HELP! At wits end with cat...

[dreambastion]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

She also suggests adding things to the house to occupy their attention.. a cat tree by a window, the cat entertainment dvds, putting a bird feeder outside a window to attract birds for her to watch.. creating tunnels out of boxes and hide toys in them.. putting treats in the "play-n-treat" balls.

She has a cat tower that sits by my sliding door and I usually leave the blinds open enough that she can see out - it looks out on a big tree where the squirrels and birds love to roost.

I have toys for her (balls and small mice and such), but I don't like to leave them out because they are all small enough that if the dog got a hold of them she would likely swallow them whole, which wouldn't be a good thing, and I don't really have a way to separate the two animals in the apartment short of putting the cat in the laundry room, which isn't very big. The tunnel idea wouldn't be bad, as long as I make them small enough and sturdy enough that the dog can't get into them or tear them up.

She's never really paid any attention to the TV when its been on, but I might look into one of the DVDs as additional distraction for her when I'm not home.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'm trying out the ones I can. I got that Natures Miracle just for cats and completely drenched my couch in it, and I'm keeping the foil on it so the cat has been staying off of it so far.