Ok Cat People, I need some help

[herefordlovinglady]

I recently moved and had to take my cat out of the environment of inside/outside cat to strictly inside. He can go outside if he wants, but since his one adventure out -- that lasted all day -- he refuses to cross the threshold again. I have never had to deal with a litter box, clawing at furniture, and other things that go with having a completely indoor cat.

I need tips about litter box -- I have to keep it in the kitchen right now -- no other place to put it. the litter gets all over the floor, and of course the smell. i clean it nightly. -- I have thought about trying to toilet train him.

Clawing at the carpet and furniture -- anyway to stop this. I have to take him to the vet to get his claws clipped, he will not let me near him.


You think if I work with him and slowly get him used to going out on the screened porch that i could keep him out there while i am not at home?


I have never had cats before him. he was abandoned at a feed store when he was about a couple of days to a week old, i raised him on a bottle and now he is HUGE.


any advice is very much appreciated. I wish he would go back to being an indoor outdoor cat -- any thoughts on this?

 

[Domestic_goddess]

Why can't the little box go in the screen porch area? I would just keep encouraging him to out, give him lots of opportunities...and I think eventually he will. With the clawing, if you want a strictly indoor cat, you can have his claws removed. Also make sure to have scratching post available, one that has cat nip smell...they love it! My Cats know when they are doing something wrong, when they try to claw on anything I clap my hands and give them a firm NO. Mine will jump up the counter tops and table, I hate that with a passion and they know they are not suppose to be up there, I use a water bottle and squirt them if they even try...now if they are on the counter and see me coming, they jump down in a hurry! You could try the water bottle with the scratching too...they hate it! So they will learn that if they do it they will get sprayed and it should stop it! Good luck!

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Aren't cats wonderful?? The litter box problem I would definately make sure you have GOOD litter,I use Fresh Step scoopable and I also use the arm and hammer deodorant stuff made for litter boxes,..it works great to keep the smell down,..AND get a covered litter box. I never have any problems with odors and I have two cats in the house. Please,.do not get your cat declawed! If he gets outside even if you decide to keep him inside,..he will never be able to defend hisself. Just trim them if needed and get a water bottle to spray him if he is scratching on stuff,...he will learn not too. If that is too much,..then maybe you should try to rehome him. He sounds like he would be an excellent farm cat. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Mostly it takes time and patience you never knew you posessed. And a devaluation of all material posessions. Water pistols are a great asset, instant dicipline. I do NOT recommend declawing under any circumstances. (I used to work in a vet clinic. ) But I DO recommend trimming. I do it a lot and it isn't fun. Patience, once again.

Good luck with the big ole boy!

 

[crossgirl]

Adds to the chorus of don't declaw!!! It's barbaric and leaves your cat defenseless. You never know when he might need them. I had a declawed cat dart out the door one time and next time I saw him he was hanging from a chow dog's mouth. Definatly use the water guns or a spray bottle every time you see the cat getting ready to scratch. A water gun will get you more range and it will have less to do with you that way since he won't know where it came from. You do have to find something for him to scratch on. It's natrual and they have to do it. As for the litter box, one with a lid, you can get carpet scrap or rug to put down in front to gather some of the litter but I don't know what else for that. I have one of those rubber mats that they sel for that purpose and still have litter all over. I have three cats, all indoors, all with claws and we use Tidy Cat. Scoop daily. I think dry cat food makes for less stinky poop but that may just be me.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

Quote:
That's why I said declaw only if he's a strictly indoor cat! I wouldn't do this either...unless you don't have any other oppions!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Get a cat tree scratcher and train him to claw only on that. It works! NEVER NEVER declaw a cat, even an indoor only one. Take it from an ex- vet tech, it's inhumane and can cause tons of crippling effects later... including arthritis up to loss of the use of his front limbs!

 

[ranchhand]

Please note that the OP never said anything about declawing, only mentioned TRIMMING. Something I do regularly. And it's a PITA, I might add.

 

[mom2jedi]

Ok, good advice about the spray bottle or squirt gun. Definitely the way to go for teaching him not to scratch. You do however have to to have somewhere he's allowed to scratch though. As for trimming his claws yourself, it may be a two person job till you get the hang of it. Start by wrapping him snugly in a towel and have the other person hold him. Very gently extract one paw from the towel at a time then start trimming. Make sure you don't cut the quick (blood vessel inside the nail) because it will bleed (a lot) if you do plus royally tick off kitty. It's much easier to see the quick on light colored nails so if he has dark one don't cut too much just to be safe. If you already have the appointment with the vet for trimming, ask if they will teach you how to do it at home, or just watch very closely.


Litter box issues, first covered box is a good start. One with a door will help with the smell but cleaning it every day is good too. Fresh step seems to be the best for odor control, at least for our kitties it does and I've tried quite a few. As for cat litter everywhere, that just happens. You can get carpet or one of the mats they sell but in reality it just sticks to their feet long enough that they track it around. The only time I didn't have that issue is when I had our litter box in a closet that was carpeted and had it face away from the door so they had to walk a few steps before coming back out. Inside the closet always had litter in the carpet but outside the door had very little.

Your screened porch, is it completely screened? If so, try googling cat runs or cat rooms and you might get some good ideas how to make it more attractive for your kitty. If there are lots of perches and scratching areas as well it *should* keep him from climbing the screen. If not, he will climb it eventually. Good luck!

 

[herefordlovinglady]

Wow thanks for all the good ideas. Water pistol or squirt bottle just got added to my shopping list. the litter box is covered, but have not even thought about putting it in a closet -- I have plenty of those that i can use and they can stay open for him. But no one mentioned anything about toilet training -- I have seen it advertised, but do not know anyone who has done it...

a scratching post, i will check into that.

You know something else, I have so many dog toys laying around for my dog, but I do not have one cat toy -- is this something I should look into?

The screened porch is screened on one end only, plenty of places to perch and sit around -- I just feel like as much as he was outside before that would be the best way to transition him back to maybe going outside again. I will start carrying him out there with me at night and let him get used to it.

Good idea too about using a towel to help protect me when i learn to trim his nails.. If i recall he is all black, but his claws are white.

Here is the only picture I have of him here at work.

My lazy Critter