The Cat Thread

How do we stop Jam scratching and biting the cheese plant (and all other plants) to bits? Read about spraying leaves with vinegar or lemon juice, or products made to do the same thing. Any real world experiences?

Can the cat be outside? I've firmly let ours know that scratching and biting is a massive no indoors. Took a few weeks but we rarely have any issues now. Ours is outside for about 50-80% of the time though so plenty of time for her to get her scratching in

Indoor cat unfortunately. What does firmly letting know look like? Clapping, strong words?

Now it's enough with a firm "no" and she stops. Before that though I just grabbed her by the neck and carried her outside. From what I've gathered that's how cats teach their youngs and it's been a good way to strongly say no without making too big a of a deal about it. The whole 'get grabbed by the neck' seems to be a strong definer of hierarchy for cats so a good way to teach them what's ok and not.

Re carrying cats in the neck. This is what I've been told from other local cat owners but googled it now and it seems to be a no-no. As usual with the internets it's a lot of discussion and opinion so hard to know what's true and not.

Anyone here that can shed some light on it?

I should add that it's not something I've done often and never with force. Just gently picking her up and moving her outside. To me it seems to have worked well but if I'm completely in the wrong it'd be good to know how to do it better

Spray him with water when you catch him doing it.

Best to put plants out of reach, they like a nibble, but mostly when they are bored so supply more entertainment if possible.

I thought it's ok when they're kittens but not if they're fully grown because they're too heavy. Not an expert though.

Yeah that's kinda what my consensus is now after some more reading. It kinda worked out that way anyway as she figured out what's ok and not by the time she was fully grown. Anyway, good to learn more stuff about those weirdos :)

And when you are not there...cat is gonna cat. My two went through a phase of eating plants. Make sure the plants are not poisonous to the cat. Does the cat throw up a furball after?

Maybe some scratching posts and pads around the house. Maybe some cat/oat grass that the cat can munch on.

I'm pretty are I've seen videos of you guys on insta. Nice.

scratching and biting

Rope around the newel post.

cheese plant (and all other plants).

Aren’t you a designer anyway, none of these should be in a designer place? Donate and get cut flowers.

Bro u mad? Plants4lyfe.

Sprayed the big cheese plant with lemony water so we’ll see.

Maybe they're craving green food, Herman loves spinach/peas/courgette/cucumber?

The new cat is coming to live with us tomorrow! Any tips on how I can make her settling in as smooth as possible, both for her (9 months old, was a stray, very friendly) and Celeste (1.5 years, rescued back in january, scared of new things but does appear to genuinely like me)? I can keep the cats in separate rooms.

You should definitely keep them in separate rooms for the first few days so they get used to each others smells.

If you can, feed them together (either side of a door) so that they smell them when they're eating.

Brushing them with the same brush may help.

Yeah introducing smells on items to each party is good. We bought a Feliway Friends. Who knows if it actually works? They tolerated each other, and still do although the kitten really wants to be best friends with our older girl, she's too staunch and set in her ways it seems!

Not so much a tip but wanted to say don't be disheartened if things don't go well at first.

I introduced a 2nd cat a long time ago and it was a nightmare at first. At one point I genuinely feared that the cat would kill the kitten. From memory (it really was a long time ago), I think I couldn't get them to tolerate each other for about ten days. Just as I was about to give up, something changed. No idea what it was but for some reason they suddenly started to tolerate each other and eventually went on to become besties.

If it doesn't go well from the start, don't lose hope.

Agree with this. It took a good few months for our two to get on. Seems to be easier with younger cats than older.

Thanks all for the tips! I am going to set up the spare room with blankets that Celeste likes to sleep on (she likes to sleep on anything really, she sees all my belongings as an empty canvas to shed fur on) so the new cat can smell Celeste. I will try to be patient and give the cats lots of brushing and treats. In a weird way I feel a bit sad that Celeste won't be the only cat, like it's the end of an era. Hopefully she will be happy with her new friend in the end.

There are some good tips out there. I have read that after a little while of seperate rooms switch over blankets/ sleepy spots so the smell of each cat transfers to the other. Another tip I got from a fellow fostering bod was to feed the cats either side of a door and slowly open the door a small bit each feeding time. Good luck I think the key is be very patient, calm and don't force it. 👍👍

I used to have a cat named Squeak who I would often call Handsome John or Johnny Handsome. He did a respectable Blue Steel.

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