Cat help needed

[uforgot]

I adopted Rosie from a shelter last year. Because of all of the comments on this forum, I will not have her declawed, even though my vet recommends it. She has a great personality, can go outside and I love it. I just have one chair that doesn't. Any advice? I have sprayed it with a spray from petsmart, and while it does seem to deter her, she hasn't stopped. Oh, she knows she shouldn't because when I walk in the room she immediately backs away and looks at me like "Who ME?".lol She has a scratching post that she uses most of the time. I've blocked the room off when I go to work, but is there anything else I can put on the chair? Anything you've tried that works? Thanks.

No, of course she isn't spoiled either.

[Eden]

double sticky tape on the chair at the place she likes to scratch should deter her - you shouldn't have to leave it in place forever, but it will take some time - enough to get her to stop and lose interest. (Thank you for not declawing!!!). If you can move the chair that might help too - if its a place the kitty feels is a border she might really like marking her territory there.

Sometimes they just love the paw feel... my dining room chairs have woven fabric backs. My cats made a total mess of them (but have left all the other furniture alone thankfully - they really like to scratch the big wooden support posts in the basement and the wooden IKEA shelving units we have for storage down there - scratch on kitties). I recently made new covers for the chairs of a pretty normal slick fabric and voila - the cats no longer touch them.

[zoom-zoom]

Awww...Rosie sounds like a couple of our cats. We need to get a new scratching post, since the one we have is crap and is falling apart. No wonder they don't want to use it.

We have given up trying to get them to leave our sofa alone, we use slipcovers. They have the added advantage of offering protection from our nutso 9 year old boy, too.

[moonfroggy]

honestly if my vet recommended declawing i would find a new vet. slip covers and sticky tape are both good recommendations they sell stuff sort of like the tape specifically for this. i have a beautiful antique rocking chair and one of my cats likes to scratch it. the chair has pink upholstery though and i really don't like pink so i figure it means i get to have it reupholstered at some point in a color i like. i used the tape stuff for a while and it worked but made it so i couldn't sit in the chair. i think i will get a slip cover made for that chair when it get it reupholstered.

and i really would find a new vet. the vats i have always taken to my cats don't believe in doing that to a cat they wouldn't do it to a cat and they are against it. maybe lots of vets are ok with it though and the vets i have gone to are anomaly's. i always liked that my vets where pretty much on the same page about stuff as i am.

[Zen]

I wonder if your vet has a kid in college or a boat payment due?

[runningteach]

Do you trim her nails? I find when I trim my cats nails there is less damage to furniture because the nails aren't pointy. Reminds me that I need to do it again. I only trim the front ones.

[XMcShiftersonX]

I agree with the sticky tape. Petsmart sells sheets of it specifically for this problem. I also second the keeping her nails trimmed, as that typically causes less damage. They also have these plastic caps that you glue onto their nails, however, none of my cats would ever cooperate with me long enough to get those things glued on. So, I don't know if they actually work. Our cats love our couch and they've already ruined it so we just put slip covers over it.

I'm so glad you've decided not to declaw. I used to be an adoption counselor for a no kill shelter, and they had a room full of "unadoptable" cats that peed on everything because they were declawed. It becomes their only defense mechanism since their main one was taken away. I would pick clawing at furniture any day over a cat who pees all over the house, because I've had that problem before too and it's the worst!

Good luck!

[Eden]

I volunteer at the Humane Society - I've also noticed that declawed cats who are frightened or aggressive *bite*. They understand their defenses have been taken away so they react with what they know they still have.
I'll have to keep my eyes open to see if I see a correlation between the house soilers and declawing.

[zoom-zoom]

Declawed cats also generally dislike having their paws handled and are more prone to arthritis of the spine, since they can't get a good grip on an object and properly stretch their backs. One thing I especially love about my cats is caressing their toes and playing gentle grabbing games with their claws. It's amazing how well they can "grip" my finger without breaking skin.

[Aggie_Ama]

My declawed shelter cat took six types of litter to stop peeing on our carpet. She bites like crazy when she is annoyed and beats on things like doors. I would be questioning why a vet would recommend it but I suppose there are different opinions on the procedure? Good luck helping Rosie!

[owlice]

They understand their defenses have been taken away

Really? I've never had a declawed cat, but I do have a three-legged cat -- one of his front legs was amputated before I got him -- and he still tries to use his missing leg, though it's been years since he's had it. (Okay, so in a way, I suppose I do have a declawed cat, but depawed is more accurate....)

When he plays, he'll often try to bat at something with his missing paw; when he wants to cover something (he sometimes editorializes about his dinner), he stands on his three legs and tries to use the missing leg to cover whatever. If he wants to attack the little cat (or me), he rears up on his hind legs and lifts both shoulders and his one front leg; if he still had the other, it would also be up with claws bared. He doesn't seem to get that that leg just isn't there anymore. He always looks shocked or annoyed when he bats at something with his missing paw and nothing happens. He can't bat at stuff with the one front paw he does have, because he'd fall over if he did.

Now to the subject of the thread... apparently, cats don't like the feel of aluminum foil, so wrapping wherever she's scratching the chair with aluminum foil may work to keep her from scratching the chair. Worth a shot; cheap fix if it works.

[Kathi]

When I adopted my cat from a shelter she was not declawed so I did some research on how to keep her away from the furniture. Besides the sticky tape scratching posts are a must. Not short ones but tall ones, about 36" high with sissal rope not carpet. My cat loves to stretch the full length of the post. The other piece of advice is to be sure there are scratching posts in every room the cat sleeps in as it is common for them to wake up and immediately want to scratch.

My vet had a theory, although she didn't agree with declawing, if it kept the family happy it was a better alternative than the kitty ending up in the shelter.

My kitty was very well trained and seems to understand that the scratching posts are "her" furniture and she hasn't gone after anything else.

[uforgot]

I'll try that tape. I saw it at PetsMart, but opted for the spray. I did have aluminum foil around the chair and I wasn't crazy about that look. It's a fairly new chair, and I love it, so I really just want her to stop. Maybe I will get another scratching post for the living room.

Thanks everyone.

Now, I think I'll include a picture.

[XMcShiftersonX]

AHHH!!! She is sooooo cute!!!

[zoom-zoom]

Oh, I have an especially soft spot for orange tabbies! <3