Cat Owners

Like their owners?

 

Screw the squirt bottle. Go for a SuperSoaker. You can't be there 24/7. One blast generally keeps the cat away for 24 hours. Simply bringing it into the living room will send said feline running.

Or, should you be less barbaric than I, catnip toys generally bliss out even the most psycho hairball hellions of evil.

 

Sitting at the top of the food chain does have its advantages.

 

Yes, barbaric. Declawing is illegal in many countries, and for good reason. It is a painful and -- unless there are medical reasons -- completely unnecessary procedure to put your pet your through. Vets have no problem with it because they're making money doing it. But it's pathetic for an owner to go along with mutilating their cat just because they're worried about their furniture. If people can't handle cats' natural instinct and need to scratch, they shouldn't own them.

There are plenty of alternatives to declawing: The caps that SC referenced above, scratch posts (every indoor cat should needs a scratch post or something similar), and training.

 

The beast is getting a giant cat condo for X-Mas, I think. Right now my major battle is his tendency to nibble electrical cords. I suspect the cords will "train" him for me eventually if he continues despite my yelling at him (I kid), but I will try the squirt gun.

I think declawing is cruel and unnecessary. I would never do it to a cat. But, if it's going to be an indoor cat and the alternative is ditching the thing, I can't go on too much against it. The zounds upon zounds of unwanted cats make them much tougher to adopt out than a dog if they go to Shelterville, and a loving home with a declawed cat is better than dead cat.

Or, if you really can't keep the thing, grab a box and try to give it away at a Wal-Mart or something (that's where the J-School Parents got the family dog).

 

For chewing issues, coat the cords with Grannick's Bitter Apple. It will make them taste foul, and the kitty won't chew. Stan's a chewer, and I swear by it.

 

Kitten mittens was already taken.

So I ask, is it stuck in the wall? Because if so, making a hole in the wall and sending either a cat or bird in after it will probably not work.

 

They're spelled 'mittons.'

 

Yeah, I just went and re-watched it. My mistake.

 

I forgive you.

 

Thanks. If you ever need someone to execute a frame-bang for you, let me know.

 

My cat also loves his scratching post. At first, in order to get him interested in it and to figure out what to do (he had been an outdoor cat the first seven years of his life and had never had a scratching post that wasn't attached to a house), I took some catnip and rubbed some of it on the post and then put a pinch in the reservoir at the top and he took to it instantly. Now the thing is so shredded that I really need to pitch it and get him a whole new one.