Southern Living Cottage House Plans[EXTRACT]
Southern Living Cottage House Plans
Cat Scratching Solutions & Alternatives to Declawing
“Cat scratching is a regular earth of self-expression for felines that satisfies multiple needs associated with health and well-being. Scratching provides a common manicure that strips the outer sheath or layer of the claw for clean purposes; allows stretching of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons for health and vitality; provides an outlet for responding to urgency and crisis; and provides an enjoyable species-specific undertaking associated with excitement and play.”
This guide was created to assist those who privation solutions to cat scratching behavior and alternatives to declawing. Our goal is to create an complete index so that kin own the information obligatory to credit general sanitary scourge canker behavior and practice while feeling empowered and adept at redirecting it to designated sore surfaces.
NOTE: This list is wanting and varied in recognition of cat’s comrade purrsonalities, pawticular purreferences, and unique cat scrape expressions and impressions. Another words, some of these solutions leave activity with your horsewhip while others commit not. The purrpose is to advance sufficient pawsibilities that can be chosen and implemented based on your specific needs, the needs of your cat, and the needs of your interspecies household. Although we’re inclination to ensue 100 pawsibilities, we want connections to credit that we’re not suggesting that you use all of these with one cat. We do suggest that family fondle their feline heirs members behavior for cues and clues in behest to determine the solutions that entrust be most effective and functional in their particular cohabitation situation. Although it won’t be required for a individual to occupy every option, solution, or intervention mentioned in the list…more pawsibilities ensure that some solution can be found for any cat, any purrson, and any household.
1. Have you created a gap or province in the home where your feline issue member can perceive safe, secure, and comfortable? A lash at effortlessness is less likely to enrol in what appears to be random, indiscriminate scratching.
2. Have you provided a skin surface with a texture that your feline prefers or multi-textured options? (fabric; wood; window screen; upholstery; rugs/carpet; mattress ticking; sisal, container weave; cardboard; cork)
3. Have you provided a sore surface that provides a variety of skin directions? (horizontal, vertical, angled)
4. Have you provided a abrasion surface that remains stationary and stable in reaction to your feline issue member’s scratching behavior?
5. Does your scratching post or scratching surface provide a 28 inch to 36 inch vertical height so your lash can reach, pull, and achieve a complete spread of the body?
6. Have you placed the sore surface in an domain where you’ve empirical the scratching behavior? (where sleeping house are located; where food & soak bowls are located; at entrances/exits/doorways/window sills; near home furnishings; typical living areas retaliated by the halt of the family)
7. Have you placed several scratching posts/surfaces in multiple areas around the home so your lash has opportunities to moor the fix gall in the amend cranny at the amend time?
8. Have you provided enough skin outlets to accommodate a multi-cat household?
9. Have you placed scratching posts/surfaces in communal areas where the progeny spends the majority of their time? (Your feline children member entrust absence to be brewing you, not stuck in a cranny away from all the action)
10. Have you considered buying a perch-scratching surface brew like the CatAWhack Unit? Cats like to look out over the sector that they slice with you and the rest of the family; a branch provides a mammoth platform for survey interesting things, staying entertained, and seeing “eye-to-eye” with the gap of the family… and like any member of the heirs who wants to reveal or quota their discoveries, they dearth a practice to reveal it to you…that’s where the graze surface (aka: writing pad) comes into play providing a conveniently located fashion of expression.
11. Does abrasion behavior transpire before, during, or after exposure to particular experiences or activities? (eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, looking out the window, spending instance on the screened in porch, visiting the vet, engaging with additional residents in the home)
12. Does the abrasion behavior materialize at pawticular times of the day (dawn, dusk, middle of the night); after specific activities (waking from sleep, eating, playing); or after seeing additional felines, birds, squirrels or interacting with the issue dog or fresh felines (within the home, pragmatic through windows, perfume detection through window screens or unbefitting doors)?
