Who Else Wants To Avoid These Cat Claw Catastrophies?

Don’t get caught holding the bag when your cat decides to claw house guests and unsuspecting members of your family. Even after you have gotten your cat used to using her own personal scratching post to sharpen her claws on a regular basis, there are still times when your pet may suddenly lash out to claw people. But before you rush to judgment and perhaps punishment, ask yourself to consider the motivation behind such acting out behavior. Cats, like most animals, will lash out when they are afraid. So when your cat suddenly claws people, before you play the blame game with your pet, try to consider both sides of the equation. Is it your cat’s fault, or the people around her who have provoked her or made her frightened? I was prime witness to just such a situation when the family who gave me my cat Abby dropped by for a spontaneous, unannounced visit. They had not seen Abby for about a year. As she had been an exclusively indoor cat, she had no contact with people outside my family. I could tell she was startled when a group of five people barreled into the house. Abby’s first response was to dive under the dining room table. The children proceeded to try to yank her out from under the table. I could tell she was frightened. From under the table I could hear her hissing. A low rumbling growl which I had never heard before was coming from the pit of her stomach. The children kept poking and prodding her even though to me it was obvious she was distressed. They kept waving their hands in front of her face and then pulling them away. To make matters worse, they had also brought one of her litter mates, who she now seemed to consider a stranger. In a panic, I rushed to open a sliding glass door so Abby could jump through before the two cats could square off against each other. I remember thinking that this whole experience was so abrupt and traumatizing for Abby that I couldn’t blame her when the claws came out. Yet I’m sure from the looks on the faces of my guests that day, that they blamed me and my cat for their claw marks. They assumed Abby was afraid of or didn’t like children. I didn’t think that was the issue, it was their sudden entrance which had startled both of us. There are some cats that are afraid of children, but I think most pets respond well to acclimatization. You can expose your cat to young children, like I did. Just wait a while before you let them loose around your cat. Sit the child next to you and feed your kitty treats, then gradually let the child take over. Do this for small stretches over several sessions. This worked well for me. Abby is now comfortable around the neighborhood children. I’m grateful that Abby was able to get used to being around children, but I could detect that at times she would get jealous of the attention the children received, and would proceed to jump between us. Some cats do get jealous of certain people. Some cats start acting out and being mean to certain people too. If this situation persists, the only thing to do is remove the cat from the situation. When your cat starts growling or clawing, pick her up and take her to the bathroom until your guest is gone. You may also advise your guest that if they are also a pet owner, your cat may be responding to the scent on the person’s clothes. The worst thing is when your cat consistently claws a family member. If it’s a family member, try a commercially available cat repellent or lemon juice to keep the cat away, then acclimatization to get them used to the other person. If all this fails, you may be forced to consider declawing your pet. Remember that when your pet acts out, there is usually a reason for it. When animals are frightened, they go into defense mode. In these situations, we can often forgive their clawing mistakes. To avoid cat clawing catastrophes, try the steps outlined above. Small doses of exposure to people will usually cure your cat of its’ clawing outbursts. Then again, cats like people, can be finicky with their affections. If you have tried and tried for instance, to get your cat used to your mother in law, but to no avail, what can you do? How can you blame kitty for not liking her? After all, if the truth be known, it’s not like you like her that much either. About the Author: Romi Matsushita works hard not to frighten her cat. Find great cat care advice, tips, and articles at http://www.cat-advisors-online.com Read more articles by: Romi Matsushita Article Source: www.iSnare.com Share: Del.icio.us Google Y! MyWeb Digg

