- Joined
- Jan 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3
- Purraise
- 1
hello everyone, first post here. thanks in advance for any assistance.
let me start by saying that i've had cats all my life - from the first day i was brought home from the hospital after being born there was a couple cats waiting there for me. only time i didn't have cats was when i was in college due to residence rules...
calling my cat stupid isn't meant to be derogatory in any way - unfortunately its a statement of fact. she really is very slow. don't get me wrong, i love all my cats i've had over the years including this one. stupid or not, i wouldn't give her up.
little background: picked her up at the local humaine society. she was rescued from a cat hoarder and as a result is severely inbred. there were a couple hundred cats rescued, many were put down immediately simply because they were too sick and malnourished to help. many others were put down later because they were too ill and did not recover despite medical care. this was one of the lucky ones that survived.
i have two cats at the moment. to be honest i was happy with just the first one but he was getting so incredibly lonely without me around (i work 12 hr rotating shifts) i had to do something. the above mentioned cat was the solution. just needed a friend
so...i've been very successful training my cats in the past. usually my method is to use a squirt bottle with water in it while associating it with snapping my finger. eventually the cat will pick up on the snapping of the finger as 'you're in trouble, knock it off!'. the older one knows that well and usually stops what he's doing and takes off.
now this younger stupid cat....i can't train her. it just seems impossible! i've had cats that are difficult just because they're stubborn, but that can be dealt with. this one just doesn't understand! problems i'm having:
- scratching furniture, bed, and even the walls. my wooden trim is ruined in some places.
- she doesn't seem to understand that her claws hurt. if she's on your lap, you'll probably have bleeding thighs. on the bed (yes i allow them to sleep on the bed with me) she does the 'kneading' thing and i'm not so opposed to that - but she's ruining my blankets and even the mattress.
-continually tries to get into things (such as the garbage, or even a book left out) and makes messes, generally damages items.
the sad part is you can tell she really wants to be a good cat. she seems upset when she's reprimanded for doing something but genuinely has no idea what is going on! you can give her a spray of water and she won't even realize you've sprayed her for even up to a minute, then wonders why she's wet. she'll be doing something wrong, you stop her and get the look of 'what am i doing wrong?' then immediately goes right back to it.
i think she might be having some kind of absent seizures to top it off...caught her a few times with one pupil dilated and the other not acting strangely.
so does anyone have any ideas on how to train her here? i've tried just about everything short of abuse i can think of - which is obviously not an option. doubt she'd get it then either.
let me start by saying that i've had cats all my life - from the first day i was brought home from the hospital after being born there was a couple cats waiting there for me. only time i didn't have cats was when i was in college due to residence rules...
calling my cat stupid isn't meant to be derogatory in any way - unfortunately its a statement of fact. she really is very slow. don't get me wrong, i love all my cats i've had over the years including this one. stupid or not, i wouldn't give her up.
little background: picked her up at the local humaine society. she was rescued from a cat hoarder and as a result is severely inbred. there were a couple hundred cats rescued, many were put down immediately simply because they were too sick and malnourished to help. many others were put down later because they were too ill and did not recover despite medical care. this was one of the lucky ones that survived.
i have two cats at the moment. to be honest i was happy with just the first one but he was getting so incredibly lonely without me around (i work 12 hr rotating shifts) i had to do something. the above mentioned cat was the solution. just needed a friend
so...i've been very successful training my cats in the past. usually my method is to use a squirt bottle with water in it while associating it with snapping my finger. eventually the cat will pick up on the snapping of the finger as 'you're in trouble, knock it off!'. the older one knows that well and usually stops what he's doing and takes off.
now this younger stupid cat....i can't train her. it just seems impossible! i've had cats that are difficult just because they're stubborn, but that can be dealt with. this one just doesn't understand! problems i'm having:
- scratching furniture, bed, and even the walls. my wooden trim is ruined in some places.
- she doesn't seem to understand that her claws hurt. if she's on your lap, you'll probably have bleeding thighs. on the bed (yes i allow them to sleep on the bed with me) she does the 'kneading' thing and i'm not so opposed to that - but she's ruining my blankets and even the mattress.
-continually tries to get into things (such as the garbage, or even a book left out) and makes messes, generally damages items.
the sad part is you can tell she really wants to be a good cat. she seems upset when she's reprimanded for doing something but genuinely has no idea what is going on! you can give her a spray of water and she won't even realize you've sprayed her for even up to a minute, then wonders why she's wet. she'll be doing something wrong, you stop her and get the look of 'what am i doing wrong?' then immediately goes right back to it.
i think she might be having some kind of absent seizures to top it off...caught her a few times with one pupil dilated and the other not acting strangely.
so does anyone have any ideas on how to train her here? i've tried just about everything short of abuse i can think of - which is obviously not an option. doubt she'd get it then either.