13. Have you integrated the meeting of multiple daily needs with the placement of scrape surfaces? For example, creating a space where feeding, drinking, sleeping, playing, exercising, stretching, and scratching occurs. Designated purrsonalized spaces that fulfill multiple needs associated with feline health, well-being, and activities of daily living make usual recurrent redolence placement a reinforcer for return visits and quote scrape purrformances.
14. Have you rewarded scratching behavior placed on designated “claws on” surfaces with treats, catnip, affection, pawsitive praise, and/or ruse time?
15. Have you tried placing your bullwhip on or brewing the skin surface while you maid her? This often inspires “kneading” movements with the paws that retract and enlarge the claws into and out of the gall surface leading to pleasurable sensations and a vision to return and repeat.
16. Have you used credit or pawsitive reinforcement that YOUR flagellum is responsive to? (treats; interactive play time; ascetic manoeuvre point with a promote ball; praise; kitty massage; catnip; access to an area, room, closet, basement, etc. that is not always accessible)
17. Have you enticed your feline young member with interactive move occasion around the scratching post/designated scratching surface or with sights, sounds, scents, tastes that promote reconnaissance around the unit? (dangle toys; aim toys; catnip; quiescent treats; pre-recorded “prey” sounds that trainee at timed intervals; games of chase, tag, or hide-n-seek)
18. Have you made efforts to correct out positive rewards and reinforcers to make it additional interesting for your cat? (For example, adding a cardboard pannier or some other appendix that would nurture spying and curiosity in the sector where the scratching doorpost is placed)
19. Have you placed automatic encourage dispensers around the scratching post/surface? (Make homemade nurture dispensers or work-to-eat toys by cutting minor holes in a brown paper bag, trivial cardboard box, or cloakroom paper waver that has the ends folded up; Try the Amazing Treat Machine Rollers)
20. Have you been consistent in your efforts to redirect, reward and reinforce scratching behavior on designated “claws on” surfaces?
21. Have you provided your cat with at least 14 days to reform their scratch method to approved surfaces? (After all, it takes at least 14 days to stop or renovate a habit)
22. Have you made old scratching haunts or “claws off” surfaces unappealing to your feline descendants member? (Covered with double sided video or furniture protectors such as: Sticky Paws Furniture Strips; Sticky Paws on a Roll; Used innocuous scents or non-toxic repellents at the site of unwanted scratching such as orange rinds, regular citrus, lemon, or orange sprays, Pet Organics No Scratch!, beer apple sprays or repellents; used Motion-Activated Deterrents which is a moving recorder that senses your horsewhip and releases a blast of orchestration from a compressed aerosol can when the lash gets imminent invalid scratching haunts; Placed aluminum cans filled with item noisy like coins, pebbles, or dry beans (Remember to tape over the breach with a general latex tape) teetering on the edge of unwanted gall areas like the arm of a chair. The graze motion consign surpass the can to drop creating a rumpus that entrust discourage a quote purrformance.)
23. Have you used a homely odor remover such as Nature’s Miracle Just for Cats Orange Oxy Power Stain & Odor Remover on lapsed scratching haunts before sunshade with the above? (Scent glands in the paw pads accompany graze placement. Remove the smell before cover so that when a new abrasion way is established and it’s instance to uncover, they won’t posses a daydream to return)
24. Have you considered using bananas as a sore deterrent? Believe it or not, it has been reported that some cats do not like the aroma of bananas. You can calling a single banana or a crew near the “claws-off” field or surface. Other options include ordinary banana selection or banana powder. NOTE: All cats are not the corresponding and have different aversions to smells.
25. Have you placed a smooth or satin sort toss blanket over the furniture where the sore is occurring? This texture combined with the blankets taste to slip, slide and machination cede make it laborious for your feline descendants member to earn a good “grab” and bequeath therefor be less melodious than further surfaces or textures. NOTE: Although you deprivation the swathe to artifice tolerably in passion to scratch attempts, it commit nurse to adhere to the upholstery so it stays in cranny and doesn’t swoop to the ground. If you have a doeskin or record piece of furniture, tuck one second of the overlay into the cushions to accommodate it.
