Cats and chewing...

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  • emmaciation_
    emmaciation_ Posts: 6
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    is the scratching post tall enough? cats prefer to be stretched out fully when scratching and if the stuff you don't want scratched is taller than the scratching post, they will ruin everything!!!!
    as for the cat eating your t-shirt......... try getting a wardrobe!! I hear those things are **** hot right now hahaha
    some cats prefer wet food to dry food and vice-versa so try out new foods and stuff
    or if you think it could be stress related, try using lavender around the house or maybe invest in a Feliway (a plug-in diffuser that calms scatty cats in the UK, I am unaware if they sell it anywhere else or something similar)
    There are loads of cat behavior books in libraries, try looking around for some!
  • Surfrider
    Surfrider Posts: 364 Member
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    is the scratching post tall enough? cats prefer to be stretched out fully when scratching and if the stuff you don't want scratched is taller than the scratching post, they will ruin everything!!!! ...

    That's the funny thing. The first one wasnt all that tall and she would hunker down to use it. This new one is like 3 feet tall. I bought it with that exact thing in mind that she would like to stretch out. Not the case so far.
  • Dragon67
    Dragon67 Posts: 123 Member
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    My friend has rescue cat that has his naughty moments ( weeing where he should not) - 1 time he nearly shorted the electrisc in the house as he caught a socket fitting - the FELIWAY SPRAY seemed to calm him down somewhat, they also do it is sprayform
    We have 2 rescue cats sisters) and they love the scrathing post but one has also taken to using a step on the stairway carpet on the odd ocassion, but this might be out fault, they are mainly indoor cats so sometimes we have them chase a toy/string up and down the stairs to make sure they get a good workout ( mee too I might add :laugh: ) so that might be the reason for that one, GOOD LUCK with your kitty I hope they settle down .
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    http://www.amazon.com/Stimulo-Feeding-Station-Activity-Center/dp/B004EG21FS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363559598&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+feeding+station

    I have one who likes to chew on things when he is bored. He has always liked to stalk and play with his food and I can keep him occupied by flipping treats across the room so he has to go chase them one piece at a time. Some times I leave crunchies along the window sills, in open shopping bags, on top of boxes, along the radiator covers, etc etc so he has to hunt for his meals. The feeder in the link keeps him occupied as well since he has to dig out each piece.

    The water pistol works well when you catch them in the act.

    And to the poster who's cat does not respond to catnip - all of mine had to grow into it - most of them were at least 2 years old before they turned into stoner cats!
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    Can you remove his teeth and just feed him wet food or juice cleanses?
  • lveh8lve
    lveh8lve Posts: 162 Member
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    is the scratching post tall enough? cats prefer to be stretched out fully when scratching and if the stuff you don't want scratched is taller than the scratching post, they will ruin everything!!!! ...

    That's the funny thing. The first one wasnt all that tall and she would hunker down to use it. This new one is like 3 feet tall. I bought it with that exact thing in mind that she would like to stretch out. Not the case so far.

    This may sound silly, but do you still have the old one? Putting it back and then slowly introduce the new one. Sometimes they get pissed off at you and wont use the new one because you changed it too fast. My cats have trained me very very well...
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    Can you remove his teeth and just feed him wet food of juice cleanses?

    hahahahahaha
    we had a cat who would chew plastic as well, though she never swallowed anything. we think she liked the sound. not sure about the tee-shirt issue though. obviously try to keep clothes hanging up and off the floor. are you certain you're feeding him enough? perhaps he's just hungry!
  • Celestialfairie
    Celestialfairie Posts: 134
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    Instead of a water pistol (I am frankly too lazy to keep it filled and didn't want water all over the place) we did something similar yet different. We used one of those air-zooka type things. The item that will send a tiny puff of air at the cat? Yeah. It worked wonders. If they even see or hear the thing they immediately stop what they're doing. I haven't had to break it out in a year and a half.
  • Surfrider
    Surfrider Posts: 364 Member
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    Instead of a water pistol (I am frankly too lazy to keep it filled and didn't want water all over the place) we did something similar yet different. We used one of those air-zooka type things. The item that will send a tiny puff of air at the cat? Yeah. It worked wonders. If they even see or hear the thing they immediately stop what they're doing. I haven't had to break it out in a year and a half.

    The water pistol was the same way. It didnt take long at all before the mere sight of the thing would make her stop whatever she was doing instantly!!

    It was so helpful in the kitty years as she was born deaf!
  • Superchikanthem
    Superchikanthem Posts: 362 Member
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    What about Honeysuckle? Or there is also Valerian root instead of Catnip. Sorry I sis not see that post before.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Hey OP

    Have you considered maybe getting a bit of counselling for your cat. It sounds depressed.

    The fact that it's routinely attempting suicide on a regular basis is a clear indicator of deep psychological problems.

    Has there been any new stress introduced to his life?

    New job?

    Perhaps it's having a mid life crisis?

    Broke up with it's SO?

    All these things can be devastating to a cat. My advice? Sit down. Ask questions. You might be surprised what you two can find out about each other.

    :flowerforyou:
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Hey OP

    Have you considered maybe getting a bit of counselling for your cat. It sounds depressed.

    The fact that it's routinely attempting suicide on a regular basis is a clear indicator of deep psychological problems.

    Has there been any new stress introduced to his life?

    New job?

    Perhaps it's having a mid life crisis?

    Broke up with it's SO?

    All these things can be devastating to a cat. My advice? Sit down. Ask questions. You might be surprised what you two can find out about each other.

