The Chronicles of Samson: Olympic Diver

[Adenium]

Our cats are the reason we changed to a duvet....washable swappable covers!

Glad the little guy is doing better.

 

[ChicknThief]

I think I should stop posting about how long it has been since he has had an accident. I suspect he may have internet access from the bathroom, and reads my posts, and then opts to prove me wrong at every turn.

Got home yesterday, no accidents anywhere!

30 seconds later.... there's a poop in the hall.

So it's back in the bathroom for the butthead. And back in the doghouse for me

 

[leadwolf1]

I think you could save yourself a lot of heartache if you would leave him in the bathroom when you are gone until he is a lot older. It won't hurt him, think of it as you would crate training a puppy. Same thing. He is little and is still learning. The more he has accidents, the longer it will take to fully train him. Cats will go where they have been before. If they smell it, they will use it again. Leave him some toys, food and water and keep him in that bathroom until he is older and can be trusted. If it were me, I would leave him in there until he was 12 -16 weeks old.

 

[ChicknThief]

That is pretty much the conclusion we have come to. He is 14 weeks old now. Way too old to be continueing to have these issues. It's unbearably frusterating. It's a good thing he's cute, because some days that is the only thing he has going for him.

I don't know if I am just doing everything wrong or what. He refuses to learn even the most basic things. Don't bite. Don't scratch the couch. Don't p*ss on the floor. Nothing works. Discipline doesn't work. The spray bottle doesn't work. Locking him up in the bathroom doesn't work. I just want to pull my hair out some days. And Jamison is getting more and more difficult to deal with as time progresses. The "he's just a kitten" line will only work for so long, because even I am having a hard time excusing Samson's behavior at times now.

Anyone else raise a terror-kitten? Because I could really use some serious advice on training. What effective? What is making it worse?

I am just about at the end of my rope. There are only two major things that my husband and I fight about. And one of those things is Samson. I feel like I am fighting tooth and nail to defend him, and he is just trying everything to prove Jamison right. I know that is anthropomorphistic. Samson isn't a human and thus is not capable of that. But I can't help but have it cross my mind when, right after a big fight about him, Samson goes and poops in the corner.

See mom!? I really am as naughty as daddy says.

Ok, end of rant.

 

[leadwolf1]

I am so sorry that you are having such problems. I really think that sometimes when a kitten is bottle fed that they do truly believe that they are human. You are his mommy. Therefore, you are his playmate. You are the one that he attacks and bites. My friend bottle fed a kitten and she is the same way. She is a holly terror.

I really would put him back in the bathroom. At least that will be one less fight. When he becomes aggressive, I would pitch him on the floor and refuse to pay attention to him until he plays nice. Since you are the mom, you are going to have to teach him like a mom does. She would put him in his place with teeth and claws..she wouldn't worry about hurting him!!! Now, you can't bite him..although, I did bite mine one back once...right on the tender ear and he never bit again!!! Some would say cruel but, I was tired of those pointy little teeth. If he would continue to misbehave, it would be back in the bathroom with him. Just like you would crate an unruly puppy..time out...you are going to have to practice on Samson. Scratching the couch is a tough one...really the only thing you can do there is keep his claws really short. A pair of baby fingernail clips work really well for this. A good squirting in the face should discourage also..not a spray, a squirt. Squirt guns work well.

I may have other things to help..they might be too mean for some. I just feel that a little meanness goes a long way to teach respect and to keep a good animal out of the shelter.

 

[ChicknThief]

You and I have very similar views about discipline I think. Growing up I was the only one that our dogs would listen to because I was the only one who wouldn't hesitate to pop them on the nose if they were misbehaving. I don't think it's mean at all. As long as you are doing it out of love and not out of anger, I see no problem at all with physical discipline.

I have put his nose in his potty messes, spanked him (not *really* hard, but hard enough to send the message), put him on bathroom time-outs, sprayed him with the water bottle (ours does "mist" though, not really squirt. Sounds like we need a new one that does), etc. I have even tried making "angry cat noises". The end result is that now when he is doing something naughty, he runs away when we notice. All I have to do is bring out the spray bottle when he is scratching or biting and he turns tail. But it doesn't stop him from doing it in the first place. He has made the negative association with the bottle, not with the biting. We are really good about immediate discipline too. Only if we catch him in the act or immediately after do we discipine him. I don't think he would understand why he was in trouble if too much time had passed.

Leadwolf, if you are hesitant to post your methods in public forum, please feel free to PM me. I need all the help I can get if Samson can expect to retain his place in our home.

 

[Gryphon]

When training my kitten I used an angry "fssst!" noise that got his immediate attention. Also tapped him on the nose when he bit. Kittens learn how to play fight with their littermates, they'll chomp and claw until someone squalls, so it's really not so much "mean" as communicating in a clear way that he understands. I've heard of people using bitter apple spray on inapppropriate scratching/bathroom spots as a ward.

 

[ChicknThief]

Poor Samson had a really bad day on Saturday. He went and got his first shots and had some blood drawn to test for Leukemia at our local Petco. The woman who was administering these shots really botched his blood draw. She did it after she had already done his other shots, so he was already feeling pretty scared and uncooperative. And then she stuck the needle in and couldn't find his vein! She was digging around for a good thirty seconds at least. All the while poor Samson was screaming and crying

It was really aweful. She finally did get it though. So I guess that's what counts.

The vaccines made him really tired and mopey for the rest of the day and all of Sunday. It was kind of amusing to watch. It was like he was in slow motion. You could tell that he wanted to play, but it just.... took.... too.... much.... effort! We decided to let him stay out in the living room on Sunday. He looked so tired and miserable that we wanted to let him sleep where he wanted, and we had to to help Jamison's mother move into her new house. It worked out just fine. I don't think he moved off of his kitty perch all day, and there were no messes anywhere either.

As of this morning his energy is officially back and he is back to his little spunky shenanigans. I still haven't found the time to go get him another litterbox (bad momma!), so he is still having to stay in the bathroom while we are gone.

BTW: Leadwolf: Your advice has improved his behavior significantly. He doesn't really want to play so rough anymore now that he knows it's a two-way street. He still bites down occasionally, but not nearly so often as before.

Gryphon: I also use angry cat noises sometimes. I'm not sure how well it works though. I think I mostly just look silly

 

[ChicknThief]

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would update you all. Jamison and I just got back from a long camping trip, during which Samson stayed with Jamison's parents. He had no accidents, and was easily redirected away from their leather furniture, thank goodness. We picked him up yesterday, and he is still being a bit moody. I think he thought we abandoned him. But he is slowly warming up to us again.

He is getting so big! He is much more lanky and doesn't really have the chubby kitten look anymore. Forgive his glowing eyes, the flash was on

 

[canesisters]

Just an idea about the misbehaving.
A while back, one of my cats started acting weird. She was always the quiet, submissive one of the bunch. But sometimes, she would suddenly decide to get up on the computer desk and scratch like she was going to climb up the side of the hutch. I'd fuss at her (Lilly! Stop that!" which is usually enough for her. But she'd look over her shoulder and keep at it. It's important to note that the computer is 'just' far enough away from the den for the water bottle to be useless. Well, we'd get into a staring match with me daring her to do it again and her daring me to get up and try to catch her. Eventually she'd win - every time. And then, as long as I was up and she had interrupted my movie, I'd go ahead and fill the bowls.
You guessed it! She had learned that misbehaving got her an early dinner!
Be careful that his misbehaving isn't a purposeful ploy. I was rewarding her for her elaborate trick without even knowing it.