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I just got a new kitty! He's 8 months old, all black as night, with bright gold eyes, and a super affectionate disposition. I've only had him for three days; we adopted him from the local Humane Society shelter, so he's had all his shots and has been neutered and all. (Sorry kitty!)　(*‘∀‘)

Any other cat owners here? He's been very well-behaved; he's already litter-box-trained and all, but he likes to use his claws an awful lot when cuddling or playing. How can we break him of this behavior?

I'll put up a picture of him as soon as I find my phone. （；￣ェ￣）

We have no cats...
http://1drv.ms/1K4xXof
nope...none at all.

He's still a kitten so claws come with the territory for a while until he calms down and learns control. Invest in a good scratching post he can sit on, and buy some of the cheap corrugated cardboard things for him to tear up.

My friend has tons of cats, and according to him, a cat can use its claws too much if it doesn't get socialized properly as a child and learn what 'appropriate play' is. He had a cat that was taken from its mother at too young an age and even as an adult it exhibited too much claw use. It's not malicious, but cats like that don't know how to play.

Vrock wrote:

He's still a kitten so claws come with the territory for a while until he calms down and learns control. Invest in a good scratching post he can sit on, and buy some of the cheap corrugated cardboard things for him to tear up.

+1

We adopted a kitten a few months ago. He's roughly 8 months old now.

He had a tendency to try to play with us with his claws and teeth, but I've found that the same approach we used with the other cats seemed to work pretty well. Don't yell, or jump when he tries to use his claws - you'll either scare him or make him think you're trying to play, both of which might result in the claws come in harder.

What we've found works well is to scruff him and tell him "no" in a firm voice, whenever he starts to use the claws too much ("too much" varies from person to person). He's already gotten pretty good about understanding that when he hears us say "no" in that tone of voice, he knows to stop, so most of the time now I can just tell him "no" and tap him on the nose to get him to stop.

I actually saw something online just recently which basically describes why this works - it's how mother cats teach this social behavior to their kittens.

http://cats.about.com/od/behaviortraini ... ingCat.htm

In the case of ours, he was found living in an old car's engine when he was barely a month old. Not sure if he was abandoned or separated from his mother, but he's integrated into our home pretty well, about 3 months in. Our 3 other cats mostly just tolerated him at first, and now they regularly play together and will share sleeping space.

Also, if you haven't already, invest in a scratching post or three. It might save your furniture down the line.

I got my kitten from CLAWS. He is a short hair grey and black tabby with spots. He is three years old about now. I named him QUARK and he is getting more affectionate as he gets older. I keep two of these excellent battery powered Thunderstorm Super Soakers lying around the house....
www.amazon.com/SUPERSOAKER-28495-Super- ... 00416QW88/
If I hear scratching from anywhere but his designated zone, I hiss loudly, if it does not immediately stop then I grab the nearest super soaker and go Rambo on him. That usually requires a couple times around the house with me keeping a bead on him the whole time. Eventually he stops and just takes it and that signifies its over. A couple times he has tried to hid inside a paper bag. Its quite funny. I say: NO. NO. NO. and then retire to where ever I was before it started and then he comes over and gets some petting. Oh yeah, he has a very nice perching tower with a couple platforms by the window. He loves to watch the birds outside. The tower has a rope scratching post and I've also given him one of those boxes with vertical cardboard which he loves to tear up. I usually give him the advertisements from the daily paper and he jumps into them and shreds and crackles to his hearts content.

This is my cat, Rose, steadfastly defending the house from those vicious whitetail deer.



When she's not playing defense, she looks like this:

auxy wrote:

Any other cat owners here? He's been very well-behaved; he's already litter-box-trained and all, but he likes to use his claws an awful lot when cuddling or playing. How can we break him of this behavior?

My in laws have a cat, he is 3 years old, even if you call him he would take out his claws, so i don't think you can break that habit.

auxy wrote:

I'll put up a picture of him as soon as I find my phone. （；￣ェ￣）

It should be mandatory in the forums

We've got 2 cats that we got fully grown from the Humane Society 14 years ago. One is definitely showing his age, but the other one still staunchly defends our house from all the ghosts and other spirits that we cannot see. He thunders around the house at high speed and then crows afterwards with this incredibly loud blood curdling noise.

Actually have 4 cats...

My boss had a rental tenant who gave me one, 2 came from foster society, and 1 was a wild stray but very tame for a stray and has since come into the fold.

Turin is like a dog in that he has to follow me around...sit with me while I play video games or watch TV.

Now that I have 2 kids, 4 cats is a bit much. I won't have more than 2 in the future.

I used to have 2, I think it is a magic number... so they can socialize with each other.
I have just the one now. she Is the most cuddly and loveable cat I have ever known.