    :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for the concern about my cat's mental health. Now that you mention it, there may be a particular reason for his stress. He actually has had several moves, from a lovely home to being dumped on the street as a neutered and declawed cat, to being picked on in a feral cat colony, to a foster home, and finally to his current home a couple of months ago. Also, they cancelled his favorite television show. That's probably the real problem here.

    I tried asking him how he felt, but he just meowed at me. I'm thinking that maybe his meowing is a sign of stress, kind of like when people speak gibberish. Maybe the proper medication could get him speaking English again? He hasn't spoken English since I got him, so the psychological trauma must be pretty intense.

    He's 4, so hopefully he isn't having a midlife crisis. If so, I'd only get to have him until he was 8.

    :flowerforyou:
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Can you remove his teeth and just feed him wet food of juice cleanses?

    hahahahahaha
    we had a cat who would chew plastic as well, though she never swallowed anything. we think she liked the sound. not sure about the tee-shirt issue though. obviously try to keep clothes hanging up and off the floor. are you certain you're feeding him enough? perhaps he's just hungry!

    Initially he was just chewing the plastic bags (and not swallowing any) to let me know he was hungry. I'm wondering if the problem has worsened because I hid all of the plastic bags. But he ate the shirt alone in a room, not for attention. I just came in and he was in the middle of eating it... =(
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Hey OP

    Have you considered maybe getting a bit of counselling for your cat. It sounds depressed.

    The fact that it's routinely attempting suicide on a regular basis is a clear indicator of deep psychological problems.

    Has there been any new stress introduced to his life?

    New job?

    Perhaps it's having a mid life crisis?

    Broke up with it's SO?

    All these things can be devastating to a cat. My advice? Sit down. Ask questions. You might be surprised what you two can find out about each other.

    :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for the concern about my cat's mental health. Now that you mention it, there may be a particular reason for his stress. He actually has had several moves, from a lovely home to being dumped on the street as a neutered and declawed cat, to being picked on in a feral cat colony, to a foster home, and finally to his current home a couple of months ago. Also, they cancelled his favorite television show. That's probably the real problem here.

    I tried asking him how he felt, but he just meowed at me. I'm thinking that maybe his meowing is a sign of stress, kind of like when people speak gibberish. Maybe the proper medication could get him speaking English again? He hasn't spoken English since I got him, so the psychological trauma must be pretty intense.

    He's 4, so hopefully he isn't having a midlife crisis. If so, I'd only get to have him until he was 8.

    :flowerforyou:

    Ok. Was the show Homeland by any chance? If so just reassure him that I'm pretty sure they're making another season. No way could you end season 2 like that and NOT make a season 3.

    Have you tried any other languages with the cat? French? Spanish?

    A friend of mine just got a dog from Greece and he's now had to learn Greek just to communicate with it. It's a big step but it might be totally worth it. If you're cat's been bounced around from foster home to foster home he may speak Spanish. He could have been a stray from South of the border. He could also be French as he could have come from Canada. If that's the case that alone might be the reason he's trying to end his life early.

    :flowerforyou:
  • emsicle_o
    emsicle_o Posts: 162 Member
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    Anyone have advice on how to get a cat to use a scratching post?

    Mine had one that she used to the point she completely shredded it. I went and replaced it, put the new one in the exact same spot and now she completely ignores it. She has taken to using the armrests of my leather bar stools as as scratching post!!!

    Help!

    Move the scratching post to wherever she is now scratching. If she changes to a new place, keep moving it. After a while she should get the hint. Maybe try getting her scent on it too - rub her bedding/blanket on it - dunno if that one will work but it's worth a shot?
  • the_journeyman
    the_journeyman Posts: 1,877 Member
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    I've got a cat that chews on rubbery/plastic surfaces. He's chewed through more than one electrical. I've tried the water bottle, but unlike most cats (freaks out and runs on the first spray) he just looks around at you, fusses, and then slowly gets up and saunters off. I have to hide cords behind stuff so he can't eat them.

    JM
  • foxro
    foxro Posts: 793 Member
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    Said before, could be lonely and needs a cat friend to live with.
  • the_journeyman
    the_journeyman Posts: 1,877 Member
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    Said before, could be lonely and needs a cat friend to live with.

    We've got several, even one of his litter mates.

    JM
  • wikitbikit
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
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    We have a rescue cat who bites into and tears off bits of cardboard boxes. She'll sit in them and do this around all four sides until eventually there's nothing left but the base and a litter of cardboard bits all over the place. She clearly has many inner frustrations.

    We bought the Feliway cat pheromone plug-ins and it seems to have reduced her need to chew on things. All four of our cats seem calmer, in fact, but the reason we bought the plugins--to curb a peeing problem (six litter pans, all cleaned daily)--hasn't worked. I'm not necessarily recommending the Feliway plugins because it could just be my imagination that the cats seem more relaxed, but it's a thought.
  • Superchikanthem
    Superchikanthem Posts: 362 Member
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    We have a rescue cat who bites into and tears off bits of cardboard boxes. She'll sit in them and do this around all four sides until eventually there's nothing left but the base and a litter of cardboard bits all over the place. She clearly has many inner frustrations.

    We bought the Feliway cat pheromone plug-ins and it seems to have reduced her need to chew on things. All four of our cats seem calmer, in fact, but the reason we bought the plugins--to curb a peeing problem (six litter pans, all cleaned daily)--hasn't worked. I'm not necessarily recommending the Feliway plugins because it could just be my imagination that the cats seem more relaxed, but it's a thought.

    have you tried a different litter? If a cat does not like it they won't want to use it. It's like people if you don't like the toilet paper you will not want to use that one again haha at least I dont't

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