Cat Scratch Fever

[blueyes157]

Cat owners/lovers unite! My Isabelle...we adopted her from the SPCA about 2 years ago. For the past couple of months she has been scratching things. It almost seems like it is more for attention than anything. She has plenty of toys, including scratching posts, available at all times.

In the middle of the night, and especially in the morning, she will scratch the side of the bed to get a rise out of you. She will also stare right at you, then walk over to the sofa and begin to scratch. When we squirt her with water, she runs away like its a game, but comes right back. She hasn''t done too much damage to things yet (we keep their nails trimmed), but it is a behavior that needs to stop. We have tried putting foil/double stick tape on the surfaces to prevent her from scratching.

One thing about her is that she always seems hungry or wants food. Whenever we get up to the kitchen, she will wake from a dead sleep and run to the kitchen. When she wants her dinner, she will get on the tables/desk and start knocking off papers for attention. We feed them 3 times a day, a they get a treat or 2 through the day.

Why is she acting this way? Is there anything we can do or that we aren''t doing?

Thanks!

 

[~*Alexis*~]

Hello Blue--

One thing you might want to check for is worms, animals seems the need for more food because they are not getting it for themselves, they are getting it for the worms. Our cats sorta freaked out that ways yours does but it was because she had tape worms....I would take her to the vet to get her/him checked out.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Hmm...a couple of thoughts come to mind. First of all, I''m not sure if you said how old your furbaby is, but in my experience they usually go through a crazy phase anywhere from 6 months old-about 2 years, with the length and time of starting and ending varying from cat to cat.

First, on the scratching, does she have enough scratching posts? You might want to get several different types (sisal, cardboard, carpeting), and try impregnating them with catnip - that helps a lot for our kitties and having them scratch appropriately. Another couple of deterrents to consider trying would be a can filled with pennies or beans - when shaken, it makes a very loud noise most cats don''t like, or a can of compressed air (like what they use to clean keyboards on computers - available at office depot and the like).

Another thought is whether she is getting enough exercise? Perhaps try some more interactive play time, with fishing-pole style toys, or a laser pointer, or whatever else she likes. In general, a tired out pet is a good pet. Might be worth a try.

Finally about the food - ditto pp on the worms thing, they are pretty common. Other than that all I can say is cats are very smart, and if she has learned, even once or twice, that her bad behavior gets her what she wants (i.e. attention or food or anything else, even negative attention), she is likely to keep doing it. The best way to train out bad behaviors is to either find a deterrent she responds to (see above) or ignore the behaviors completely, no exceptions.

 

[blueyes157]

Hi ladies. Thanks for the replies. Isabelle is about 2.5 years (not 100% sure as we adopted her). As far as scratching post goes, she has a carpet teepee, a cardboard scratcher and a kitty tower with scratching posts, so I think she is covered in that area. We spoil her and her younger sister

).

That is interesting that you both mention the tape worms. She is just always so darn hungry! Sometimes she even begs for food and has food in her bowl. She isn''t too thin, possibly a tad chubby. Is it possible that she may still have worms? Isabelle is due for her yearly checkup in January/February. Do you think I can wait until her checkup or try and schedule something early. If she does have something wrong with her I would want to nip it in the bud asap.