The urge for a cat to scratch will hit and hit often. When it does, your cat won’t be overly picky on what they scratch. Their instinct is that everything is fair game. Your cat isn’t sitting there thinking, what can I scratch and shred now. He’s just filling his need to scratch and sharpen his claws.

Even an inside cat still has the instincts of a cat in the wild. What does an outside cat use for a scratching post? A tree trunk, a wooden deck, a fence post, etc. If your living room is like mine, then you probably don’t have any of those around inside your home. So, common sense should tell us what our kitty is going scratch. Look around and see your home and furniture from your cats eyes. Let’s see, that couch looks like good scratching material. How about those wooden legs on that new coffee table, surely they bought that for me to start scratching on.

Many people assume that declawing your cat is the only thing they can do to protect their furniture. Cat declawing is going to extremes and in most cases isn’t necessary or recommended. Having one or more good quality scratching posts around your home will give him a good alternative to your furnishings. Kitty will be a happier camper and so will you.

Sharpening claws isn’t the only reason a cat scratches. It’s also a form of exercise. The act of declawing your cat won’t stop the scratching actions, but it could provide harm to your cat. A good scratching post can also be nice stress reliever for your kitty.

Some cats use the post as a pretend playmate. They also have a need to conquer perceived foes. Your cat may take on the scratching post, gripping it with his claws and wrestling it into submission.

You want to make sure that the scratching surfaces or posts you use are solid and stable. A solid wooden chair or table could easily be preferred over a wobbly, easily to tip over post. If this solution doesn’t work we may have to dig into our bag of tricks.

You probably already Know that your cat has a very keen sense of smell. So hang a bold smelling fragrance room deodorizer or a commercial cat repellant near the piece of furniture your cat is scratching. This will help to make sure that your cat will not enjoy scratching in that location anymore.

It’s best to place the approved scratching post in a location in your home where the smell factor is pretty much neutral and at a place that provides some privacy. The privacy is so your cat can sneak up on the post as a pretend prey, and we all need a little privacy. When the scratching post starts to become worn out

Instead, place the new scratching right beside the old post until your cat starts to use it. After you see some wear on the new post, then you can throw away the old one.

The most common training goals that cat owners have are to get their cat to behave in ways that make home life more pleasant, like using the litter box properly or not scratching the furniture. If your cat is displaying inappropriate behavior, it’s important to consider your cat’s motivation for his behavior. Often, the owner has failed to provide the proper environment for the cat.

Let’s use the example of a cat that is constantly scratching the furniture and avoiding the scratching post. Take the time to observe what alternatives you have given your cat. Scratching is a natural instinct for a cat so you won’t stop them from scratching. We need to look at what choices we have given our cat. Two things to look at are to make the scratching post more desirable and your furniture less desirable.

Consistency is key in training a cat. Once you have the behavior change you desire, it becomes much easier to maintain. We were discussing the bad cat behavior of scratching furniture. What are some practical things we can do? First we need to make the scratching post so desirable that your kitty doesn’t desire to scratch anywhere else. A couple of ways to do that are, to make sure it’s in a great location. Then spend time playing with your cat near it. Also try rubbing catnip on the scratching post to make it more attractive. As far as your furniture, we need to make it unattractive. One thing to try is cover the furniture with plastic.

Teaching your cat tricks is something a lot of people would love to be able to do. Imagine the bragging rights. Think about it, how many people have cats that can do tricks? Pick a time when your cat is pretty relaxed. Get out the treats and begin to encourage your cat to do the trick your wanting them to learn. The treat is a positive reinforcement, so reward your kitty for anything positive. This way they will learn to associate performing in a certain way with getting that treat.

Let’s say that you want your cat to learn to sit when you tell her too. Take the treat and hold it above their head while gently pushing down on their back end. When they sit or even come close, give them the treat as a reward. Make sure you don’t hesitate in giving them the treat. Remember we want them to associate the treat with the action they just made. Be patient and keep at it. Training a cat can take a lot of patience, but also be extremely rewarding. You may be surprised at what all your cat can learn.

Having a well behaved cat is definitely possible. Patience on your part is crucial. Learning to observe your cat and learn why they act like they do, will go along way towards your success. Please remember that if bad cat behavior continues, no matter what you do, then be sure to consult a good veterinarian. The problem may be medically related and until that’s corrected, no amount of training will work.

Learning to quickly recognize cat symptoms can sometimes be the difference between life and death for your cat.

Often it’s not that serious but not solving one problem can lead to others.

A few things to watch for.
1. Weight loss
2. Weight gain
3. Scratching itself a lot
4. Losing more hair than usual.
5. Sudden stops using the litter box.
6. Drinking more water than usual.
7. Having trouble eating solid food.
8. Lethargic
9. Eyes not clear and bright
10. Lots of hairballs
11. Watery eyes
12. Runny nose

These are just a few cat symtoms we watch for.

