Control your cat

Does your cat keep jumping onto the dining room table? Maybe it will gnaw on your hands and ankles? Learn how to control your cat in this Instructable.

Step 1 The basics

This trick works on almost all cats. If your cat is doing any little thing bad, try the squirt bottle method. Every time he/she is being bad, squirt your cat. it will probably get mad and stop.

Comments

[AussieAnglerGal]

Lucas (my orange-marmalade kitty!) lives outside, so furniture clawing is not a problem
but he DOES jump on the table like FIVE TIMES A DAY
i'll try the "no" technique because the squirt bottle doesn't work and i don't want to get him wet during autumn/winter when he can't really dry out and would be cold :(

[hishealer]

With my stubburn stubburn cats, I have to snap my fingers in their ears until they get mad and get down. 

[suayres]

If your cat is somewhere you don't want her, pick her up and put her on the floor, and say, "no"! Repeat as needed, until they finally get the idea that it's not acceptable behavior. If you are consistent, within a couple weeks, you'll have cats who don't climb on the table. As for declawing, I'm firmly in the anti-declaw camp. If you provide your cats with a variety of scratching surfaces, with varied textures, and both horizontal and vertical orientations. My hub and I are guardians to five cats (no-one OWNS a cat, lol), and we have a carpet-and-sisal-rope-wrapped cat tree, some of the cardboard scratchers--two flat, horizontal ones, one diagonal one, and one vertical one, plus two landscape timbers wrapped with carpet--backing side out!--and sisal rope. We rubbed all scratching surfaces with catnip, which encourages cats to use it, and whenever one of our cats tried to scratch the furniture, we Pickens the offender up, said, "no!", and then placed them on the nearest scratcher. And in a fairly short time, they got the idea, and with only a few lapses, they routinely use the scratchers instead.

[denise4peace]

Many cat misbehaviors are the result of stress or illness.  If your cat pees in the middle of your bed, it is not "mad" at you.  It is probably upset about some change in the environment (new food, your absence, new pets/people, even a new brand of cat litter) or it may have a urinary tract infection. 

There is a product called Feliway that emits cat pheremones into the air of your home from a little plug-in unit like a night light.  These pheremones give your cat a sense of well being and elminate many problems, including spraying, peeing, clawing and fighting with other cats.  We use it whenever we have a change of roommates, until our cats get used to the new person and the smell of his/her stuff (which sometimes includes the scent of cats or dogs from their previous home).  If you take your cat traveling, I would recommend bringing some along, too.  Feliway is somewhat expensive, but well worth it.  Don't buy it at a pet shop--Rip City.  Online is the way to go.  I have done a lot of looking around and buy mine at Entirely Pets.  (I hope it is not considered "advertising" to share this info here.)

BTW:  Declawing your cat is not like clipping your fingernails.  It is the equivalent of amputating the last joint of each of your fingers.  The vet does not just "take out" the claws.  It HURTS--A LOT.  It leave the cat vulnerable to attacke by dogs, other cats, raccoons and possums.  It will be unable to climb a fence or tree to escape, or to fight back.  Declawing should ONLY be done for INDOOR ONLY cats.  Another alternative for the die-hard clawer is a product called Soft Paws.  These are little plastic caps, shaped like a dull claw, that you glue onto the ends of your cats claws.  They have to be replaced every month or so.  Again:  expensive, but totally worth it if you are, for instance, visiting someone else's house and don't want your cat to be unwelcome.  Try the Feliway first, as it can solve multiple problems for about the same cost and is easier.

I hope this helps...  I hope it dissuades at least a few people from declawing their trusting companions.

Peace.

[HarlieD]

Declawing indoor only cats is NOT a good idea. They can still escape & run into any animal out there, & still be defenseless. It may not be much of a chance of them escaping, but there is always that chance.

[Mirime]

How can you say that declawing indoor cats is some how okay?

Declawing a cat is inhumane and cruel.

we rescued two cats that were declawed and now they have problems with their paws hurting and the one gets an infection every now and again where a claw was.