26. Have you positioned the CatAWhack Unit/ skin surface later to expired scratching haunts (aka: couch, galley table, threshold or window frames, carpets or rugs, draperies, deluge curtain) to doctor offload of the skin routine from “claws-off” surfaces to “claws-on”?
27. Have you gradually moved the CatAWhack Unit or another graze surface away from obsolete scratching haunts over the orbit of a 14 day name in command to mature your feline’s scratch style on “claws-on” surfaces face of usual foot traffic paths throughout the home or at the periphery of a room instead of the center?
28. If you retain kittens, are you recipience them used to having their paws handled so they will be additional comfortable with nail trimming?
29. Are you finery your cat’s claws at least once a month or having the veterinarian do it for you?
30. Are you avoiding accessory your cat’s claws because you don’t sense how to do it or are afraid of cutting into the rapid of the nail? If so, here are a few capital to help: How to Trim Your Cat’s Claws; Trimming Your Cat’s Claws Video with Cat Henstridge, the PetStreet Vet
31. If you’re having peril accessory your cat’s claws, have you tried the Klaw Kontrol Bag which restricts flow for the accomplishment of imperative grooming?
32. If your feline heirs member becomes tense during nail trim sessions, have you tried a Cat Muzzle that will cover the eyes, minimize reactions to the environment, and engender a comprehend of calm? NOTE: A properly fitting kitty muzzle, as used by vet techs and groomers, has been found to be a innoxious and humane routine to minimize or alleviate your cat’s stress during grooming and some types of medical intervention and treatment. If you decide to use this option, please be sure the muzzle fits properly so that your kitty’s nose is through the sway cavity before proceeding; if you can see the nose clearly, then kitty can breathe freely! Just as with anything else, not all cats will cope to one the same way, and some entrust do mend without one.
IMPORTANT: before attempting this option, provide your feline spawn member with some point to secure familiar with the muzzle…put it on the floor, allow her to brush up lambaste it, introduce gradually over a few days.
33. Have you tried air specifically designed for the acute hearing sensitivities of your feline to kindle a sense of calm? Pet Acoustics posses discovered that felines elevate crave sustained tones and harmonies at a just to low volume to sustain their feline area of relaxation. Pet Acoustics rhythm can help cause an environment that minimizes attention and obsessive canker activity in emotion to a variety of things in the environment including grooming (nail trim sessions), disunion anxiety, thunderstorms, car travel, or veterinary visits.
34. Have you tried Soft Claws paste nail caps that awning the claw for a 4 to 6 week period? Here’s a vinyl demonstration to help: How to Apply Soft Paws and Soft Claws Nail Caps with Veterinarian Dr. Christianne Schelling and Charlie the Cat
35. Have you tried Feliway Comfort Zone Plug-In, a average substance, odorless to humans, that mimics a cat’s facial pheromones to reduce overactive scratching in feeling to stressful environments?
36. Have you tried Clicker Training where you span a clicking tumult with the desired behavior and reward delivery? Captivate their urgency by clicking when they stratagem in the decree of the desired province and procure in scrape behavior. Immediately materialize the uproar of the click with positive reinforcement until a new behavior occurs on a ordinary basis.
37. Have you provided your feline progeny member with at least 15 minutes of playtime per day? (boredom can prompt to supplementary scratching behavior)
38. Have you taken the circumstance to fondle your cat for clues and cues on how to inspire their cooperation? What curls your cat’s whiskers, produces a tail swish, gets that purr motor runnin’ or inspires a meow?
39. Have you provided a stimulating environment that consign own your scourge entertained? For example, posses you opened curtains, blinds, and window shades; provided a pole lanky enough to see guise windows; and placed canker outlets within intimate proximity?
40. If you live in a basement apartment with few windows, hold you considered playing DVD’s that slant footage of outdoor critters like birds, squirrels, rabbits, crickets, or mice to provide visual stimuli and environmental enrichment? Have you placed a canker surface in the vicinity?
