I have a cat that’s just over a year old. Ever since a few months after I got him he’s been chewing on things – when I’m not around. I got him away from the window cords (using soap) and got him to quit chewing on electric and phone cords (using Bitter Apple). Now, this morning, I discovered a small spot of carpet that he tore up. I patched it OK, but I can’t just keep doing this all around the house. And, it’s not like I can cover my whole house in Bitter Apple (or can I?). He’s very affectionate and attached to me. Plus, my other cat is attached to him. The cat does not like outside, and frankly I’m kind of nervous about what he may chew up out there. However, I am nearing the end of my rope. I hate leaving the house and worrying about what else is going to be destroyed while I’m gone. Is there anything I can do to keep him from chewing up my stuff while I’m out of the house? Will he grow out of this chewing? Do they sell muzzles for cats? Help!
Use a squirt bottle when he/she’s doing it when your around.
Also, start locking it away when your gone. eventually it will learn that destryed stuff will mean locked up.
I’ve been lucky, I haven’t even had to de-claw my cat.
Best of luck to you.
Use a squirt bottle when he/she’s doing it when your around.
Also, start locking it away when your gone. eventually it will learn that destryed stuff will mean locked up.
I’ve been lucky, I haven’t even had to de-claw my cat.
Best of luck to you.
Look on the bright side. I once had a cat that crapped in piles of clothes. Apparently she liked it better then the litterbox. It was the MOST disgusting thing I have ever experianced.
One of our new cats is doing it, too. The squirt bottle is okay – but a squirt gun is better. I’ve got a battery-powered model that can shoot across the room that we use for cat training.
We also find that yelling does a good job. It makes us feel better, anyway.
Squirt bottles only work if you catch the cat in the act. There are a couple of cats in my place that love to destroy things all night long while the rest of the house sleeps. Their favorite activity is to shred magazines, newspapers, phonebooks, letters, notebooks, paper bags, matchbooks and any other paper items that might be innocently lying around. Paper products, you see, offend these tree-hugging hippie cats. They protest the use of household paper products by scattering tiny bits of them all over the damn house.
I don’t have a good solution, but I’m seriously considering duct taping the little bastards to the ceiling while I sleep.
STRAINGER, you know I have a dog and not a cat. But might the cat be bored and/or anxious when you’re gone? Does he have lots of toys to play with, including some things you’d prefer him to chew on, like maybe a couple strategically placed old magazines or paper sacks? Or maybe you could get a couple of those catnip toys, where you put the catnip inside them and the cats have to work to get it out.
My dog is an inside dog and always has been, but a while ago she started taking tissues out of the bathroom waste paper basket and shredding them. Basically, I was working too much, and she was bored and lonely. I got her a rubber chew toy that you can put peanut butter inside and close up, so she has to work to get the peanut butter out; it keeps her occupied for hours. I come home as often as I can, and I try to pay a lot of attention to her when I’m home, walking her and a playing with her a lot. Maybe something similar might work with your cat? Just my $.02, and probably not even worth that, since I don’t even own a cat. 
That’s a perfectly valid point, Jodi. Cat’s do really wacky things when they’re bored. However, when you have more than one cat, they’re usually pretty good at entertaining each other. In fact, I think that’s the problem in my place. It seems to be a well orchestrated group effort on the part of my roommate’s cats to wreck the entire house. My cat, who refuses to associate with those ill-mannered buggers, is perfectly well behaved. I suspect that she stays in my room all day long reading and composing symphonies while the roving band of miscreants destroys everything. It’s mob mentality, you see. One cat demonstrated to the others the joys of pissing me off and now it has become their little ritual. If they keep this up, one day, they’re going to learn what the combination of cattle prods and bath water is all about.
My dog had a chewing problem when she was a pup. I started putting jalepeno pepper juice on the things that I didn’t want her to chew up and that worked wonderfully.
Have you thought about providing something the cat is allowed to chew, like a scratching post? My cat has his own chair that he can scratch, chew and generally tear the hell out of, which he does with gay abandon. He’s punished if he scratches anywhere else - usually a light bop on the nose because I read that was “no” in Mother Cat language (and because the little nitwit doesn’t mind getting wet). He’s pretty good about confining himself to scratching his chair - he only goes after other things if he seriously wants my attention.
The simple answer to the original question is: Probably not. Sorry ~
Scotti
Hmmm, some of you people have trouble understanding the meaning of “when I’m not around.” Anyway, thanks for the suggestions here. I was thinking of getting a scratching post for the younger one, hoping that would give him something to chew on/jump up on. I have a piece of carpet that I had been using as a doormat (it’s what I used to patch my carpet this morning), but put away when the younger cat tore it apart and made a mess, although maybe I’ll put it back out since I’d prefer vacuuming over replacing carpet. I have lots of toys for him; I don’t know why the hell he doesn’t just chew those up. Maybe I’ll sew (I don’t know how to sew) some catnip into a small square of carpet and see how he takes to that. I think I’d end up regretting it if I gave him away (to whom? someone with wood floors?).
The older cat is a very good boy and was very easy to train. I think he spoiled me as far as what to expect from other cats.
It’s probably got seperation anxiety. Get a cat crate & put him in the crate if you aren’t there to watch him. Lots of pets are crate trained.
No, they do not stop. As Pizzle said a squirt bottle does work, but you have to catch them in the act. The best way is to set her up. Get her to chew on something and then squirt her. Do it a few times and it might help.
Good Luck.
The problem is, Strainger, there really is not much you can do if he only chews things up when you’re not around. If you have no opportunities to train him - and by “train” I mean “show him a few times and hope he catches on” - you’re stuck with locking him up or having all your stuff smell like Bitter Apple and jalapeno peppers.
If he only misbehaves while you’re away, you could try catching him unexpectedly. Leave the house at your regular time, wait a few minutes until he thinks you’re gone, and come back inside armed with a squirt gun.
I don’t know about the carpet square idea - I realize most scratching posts are carpeted - but you could be asking too much of your kitty to differentiate between “carpet that’s okay to chew” and “carpet that’s not” if it’s exactly the same stuff. Try to get him interested in chewing something that is his alone.
Tymp - get those cats a job! Rent them out to local businesses to shred confidential papers.
It’s a cat. They’re born to shred. Get used to it. Declawing is an option, but of course, then they just might take to peeing on all of your belongings.
I can’t imagine any self-respecting cat acquiescing to being kept in a crate or box. You will either have one really depressed cat (ever see how happy the ones in the pound cages are?–not very), or you will be in the emergency room explaining how the cat has taught you the meaning of the word “NO.”
Thanks, everyone. Last night, I bought a scratching rug shaped like a mouse for the cat to chew on. It has a carpeted surface, a cotton nose, and a rope trim. I figured the cat would go for something on it. I set it on the floor to let him do with it what he will, even rubbing some cat nip into the carpeted part. He’s taken to destroying the nose. Rather than throw the mess away, I just put it back on the mouse’s nose and let him go at it some more. He seems pretty happy with it. I also got a dog rope chew (knotted at each end with the fibers hanging out). I don’t know if he’s chewing on that though. I haven’t seen any rope fibers around.
And, if I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job of patching the carpet (not that there was much to patch and not that it was a very difficult task). You don’t even know it’s there unless you’re looking for it.