Bi-Polar Bear wrote:Chai wrote:Bear, I'm not clear on whether this is a kitten, young cat, or adult.
I agree with shewolfs advice.
Declaw it....you say it's already fixed.
The anti-declawing league will come out in force now to tell me I'm evil, but you are a perfect example of a good reason for declawing your cat, IF it is an indoor cat.
Cruel to declaw a cat?
Crueler to consider "taking it for a ride", screaming, hitting, and stressing it at every turn for it doing what comes naturally to it.
Aside....I find it horrible how people can make jokes about the cat "becoming ill suddenly", "going for a ride" etc. when you would never say such a thing about a puppy or dog engaging in equivilent behavior.
If it was a dog destroying your furniture, you'd be bending over backwards trying to think of a way to make the dog stop, without destroying it.
$200 is a small price to pay.
thanks for the assumption that I'd do something cruel to the animal. Your indignation is a little hard to take seriously when you make jokes about tasting animal cum to check the breed.
Sorry, I wasn't addressing this specifically to you...although you did mention taking him for a ride.
It's just that overall, there's this assumption with many that they can simply get ride of an animal simple because it doesn't fall into the catagory of "I'll obey you, you're the master". Cat's obviously aren't built that way.
I've had a number of cats now...total of 5 over the last 23 years. They live a long time when you keep them indoors. Sometimes 3 cats at a time, like now, never less than 2.
Bottom line bear, you're not going to "get" the cat to do anything, let alone make it. Cat's look at the world with the eye of "how is this going to benefit me?" It's up to the human to figure out a way that the cat will behave in an acceptable way, because it thinks this is making things better for him.
For instance, the declawing. Break down and do it. Then, when the cat digs in the carpet, tears into things, etc. he thinks "Ha! They have realized they cannot control my clawing, and I love to claw." Plus, you no longer have to lock the cat in the bathroom.
Clue....you cat does not like to be locked in the bathroom all night, as evidenced by his trying to get out much of the time.
As far a brushing....you can't just walk up to a cat and start brushing it. Would you like it if you were minding your own business and someone started going through you hair without your permission, holding you down, saying "I don't care for this, and if you persist, I'm gonna sock you one."
You've got to build up to it. Wait until he's in a laid back mood, lounging, and start with your hands rubbing stratching various areas, finding out where he likes it and where he doesn't. When you've learned that, that's the area you can at first gently apply the brush, then more firmly. I'm talking about over a period of days.
2 of my cats love to have the area by their whiskers sratched, and all around their mouth. While I'm doing that, they're concentrating on that, and I can attend to another task with them with my other hand.
I could go on with other stories of how I've had to make accomodations for my kids to make them happy. Some would scoff and say it's too much trouble. I say, when my pets are happy, having their cat-like needs met, I'm happy because they are meeting my need for sanity.
Your cat knows you at resentful of his behavior. Thing is, he's not a dog that wants to do something to please you. He's waiting for you to get over it. Accomodating him is a win/win situation.
How much can Stephen get involved in this process?