It’s always a good idea to take them to vet for regular check ups and have blood work done. Just like in humans,

blood work can show a lot of things that we wouldn’t know otherwise.

We discovered that one of our cats had a thyroid condition and we only knew that from our veterinarian taking blood

work. Now she takes a pill twice a day (we help her with that) and things are going well.

Diet has a lot to do with the health and well being of your kitty also. It pays to do a little research on what

you’re feeding your cat. A lot of the cheaper foods have different ingredients than the more expensive ones. You

can buy a decent quality cat food without going to extremes. Sometimes you’ll see cats that are very overweight and

it could me a medical condition but it also could be the food that is being provided for them.

We’ve all heard the old saying, “You are what you eat”

If kitty is itching a lot, it could be a skin condition or it could be fleas.
Ticks are another critter that can carry various diseases and be harmful to your cat and you.

If your kitty is having trouble eating it could be a problem with the teeth or gums. Again having them checked by a

qualified veterinarian is very important.

Spend time with your cat. Get to know her and observe her patterns. When she starts acting a little differently

that may well be the early sign that you need to get her the help she needs. Early diagnosis is often key to having

a successful outcome.

Cat symptoms are many just like with us. A little common sense will go along way to helping your kitty to live a

long and productive life.

May you and your kitty(s) have a blessed life together.

Cat scratching is a natural behavior for cats and due to that, you can’t get kitty to stop scratching by shouting,

squirting water, chasing, throwing things etc. Cats need to scratch for several reasons.

So the goal is learning that were not going to stop them from scratching so we have to look at providing things for

them to scratch that are acceptable to all. It’s a simple matter of redirecting the behavior to an appropriate

place.

Many consider having their cat declawed to solve the problem.

Declawing should be the very last option. It’s important to know that declawing is a serious surgical procedure. It

involves amputating all ten of the frontal tendons and nerves to remove the claws. It is a potentially crippling

surgery that deprives a cat of the means of self-defense. As with any surgery there is the possibility for

complications.

Declawing robs a cat of an integral means of movement and defense. Because they cannot defend themselves adequately

against attacks by other animals, declawed cats who are allowed outdoors may be at increased risk of injury or

death. Declawing is a painful operation. It involves the surgical removal of the entire last digit of each toe or

amputation comparable to the removal of human fingertips to the first knuckle.

Another option is nail covers. These are like artificial cat nails, which can be applied by you or by your vet’s

office. The covers come in many different styles and are applied by a thin layer of special glue to the claw.

Also some people cover their furniture with something your cat does not like: double sided tape, some plastic or

aluminum foil. Some cats dislike the feeling and sound of foil, and most cats have a strong dislike for things that

stick to their fur. If you do something like that then it kind of defeats the purpose for having furniture. I don’t

particularly want to sit on aluminum foil for double sided tape myself.

Scratching posts are what most people use and sometimes rubbing a little catnip on it will be just the ticket to

get your kitty to start using it instead of your furniture.

It’s also important to keep your cats nails trimmed. Ask your vet to show you how so you don’t cut them to far back

and hurt your little friend. The vet can also supply you with decent clippers or most any pet supply store will

have good quality clippers for you to use.

As always it comes down to being a responsible pet owner and if you’ll take the time to learn how to work with and

train your cat you’ll save a lot of pain and aggravation for both of you.

One group says there is no way you can train a cat, they have a mind of their own and you’re not going to change it.

On the other side of the coin, is the group that says yes it is possible and we’re not going to stop until we accomplish it.

In Genesis 2:28 God gave man dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Going into all the biblical proportions that that entails is beyond the scope of this article. But I do believe that a cat falls into the category of a living thing that moves upon the earth. Don’t you?

With that said, of course a cat can be trained. The big question then is will we as owners learn to walk in dominion. We need to understand that training a cat is different then training a dog or other animal. Dominion remains the same but the ways in which that dominion is exercised will be different based on the animal.

So we’ve established that cat training is possible. What we hope is for all cat owners to understand that and begin to move in that direction. It will make for happier owners and kitties.

Why is training important? Cat training promotes good behavior in your cat and allows for us to all live peaceably together. Just like raising children, if the children aren’t trained properly, then the behaviour you get isn’t the best either.

It’s easier to train a cat if you start when they are a kitten. So learning how when they’re little is best. I know what you’re thinking. But what about me, my cat is older, is there any hope for me. Yes there is. Age isn’t as much the issue as your desire, patience and dominion is.

