prettysami

I have a cat that is six months old, and I believe that she is the spawn of the devil. She climbs everything except for her scratching posts (including my husbands expensive speakers), scratches us, and she literally climbs the walls. She will jump as high as she can in the doorway, and sink her claws in and slide down. I have tried all of the tips and tricks that I can think of. I spray her with a water bottle when she's doing something wrong, and it doesn't phase her, I've tried the no scratch spray on the furniture and curtains, and I've bought more kitty toys than she knows what to do with. We make sure to pet her, and play with her when we're home (and she's not trying to kill us), all of this to no avail. I don't want to take her to the pound, because I don't want her to get euthanized. We tried to give her away, but after three days the person sent her back. Does anyone have any advice, or is this a lost cause?

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sixate

I would tell you what I would do to a cat like that, but it would anger people.... So I'll just keep it to myself.

spived2

Get a dog. That'll straighten 'em out pretty quick. If not, sell em to someone you don't like.

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BuddyHawks

spade her.
that will calm her down (no joke)
its the proper things to do.

also declaw her front claws so she stops scratching things, she'll never stop doing that, even with no claws

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cheerios

if you de-claw your cat, please, make sure she's an indoor only cat... it's MUCH safer for the cat that way. Our cat was adopted pre-declawed & he's got the most amusing scratching actions, that do absolutely NOTHING w/o claws. it allows me and my sib to trail fingers and things over edges for him to paw at w/o risk of blood, though... Have you consulted a vet about these things, by the way? they may have some advise...

lurkette

Try getting a scratching pad that is just cardboard with catnip - our cats were holy terrors on our furniture till we got them one of them.

Try Bach Rescue Remedy - it's a mild sedative that should diminish any behavior that's caused by anxiety or hyperactivity. Valerian root is another sedative that might help.

Good advice from Cheerios about consulting a vet, particularly one who's well-versed in cat behavior.

Good luck!

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Peryn

devil.....
cat.....

Seems a little redundant to me

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irseg

I know an evil cat. Black, 18 pounds, and FUCKING MEAN. It tortures rodents and lizards for fun, and then bites them in half and walks away when it gets bored. The neighbor's Labrador is terrified of it.

First time I ever saw the hellspawn, I unsuspectingly reached out to pet it. It responded by swatting my hand so hard it knocked itself over. Now I'm able to pet it occasionally. Other times, it'll growl, hiss, snort (I have NEVER heard a cat snort before!!), and shred my hand. Its claws are so sharp that it doesn't really hurt, but a few minutes later I notice I'm bleeding profusely. God I hate that cat.

Kaos

Ever heard a cat SCREAM before?

StormBerlin

Our cat was similar. He just grew out of it. I don't think it has anything to do with them getting spayed, our cat acted just the same until he was a year old. Then he just kind of grew out of it.

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Ashton

You need 'Soft Paws' They're little vinyl caps that glue to kitties claws.

http://www.softpaws.com/

splck

Clip her nails for starters, it's easy. Just use a pair of fingernail clippers, squeez her paws and clip that pesky nail. Getting her fixed may help, but age is the best cure.
As soon as she attemts to scratch anything remove her and place her in front of the post then play a bit with her so she gets the idea that this is the place to scratch. Give her lots of praise while she uses the post too. As long as the household is consistant, she'll learn the rules.
If she's a calico (red,orange) forget all that I said and prepare to put up with an evil cat for life.

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bermuDa

i second ashton's suggestion. declawing is incredibly painful and scarring for cats. just keep the nails trim and use softpaws for added insurance. Sounds to me more like this cat needs a companion anyways. Try getting another pet?

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MSD

And watch the hilarious, panicked expression on the cat's face as it jumps at the wall and finds that its claws don't work anymore.

I'm glad my cat is calm.

irseg

Yep. The satanic beast I mentioned sometimes greets new visitors that way.

The funny thing is, it is really nice to its owners and I have no indication whatsoever that they abuse or mistreat it. It's just plain evil.

flamingpeach

Sounds like a good time to declaw her :/

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analog

Bullet in the head. I dislike cats, and something as destructive as that would last about two and a half seconds on my self-control meter. I'm not a violent person, but that would be one dead cat.

With all due respect- if ou read that, and it angers you, you need to grow up. Unless you popped out of your mother's womb annointed vegan-for-life and have raised all your own crops since then, you have no animal-death innocence.

prettysami

thanks for the help. i like the soft paws idea. we do clip her nails every week, because we thought that would help, and it doesn't. would it be too scarring to get her de-clawed and spayed i wonder? she is a total indoor cat, she's been outside once, and she acted like she was terrified. and she's not a calico (thank God!) she's black and white (name Oreo).

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high_way

i rather dislike cats (i try to take to my mates gfs cat with a cleaver every time i go over *jokingly*) but if they will let me pat them they are alright.

anywhoo from what i was reading, getting your cat declawed would be a bit inhumane, but thats just my opinion. the soft paws and clipping her nails and the like are the way to go IMO. i would suggest getting your cat spayed aswell as when
they are on heat all hell breaks loose.


if all that fails... get a dog

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jonb2serment

All cats come come from HELL! I hate cats, mostly because I am allergic to them. If I wasn't I would probally have one.

~springrain

*BOL*

i am sorry... i should be more sympathetic... but that's just cats...
she'll grow out of much of it.... in the meantime... ENJOY

sipsake

No reason to be insulting. There's obviously going to be a lot of cat lovers posting here who might have a different opinion...doesn't make them childish or vegetarians. Could be that they simply view the life of a beloved pet as more valuable than that of say...a cockroach.