The Best Way To Discipline A Cat

My wife and I have owned 10 cats over the past twenty five years and we have never swatted them or raised a hand to them for discipline. Want to know our secrete? Here is what we do to train our young cats to stay off the counters and table. We have a cheap $2 squirt gun loaded with water in every room. When we see one of our cats doing something wrong we zap them with the water pistols. This method has worked for us for over twenty years. It only takes a few shots and even the most stubborn cat will learn your rules of the house. This has got to be one of the most humane ways to discipline cats that I know of. Water is safe for indoor use and will not stain anything and I must admit I do kind of enjoy shooting at live pray. Which brings me to the warning I must give you about this method of disciplining your cats. One day last wwek a gentlemen came by my office selling squirt guns. Not just any squirt guns mind you, he laid before me a super soaker 5000. My head immediately filled with visions of tagging my misbehaving cats from across the room. I was sold. That night after dinner I was casually lounging in my chair trying to not tip off the cats that I had a new secrete weapon in our war over who gets to set on the table. Just minutes before I filled my new toy with an amazing two gallons of water. Now you might say that’s a lot of water but my thinking was the more water the gun holds the less times I have to get up to fill it. Evidently the dudes at the toy company were serious when they named this gun the super soaker because, latter that night I took aim at one of our cats who jumped on the table, and pulled the trigger. In less then the time I could say oh s**t two gallons of water went whizzing toward my cat. All of my wives work papers lying on the table were under about two inches of water and the cat didn't have a drop on her. . . So much for shock and awe. My wife was in shock and I think the cat was in awe over my stupidity. The lesson to be learned here is when using this method of disciplining your cats remember there is such a thing as to much fire power. About the Author: Hey! Want to become a cat expert? Visit my website www.CatNews.org Become a cat expert - visit http://catnews.org Author: Russell Clark Editor - http://www.CatNews.org Read more articles by: Russell Clark Article Source: www.iSnare.com Share: Del.icio.us Google Y! MyWeb Digg

9 Tips For Choosing The Best Cat Urine Cleaner

This is the best cat urine cleaner Guide for those who ask any of the following questions: How to choose a cat urine remover? How to select a cat urine remover? How to find a cat urine remover? With all this choice in an endless supply of products there is one problem and that is "CHOICE". How do you choose the right one? how do you select the best product for you and your pet? Well I am going to share with you this secret whether your question is how to choose a cat urine remover, how to find a cat urine remover or how to select a cat urine remover. The truth is you can spend days even weeks looking at different products and comparing features or value. But somewhere you have to draw the line, some time you will have to make a choice. That is the reason for this article, to save pet owners from wasting their time and money on something that they really are not sure on. I have already spent my time looking at different cat urine cleaners that remove serious pet urine and I'm giving you this information as an easy to understand rating system. To understand the system completely you will first need to have the 9 MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY must know before purchasing any cat urine cleaners. These following 9 criteria will allow you to make a quick sound judgment on any product, so you know instantly if it is a yes or a no! Without it you could be very disappointed with the product bought because of its lack of performance and with no way of refunding it, you would be wasting money. So for the pet owners who want to find the best cat urine cleaner to remove those serious pet urine stains just use these follow 9 criteria's. 1. No fragrance to hide or disguise the odor since this will only fix the problem temporarily. Masking the odor may work for the time being, but wait 2-3 hours and that smell will be back. It is important to be able to smell the urine stain with out fragrances to tell if it was effectively removed. If the smell persists then total removal was definitely ineffective even if no stain can be seen. 2. EASY to use SAVING you time, effort and MONEY! Make sure the product is an easy one step process for its use! The last thing you need is to spend more time then necessary applying two or three treatments for total removal. I don't think the company really cares how long it takes you to clean up since they are not the ones cleaning up the mess. I want it to be as easy as possible! And so should YOU! 3. No claim to absorb or sponge the stain, since this will later require effort to clean any remaining remnants. Any product that claims to absorb or sponge the stain usually (but not always) requires an applying step, then wait after X hours to do the second step, which is to vacuum or clean it up. To me this seems like double work and it would have to be cleaned thoroughly to remove all remnants of the cleaning agent. 4. Unmatched quality GUARANTEED by the manufacturer that will remove all components of the stain from color, texture, odor and the toughest component of ALL!.........Uric salt crystals! A clearly stated GUARANTEE is important to you as the purchaser. This is your insurance and leverage as a customer. And it would not be smart to shop online without any form of insurance. Businesses today usually accept this form of risk to them and I would be suspicious of any business that did not CLEARLY state a GUARANTEE. The toughest component of urine is the "Uric Salt Crystals". When looking for pet stain cleaner you should be looking to see what has it been tested on and what does it remove? Does it remove Uric Salt Crystals? 5. Must prevent your pet from repeated soiling in the same area. The reason I was emphasizing about the Uric Salt Crystals is because it is these crystals that hold the marking scents of your pet. Remember how dog marks his territory by urinating around their area. Well it is these crystals that hold their scent in which they can find that same spot over and over again. If you can remover these Uric Salt Crystals then you can prevent this habit. 6. Must be NON-TOXIC for YOU, children, pets and guests. I have a one and a half year old son at the time of writing this article and for anyone who is a parent, toxic chemicals are a concern. We place all ours outside in the shed and up high so they are out of the reach of little hands. But if you are not a parent then you too should give a thought about the toxics used in your house. This is for you, your pets and for the people you invite to come around to your house. 7. Must have a long history (i.e. 30 YEARS) of customer satisfaction. If the business or product has been around for a long period time then you can feel assured that the product may be good. The logic behind this statement is that with all the securities commissions around the world and the strong internet anti-fraud measures, a business will have to be legitimate to stay around for any long period of time. If they were not legitimate then they would only be around for a short time before getting shut down. Scams come and go but a good business or product is around for the long term, that you can TRUST! 8. Size. How much are you getting in one bottle? You want the bottle to last a while before you have to order a new one. 9. Unbeatable value, including FREE bonuses, with out any drop in quality. What I am about to say may be common knowledge to some people, but the problem with 'common knowledge' is that it is not common. Once you have found your pet stain cleaner that seems to be a high quality product. You MUST ask "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!" If you purchase this product, what else are you going to get? By doing this you will always get more value for your dollar. There is a skill to this as well, since you need to look for the not so obvious. Most people look for the little free gimmicks like a free carpet cleaner included or a free black light to find stains (you will need the right UV frequency for it to work). But what I am talking about are extras that work for you. Are you receiving bonuses that you can sell? Might you get the opportunity to join the businesses affiliate program after the purchase and make money off the product you tested (used). Is that business going to work for you long term?, long after the purchase of their product. So if you are thinking of purchasing a Cat Urine Cleaner to remove the most serious pet urine stains keep these following 9 criteria's in mind as you will reach the best solution faster. They are valid points in which pet owners must consider and for anyone spending money it is important to ask if that money will return. For more detailed information on how to choose a cat urine remover, how to find a cat urine remover or how to select a cat urine remover, please look for the free ebook titled "Cat Matters Online". The ebook above is also useful to anyone searching for pet odor removal too. For example, san francisco pet odor removal or bay area pet odor removal. About the Author: By far the best product that meets all of the nine criteria is Herby's Pet Stain Remover with a FREE ebook, FREE software and Affiliate Program. You can visit the website for a different FREE ebook and you don't have to purchase anything. You will recieve the newest and best updates for your pet and they will not annoy you with routine emails. http://www.bestcaturinecleaner.com/go/ARTICLE/famecare Read more articles by: Hayden Brown Article Source: www.iSnare.com Share: Del.icio.us Google Y! 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How To Keep Your Cat Or Kitten Amused For Hours