She is also one that that separated from her mother too young and uses her claws too much.
I did not get her till she was 3 (she was my ex-wife's cat and I got the "kid" in the separation)

She is now a very happy little 14 year old.

I adopted a cat three weeks ago, Yuffie. She was two and a half which means she was too old to be adopted easily so I got a lot of equipment with her for taking her off the humane society's hands. She's well behaved but a bit chubby and has been very vocal about not being fond of switching from free-feeding dry food whenever to twice a day canned food (though she does love the canned food)

some image links as they're reasonably high res
http://i.imgur.com/kWCvGoE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HNn9zM8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GwLGYFT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YJYDb79.jpg

Cat. Frequently mistaken for a meatloaf.

pikaporeon wrote:

I adopted a cat three weeks ago, Yuffie. She was two and a half which means she was too old to be adopted easily so I got a lot of equipment with her for taking her off the humane society's hands. She's well behaved but a bit chubby and has been very vocal about not being fond of switching from free-feeding dry food whenever to twice a day canned food (though she does love the canned food)

some image links as they're reasonably high res
http://i.imgur.com/kWCvGoE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HNn9zM8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GwLGYFT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YJYDb79.jpg

Brown tabbies are the best brand of cat.

I have two cats.

One started out as a stray kitten that managed to sucker us into letting him stay with us. Now I have given him the nickname 'the buffalo as he's physically big'. He's huge, affectionate and has this weird foot fetish when it comes to my feet/shoes. When I'm there he'll demand that I rub him with my feet and while I'm away on trips he'll find one of my shoes to snuggle up with. When it is cold, he'll hop into bed and snuggle my feet for warm. He also thinks I perpetually need help eating my food. Cats are supposed to be carnivores but he's demanded a pure green salad before. He insists on licking bowl clean from morning oatmeal.

The other cat is an ultra hairy Maine Coon with smoke black/grey fur. At night the only way to see her is via her eyes staring back at you. Around her I've developed a sixth sense to know when she's in the room and just watching. We got her as a kitten and it was cute then when she would attempt nurse microfiber robes/blankets. She hasn't grown out of it and sometimes I'll wake and find what looks like a rash on my arm from where she gently clawed me. We were told that she'd grown up to be the same size as the buffalo but that never materialized. Actually now that I think about it, I don't think the cat materialized either and we just have a walking portal to the hair dimension that lurks around us. Being mostly fur, I've seen her do some contortions that make me question if she has a spine. She also has a habit of jumping on to the back of our chairs while we're sitting in them so that she can watch over our shoulders like a parrot. If we don't give her sufficient enough attention, she'll rub up against us with a 33% chance of knocking off our glasses. She is also the most particular cat I've ever had when it comes to food. She'll demand food only to turn her nose up at it afterward, thus obtaining the nickname Princess Neckbeard of the Kingdom of Picky-Pants. And like a real princess, she doesn't like it when I catch her eating.

Both cats have this fascination with closed doors. It seems that closing a door is the greatest offense that can be done to them. They'll lurk around it, meowing at it and attempt to open it (sometimes successfully).

I'll post pictures/videos when I get home from work.

Three cats here: a black Oriental shorthair named Pickle we got from a cat rescue in 2008 to keep our (dear departed) black Burmese Bali company; a fat male flamepoint Siamese we adopted in 2009 at the age of 8 weeks from friends who received a "surprise" pregnancy; and a calico Cymric (long-haired Manx, no tail) adopted from a breeder because her litters "didn't turn out well." The Siameses are both chatty and manipulative, the Cymric is fearless but mellow, and they made for a pretty good excuse to build a small add-on to the house so their litter doesn't stink up the rest of the place.

Back to the question - I agree with deruberhanyok.

I have had many cats and they all respond (over some time) to the firm no and a non-reactive slight backing off to too rough play. It is important to be sure they get you are not playing.

They're quite smart. Don't do anything harsh - you want them to see you as a friend - and they respond in kind. Hang in, let the cat learn.

Vrock wrote:

Brown tabbies are the best brand of cat.

Constantine, who conquered by the claw; brown tiger tabby. He adopted my fraternity house back around 1984. He came, he saw, he didn't leave. In 1987 (2 years post-grad) I received a call from the brotherhood telling me I had 2 weeks to retrieve him or he would be "gone". Seems like the new Rottweiler puppy the pledges bought back then was terrified of the cat and that was harshing their manhood.

So, I wandered back out to school and retrieved Constantine, who lived to the ripe old age of 18. He was simply put a force of nature. 20 pounds if he were an ounce but he was so big in his frame the vet said he'd be happy if I could get him down to 18.5. He didn't bother with mice, instead saving his efforts for young rabbits and even a young raccoon once. At the end I had made "that" appointment with the vet, but 2 days before the appointment my wife came home first and found him dead on the floor. It was my daughter's first brush with death and the first solemn burial in the back yard.