[HarlieD]

You understand that MALES help make the babies, too, right? Getting BOTH of them spayed or neutered is important. Males are more important in a way. A female can get pregnant once every so often. A male can get 20 females pregnant in that same time. mooster is right. Your encouraging people to get spays & neuters is important! Just remember, BOTH need to be fixed, not just one. We have gotten strays fixed, not just our own, to cut down on the strays in the area. If these cats are strays, there won't be another 100 to join them next year! :)

[Eirinn]

I cannot recommend anything in this instructable besides saying NO and putting the cat down. Most of these behavioural issues are the cause of the cat not getting its needs fulfilled. You can easily fix these destructive behaviours by reading your cat and acting on its needs. And don't get me started on declawing which is insane.

[m74murray]

People be nice. it is an alternative to getting rid of your INDOOR cat that is destroying every thing you own IE expensive furniture, or sending them outside to fend for them selves with other cats, dogs, people, cars, and wild animals. Also didn't see where he said it was ok he said it was an option. if your rescue cats are getting infections its due to the lack of care to the previous owners gave or the vet that did a crappy job. Try the sawdust pellets they are more sanitary and should help your kitties from getting more infections. :-)

[sxa2udo]

my cat is 2 fat 2 get declawed

[tinker234]

you know they do that to stetch right not to sharpen claws it stretchs there spine

[Neaz]

Cats are cats and will always behave like one!

I have had many of them, each with their own personality. If you have a cat from a kitten you can attempt to stop them developing the bad the habits that you find annoying. However they are at heart a wild animal and as such will behave like one especially when they feel under pressure from us imposing our ideas on how they should behave.

To try and avoid many of the problems mentioned i recommend having them spayed/neutered as early as possible, this will help to prevent them developing the spraying habit and will help them stay affectionate. Plenty of play time which stimulates them as they are growing is vital, both for their wellbeing and yours. Sometimes you are lucky and you will have a cat that allows you to think you have trained it, other times you have to learn to live with its idiosyncrasies or look for a more suitable home for it, no point having a nervous cat if you have young children, its just not fair on the cat as well as meaning you are likely to find unwelcome deposits behind the sofa as it feels to unsafe to get to the litter tray.

Personally i feel declawing and keeping a cat solely indoors is wrong. If you cant put up with cat behavior why have one? A happy well loved and looked after cat that enjoys plenty of mental stimulation is much less likely to cause any real problems. I consider the occasional bit of scratching mine does (he has a post but cant resist testing out the furniture now and again) is a small price to pay for his company. He stops when i give a loud AHHT. Hissing and developing your own cat language will help.

Now i do understand that i am lucky enough to be able to let my cat free range. He has been an out door cat since him and his litter mates were able to follow their mother out the cat flap and since i have had him he spends a good third of the day next door as their cats do at mine. If you are unable to allow your cat to free range PLEASE train it to a harness, there are some great ones on ebay. Then take it out lots, at least twice a day. Make sure you wear a leather/padded jacket for him to climb onto your shoulders to escape from dogs you may come across. Take him out in the car so you can go exploring with him. I had a great cat, Dagda that was trained to a harness, i used to take him on holiday with me, he loved it, especially when we took him to a beach.

Always make sure your cat has a tagged collar and is chipped so if you do lose them you have a good chance of getting them back. Cats go stir crazy if they have no stimulation so it is up to a responsible owner to provide it especially if you lock them up 24/7! They will also do their best to escape at some point and not having any points of reference they will soon end up lost. Non neutered tom cats make up most of the road causalities as well so get it done!

The water bottle spray can be helpful and a loaded powerful water pistol is ideal for seeing off any unwelcome cats to your garden. Consider the free fertilizer that cats bury in your garden a bonus (wear gloves when planting out ). To try and prevent them using your garden as a toilet you can also adopt some of the other measures mentioned in other instructables such as using twigs as ground cover, planting Coleus Canina Scaredy Cat, which is supposed to repel both cats and dogs (i haven't used it so cant say if it works) and making sure you don't have lots on nice soft earth for them to dig in, maybe a gravel mulch?

So basically if you cant provide for a cats needs maybe you should consider a different pet. How about a fish tank instead? You don't have to worry about the furniture or them escaping. Taking care of them is easy and doesn't take up much time but still provides an attractive visual treat to your home.

