting properly which is 'Cowboy wants to be left alone so I'll go play with Ranger.' They'll eventually work it out and Cowboy and Dasher might never really interact. I moved my 2 Attitude and Nuts(they are now 7 months old) in several months ago and Maude who's around 5-7 still hisses at Nuts if he invades 'her' space. She is sometimes ok with Nuts and Attitude but sometimes she will hiss at them and they go off elsewhere or they just ignore her and continue to go about their business. She might also paw at them to smack them upside their head(usually Nuts) and sometimes they'll go away, other times they strike right back at her. Seriously do NOT force them to interact, it will not help them and it could make things a lot worse between them.

They will work this all out over time, unless they are getting physically into fights(Maude doesn't extend her claws when she paws or thumps one of them) then let the work it out on their own. Like I said Maude is more accepting of Attitude than she is with Nuts. I will say she is more likely to let Attitude curl up against her when they are sleeping but she will let Nuts as well after she hisses at him and he, as usual, ignores her. It also doesn't hurt that Maude is around 12-14 lbs, Attitude is 7.4 lbs and Nuts is 9.6 lbs(and yes Attitude and Nuts are 7 months old, they are Maine Coon mixes and their daddy is a huge cat as well, so they are going to be big.)

My signature is the 3 of them on the couch, I don't think I have to tell you which one is Maude.

Taryn

 

[persi & alley]

Originally Posted by crazycritters

First question is how do you keep or teach a cat/kitten to stay off something? we have a small kitten that likes to get up on the entertainment center in my sons bedroom..His room is not that big so we cant really move the furniture around to keep him from getting on it he goes from the foot board of the bed and on upto it.. he is just a little wild man!!!

Buy him his own climbing furniture at you local pet store. He will like it much better. Spray it with Feliway and get the tallest condos they make if you can afford it because those little critters like to get up high!

 

[fluffysimba]

I have a 8 year old cat that STILL doesn't stay off things. Oh she knows she's not supposed to be jumping on stuff but she's Queen therefore you can't TELL her anything of what NOT to do. Sigh

As for the interactions of the cat with the kittens there isn't much you can do other than to give the adult space. He'll teach the younger one boundaries and those older cats take time to accept a new cat in their territory.

 

[crazycritters]

I understand what you are saying about dont force them.. and I wouldnt I mean if Dasher was picking at Cowboy alot I would remove him for a while .they have run of the house when they are out so they can get away from each other.. the only reason I was thinking that like I said when we got Ranger it only took Cowboy about 3 weeks to be ok with him and they are best buds plus Ranger had much more of a forward type personality then Dasher does???
as for the staying off things well we have always been able to teach our cats what they are aloud on and not aloud on and it has worked but when he is pinned in there by himself this is when he does it and I just didnt want this to be the start of something he will do all over the house.. did I explain it ok?
thanks for your help..
and the size of them well Cowboy has just a little bit of a flap hanging of his belly at the bottom but he is all muscle and about ? 20+ pounds so he can hold his and then some
Ranger is just a teenager and at the stage still were he is slinder and long legged but he is atleast 7-8 pounds
and Dasher he is starting to grow his long legs and is large kitten (I think) I hope they both Dasher and Ranger fill out like Cowboy did..

 

[lunasmom09]

Everyone needs to carry squirt bottles around and watch the kitten closely. At the first sign of her "winding up" to jump on something, say "no" sharply, and if she ignores you, spray her with a quick burst (try to stay out of her line of sight), saying no again. Praise her when she's back on the floor whether you've squirted her or not.

Likewise, if she's already on something, say no, put her down, and then praise her. The next time, if she doesn't respond to no, squirt her while you say it.

If she still does this after a couple of times (you have to do this for each item that you don't want her to get on) just squirt her without saying no. If she STILL ignores you, put a little bit of vinegar in with the water (not a lot - just enough to smell).

This isn't going to correct itself over night but in time it should.
I've had 6 cats and only one didn't even respond when I added the vinegar.

If you don't want her to scratch something and it's cloth, put Sticky Paws on the surface. It's basically big sheets of double-sided tape. Also put a scratching post near that spot and when you see her scratch pick her up, say no, redirect her to the scratcher, and then praise her.

good luck,

ginger