Captain Ned wrote:

The Tale of Constantine

Man, that was a great read. Thanks

auxy: do not play with your hands. Use toys. And...

Slap him in the face. Yes, you heard right, and no, you can't be squeamish. Let me make it clear that you're not out to hurt, usually just a tap will do - nose, top of head, or ears. A lot of people (including me until up to a few years ago) don't want to do that until they realize that's exactly what momma cat does to kittens when they're misbehaving. We have a tendency to think of hitting the animal's head as hurting him, but slapping him on the backside or something equivalent will more easily be seen as aggression instead of discipline.

However, there is a very, very important detail: you have to slap or otherwise discipline him in the moment. Even 30 seconds later is too late. Unlike dogs, cats do not associate punishment with bad behavior if it's not right there and then.

I have three cats. One of them is very troublesome (Johnny Bigodes, aka Johnny Whiskers - wordplay on Johnny B. Goode). I routinely have to poke and yell at him as he's only happy romping around the apartment and tearing s**t up. I only slapped him hard twice in his life, and the most meaningful was when he was very little and he made the mistake of biting me so he could go from my lap to the floor. That was uncalled for, and I think he saw a few Tweeties after getting bitchslapped. From that point on he never even dared anything similar.

By now you're thinking I'm some animal beater or something, but far from it, as what I describe above is the very rare exception, and not the rule. All my cats come to my door to wait for me or wait outside the bedroom and charge in once it's open. I'm the only one that can handle Bigodes at the vet. They all sleep with me if they can, and are almost constantly begging for petting

Wow! So many replies! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

I'm trying not to spend 10+ hours a day on the internet anymore, so I haven't looked at the thread again until now. Thanks everyone for your replies! ヽ(=^･ω･^=)丿

I'll read through it all on my lunch break. I still haven't found my phone. Google says it's somewhere in my house...

pikaporeon wrote:

I adopted a cat three weeks ago, Yuffie. She was two and a half which means she was too old to be adopted easily so I got a lot of equipment with her for taking her off the humane society's hands. She's well behaved but a bit chubby and has been very vocal about not being fond of switching from free-feeding dry food whenever to twice a day canned food (though she does love the canned food)

some image links as they're reasonably high res
http://i.imgur.com/kWCvGoE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HNn9zM8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GwLGYFT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YJYDb79.jpg

She looks like my Quark, only Quark has little spots between the stripes.

auxy wrote:

I'm trying not to spend 10+ hours a day on the internet anymore

Gotta consolidate your cat picture time eh? ; ]

Hm. This marks the first time that the scientific community will be able to review a documented case where a subject transforms from a normal, average person, into the local crazy cat lady.

As promised, pictures of my cats.

Rubedo, (AKA the buffalo) in lurking in a 19" portable rack case:



Nazara (AKA Princess Neckbeard of the Kingom of Picky-Pants (tm)) attempting to be a helper:

I tend to think of myself as a bit more of a dog person (more playful/you're actually a person to them), but awwwwwwwwww. And that cat is helping - isn't that what the internet was made for? (among, umm, other things... ) Much better than having a teenage sibling that actively tries to do the opposite of helping. But are any of you like my friend, who constantly has cat hair on his jacket? Only 2 (?) little stinkers around his house, plus a dog. Not too bad with black cats on black clothing I suppose - or rather, easier to ignore.

Edit: We really need a better way to handle images here. Maybe auto-resizing? I've occasionally run into embeds that weren't resized at all before uploading, so they got cut off even when fullscreened on my 2560x1600 monitor.

Oops, did I accidentally click the Reddit bookmark by mistake?

One doesn't "own" cats. They merely tolerate you while it suites them. Never confuse wanting to get scratched with love.

Edit: I actually like (some) cats, but I'm allergic (to most). Not just sneezing, but my lungs shut down/off.

MarkG509 wrote:

Oops, did I accidentally click the Reddit bookmark by mistake?

One doesn't "own" cats. They merely tolerate you while it suites them. Never confuse wanting to get scratched with love.

Edit: I actually like (some) cats, but I'm allergic (to most). Not just sneezing, but my lungs shut down/off.

So why have we let cats infiltrate our lives and the internet?

Fortunately, I'm not allergic to much. Though if my dad is any indication, I might get more allergies in the spring as I get older.

Due to allergies at certain times of the year, I can't have any cat living in my space. But if I had a farm, I'd have them. They could live in the barn and I'd let them pay their own way by hunting.

I have 2 cats. One just walked up one day and decided to stay. She has since gotten very fat.

The other we found in the road after she had been hit by a car. She was a little kitty, maybe 4 months. Her front right leg was damaged beyond repair so it had to be amputated. Now she is hopping around like she never lost a thing.

Both kitties.


3 legged one.