Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
My name is Taylor and I live in rural Mid-Michigan. The other day we stopped at our neighbor's house down the road, and he told us about this cat that was dropped off at his farm. He's a really really tame, solid smokey gray cat with some white on his chest and underbelly. You can also see some slight lighter colored bars on his body, but not very prominently. He has gorgeous green eyes to top it off.

Anyway, the neighbor said that he was trying to find a home for the cat and he was almost positive that it was a house cat, because it always wanted to run into the house when he opened the door, plus, like I said, he is extremely tame. We took this cat home just planning on putting him into the garage for a few days until he settled down and then placing him in the barn with our barn cats, since we don't have any tame cats around the farm. Well...this cat is too darn cute, so he made his way to the backroom and now he's in the house! He is litter trained, that's for sure. As soon as he entered the house for the 1st time, he immediately ran around each of the rooms meowing, so I figured that he must be looking for a littler box. We don't have one, so I placed a very shallow, wide box in the garage with some floor dry. He immediately jumped right in and did #1 and #2 both. That's what makes me strongly believe he was a house cat and/or is litter trained--since he held it in that whole time when he just as easily could have went on the backroom floor.

This is honestly probably one of the tamest, friendliest cats I've ever encountered, and he follows me around the house like a dog constantly purring and hugging my legs and such. However, I have 2 problems. He's a tom cat AND he's not declawed. The claws don't seem to be an issue...even though it's only been 1 day. He does 'pulsate' his paws a bit when he's purring, but it doesn't seem destructive at all.

I have some questions that I would LOVE to have answered by someone with experience. I have never kept a cat in the house before:

Does a cat have to be neutered to be in the house?
Is a clawed cat in the house apt to be a very big issue?

Thank you VERY much in advance for your reply. It means a lot to me.
~Taylor~

Hi, welcome to this board and congratulations on your new friend! I am sure you will get lots of answers to all your questions here. I have 5 "indoor-only" cats. My husband and I love the company. They become really good friends when they share your home.

To begin: YES, indoor cats need to be neutered. The males can spray and will be very hard to manage if they are not neutered. It is also the responsible thing to do (in my humble opinion) because there are too many babies born without homes every year. As I am sure you can imagine, they are at grave risk for disease, starvation etc. It would be nice to keep that kind of suffering at a minimum.

About the claws. It depends on the cat. We have one that is very difficult. The others are not bad. The best thing you can do is get scratching posts - all different kinds - and put them around your house. Cats can be trained to scratch where you want them to, but it takes some effort -- like I said, depending on the cat. Anyway, give it a try!

Below is a photo of several of our cats. As you can see, there is no room for us humans. The furniture is for the cats!

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ellen
gracie, voodoo, Puss 'n Boots.... & Willow!

Thank you very much for the reply Ellen. Many thanks for the picture as well.

Do you have any tips on how to train a cat not to scratch on furniture? Spray bottle full of water? So far I haven't had issues, but I'd like to know how to handle it in case it should arise in the future.

Thanks again,
~Taylor~

Hi! Congratulations on your new cat! He sounds definitely like he is an indoor cat dumped at your neighbors. He probably wouldn't do well outdoors as he isn't used to it.

I have two indoor only boy cats. They are 15 years old now. I have never had any problems with spraying, but they are neutered. I would get him neutered before long for the reasons stated earlier -- to keep him from mating and producing more kittens and to keep him from spraying. Mine have never sprayed in 15 years...

As for the claws. Walmart and other pet stores have a toy called the Turbo Scratcher that is a ring with a ball in a track and a card board center they can use to scratch on. You can get this or other similar items he can scratch on. You rub it with catnip to give him the idea. You may have to get some refills of the card board if he uses it often. You can also get posts with rope wraps (I think it is called sisel rope) they can rub their claws on. I am attaching a pic of one of my boys with the Turbo Scratcher so you get the idea what it looks like...

Good luck -- you are making the right decision keeping him indoors. His will be kept safe and his life will be extended greatly.

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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

If you do catch him scratching on furniture, I'd redirect him to a scratcher toy you have out for him before I'd spray with water so he knows what to do. Take him from the furniture over to the toy and rub his paws on it. Put catnip on it and he'll probably find it naturally. My boys are declawed and they rub their paws on it all the time anyway.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Those are great ideas, but what also helps is to keep those nails trimmed. Usually every Saturday, Kasha and Smig get a "manicure". Kasha never complains, Smig has to throw her 2 cents in about how she didn't have this in her daily iteniery.
that really helps with the scratching, if they are trimmed. Your vet can show you how to do it, don't worry it is painless. Congrats on your new friend, keep him indoors, and if he does want to go out, get him trained to a leash so you wont have to worry about loosing him. Good luck!

