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Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 20:39:59 )

Update:
I have successfully eliminated (for the most part) the wall noises!
Now her new thing is she found out she can squeeeeeeze herself under the small gap of my bed frame (I have a headboard/footboard/side rail thing so its real close to the floor) but then she doesn't seem to understand that she can get out the same way she got in! The wood is smooth and kinda slanted on the outside edge, and flat/straight on the inside edge. I'm assuming the shape is why she gets confused on the inside but for me to get her out, I have to remove the mattress and pluck her through the slats. Otherwise I have a trapped kitty XD

I have rolled up all my extra blankets and quilts to plug these gaps, but she pulls those out.
I have yet to figure out a way to
A. Teach her how to get herself out--I've tried everything.
B. Plug the gap with somethign she cannot unplug it again, wihtout altering my furniture. I'm still paying that thing off lmaoo

Man I love my cat
but lately she's being such a nutter :'')

My cat's new thing she started (about a week ago) has been driving me absolutely crazy!
She starts to stretch her arms up on the wall and her claws make this horrible noise--almost like scratching a chalk board! She has not left any marks on the walls so I know she's just doing it to make the noise.

Its most definitely out of boredom. She's getting bored of her toys lately, which I think I may have spoiled her too much cause for a while I kept getting her new toys consistently. She used to play with the same toy for a long time, so I had a backlog of new toys to give her every so often. But she's getting bored of them in much less time now and I dont wanna increase her toy payout XD
We've been trying to mend this by playing with her extra when she gets these moods and giving her distraction. Picking her up and removing her from the wall, placing her in a different area to start playing with her. Hoping that she isn't connecting attention with scratching the wall.

I'll never ever swat at her! But sometimes I will make a loud noise when she does it to startle her (Hand clapping doesn't phase her, I gotta get creative), so she can connect a negative thing with the action. But she's stubborn and will do it over and over even if she gets startled each time. All this will do is eventually aggravate her and then she'll get grumpy zoomies--I feel this may be counter productive.

When it comes to cats, training can be so tricky depending on their personalities. The last cat I trained was really quite easy. His worst thing was diving into our food plates from behind the sofa (lmao) but that didn't last long.

Attention is attention, negative or positive. So I try my best to use methods of distraction, expelling energy (which probably helps us too, cause we literally run around the home for like hours chasing her/her chasing us. She loves it) and using as much positive reinforcement as we can. I found that giving her a good hug before we go to bed makes her less likely to disrupt our sleep.
I do know that it most likely bothers her when we're not home for a long time. I work 11 hour shifts + 40-50 minute drive time each day, my fiance sometimes has an extra day off compared to me, but he is also usually gone 8-11 hours when he does work depending on his shift. So she will end up napping the entire time until we get home, then she's like HI YES PLAY WITH ME FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS even though we have to sleep in like 2-3 hours lmaoo

BUT THE WALL THING
I cannot think of any ideas at the moment
Chasing her (playfully) has been my go-to method of treatment but then my old ass needs to sit down and she's like
MORE

M

O

R

E

Until like right now she finally passed out in her chair. The little nugget.
:vanora_xd:


What do you do to train your cats?

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Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 20:40:47 )


The culprit:



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Donator — he/him Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 21:52:08 )


lol Void cat!!! She sounds adorable. I can only suggest spraying water at her. XD Or maybe hanging a vertical cat scratcher on a door knob or the wall if you can find one like that.

The only training I ever gave my cats was to give me their paw when I wanted to give them treats. XD

It really does feel sucky to leave a cat all alone for almost half a day. ; o; Makes me want to get a work from home job...


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Donator — He/They Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 22:48:55 )

I'm no cat expert, but it definitely could be boredom/attention-seeking. There's not much you can do about not being home, so making sure she's stimulated while you're away and not rewarding the behavior with attention is your best bet. My suggestions, without knowing what you may or may not already do/have:

A perch by a window she can look out of.

Interactive toys and puzzles (this shows some decent examples of what I mean).

Hidden treats she can hunt for.

