My cat is half parrot!

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A couple of years ago, some jagoff dumped a bunch of cats in my neighbourhood. I had been pet-free for a long time and this seemed like a big, fat, thwap in the forehead to get pets. So I took two of them, a male who was about 7 months by the time I could get him to the vet and a female the vet thought was about 2 years old, she might be older than that, the vet said it's hard to judge age. Although she came pre-spayed, the male could have been her kitten for all I know. One of the other cats was pregnant at the time of the dumping and she had 2 kittens, both of which look like my cat, so maybe she was also his mother, I don't know.

 

Anyway, they are for the most part great cats. They have their little quirks but my main problem is that the female cat loves to claw wood and she's very destructive. My last cat was declawed (it was a long time ago and I didn't do that to him) so I've never had this problem before. Most of the frames around the doors in my house are clear varnished/urethane painted wood and she claws at them and my bedroom furniture. Not all of the door frames, specific ones. I've taped up paper towels over the clawed areas but now she's moved on to other doors. I can't tape paper towels up over everything and I can't be awake 24/7/365 to correct her when she claws things I don't want her to claw.

 

I have given her all kinds of things she can claw on in a variety of textures -- cardboard, carpet, sisal, wood logs by the fireplace. I think it's not only the clawing but the stretching on something vertical that she likes. I only bark at her if I catch her clawing something I don't want her to. But cats being cats, she does what she wants until she's caught... and then "forgets" the next time. She always looks guilty when I catch her at it again.

 

As for holding her down and clipping her claws or putting those little rubber ones on... I might be able to do that to her, she is a sweetie. If I couldn't manage on my own (and honestly I probably couldn't), I could take her to Petsmart and pay them to do it. But my other cat, it's like he has PTSD. I don't know what happened to him while he was out in the wild or maybe before he was dumped, but someone abused him. Putting him in a cage is an ordeal, catching him (literally running and catching), jumping and trying to fight his way out of the cage, he gets so stressed he has seizures. Neither of them are lap cats but him especially, there is no holding him down if he doesn't want it -- and he doesn't want it. If I do it to one cat, I would have to do it to the other to even the odds.

 

I've tried spraying the door jambs with cat repellent but that seems to fade very quickly (or I've bought a bad brand). I've brought in plain pieces of wood and attached them to the carpeted cat tree but she wouldn't touch them. I'm running out of ideas. Short of revarnishing the doors (which would take some time as there are 7 of them), I don't have any other ideas. If I can't get her clawing under control, I would have to declaw both of these cats as they tend to fight at least twice a day (they haven't drawn blood yet, but tufts of fur do fly on occasion) and I understand that a lot of vets don't support declawing any more. That would only be as a last resort. They are inside cats, I never let them out even on a leash or in a pen, so losing their claws wouldn't be a huge hardship to their ability to catch prey or defend themselves but like I said, last resort only. If she's 4 now that means I still have at least 10 years ahead of me with this problem and in 10 years, she could destroy the door frames to the point where they would have to be replaced, which is also something I don't want to do. Does anyone else out there have a suggestion?

[alli]

 

 

I know you said you tried different things for the cat to scratch on, but have you bought an actual scratch pad from the pet store? They are expensive but try a few different ones. You could also get one of those thick doormats. My cat loves to scratch that. Every time the cat scratches something you don't like, pick it up & move the cat to the scratch pad & move their paws for them like they are scratching it. Sounds silly but it might work. Reward them for scratching somewhere acceptable with a treat.

 

You already tried the repellant spray. Maybe try the ferret repellant spray? It's to keep ferrets from chewing on cords. It tastes awful; I know because I accidentally touched it & put my finger in my mouth or something. It seems to last a long time.

 

I would refrain from declawing. The cats are indoors, but if they ever accidentally got outside they would be defenseless. It's like cutting off the tips of your fingers. Also, when cats scratch, they dig their claws into the surface & pull. I think it stretches something in their paws & must feel really good. They can't do that if they are declawed or have the caps on their claws. I'm not sure how well the caps would work. It seems like they would fall off, though I've never asked anyone who tried it. Also, they would again be defenseless outside, and they can't stretch their paws with caps on.

 

I try to startle my cat when she does something I don't like. Raise your voice a bit & clap. A water spray bottle helps too. Some people might not like that, but I only spray over her, not into her face or anything. You are supposed to only reward good behavior & just ignore bad, but it seems to work for me & doesn't seem cruel.

