Cat in the House

[arizonagrace]

Just brought in a stray cat that someone threw out. Declawed and no sense of living out in snow or with cars. She is doing well...except

Lately, she has started to decide to jump up on the 30 gallon tank lid and lay there. I tried several things to get her off and finally found a rolled up newspaper works well. The first time, she was confused and didn't know what to do. She refuses to leave the bedroom and wander the huge house.

I put some pillows on top of the 30, some empty measuring cups and a box of kleenex to keep it all covered so she doesn't have room.

She jumps up on the 12 gallon eclipse, the 30 gallon, and a 10 gallon lid and either lays there or looks around. I started watching her very well and found something out.

She starts this every morning at 6 or 7 a.m. After I chase her off and scold her, I go down and get her breakfast. She won't eat food that is sitting there. Every evening around 8 or 9, she starts all over again. I don't believe she has ever heard the word no before. She seems so confused when I yell it.

So, I believe she is telling me her schedule is fed by 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., with fresh food and water, not stuff that is sitting in the bowl. Sometimes I pick up the bowl, pretend I am adding fresh and put it back down and she is fine.

Wish abandoned cats came with instructions on their routine. She isn't really interested in the fish after an episode where she gave one of the acrylic tanks a whack and hurt her paw instead of having fun. :dryer:

 

[seafansar]

Haha... instructions would be nice! You could try putting double-sided tape on the tank lids. Cat's don't like stepping on sticky things. Then you don't have to be there and hopefully she'll learn it's not a nice place to lay. I tried that on my cats to get them off the kitchen counter. It was pretty funny watching them run away with a big ball of tape stuck to one foot! But in the end, the tape annoyed me more than my cats. It should work better on a smaller area like a tank lid than a whole kitchen counter.

 

[Stacef]

Aluminum foil is also a great one. We had a cat that was very very sick (brought her in as a stray) before her many surgeries, she had uncontrollable bladder accidents. Usually happened while she was sleeping. While we would be gone for the day or weekend, I would put aluminum foil on the couches, she never got on them. The first time she did, she jumped up, and got right off of it, she hated the crinkle noise. This also worked for my cat that I have had for 6 years when training him to stay off of the counters.

Tape works too!

 

[CATALYST]

Cats are semi-controlled chaos. I have three. Sometimes you have roll with it. I can't get one of mine not to sleep on my wireless router...its warm. Sometimes spray bottles work. If you get to where they run when they see it, you can leave one in the place you don't want them to go. My little one is too smart and it won't work.

 

[sandyc]

The new cat probably likes two things about the hood. It high and it is warm. Maybe a treetop cat perch which is higher that the hood would give her another, and possibly better option. Placing the perch near a sunny window will help as cats love to sun themselves.

 

[arizonagrace]

I have a cat tree which I intend to move into the room, as soon as I find a suitable place for it. The only place I have now would be dangerous for the 10 gallons on a stand if it was knocked over. But, if I tie something around it, and tie other end to the register, it might work.

I will give the aluminum foil a try and if that doesn't work, I will try the tape method. I already have fluffs of hair in my room from her pulling her own fur out by playing. Thanks for the suggestions! I hate to use spray bottle because I can't put prime in it and use it on her, and don't want any of the water to get into the tanks. Paranoid...I know.

 

[nikkipigtails]

I've had cats my entire life and I have learned one thing: They will do exactly what they want to do when they want to do it. They're nothing like dogs. Let her do her own thing and get used to the new surroundings and do what you can to protect your tanks, but ultimately no amount of spanking will keep her off of them. Just relax and have fun getting to know each other.

 

[arizonagrace]

I don't spank her with the newspaper, I just smack something near her and she doesn't like the noise.

This evening, I took masking tape and made it into a double sided type tape and stuck it all over the tanks and areas she isn't permitted. Someone suggested it, because it works like double sided tape, but will come off when she touches it and stick to her instead, which she will not like. I anticipate a long night of hearing her hissing and growling at it.

 

[Stacef]

Good luck! Let us know how it works out!

 

[nikkipigtails]

I don't spank her with the newspaper, I just smack something near her and she doesn't like the noise.

This evening, I took masking tape and made it into a double sided type tape and stuck it all over the tanks and areas she isn't permitted. Someone suggested it, because it works like double sided tape, but will come off when she touches it and stick to her instead, which she will not like. I anticipate a long night of hearing her hissing and growling at it.

LOL. That sounds like it would be hilarous to watch. Good luck.

 

[seafansar]

Yeah, that's what I used too for my counters, cause I didn't have any double-sided tape. And I think double-sided tape would leave a sticky residue. It's fun to watch them when the tape 'attacks' them!

 

[lcstorc]

A jar with some pennies works well as a sound deterrent.

 

[arizonagrace]

Going to change to a jar of pennies. Masking tape might have worked, as she was up on 2 of them but hasn't bothered them last night. However, she pulled off a piece of tape in middle of the night, had a fit, came over to me and stuck the paw that it was on right smack down on my nose....HARD.

She now has a cat tree that she stares at all day and has made a rubbing toy. Won't get on top. It is old and tilts a tiny bit in one direction, so I think she doesn't like it because she is afraid she will fall off. My other cat, however, adores it.

Night before last she actually refused to let me crawl in bed. She would jump at me, tackle me, jump on me and completely annoy me until I crawled back out of bed. Gave her a toy and she was happy. Tried to crawl back and she gave me the look and was ready to tackle again. Had to set boundries and banished her from bed to computer chair.

She certainly has taken over my life. I absolutely love her though. She reminds me it is feeding time, when to scoop litter, fresh water and even will howl and meow until I come back upstairs to love her.

Aren't they wonderful? Even the fish has taken to coming over to the side of the tank when she is near it.

 

[jski711]

God Bless u for taking in a stray!!! have you taken it to the vet yet to see if it has a chip?? is this a kitten still, it seems to me its still kinda young just from what you've said.

jake

 

[arizonagrace]

She was owned by people down the street who kicked her out and left her behind when they moved. She has already been spayed/shots/declawed. That they left a declawed cat ticked me off, but to do it so close to winter really made me mad. We have other strays, but they are already used to the winters here, and the youngest of those has a little house on my porch. This will be the 8th stray cat I have taken in in 20 years.

She is about 1.5 years old, is my guess. Still very playful, but full grown and SOLID. She is the most intelligent cat I have ever brought in to my house. And loving

Got the jar of pennies and my cousin gave me a new idea.

Whenever she goes on top of a tank, pick her up, take her and her water bowl into bathroom and make a big deal of getting her fresh water. Take it back into room and put her in front of it.
They did the same thing on the advice of their vet, and in a week, the cat started associating the tanks with her water bowl. By doing that, she will look to her water bowl whenever she goes near the tanks. Sounds strange, but it worked on 3 cats for him.
Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I think most of them would have worked on an average cat, but not her. Any cat intelligent enough to bat you with the paw that has tape stuck to it is going to take some extra weird care.