Cats and kittens love to play. Kittens especially love to play and sharing your life with them is so much more rewarding if you play with your cat. It’s really great fun even if you do pick up the occasional scratch and it’s important for your cat’s fitness and well being too. How do you keep your cat entertained? After all a cat is not the same as a dog, you can’t play catch or fetch with a cat – or can you? To keep your cat enthralled and interested in playing with you, you need to have a challenging and ever changing environment. Now before you go off the deep end it’s not as bad as you think. All you really need to do is to have a few cat toys out at a time and rotate them to keep your cat interested. It doesn’t have to be expensive toys either. String, paper, balls and boxes are all great cat toys. Kittens use play as a way of learning. Its fun to watch your kitten carefully stalk a ball, pause, then pounce on it, which causes the ball to quickly scoot off. Your kitten will then chase it all over the house for hours! Even better is having two kittens and watch them play with each other, the toys, and pretty much anything that moves, including your toes!! As with dogs you need to take care that the toys you give your cat are safe. Even though a cat is not as destructive, (generally), as a dog, cats can and do pull toys apart. Then they eat the bits. Make sure that the components of the toy are non toxic and have no sharp parts that can cut your cat. Technology innovation is being applied to cat toys. There are toys being introduced such as laser pointers and even remote controlled mice. The problem with these is that most cats and kittens dislike the noise of the motor so remote control toys are not a big hit. On the other hand a laser pointer is a huge hit, your cat will chase that elusive red dot all over the house for as long as you can stand it. Beware, this can be frustrating for the cat though, as it can’t get its claws into anything so it can have an affect on your cat’s behavior over time. To relax, what better than to put on a special cat video. Now your cat can sit and watch TV. These video’s and DVD’s are supposed to be very effective but do you really want to turn your cat into a TV addict? The secret to keeping your cats happy and healthy is to continually challenge them physically and mentally. Don’t forget that cats like to jump and climb too. Some of the best toys are designed to be played with in 3 dimensions and you’ll be amazed by the acrobatics that your cat can perform. Use your imagination too. Try putting two toys together to make a new toy. Become creative and play with your cat on a regular basis. This helps strengthen the bond between your cat and you, keeps her mentally stimulated and physically fit. Your Reward will be hours of fun and pleasure and a fit healthy cat. About the Author: Mary Amos is a cat lover and long time cat owner. Find more articles and resources at Cat Toys and Articles Read more articles by: Mary Amos Article Source: www.iSnare.com Share: Del.icio.us Google Y! MyWeb Digg