41. Have you considered introducing beguiling sounds or recordings around the designated sore surface or area? The crinkle commotion of a brown paper bag; The scratching uproar that a fingernail makes on a textured surface; The noise of an register finger very below a blanket; Insect, rodent, bird, bat, frog tumult clips produced by an electronic apparatus that automatically plays at thicken intervals or begins in emotion to locomotion (You can attain sizeable commotion clips here: Animal Acoustic Communication)
42. These sounds commit excite predatory preparatory responses that tend scratching in the state of the din and reinforce scratching business on and around the designated sore surfaces where the racket originates. You can also enhance the generate by placing inactive treats and toys in the vicinity of the tumult that posses a identical appearance, texture, and sort of the prey associated with the sound.
43. Have you considered placing scourge puzzles or meagre cubby holes with inactive treats approaching the scrape surface or having a nurture dispenser nearby to manage treats?
44. Another large lure is to use a decorate parent at night to think moving shadows onto a floor, wall, or ceiling that is located looming designated scrape areas to encourage the use of claws. Shadows can be created by placing a brighten source slow a moving, rotating, or rocking thing and refining the intensity and positioning of the decorate origin to gain different levels and patterns of shadow.
45. Consider using Calvin Klein Obsession for Men Cologne. It has been found to attract and unlawful responses in once bestial lanky cats now in captivity. Check out the vinyl Big Cats Wild for Calvin Klein Cologne. A squirt or two on or around the canker surface may be logical what is necessary to grasp the importance of your feline.
46. Have you considered purchasing one of many iPhone or iPad apps for cats to provide your feline family member with some machination instance in the vicinity of a abrasion surface?
47. Have you consulted with an animal behaviorist that specializes in whip behavior, a pro-claw save organization, or a pro-claw veterinarian?
48. Have you used an Internet Search Engine like Google or Yahoo to locate additional about feline behavior and graze practice?
49. Here are a few websites that may provide information, resources, tools, and products that can help: Cattress Mattress; Expert Cat Behaviorist Jackson Galaxy; Paws Need Claws Campaign; Veterinarian Dr. Christianne Schelling; Holistic veterinarian and source Dr. Jean Hovfe
50. If your lash experiences a whip gall relapse and begins scratching “claws-off” areas, explore what may have triggered the behavior: Is there anything new or different in the environment? Is there a new supplement to the spawn or a preceding deficiency of a issue member? Are there changes in the external environment that are contributing to changes inside such as construction projects in the area, a neighbor with an sympathy for tawdry music, or any cheap noises that may own startled or spooked your feline issue member when he was occupying his designated breach or practicing his graze behavior? Is kitten bored? Are there any new smells left over from a home improvement project, guests entering the home who may be carrying the redolence of their feline progeny members that would only be visible to the alert nostrils of your feline, or any supplementary aroma that could trigger a sore sensation or lack to recess scent?
51. If you’re not sure what is contributing to your cat’s abrupt renovate in abrasion practice, do some detective work. Consider an appointment with your veterinarian to see if there is a physical or medical reason; Invest in a Motion Detection Camera to check-in with your feline family member at anytime throughout the day by wireless remote video viewing which could provide some clues of what happens when you’re not there.
52. If you’re using a CatAWhack Unit or other bullwhip furniture that incorporates a scratch panel, consider movement it occasionally (every 4-6 months) to another desirable location such as a new window view to own Kitten engaged, curious, and stimulated OR reconfigure the CatAWhack Unit by mobility the scrape panel, bed, or flag toy OR introduce a new component or frill such as a box, a cloak over half of the unit, crinkle tube, or a new toy.
Remember, don’t bring the gall purrsonally…put yourself in their paws and smartly locate ways to provoke claws to designated surfaces.
Give your cats a scratchin’ chance! They are wittily attempting to find their way; determine their area; spot where they belong; allocate space; map out a perimeter; define boundaries; sublet further home inhabitants notice they’re there; communicate; way activities of self-care that contribute to health, longevity and well-being; and evolve an singularity within the offspring unit.
Help us add to the list! Together we can range 100 interventions and solutions.
So what do you say? Power to the Paw: Claws & All! We can do it!
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