 

If the cats are getting rough scratching & biting each other, get them both tested for FIV. The vet probably already did the test anyway, but if one has it the rough play could spread it to the other one.

 

The picture above is the type of mat I'm talking about.

[Lorem Ipsum]

I try to startle my cat when she does something I don't like. Raise your voice a bit & clap.

Oh, I do. I don't spray them with water as I have hardwood floors. The reason why I posted about this today is that this morning I was woken out of a dead sleep (again) by the sound of clawing. She was at it again on one of the door jambs. I'm not sure which one because there are 4 doors in the hall. But by the time I was up, she had moved away with an almost "What? I'm so cute! I don't do anything wrong ever!" look on her face. I'm going away on vacation in a month for almost two weeks, my job involves travel on occasion and this fall I will be travelling a fair bit. I've got to get her clawing under better control as I won't be here like I usually am to keep her in line. But I can't correct her when I'm sleeping. She's too fast to move away when I wake up to stop her.

 

I'll try the ferret spray, I didn't know there was such a thing. And, I could buy a thick door mat like you suggest. I don't know what a scratch pad is, but I'm sure they'll know at Petsmart. I do buy them these solid cardboard blocks to destroy (they make an unholy mess) which they both love but she loves solid wood the most. *sigh*

 

I had them tested for FIV before I brought them inside. Or rather, I had him tested first. The vet had said if one of them had it, odds are all of the dumped cats had it. The vet also said that it would be 'better' to have one cat with FIV rather than two. Something about one cat would live longer than if there are two of them with the same disease. And, I wanted her more than him (hate to say that but it's true I bonded with her before I even knew he was out there). When I finally managed to catch him in a cage and take him to the vet for neutering, I asked them to test him first because if he had it, I would have opted to have him put down. Yes, I know, that's bad of me. But he tested negative and after his operation, I brought him home and her inside at the same time. They adjusted amazingly well, I think they were outside for about 2 months, but it might have been longer. When I took her in later to be spayed, they tested her at that time. They lick each other when they're getting along and eat out of each other's bowls (or rather he tries to bogart her food) aside from fighting so, yeah, if one had it they both would at this point. They seem to fight mainly around meal times like they're cranky because they're hungry.

 

The rubber pads are like fake nails for people. They put them on with a drop of glue inside to keep them on until the cat sheds that claw 'husk'. But like I said, if I did it to her, I'd also have to do it to him and I know I can't control him. Taking him to Petsmart to get it done, I don't think they're equipped to handle seizing cats. Last vet trip, he wound up in a kitty oxygen mask being held down on the table while he recovered. Their annual check up is coming up and I'm dreading it even though the vet sold me some pills to put in his food a few days leading up to it that are supposed to calm him down (not sedatives). I hope they work or it'll be sedatives next time -- for me, him and the vet tech who also nearly had a heart attack the way he was seizing.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

[alli]

For scratch pads, I would recommend this:

 

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or this:

 

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or this:

 

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or this:

 

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Or something similar to those four. I guess they are called scratch posts, not scratch pads. They don't tear these up & make a mess. Maybe sprinkle catnip on the scratch posts so they are more attracted to them.

 

The nail caps might be a good idea just while you are gone. I could definitely see the cats just chewing them off though. Heck, I'd probably do the same if someone put plastic caps on my fingernails, lol.

 

Is there a room you can put the cat in overnight with nothing to scratch on? Put the food, water & litterbox in a spare room where they won't cause damage. Not a bathroom or tiny room though.

[Lorem Ipsum]

Hee hee! I have one of those like the first/third links, they don't touch it. The one small cat tree I have has a wrapped sisal pole like your last link, they don't touch that either. But, angled like that maybe they'd go for it.

 

They're sort of weird when it comes to catnip. They like the spray catnip, not the leaves. But when I spray it on something, they just sit there and lick whatever has been sprayed. Still, the angled one, that might work, I'll have to check out my local Petsmart next time I'm there and see if they have it. I live in Canada, so we often don't have the same stuff you can get in the States.

 

I'm trying to keep my guest bedroom cat-free. That's the only room that would come close to what you describe. Otherwise, it would be locking her in the bedroom with me at night, right now I keep the door open. They are both pretty vocal so I could see her wailing in the middle of the night to be let out.

 

Yes, I'll buy an angled scratcher and see if that does the trick. And I'll look into buying some Varathane to start painting the trim with. Maybe the smell of new paint will also deter.

 

Thanks!

[alli]

No problem! Maybe ask the people at PetSmart, a vet or a local shelter if they have any other ideas if the problem persists!