[SarahKat552]

with the whole not attacing back thing i do and he learned it
if he bites he gets smacked in the face now when i raise my hand he just flings his head back when that happens i praise hi

[weirdo62]

well soooooory. jeesh you peoples need to relax. I had my cat declawed BEFORE laser declawing, and to this day still thinks it has claws (it still fake-scratches furniture). BTW it was feeling good again in only a week. mind you that our vet (as you peopsles aren't) said and KNOWS that they will forget the pain later. but I have taken your comments into consideration and i will post that it will temporarily hurt the cat.

[Grey_valentine]

You seem to be missing the point. It's not just about the pain. You are crippling your cat. It is like telling some one you don't like what they do with their fingers, and that you will be taking them away. Your cat still scratches like it has claws, don't you think that really pathetic? clearly your cat still has things it naturally want to use its paws for and doesn't understand why they don't work. Anyone who thinks amputating a animals toes is acceptable so long as its convenient and the animal doesn't remember suffering horribly or doesn't understand what has happened to it, probably shouldn't have animals, because its clear they don't like animals. They like plushies.

[Bengt Englund]

The cat will not understand the difference between not jumping up on the table AND not touching the food.

Allow the cat to jump up on the table but NOT to not touch your food. Otherwise it will just be confused.

The correct way to tell him/her this is to gently blow him/her at the face when approaching your food. This simulates a cat hissing. Blow harder if the cat doesn't respond.

In cat language this translates to: "I'm not angry with you, but this is MY food. Go away".

If practiced right, the cat will go away and most often jump off the table.

This technique should not be used in other circumstances. If used as a general punishment, the cat will feel fear and be anxious. 

[bowmaster]

Never declaw your cat. For a cat the claw is very important. It's how they pick things up, geet tractions to run, and more. Declwing a cat is like cutting off half of a humans finger.

[hishealer]

Also there are the sticky strips that you can put on the bad places.  They are really annoying to the cats, which hate to have sticky hands.  I have not had my cats declawed, but I am considering it.  My one cat likes to scratch up the bottoms of any closed door I'm behind at about 2AM...  If I don't close the door, it's a sleeping me she's clawing.  I'm rethinking the absolutes at this point in time.

[nodnol]

Good idea with the sticky strips!

My 3 "munchkins" all still have their claws, too. You may wantto consider Soft Paws - they're vinyl caps, like Lee Press-On Nails,that prevent kitty's nails from doing damage. If you google "softpaws" you can find their website. I'm probably going to have to getsome for my muscle-bound, 14-lb green-eyed monster :)

[naomi1431]

Soft paws work OK, for a little while. A very little while. We had a cat who had an injury (OK--he was scalped in a cat fight) and kept scratching it. All the scratching was making it much worse. When we took him into the vet, they taped up his hind legs to keep him from scratching, but that only lasted a day or two. Eventually we went with soft paws. BUT, he figure out how to bite them off one at a time, and got more and more efficient at it over time. So they only lasted a few days each.

Just for the record--we didn't get him de-clawed! But we did end up having to do a three-times-a-day treatment routine for a couple of months. And he is a semi-bald on his head kitty.

[aeray]

I agree that de-clawing cats is cruel. It is not just the claw that is removed, but the whole first joint of the toe. We've had great results with the Soft Paws mentioned above. They last 4-5 weeks on out cat, and she is totally unfazed by them.

[weirdo62]

bowmaster- dont worry, i dont even know what decalwing is, only declawing.

[Typogoddess]

Oh really? I don't know what "spading" is, either. Funny.

[wikked]

Just found the instructable, good info. Also my 2 cents, its inhumane to let your cat outside. Ask anyone who has ever had a pet run over. There claws or lack of claws don't help in that situation. If you love your cat he stays in the safety of the house with you. That is all.

[Tshingis]

People who declaw their cat need to be de-fingernailed.

[mooster]

Please: The correct word is SPAYING.  Thanks for encouraging people to get their pets - both male and female -  neutered.  

[rathmiron]

Declawing also causes that the cat, because he still has the urge to scratch, keeps 'scratching', making wounds on his feet pads

[rathmiron]

when you do it like that it only learnes it cannot jumps onto the tables (or any other piece of furniture) when you're around

[blewter]

 Drama, much.  I agree that declawing is pretty inhumane, but so are pet sweaters and possibly animal husbandry in general.  The point is, you wouldn't cut off the tips of your kid's fingers because he scratched up your new Ikea futon, but you also wouldn't keep him captive, make him eat on the floor, and call him funny names (well...maybe).  So, pet owners, please withhold the virulent judgement.  While I would never advocate declawing for an indoor/outdoor cat (lack of self-defense), I understand when people choose to declaw a strictly indoor cat.  Our author is obviously a cat owner who loves cats...just like you.

