How to handle my kitty?

[Fudgethatkay]

I had three at my old place. Momma was named Yuuki, her two kittens are Guinness and Kokowa. They are now seven months old

When I went out of country, my friend watched over them, and I was able to pay the pet deposit to bring one home. I was going to bring home Yuuki first, but thought since Guinness needed to adjust more, bringing her home would be better and I'll get Yuuki in April. (friend will keep Kokowa, she attached herself to him)

So, I bring Guinness home, takes her twenty minutes to get used to it, and now she sleeps in my room with me...but that may be a bad idea.

All night, since cats are nocturnal, she is very active. I could probably sleep through the scratching and litterbox smoothing, but what she likes to do, is purr loud...and get in my face.

I tried to get her adjusted to rest of the apartment, but....that's not going well. I live in a townhouse, and the stairs terrify her so she won't go down.


But her activity is causing me to lose sleep, so any pointers? I love her, but I love sleep too T_T

However, my friend said that since Guinness left, Kokowa has been pining and will do her kitty crying and is constantly moving looking for her. (Yuuki couldn't care less...)

Any help is appreciated ><

[dendawg]

Does she let you pick her up? If so, try carrying her into another room and sit down there.

[Fudgethatkay]

Does she let you pick her up? If so, try carrying her into another room and sit down there.

Shes starts clawing me. The only other rooms are my roommate's, and they don't want her in there (its fine with me)
I try taking her down the stairs or bathroom, she....uses me as a scratch post.
><

[Kittish]

As far as getting her used to the stairs, get a laser pointer or a teaser toy with a long string and tempt her into chasing it up and down. It shouldn't take long before she loses whatever negative associations she has with the stairs. Playing with her will also tire her out some so (if you time it right) she'll settle more easily when you're ready to sleep.

With the snuggling, I'm afraid you're just going to have to get used to the purring. However, when she tries to lay on your face, firmly and calmly move her next to you. Stroke her a few times and gently massage her ears and tell her to stay there. Rinse and repeat. This may take some time, cats can be stubborn. Try really hard to not lose your temper.

With the other kitty, that's looking for her sib, can you send you friend a blanket or pillowcase or something that Guiness sleeps on frequently? Maybe do an exchange, even.

[Fudgethatkay]

With the other kitty, that's looking for her sib, can you send you friend a blanket or pillowcase or something that Guiness sleeps on frequently? Maybe do an exchange, even.

I am in the middle of that now. I got an old shirt out she took a liking to, so we'll see how it goes. I feel bad for separating them tho, however, I wanted one and the mom originally anyways

[Seshat]

Regarding him using you as a scratching post: discipline him. Remember the techniques Yuuki used whenever the kittens acted up? Use those. Guinness remembers them, they're embedded into him from earliest infancy.
Just be careful to moderate your much-greater human strength down to what's safe for Guinness.

Also, two other possibilities. One: get a set of claw-slipping scissors (your vet, pet store, or pet department of a department store will have them), and clip his front claws blunt. If you can train him to tolerate you filing them as well, it'll be even better.
If you do this, make sure he can get a grip on his scratching post (or scratching wall, or whatever you have) with the blunted claws. You may need to use a different scratching surface for him. Part of 'scratching' is actually a loooongggg stttreeeeettttccchhh, and is needed for kitty bone/tendon/muscle health.

The other is a product called 'soft paws' - though by now there's doubtless many competing products. Basically, it's little plastic sheaths you superglue onto kitty's claws. As the claw grows out, eventually the 'soft paw' sheath will shed and you'll need to replace it; but until then the claws are blunted.

There IS a third possibility, but I would ask that people take the pros and cons of declawing to Fratching. If you want my personal opinion; pm me - I don't want to turn this into a fratch-worthy thread.


Cats CAN be trained, using most of the same techniques as training dogs. You do have to modify the exact techniques to suit the different motivations - and different anatomy - cats have.
My preferred method for any animal training is:
* distract or deter bad behaviour; or make it impossible.
* replace bad behaviours with good ones (eg, replace scratching on couch with scratching a scratching post).
* for bad behaviours which must be handed immediately (eg scratching YOU), use a discipline as close as possible to that which the species uses among itself.
* reward and encourage good behaviours.
* make desired behaviours seem like play. (the example of using a kitten toy to get Guinness using the stairs is a good one.)

[PepperElf]

i found a website with information on how to curb nocturnal behavior

http://www.cat-world.com.au/how-to-s...t-time-crazies

not bad ideas - get them tired from play, feed them high-protine after play to encourage sleepiness etc.

[Sapphire Silk]

I'll often play with Taz for about 10-15 minutes to wear her out before I go to bed; it's high intensity high energy play that gets her tired rather than worked up. She usually will continue to play with the toy when I'm done if she's still feeling playful, then joins me in bed.

She usually prefers to sleep on my feet rather than my face, though.

Kokowa is just missing her sib; she'll adjust in time. Taz went through that with her kennel mate (another kitten) when I adopted her. She's fine now.

I wouldn't make a big deal of her not wanting to go down the stairs. The idea of playing with her near the stairs is a great idea.

I have trouble with Taz wanting to get on the furniture (she's only allowed on the sofa, nothing else); I'll try using a lazer pointer to distract her and get her down rather than yelling at her (which doesn't always work; she knows I don't like to get up quickly because of my knees).

[PepperElf]

and yeah, bed or no bed should be something you decide right away - easier to train than to untrain.

My cat is a bed cat. when my family took over his care for me (deployment, but they still have him) they found out he also likes to sleep on people's chests cos thats how he use to cuddle sometimes.

my bf however said "no animals on the bed!" pooch tried at first but was shooed off and learned that her spot is the dog bed. (although her bed's now on top of a toddler's bed so she can see us if she wants). she only sleeps with us if it's on the couch/floor.


and back to cats... i'll also vouch for the "giving in to night play" ... reinforces the behavior. for a while i was stuck getting up to play with cat for a bit and then going back to bed cos... i was encouraging him to do this.

[Sapphire Silk]

I have a hard time sleeping without a cat in my bed. It's not just right.

[protege]

With the snuggling, I'm afraid you're just going to have to get used to the purring. However, when she tries to lay on your face, firmly and calmly move her next to you. Stroke her a few times and gently massage her ears and tell her to stay there. Rinse and repeat. This may take some time, cats can be stubborn. Try really hard to not lose your temper.

I don't mind the kitties in bed. Sally just curls up next to me and goes to sleep. Baxter on the other hand, get himself occasionally tossed out of the bedroom. He has a need to rub his clenched teeth on my hands, and chew on my ears! I can't keep them out of the bedroom--they'll either scratch up the door, spend hours meowing...or simply lean on the door until it opens.