If you have a cat now. Just think of all the behavioral issues that you would like corrected. Walking on counters, scratching up furniture, cat spraying, not using the litter box, thinking nighttime is the time to play and make noise, etc. etc.

Cat psychologists are becoming more and more popular and they are often able to help. The cost can be high and unaffordable to many. Plus the fact that it’s not all about training the cat. A lot has to do with training us the owners. If I trained your cat and didn’t teach you how to train and maintain what was accomplished, then eventually kitty would go back to his old ways and we would have gained nothing.

Training your cat will take time, persistence, patience and most of all the wisdom to know how.

Knowing it’s possible is the first step and we hope to be able to help you and encourage your on your journey to having all of your kitties well trained and what you will learn in the process will be extremely valuable to you in many other areas.

about cats is difficult to find. Searching the internet will yield lots of info but just like most other topics

there is a lot of contradicting information.

There are so many variables when it comes to animals. One question could have different answers based on the cats

age, health, is it an outside or inside cat, are their other cats in the house, or dogs etc. How about children and

how are they taught to handle and treat the cat.

Cat owners are all different in there personalities and how much they care about learning and being a responsible

cat owner.

So with that said, today we’ll look at one of the main questions we typically hear from cat owners or prospective

cat owners.

How long will my cat live? That is an it depends question if I ever saw one. We have a cat that we fondly say that

she adopted us. She came to our door one day about 15 years ago meowing away. We could easily tell that she hadn’t

eaten well for awhile. Was probably dropped off by someone. So we fed her and of course you know what that means.

To make a short story long (ha ha) we took her in and discovered that she was pregnant and she blessed us with 5

adorable kittens. We had taken her to our veterinarian to have her checked out and we asked him at the time how old

he thought she was and he said at least 3 and maybe 4. So my wife chose 3 and based on that she is a little over 17

right now.

Now when we said it depends, here’s why. When she was around 12 we could tell something wasn’t right and we thought

we were losing her. The vet couldn’t find anything specific. At that time, we lived in an area where we had city

water. We like to drink a lot of water but with the chlorine and all the other stuff they put in the water, we

couldn’t stand to drink it.

So we purchased a water distiller unit to have good drinking water and instead of giving the cats tap water, we

began to give them the distilled water. Well lo and behold; it wasn’t long until we noticed quite a difference in

her weight, fur and energy levels. So was it the water? We certainly expect so.
So how long can you expect a cat to live? We’ve heard of cats living up to 22 years. We’re sure some live longer.

But generally speaking from our observations 12 to 18 is about the norm.

We know you have many other cat questions and we hope to be able to help you with the answers you need. Just

remember a lot of it has to do with you and your desire to take your pet ownership seriously.

Training a cat to use the toilet is becoming more common then you might realize. If you would like to try this with your cat, there are a few things to be aware of.

If you have more than one cat it becomes much more difficult because you often won’t know which one is progressing and which one is having more difficulty learning. Since some learn quicker than others, you’ll have the complications of how to balance out the training and keeping them all close to being on the same page.

How long does it take? Cat toilet training can take from 2 weeks up to 3 to 4 months. There are a lot of variables and depends on your cats personality and your personality and patience.

Patience, yes good ole patience. If you really want to succeed, you’ll need that and some cooperation from kitty.

Will it work for every cat? Let’s be realistic here. No, not every cat will succeed at becoming toilet trained.
Some will fail because the trainer is not capable of teaching and training in a way to help the cat learn. Let’s
face it, how old were you when you were toilet trained? So if it takes kitty more than a few weeks, chill out and keep working with her.

The basic idea is to take something firm (some use a solid aluminum pan) and place it over the toilet seat. Fill it with a flushable litter (best to use the same litter that kitty is used to if it’s flushable) and make sure it’s held firmly in place over the toilet seat. After your cat begins to use it you cut a small hole in the center and then you will gradually make the hole larger until it is completely open to the toilet.

The positives are no more cleaning out the litter box, no more scooping litter and disposing of. The negatives are the time and effort it will take to get your cat toilet trained.

So just imagine your little king or queen kitty learning sit on the throne. You’ll be so excited to tell your
friends and the bragging rights will be absolutely incredible.

P.S. NO pictures allowed. Do you want pictures of you sitting on the throne being shown around? Aha, I didn’t think so.

“cats are the owners and we are the servants” or “cats rule and dogs drool” and the list goes on.

How you interpret your cats behavior has a lot to do with understanding your cat and whether you’ll be able to

bring consistent change to any behaviours that are causing problems.

Until you understand the why’s of your cats behavior, you will be left with lots of questions and few answers. Cat

characteristics are very different from dogs or other animals and require a totally different approach.

Let’s look at a few common behaviors and see what we can learn.

