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Dealing with Behavioral Problems in Cats
from: The Complete CatCats can be mean tempered when they're at their worst, however, most these frustrating problems have solutions. Here's some common cat behavioral problems and some suggestions on how to deal with them.
Scratching Your Furniture and Carpets. It's a natural instinct for cats sharpen their claws and a necessary part of their grooming. Since their claws don't stop growing, they're actually sharpening their claws in order to remove the older outer layer. There are people who just declaw their to eliminate this problem, but this procedure isn't recommended. Even indoor cats could accidently sneak outside and removing their claws takes away their main form of defense. In addition, declawing is very painful for the cat and not something you really should do to a pet you love.
Having available a scratching post or boxes if the perfect solution. To get her attracted to the post, hang a dirty sock that belongs to someone the cat especially loves on top of the scratching post to give it a familier smell (but remove it in a day or so). For cats who love catnip, you sprinkle catnip over the post or box or even some powdered chicken bouillon. What you're trying to do is get her friendly with the scratching post so she's use it rather than the furniture.
Next, you'll need to make her favorite furniture or carpet scratching areas as unattractive as possible. Try sprinkling some lemon juice in the area or wrapping the area with aluminum foil and clean them well to eliminate cat odor. If possible, simply restrict your cat from places where you don't want her to get in the habit of scratching.
Doing Her Buisness Outside her Litter Box. If this is a problem, you should ask yourself if this bad habit is your fault or your cat's. Most cats will refuse to use a litter box that is getting too dirty. If this is developing into a regular prroblem, try changing litter twice as often as your currently doing. Try to quickly clean places where she goes, spraying these areas with a strong, but nice smelling disinfectant such as Lysol. You might try placing the litter box somewhere that's more attractive for the cat, such as the bathroom. A last resort might be to put down some bleach -- safely, of course -- over the spots, covering the area with some aluminum foil.
Clawing or Scratching People. Tha main reason a cats does this is because she's afraid -- so you must determine once again, is it the cat's fault or of the people she's around? A cat that is simply afraid of small children -- thus the sudden clawing and running -- needs to be familiarized and exposed to kids until she learns to be calmer. Don't let children loose around the cat. You should have the child sit in your lap or next to you while feeding Kitty some treats.
Of course, not all cats are afraid -- some of them are just plain mean to specific people. The best solution is to just remove your cat from having to deal with the situation. If she starts clawing or growling around this person, just pick her up and place in the bathroom until your guest has departed. Quite often it's a guest this happens to who happens to own pets as well. If your cat has a problem with a member of the family, use cat repellant or lemon juice to keep the cat away, a try to acclimate her to this person. The last resort is to have your cat declawed, but this should avoided if at all possible.
Caterwauling. Siamese cats are notorius for doing this simple due to their nature -- and this is a difficult one getting them to stop. Some cats are simply hungry, or tired, or they may even be sick, or to inform you about something really good she's done. Unfortunately, there aren't many solutions for this behavior. If you suspect it's hunger, make sure you feed her promptly, but just refuse to feed her when she caterwauls. She probably won't understand at first why you're doing this, but she'll probably stop once she figures out it won't do her any good. Of course, she may be caterwauling because she's in heat, so you can put up with it if you want her to have a litter, if not, get her fixed. The only thing you can do about caterwauling is to try and ignore her by keeping her as far away from you as you can.
Spraying. This what male cats do to mark their territory, and especially if they feel threatened by a dog or small children, or if another male cat is around. Again, there isn't much you can do other than having him neutered. It's pointless trying to punish your male cat for doing this because he just won't understand.
Sneaking Outside. Cats are naturally curious, especially house cats that don't go outside. So be careful when you open the door so your cat can't sneak out. One way to get your cat accustomed to the outdoors is to purchase a cat leash and take her for a walk, or just carry her in your arms outside. Once she's familiar with what's out there, it's less likely she'll want to keep sneaking out, especially if she's been exposed to snow, cold and wet weather.
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