Cat Crazy

[k@t]

Hello all,

I am having a bit of a cat problem, I don´t think it is health related so I will post here. A little back ground, I have had cats my entire life from kittens to adults and never have i EVER had the problems I am having with my new kitty. We adopted her from a vets office when she was 4 months old. From the beginning she was very active, made weird noises, and did seemingly crazy things and i attributed it to her being a kitten and hoped it would pass. When I took her to the vet she faired well getting her shots and so forth. We recently took her to be spayed and after I brought her home from the operation she seemed fine. A week later we took her to have the stitches removed and she went crazy, she tried biting the vet, she couldn't control her bowels, she made screams i never heard a cat make before. The vet took her from the carrier and was petting her and she was completely calm until she tried to look at her stomach. She fought so much with the vet she ripped open her wound and she had to have it restitched and we are now another week with a cone around her neck and stitches. In addition to this we have never been able to train her well, she retaliates against any punishment (spray water, thump her nose, yell, clap our hands, say bad girl etc.) I have tried it all, no matter what we do she will still jump on the table, she will still scratch the bed, she will still chew on cords (thats another issue she likes to chew on plugged in cords, she might electrocute herself!) I am at my wits end, I don't know how to make her behave, i use treats to reinforce good behavior but nothing i try seems to work. The vet said she has a "temper" problem, and that she will always be this way....any input would be very helpful, I want to have a loving calm cat in the house, my husband is ready to give her away and with each new thing she destroys i have to beg him to let me keep her. Any ideas?

[Traci]

Am moving this to the health forum (behavioral issues go in the health forum).

Please use the search function and search for similar posts there, there are many.

[Natalee]

I have a "trouble cat" that sounds like he has similar behaviors to yours. I learned to accept it and catproofed my house. For the cords I recommend 1 inch clear plastic tubing that you can buy at a hardware store. I duct tape it in place on all accesible cords. It works brilliantly and doesn't look too bad. For scratching furniture, I recommend keeping the nails trimmed. My cat gets his nails trimmed once a week and scratches the furniture to his hearts content. Of course, he also has a scratching post and a wicker placemats to scratch, but there is nothing better than the couch. The table/counter battles I never won. You can try placing double sided tape on the places you don't want them to go. I also tried shaking a can of pennies when he jumped up on the table to scare him off, which worked until he got used to it. My vet behaviorist recommended an airhorn to deter bad behavior, but I couldn't get used to it... I close doors to any room that could get damaged while I'm not home. My last behavior modification tip- Bitter Apple is a girls best friend. I spray it on the plastic covering of the cords, on the pillows that get chewed and on anything else that aberrantly gets gnawed on. It works fantastically, but has to be reapplied about once a week. With time and prevention tools, he has gotten much better with his bad habits.
As far as trips to the vet are concerned, I haven't figured that out. My cat has yet to have a thorough exam by a vet because he is so fractious towards the vet. It gets worse every time I have to take him in. My next new idea is to find a vet to come to our house because he seems to be more complacent there.

[k@t]

Those are some great suggestions, i never thought of clear tubing! You said bitter apple spray, what is that? where do u get it?? As for the vet, she gave me some tranquilizer pills, i give her a 1/4 a pill an hour before i took her and she was very calm, it didnt put her to sleep or numb her, just made her a little happier and calmer so the vet could get her bandages and stiches out.