Possibly TV? There are videos made to entertain cats, such as bird footage, that some people play when they're not around. Not sure if this would help or not.

Scratching posts/panels; while it could just be for the noise, she may also enjoy the feel of it. If she likes scratching in a vertical position like that, offer vertical areas like upright posts or wall-mounted pads that are OK to scratch and reward her when she uses them.

Double-sided cat tape (examples); just be sure to check that it's safe for use on walls.

Make sure to get in at least one extra long play session daily, more if you can.

Vary your playtime so she doesn't get bored of her toys; switch them out regularly and put most of them away when not in use.

Try to get an idea of when she usually starts her clawing/noise-making and intercept her by initiating play or cuddle time before she does it.

And most of all: Ignore it and only give her attention when she's stopped and given up. If cats get attention for a behavior, they'll keep doing it until it no longer has any effect.


I hope at least some of this might be helpful to you. Good luck with kitty.

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ALWAYS PING ME

Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 23:07:52 )


@Count Trashula:
Yeah these are all probably the best things to do
I think we are accidentally giving attention to it cause it hurts our ears, so we react ;v;;
I do need to try putting her toys away and bringing them out periodically. Most are shoved under the couch I'm sure lmao
but maybe that will help

my partner really wants to get something like an automatic laser light thing
but I feel like she'd get bored of it, too. We have a laser pointer we use fairly frequently that gets her all excited, but I know if I use it too often she just stares at me.
(its cute when she does play with it, she makes squeaks and clicking sounds lol)

we do have two of those toys though! just might need to put them away/take them out periodically instead of having them out all the time

@Kent:
Spraying water on her is not very affective lmaoo
in fact, when she gets wet, she gets crazy zoomies! So sometimes it makes it worse.
Water is best for when she's not being a menace, cause then she gets more excited silly zoomies from it >>
she's so strange

I do notice that a day when I remember to give her a treat, she's in a much more positive mood than some days when I forget. There's no specific routine or schedule for it. But she does seem happy when she gets them! I need to make that a better habit!

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Donator — he/him Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 23:16:05 )


I got used to giving my cat treats every morning and night. It turns into a routine where they expect it. X3


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Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/15 23:59:53 )


My cat gets SO DANG excited for her hard food, that I stopped thinking about treats!
She does like her treats when I bring them out, she makes these cute mews and runs to the designated treat-spot (I always give food outside of the kitchen, cause I dont want begging when I cook)
But when she sees me grab the hard food scooper she loses her dang mind :vanora_xd:
she has an automatic feeder that I fill up once a day, so she gets plenty of it. she will never overeat it. but its her favorite

thing is, its kitten food. When she turns a year old (in a couple months) I need to change it out. but she just loves it so much lmao

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Donator — he/him Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/16 01:28:57 )


lol Awww, shes’s a baby. ;; w;;


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Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/16 16:33:41 )


she is precious baby ♡♡

@Totalanimefan:
yeah i went around and gathered most of her toys to put them away for a bit xd will see how that works out!
i think the tape would help, cause sticky things freak her out, except I'm sure it would peel paint off the wall. barely takes much to do that

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Voltie — she/her Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/16 17:13:23 )


@Totalanimefan:
I tried tin foil for the counter tops, she did NOT care x'D
It stopped her from scratching the tops of the lower cupboards though. shielded them.

I'm trying the ignoring trick real hard
she is doing it as I speak, and by now she is yelling at me too. She seems to be upset because josh went to the store lmao
fussy baby

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Voltie — YTP Mule Posted 3 years ago ( 2022/02/21 04:21:35 )
Have you tried cat nip spray? spray it on the toys
she played with the most. My adolescence cat does the
stretch on the wall then drags them down to make that awful
noise. We clap our hands to get her to stop or get her absolute
favorite toy. Though we have more success clapping our hands at
her. I feel the toy only encourages the bad action. She think, "Oh lemme
sstrreeeeetch here to get her attention....." ..... "And there's the toy! My
scheme has worked! My stretch made her pull out the toy!".
Or you know... something like that. sounded better in my head...
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