Purring:
Often referred to as a kitty having its motor running.
One of our cats has a steady purr and the other sounds more like the old hit and miss engines. But whatever engine

their purring sounds like, it’s a sign of a contented, relaxed kitty.

Scratching:
Scratching is a natural instinct and you need to provide something other than your furniture and curtains for your

cat to scratch. This is normal and certainly not a bad thing. It becomes a behavioral issue only when the object

the cat chooses isn’t one of your choices.

Kneading:
This is when your kitty takes its front paws and begins to knead you (our kitties will stand on our lap and begin

to work their paws on our lap for quite a while). This behavior is a sign of a very contented, happy cat and

something we greatly enjoy.

High Points:
A cat will often locate the highest place in the room and then try to figure out a way to get there. This comes

from the need to be able to observe its surroundings and is similar to a hawk sitting up in a tree and having a

great vantage point to watch for its next meal. So look around your home and see where kitty may try to get to and

make sure that there is nothing that could cause you cat to be hurt trying to get to her high point of observation.

Chattering Teeth:
We first noticed this with one of our cats who we took in as a stray. She was used to fending for herself in the

outdoors before she adopted us. One day their was a bird right outside our window just a few inches from the glass

and she went over on the back of the couch and began to make this strange chattering noise. At least it seemed

strange to us. We discovered that this was something that cats do when their excited about something especially a

potential meal.

These are few cat behaviours that are common to most cats. There are many more which we will get into in other

articles to help you and your favorite friends learn to live together in mutual peace.

What are some of the problems we as cat owners run into?
1. Kitty not using your carpet as the litter box.
2. Cat Spraying on walls and furniture.
3. Cat scratching and ruining furniture, clothing, curtains, etc.
4. Kitty climbing on countertops and tables.
5. Cat biting and clawing you and the children
6. Kitty thinks night time is for romping and playing.
7. Kitty thinks your plants are to chew on or make a great potty.
8. Kitty likes to chew on electrical cords.
9. Are they playing or fighting and what should I do?
10. Dog and cat don’t get along.
11. I have one cat, does she need a playmate?
12. What health issues are there and what do I watch for?
13. Fleas and ticks and worms. Oh my!!!
14. Pregnant women and toxoplasmosis.
15. What do I have around my home that may be toxic to my cat?
16. Kitty got stung by a bee, what do I do? How about spider bites?
17. Should I bathe my cat and if so how do I live to tell about it?
18. My cat is over weight, or losing weight. What do I do?

These are just some of the problems we have encountered and hear about from cat owners.

Having a cat as a pet is obviously a bigger responsibility then most people realize and something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

We stress being a responsible pet owner and whether you’re considering getting a cat or kitten or have one or several, we want you to be the best cat owner you can possibly be.

All of the cat problems mentioned do have answers and we’ll do our best to help you get the solutions you need to have a wonderful experience with your furry friend.

Don’t you just love cats? We sure do!

Even devout cat lovers can get very frustrated and upset when they find cat urine on the walls and on the furniture. Also the smell is very strong going into a home that smells like cat urine isn’t much fun and living with that odor can’t be very healthy either.

Cat spraying is often a type of communication for your cat. The spray contains a pheromone which sends a message to other cats. Cats will often spray to mark their territory and the cat urine odor tells other cats to stay away.

A cat that sprays and one that urinates indiscriminately around the home are 2 different problems and need to be looked at individually. Here we will focus more on the spraying problem.

Normally it is an issue with male cats and is often found in multi cat households, especially if there is also a female kitty present. If most of the spraying is around doors and windows where your cat can see outdoors, the problem is often because of other cats hanging around outside. Common sense is that if your male cat sees another male cat outside and it just marked its turf at your front door, what do you think your kitty will do.

Sometimes stress can be a huge factor, either because of other cats or dogs in the home. Children that haven’t been taught how to treat and handle your kitty etc. Observe the atmosphere in your home and see if there are any obvious things that you can eliminate or change to remove stress for you pets.

Punishment.

Punishing your kitty for spraying will normally only increase the stress for your cat and will not stop him from spraying. Your cat typically won’t relate the punishment to the act but to the one doing the punishing. It may make the cat afraid of you and only compound the problem.

Remember, cats don’t pee deliberately where they shouldn’t, it’s often an instinct and a way of communication. Don’t rule out that it could also be a medical problem. A check up and a few blood tests could find another problem that needs to be corrected.

Neutering.

Neutering a cat will often greatly reduce cat spraying. In the majority of cases, neutering will solve your cat spray problems especially if done before sexual maturity is attained. Many times it isn’t as effective as on adult cats that start spraying.

Bottom line is understanding cat behavior and why they do what they do. Only then can we begin to solve the problems of a spraying cat and the other issues we run into.