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cheerios

prettysami: there's a lot of opinions on de-clawing, and really, all you're gonna get from us is opinions. you need to go talk to a vet about something like that. 2 if you're really worried. 2nd opinions never hurt. I, personally, think it's saved me a LOT of blood, allowed our family cat to adjust more easily to a new environment, and well... let's just say he has epilepsy. and I'd hate to see anything/one around him after a seisure if he had claws. I've heard good and bad about both sides, and all we can do on that particular topic is have a bit of a declaw/softpaw holy war

Rodney

Declawing as a last resort only. Since she's an indoor cat, it won't be a great handicap. But if you ever get another cat, she'll be at a disadvantage. Adopted a cat that had already been declawed -- it was an advantage in some ways, but the other two cats in the household took advantage of him for a while. He eventually taught himself some form of cat judo -- learned to throw the other cats on their sides, I'm not kidding -- but I wouldn't count on this.

Time may help. We have a seven-month-old female who's been acting very similar, and she's starting to calm down. Wait another month or two and see.

SiN

yeah, it's a phase.

make sure she's got a good scratch post (NOT a fuzzy-carpet one. 99% of cats hate them)

lurkette's post has the best advise, imo.

do the best you can, and be patient.

(ps) make sure you tt vet about the best time to spay.
i've heard that it's best to wait til right after they hit 'puberty', but see what the vet says.

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nosuchuserexist

Then why do you try to pet it?

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nosuchuserexist

I wouldn't be able to type for a week if I tried to put those things on my cat. He'd rip the sh*t out of me!

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analog

And the fact that my opinion differs from yours does not make it insulting. The "grow up" and "vegan-for-life" comments were to shield me from the inevitable animal-rights Nazi who would yell at me for suggesting they shoot a cat. I always seem to get it, and those people always get hot under the collar very quickly.

And as far as beloved pet goes, they think their cat is possessed by Satan, and tried to get rid of it once already by giving it to other people. Perhaps that's a good indicator it's not that "beloved" of a pet.

And it wasn't meant to be insulting, so take that as you will.

merkerguitars

If your gonna declaw the cat, do it will it's young....
And definatley do not declaw the cat if it goes outside regulary, claws are it only means of defense, besides biting.

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krwlz

2 cents....

For a .22 bullet.

Thats just my thoughts on the matter.

Stonewall

This was an entertaining thread.

I wouldn't get my cat declawed either if it went outdoors.
Their main defense against dogs is escape not fighting.
They need to be able to climb trees.

That's all I got.

thank yew and
goo night

prettysami

I just wanted to let everyone know that I do love my cat very much. I call her the "devil cat" mostly in jest, and I would never do anything to hurt her. We got rid of her one time because I am allergic to cats, and my husband was trying to alleviate that. I am a hopeless animal lover, even though I am allergic to most of them (except for the hermit crab we have). She is an extremely cute cat, and for the most part is ok. That's why I wanted some outside opinions before I took her to the vet. Thank you for everyone's input!

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moonstrucksoul

that sounds like a kitten to me. but here is some irony for ya.

my older brother was going U of washington and living up in the U district, had a studio apt. He wanted to get a cat. so I took him to the Tacoma pet pound, helped him pick out a cat. but we couln't get the cat that day, so a few days later, i picked up the cat and brought it to him. the cat was pretty good for the six months he lived there, still tore it up though. anyways , my brother had to move into another apt. with a few buddies, and can't keep the cat no more. so we took the cat in at my folks house, with the other 5 cats. one more is no big deal. the cat always seemed to have a fancy for me, maybe it was because i picked him up out of the pound. so after a while my brother goes into the navy, moves to North Carolina, then San Diego. well, two summers ago , my brother and his wife were visiting, my folks and while my brother was petting his former cat, it sunk it's teeth and claws into his arm. his arm got all swollen and infected, and he had to go to the ER, because of it. now he only regards it as an Evil Cat.- lol

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Rodney

One other things to add, especially regarding that behavior of jumping up the doorframe and sliding down with claws out -- as she gets older and heavier, she won't be able to do that as much. Our two kittens used to practically fly when we got them a couple of months ago, at three/four months. Now they're larger, and stay much closer to the ground.

There's also a product called StickyPaws that you can put on things, including furniture. They don't like the feel of it on their paws, and after a while they'll leave that object alone. My wife says it's been recommended to her by the vet, though we haven't used it yet.

prettysami

thanks for the advice, Rodney. I've seen the StickyPaws at Petsmart and thought about trying it, but at the time I decided to get a spray that you spray on your furniture that cats supposedly hate. That didn't work too well. Thank you!

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Cynthetiq

the nail caps are hard to put on the cats...

it's easier to just trim the nails once a week

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Halx

make your cat into a bonsai kitten

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floydthebarber

hehe...now that's funny

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zer010gic

I am acually Prettysami's husband and I don't quite think she would dig that but I have no problem with it. I kinda like the idea... Thanks Halx... Hehehee

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onodrim

I feel your pain. When I was younger, we used to have a 'devil cat' of our own. She would literally sit at the top of the stairs and wait for someone to walk by so that she could attack their legs. She was always pissed at the world and made sure everyone knew it. And then when we got our second cat, she decided to pee on everything. The final straw came when she attacked our neighbor who was watching our house when we were out of town. We got rid of her at that point. Hopefully you'll have better luck withyour cat! Everyone has some great suggestions here, so give them a try and good luck!

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