Unsure About Kitten Problems...

1875 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by litlebunnies2, Feb 17, 2012

sara_warren5

Discussion Starter · Feb 1, 2012

I really need advice. I didnt know much about cats until I found a 7 week old kitten under my car and she was homeless. I took her to the vet the next day and said I was going to keep her. She got all her shots and they cleaned her up. She ended up being healthy and now she is 5 months old. (the vet said she was about 7 weeks when I brought her in back in October) She is a pretty good cat from stories I have heard about other cats. She has a good home here. I bought her a scratch post and a cat house that is huge and cost me a fortune. She uses them just fine. BUT she still scratches my furniture and my bed!! I cant stop her. Ive tried a squirt of water saying no. Ive tried a time out in her cage. Ive tried a flick on the nose. Nothing is working. Another problem is she has a big home here which she can run around and go where ever she wants. Lots of hiding places. No one hurts her or bothers her but randomly while im not paying attention she will go in my couch where im sitting. I mean IN my couch and I CANT get her out. I have no idea how she even gets in there. I have recliner couches and im terrified one day im going to recline and not know she is in there. Shes doing this randomly and again with the dicipline when I finally do get her out. She doesnt listen. It seems she is getting worse over time. I am trying my best to not over do this whole dicipline thing but its not working. Before I say this last problem, I wanna say that she is litter trained and has never gone anywhere else. She will dig in her litter for 5-10 minutes, before going and after going. And she digs like a mad woman. Digs it all out of her bin and will even scrape at the bottom of the bin where there is no more litter cause she moves it all to one side. I am cleaning the floor twice a day because it is every where. I am using clumping litter, I use Special kitty litter, Ive switched it up a few times to try others, didnt work. I clean it once to twice daily. I think I have given all the info needed. I just really need help with these specific questions. Im not the best trainer and any advice would be well appreciated. I really wanna get her to understand before these habits become her.

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Kendalle

· #2 · Feb 1, 2012

The best for training is to offer enough scratching posts and if she is scratching else where, just move her to the scratch post. saying no to a cat really doesn't do much.

What kind of litter box do you have? she may need a covered or one that has the stairs that go up and around into the box, if she is a super digger she probably will always be a super digger.

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BarkingPup

· #3 · Feb 7, 2012

Yeah, it's almost impossible to discipline cats. For scratching, rub catnip on the scratching posts that you have. Place the posts in front of whatever she's scratching and slowly move it away until it's where you want it to be. You may have to buy more posts for that. You can also try different kinds of scratching posts. There's sisal rope, plain wood, rug, cardboard...etc. One of my cats loves sisal the other adores cardboard.

One of my cats is a super digger. Both refuse covered litter boxes so I got a ginormous box with a clip on lid thing.... ummm, you know how chain link fences with barbed wire have the top pointing inwards? Yeah, it sorta looks like that. It doesn't stop the flinging completely but it cuts it down. I also use pellet stove pellets instead of regular cat litter.

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Cy Hundley

· #4 · Feb 11, 2012

You are not alone Sara, all of this sounds like normal cat raising to me. You do need to keep up the disciplining of your cat when she does something that is not appropriate, she will eventually learn. A cat tree near the furniture with you putting her on it when she starts on the furniture is a great idea. A loud vocal "NO" and a slap on the rear can soon be replaced by just the "No" when you see her start in. Dont give up on her, she will learn. Lastly a covered litter box will solve your other problem.

Best of luck, and you have done a great thing by saving this little one!

Cy

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BarkingPup

· #5 · Feb 14, 2012

I highly disagree with physical ANYTHING for cats. I have one cat that was in a pet store from six weeks to six months and after two years of love she still flinches from hands. The best deterrent is a loud exclamation, water, loud noises, or just removing the cat from the situation. But, please, don't physically punish your cat...

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litlebunnies2

· #6 · Feb 17, 2012

I have had some success with pennies or stones in a can and shaking it loudly. Also, I have six kitties and one kitty was determined to use my couch as her scratching post. Unfortunately she has done damage to it. It does help to get her used to having periodic manicures on her front paws. Get the vet to show you how to do it if you don't know how.

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