I think this a great instructable with many basic training/conditioning tips that many pet owners aren't aware of.  My wife works as a primate keeper and has even figured out how to train me.  Behold, the power of Pavlov!

One suggestion that seems obvious, but hasn't been mentioned....  TRIM YOUR CATS' CLAWS.  I have a little ginger tabby and a massive Maine coon, and I trim both by myself (although I suggest starting out with a partner).  You can find specialty pet claw trimmers at any pet store.  You should do this every two to three weeks and never remove any nail beyond the dark blood-line.  For cats with opaque claws, never trim more than 1/4 - 1/3 of the claw's full length while protracted.  Hope that helps someone with cat claw conundrums.  

[weirdo62]

I wasn't really telling people to declaw their cat, just telling them some things that you can do to stop clawing things. And BTW, they now have laser declawing systems so it isn't as painful. Our vet told us that if you get the cat declawed any where from the minimum age to 1 year of age, they will forget the surgery and the pain they had. Believe me, I don't want to hurt them anymore than you do. I will post that they won't be as protected from other animals without claws, though. Thank you.

[superMacaroni]

what about if you shutup about how declawing is so great my cat DIED because of that. She never forgot the pain. She ran away for a few weeks. And yes, It was laser.

[AlKaswa]

That's still perfectly disgusting, no matter what laser-machines the vets claim can eliminate pain. It's the equivalent of cutting off the first joints of a human's fingers - imagine losing your nails and the entire bone they rest on.

[superMacaroni]

That's true.

[superMacaroni]

Oh.

Don't mention declawing please.

My old cat died because of that. She was only 4. I can't really say getting your nails cut off is okay. She started coughing up blood after that, she never forgot the pain nor thought she still had claws.

What about just training the cat to use a scratcher when he/she was a baby.

[9lucky2]

if your cat is hitting your feet while your walking or going up stairs you shouldn't punish them they wont realize what there doing wrong Hunting is an instinct! Most cat experts will tell you that you shouldnt be punishing your cat for his/her hunting instincts...

[Tempest36]

Honestly I'm afraid of cats but I currently live with 2 cats that are both declawed. The 3 year old, Wrinkle, has 6 toes on each paw and HAD to be declawed because some of his claws grew in ways that made it painful for him to walk. The other, Milo, is 19 years old now and does just fine climbing on everything and fending off Wrinkle and the dogs. You can rub his paws and he doesn't mind at all. No harsh feelings about the surgery. BTW they are my fiancee's cats and his parents had them declawed long before I met him. Anyways, you should change spading to spaying. Otherwise good instructable.

[bowmaster]

DO NOT DECALW YOUR CATS!!!! It's like cutting off half a humans fingers!!!

[Raja089]

If you go near the cat and it attacks then it really means it, if however the cat initiates an attack then it is probably just being playful (this is more common in kittens).

For a playful cat that's doesn't really mean it when attacking you:
1. Immediately get the cat on its back
2. Place your hand around the throat with you arm along the belly and squeeze gently
3. It will stop clawing at you.
4. Speak pleasantly and soothingly to the cat.
5. Remove your hand and arm.

You have now defeated your cat and proved your dominance by being willing to take attacking games to the serious level unreasonably quickly.
The behaviour will soon stop.

Your cat may sulk for a while though after each incident.

You shouldn't try this too often with a kitten though as it will just make it nervous about being affectionate.

[Raja089]

A better method is to train your cat.
Every time it sits on you and starts digging it's claws in gently press against the tips of the claws and push them back in.
Do not show the cat any affection until either you have just pushed the claws in or it doesn't claw you whilst sitting on your lap.
Unless your cat is exceptionally dimwitted it will quickly associate being petted with 'no claws in the human's leg'.

Note: If you are concerned that the cat uses its claws whilst trying to climb up your leg or up the arm of a chair then you shouldn't have a cat; this is what claws are for.

[Wolfbird]

Ughn, downvoted on the grounds of implying declawing is "okay" in the right circumstance. If you don't want or can't handle claws, don't get a cat.  It's that simple.