Save Your Furniture, Sanity And Your Cat Claws!

New cats and kittens are a fantastic addition to any family. But after you’ve bough the litter tray it’s time to worry about the furniture. You see cat’s love to scratch. They actually need to scratch and if you’re not careful they can quickly ruin your prized furniture. But before you give up hope there are things you can do to protect your furniture without having your cat de-clawed. You need to encourage your cat to scratch a scratching post rather than your furniture. An understanding of why cats scratch will help us here.... Cats scratch for many reasons. They scratch as a way to exercise and to tone their muscles. They also scratch as a way to stretch. They have scent glands in their paws so cats scratch to scent and mark their territory. They love to dig their claws into the post, (or your furniture!), not because they want to ruin it but as a way to clean and sharpen their claws. Oh we almost forgot they scratch and claw because it feels sooooooo good!! So you can see that scratching is a cat’s natural behavior and should be supported and encouraged to keep your cat fit and healthy. If your cat is scratching the furniture you’ll find that physical punishment does not work and will alienate your cat. Sometimes a stern word or a loud clap will stop kitty while you’re there, but what happens when you’re gone? For a happy cat and a harmonious household with intact furniture the following tips may be of use: The most important thing you can do is to buy a scratching post BEFORE you get the cat. This way the post will be an integral part of the cat’s environment when it arrives. Once a cat has established a behavior it’s very hard to break. Ideally buy more than one post and place them in the areas that you think the cat will use most often. At a minimum place one near where the cat will sleep. Cats love to stretch when they wake up – who doesn’t. Buy a stable post, one that doesn’t wobble and feels very sturdy. Cats really dislike instability and if the post falls over its very unlikely the cat will ever use that post again. Look for a good solid base and the post should feel well made – not flimsy. Place a post in your main family area. Your cat wants to be part of the family spend time with you. There’s nothing nicer than a cap napping in your lap on a winters day. After a hard hour or so sleeping in your lap its time to stretch. I hope there’s a post nearby or there goes the furniture! At the outset you will need to encourage the cat to scratch the post. You don’t need to show your cat how to scratch – it already knows!! Try rubbing some cat nip on the post, or tie toys and string on the post. Play with the cat around the post so that it gets used to clawing the post. Trailing wool or string up the spot will encourage clawing and is my favorite method! Make sure the post is big enough. Your cat should be able to fully stretch on the post, so look at a minimum height of 3 feet. Cats love to dig in their front claws and arch their back to stretch their front legs. This is difficult to do if the post is too short. Beware, if the post is too short then your cat will find out that human furniture is an ideal height! Play with your cat. Keep it happy and entertained, especially around the posts and it will be less likely to take it out on your furniture! Finally get a post that is course and can be destroyed. Cat’s love rough surfaces. They will happily pull and tear at their post and enjoy watching it deteriorate. Nylon backed carpet makes an excellent post covering, as is sisal rope. A cat can really get its claws into both these materials. If you currently have a cat which is scratching and clawing the furniture then look for a post made from similar material. If you can’t find the ideal post try making your own. About the Author: Mary Amos is a cat love and long time cat owner. Find more articles and resources at Cat Furniture Web Read more articles by: Mary Amos Article Source: www.iSnare.com Share: Del.icio.us Google Y! MyWeb Digg