Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: burstingbug on October 13, 2008, 19:53:22 PM
-
Mischief is 12 weeks old now and a great little cat.
One bug bear is that when I'm standing (usually by the kitchen sink) he insists on climbing up my legs and body to sit on my shoulder.
It really hurts, he has razor kitten claws and my legs are covered in claw marks from where he scrambled up me and drew blood!
How do I deter him from using me as a tree?
I have started to blow in his face if he tries to bite or scratch my hands, but trying to blow on him when he's halfway up my body isn't practical.
He has an old basket that he likes to sit in and claw at and ignores the scratchy fish I brought him which is incidentally hanging by the sink.
-
A nice scratch tree from Zooplus, theres a link at the bottom of this page ;)
-
I would try clipping his claws as well as buy him a scratching post.
Scratch posts don't have to be big and expensive ... I have 1 scratch mat on the floor and a pyramid scratcher that hangs behind the door and all my lot use them.
-
When you're washing up? I'm a terrible person and flick water at Astryd if she stretches up me while I'm doing the pots! (We have a lot of scratchposts/pads so there's no real reason for her to. I think she does it because she wants me to look at her!)
-
Flicking water is a good idea. I do this to Fred and Vic when they follow me into the bathroom (where I have razors and other stuff not good for cats).
-
The answer seems easy, don't do the washing up ;)
Srsly, I know this is hard with needles in your legs but try to ignore him. If he gets attention to him it's almost like you're rewarding him.
Reward his good behaviour. Maybe shut him out if poss while you're doing anything that's likely to start him off but allocate time just for bonding and tummy tickles.
A new scratching post and plenty of catnip might help too.
Cutting claws is fairly easy to master, just be careful not to cut the quick (the pink bit) as it can be pretty painful for them. You could get your vet to show you the first couple of times. Mine only charged me £7 and told me how to do it and what clippers to buy.
-
He's a baby. All my kittens have done this and they all have grown out of it (once they could jump directly up onto the counters!).
Whe I have kittens I have 'kitty armour', thick trousers and tops to wear in the house that mean that I avoid the worst of the kitten's claws. That means I can do the 'ignoring' thing and make decisions motivated by the kitten's best interests and not the pain!
Claw clipping is good because using a scratching post does not make claws less sharp (rather the opposite). The only thing that helps with claw sharpness is running about on abrasize surfaces like bricks or concrete and that isn't going to happen until he is a lot older.
Flicking water only works if he doesn't like water. It worked for 8 of my 9 cats but not Flynn. Flynn loves water!
-
I think it is a kitten thing as well and they do grow out of it
-
Milo did this to Hubby the night we brought him home and our first thought was what on earth have we got here! His never done it since though, so maybe it is a kitten thing.
-
Mine did this but grew out of it as well. Though Mango cant resist a crouching person-straight onto their back :innocent:
She evn did it to the electrician-scared the life out of him!
-
Thanks all.
I went in town and got a scratching post with a small bed on top for him and the pole has catnip on it :Crazy:
I'm not washing up, either getting powder out for the washing machine or more usually I'm there filling the guinea pigs bottles or getting water for the dog or kitten :innocent:
Might keep an egg cup of water on the side of the sink though to flick at him :rofl:
I gave his claws a little trim last night so they're a lot better now and he was so good whilst I clipped them :)
-
Tachi did this to me a bit too when he was younger. And of course, it was only when I was wearing thin PJs! :P I also used the water splashing technique, which worked really well.