Can you teach old cats new tricks? Advice needed.

Now, how in the world do you train them to use the hardwood floor instead of carpet and bedspreads?

You talking vomit or poop, Roger?


They're not using their scratching post, I can't find Boundary here, but I did get a hold of The Cat House which has a spray we're going to get on Friday. They had to order it in.

damn


how did I miss this?

Pet food... most packaged pet food is ... well.. ****.
Cats vomit for many reasons, the main reason being undigested 'stuff' . Food, hair you name it.
Poor quality food is generally the first reason. Hair being second.

As for scratching, someone already mentioned double sided tape.
There are also things called scat mats. You can plug them in and they actually give off a tiny shock when your kitty steps on it, and it scares them away from the area. If tape does not look good, or if the fabric of the couch is such that you dont want to sully with tape.. scat mat .


other then that?
just kill them.
That seems to be the sensible solution.

Vomit/hairballs, Mame. It's sort of a convulsive action that they seem to have no control over. They never fail to poop in the pan.

First, let me thank you all for reminding me why I decided to not get any more cats.

Now a small suggestion about the furniture scratching: When I had cats, I discovered they could not resist a sisal scratching post. To make sure they were scratching on the post and not a piece of furniture, I hung some small jingle bells from the post. I could hear the bells from any room in my apartment and know that the cats were destroying the post and not my sofa. If I didn't hear the bells I would do the water thing, but mostly they preferred the sisal without much training. Perhaps a scent spray on the furniture with a sisal post positioned away from scent might do the trick.

I went looking for the ask Dr Chai thread, but....

anyone know how to keep a sly old fat tomcat from poaching the kitten food?

(she still has health issues, and kinda needs the extra zip, but does not defend her trough)

Rocky, I'd feed them in different rooms or put one outside to eat.

They are not using their scratching post, at least not exclusively. We bought No Scratch, which seems to work. But we think we'll have to put them outside during the day in good weather, or downstairs in inclement weather because we have 2 new couches, plus mine, plus a new carpet. I think we might look at getting a cat condo in sisal.

They are no longer vomiting although the fat one did diarrhea under (how, I will never know) the old couch. DisGUSTing! Fortunately it was on the old carpet.

I think if you get a new couch with a tight weave in the fabric (which makes it less likely to shred) and tack tin foil on the vulnerable parts of the couch that are the usual targets of the scratching, the cats will likely leave the couch alone. Cats hate tin foil. After a few weeks, the novelty of the new couch will be gone and you should be able to remove the tin foil. Because the couch will be old news by then, and because they went several weeks without using it as a scratching post, the cats might leave it alone.

I'm glad to hear that declawing is out of the question. It requires amputation of the tips of their toes at the first joint. It's hard on the young cats, and older ones wouldn't tolerate the procedure very well--and they may experience phantom pain from their missing toe tips.

We have three cats and I'm constantly cleaning up throw-up. There's nothing wrong with them. It's just what they do. Cats are messy, but I would be very SAD if they weren't here. If I hear one hacking, I rush with a piece of paper and put it on the floor under their heads to catch the upchuck. The youngest one usually cooperates by waiting for the paper to arrive and then dutifully upchucking on it. The other two cooperate sometimes.

I don't feed my cats anything but Iams. The cheaper brands, like Meow Mix, gave my cats urinary tract infections. Other brands cause my youngest cat to get the runs. Ick. Therefore, I keep my girls on a strict diet of Iams and they're extremely healthy. KNOCK ON WOOD. My husband and I were just discussing how lucky we are that our three girls are healthy and we're not running to the vet all the time (except for their yearly check-up and shots).

Have you tried Innova's Evo cat food? I get it at www.petfooddirect.com, and my three cats are better off than they've ever been. (I use the dry version, cheaper and easier for me.)

This food has NO grains (which can cause vomiting) and 50% protein, much more than Iams or other, possibly more expensive brands. And cats are "true" carnivores, they need this high protein.

This cat/kitten food is not all that expensive for me, even delivered, since it cuts down on vet bills, fur problems, hairballs, heath problems, vomiting, kitty-box cleaning, etc.

And I was surprised nobody else suggested this for clawing: A log. Cats seem to enjoy natural bark more than almost anything else, for clawing.

A simple, smallish, natural tree log, bark included, in their own area may satisfy their "clawing" need. Cheap! Worth a try, anyway.

OMG, Debra's still here! Hi, my old friend! <waving>

Hi!