cat owners - i need advice!!

so one of my best friends from HS is moving back to long island after living all over the US (her husband was in the army) and she is moving in with her aunt, but her aunt wont let her bring her cats with her so i offered to watch one of her cats while she looks for an apt.

the cat is 8 years old, very fat & totally loveable. i'm just a little nervous that it will start to scratch things if it gets nervous b/c he's in a new home... i mean, my friend & her hubby moved A LOT b/c of relocating for the army - so i guess it shouldnt be bad, right?? she said that she has never had a problem with the cat scratching anything... the cat has a scratching post that he uses

if any cat owner can shed some light on this situation & give me some advice that would be greatly appreciated!!!!

TIA

As long as you have all of the cats toys and stuff you should have no problem with it-

it will more than likely hide for the first few days if not longer till it feel comfortable in your place-- just give him time and he should fit in.

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Posted by shcole08

if the cat has a scratching post you will be fine. The thing is that I just moved and now my cat scratches boxes instead of his post its like he cant find it anymore. The best scraching posts out there is by 'felix' you buy it online and it has the right type of material (cats wont use certain ones) and has catnip to attract the cat. THe cat needs to scratch for his claws to sharpen and shead. So, he isnt straching out of malice. If you have a post he should be ok. If he cant find it you can rub some catnip on it to attract him.

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the kind of post my friend has for the cat is the kind that catnip goes into!!

ok phew - you ladies are making me feel better! DH would KILL me if the cat started scratching our new recliners!!!

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Posted by shcole08

if he does you can spray him with a bottle of water

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He might not respond to this though since he's an older cat.

If he starts scratching the furniture then put siran wrap on the area and it will stop him...but usually if he is use to the post he will just use that...or you could use double sided tape to cover the area...they don't like the feel of that on their paws....

You are so sweet for doing that!!!!

I am a big animal lover however I do love my house too....so I understand the concern. However, I have three cats who are all not declawed and have NEVER had a problem with them clawing furniture. The best thing I have done to get the away from places I don't want them going (like climbing a xmas tree, etc...) is get a small water spray bottle and each time you see the cat doing something it shouldn't be doing just give it a little squirt of water. Most cats hate water and will associate the action with getting squirted and all bad behavior will stop. My cats are so well traned that I don't even have to squirt it anymore...I just pick it up and they all stop and run!

Good luck and know you're doing a very nice thing for your friend...=)

I think you should be ok, just keep an eye on him for a while. If you see him bothering your furniture try to get him in the 'act' and take him right to his scratching post like 'HELLO' this is what you do here!

Our new kitty prefers FH's old navy flip flop....don't ask me why but fine w/ me

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Posted by Two Peas

I am a big animal lover however I do love my house too....so I understand the concern. However, I have three cats who are all not declawed and have NEVER had a problem with them clawing furniture. The best thing I have done to get the away from places I don't want them going (like climbing a xmas tree, etc...) is get a small water spray bottle and each time you see the cat doing something it shouldn't be doing just give it a little squirt of water. Most cats hate water and will associate the action with getting squirted and all bad behavior will stop. My cats are so well traned that I don't even have to squirt it anymore...I just pick it up and they all stop and run!

Good luck and know you're doing a very nice thing for your friend...=)

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The squirt bottle trick works very well, to make it really successful you have to squirt the cat and not let him see its from you. If the thinks its an 'act of god' then he will not continue the behavor when your not around. With some cats if they know its you squirting them then they will just not do the negative behavor while your there.

Also a cats age usually has nothing to do with a cat not responding to a squirt. I got my cat at 10 yrs old (he was a spoiled pet store pet kitty that i adopted when they closed) and he freaked out when i squirted him. On the otherhand i had a 2 yr old cat that i raised from a kitten and if i squirted him he just looked at me like '... Yeah..And...' .

When you bring the kitty in make sure you take some of your friends clothes or a blanket that smells like their house to reduce his stress. Its good hes used to moving cause some cats dont do well with change. FM me if you have any questions. I rescue alot of cats.

WOW thanks everyone!!!

funny you should mention the whole squirt bottle thing b/c my friend uses a squirt bottle thing ALL THE TIME with her cats - she actually told me to start doing that with the cat if i need to.

i will try everything you all are telling me to do!!

keep your fingers crossed!!! i'm hoping things will be OKAY