Thank you for taking in this kit and congratulations to you on the wonderful new companion you'll be sharing life with! I agree with the others about keeping him indoors. That's evidently what he's used to and is by far the best life for him.
Besides, you'll benefit immensely from his love!
I believe in neutering or spaying since we have so terribly many unwanted animals who need homes. Also, spraying can be a problem, depending on the cat. My belief is that he should be neutered soon. As far as scratching, I've only had cats with their claws. Most of them are good about using scratching posts
and cardboards provided. There are several corrugated cardboard ones with catnip inside that attract them, just look around at the petstore. Other things I have scattered around are carpet sample squares. They're usually about a dollar and are bound around the edges. Also, a handy spot to sprinkle catnip. New furniture seems to attract cats so I use a product called NO Scratch on a chair I had reupholstered. I just spray the chair about every ten days. If you buy a scratching post or tree, be sure it's sturdy/stable enough that he won't tip it over. Also, it needs to be tall enough for him to extend his "arms" up for a good stretch while he's scratching. Currently, two of my cats like sisal rope ones but the other two prefer carpet-
covered posts.
Good luck and welcome to the boards. Around here, you'll probably get more input than you expected!! Katc
p.s. I hope you've gotten some clumping litter rather than floor sweep for his box. Also, a covered litterbox holds it in better so it's not scattered when he covers.

Concats on your new furball! You've been adopted!

I'll echo the chorus for having him snipped. Having a spraying tom cat is messy and smelly to say the least and he'll be driven to fight any other tom so he can knock up any female in the area. He'll be torn up and there will be kittens, kittens and kittens. Check iwth your local animal shelters, there may be a lost cost clinic available.

As for having him declawed, I've had both clawed and non-clawed cats - for me, declawing was more of a headache. Some cats become more inclined to bite after they have lost their claws and if they get outside, they have nothing to defend themselves, no way to climb a tree away from dogs. My declawed cat had tender paws several times in his life time. And he was too dumb to not pick fights - he had no weapons! However, if kitty is going to live with a family member with a compromised immune system, declawing should be considered.

One of my cats spent the first two years of her life as a barn cat - she won't go more then a few steps outside, and if the door closes behind her, she is in a unholy panic. I figure she knows how good she has it as a indoor kitty and she has NO interest in giving it up!

Enjoy your new family member!

Purrs,
Elizabeth

Hi There!

I agree with all the others. This special kitty needs to be neutered and kept indoors.

I have 10 indoor cats here and they all have their claws. Declawing is something that I don't recommend because the procedure is very painful and involves the amputation of the first digit of each toe. We have all kinds of scratching posts here and they are well used!

Welcome to the boards and I'm glad you found us!

Regards,
PHKitkat

Hey Taylor

Welcome to the boards. I would also echo about the neutering whether indoors or outdoors.for sure.

With regards to declawing I think it's illegal over here in the UK so it's never an option. I have however found a brilliant alternative. If you buy one of those multi level scratch posts (cat trees as they are sometimes called) they are brilliant.

What you need to remember is that if your cat is bigger than a kitten then a small scratch post just wont allure your cat to it. It must be more than tall enough for the cat to fully stretch their entire upper body and to also not move whilst they are doing it. You will be wasting money on buying cheaper small posts believe me. I have 2 that went totally unused until I got my kitten recently and even he is starting to prefer using the bigger multi post cat tree (ours is about 5 foot tall with about 3 posts at the base and various levels).

Oh also to discourage cats scratching say a dining table or chair leg you can but Sticky paws which you attach to places most likely to be scratched. Cats hate to have sticky on their feet so that, with also moving the cat to a post when it tries anything , should see you just fine.

Any other way I can help, please let me know.
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Kind Regards
Pepsi and Cola's human Janis
MAX - Earned his wings April 2006 - Sleep tight Pussy Cat

"Like those great sphinxes lounging through eternity in noble attitudes upon the desert sand, they gaze in curiosity at nothing, calm and wise"
Charles Baudelaire

Hi Taylor, it sounds to me like he was someone's pet that got dumped. I just recently had the same thing happen. My neighbors were moving and decided not to take their female black cat with them so they put her outside to fend for herself. I was furious, first of all she isn't spayed; second, she has no clue how to fend for herself and winter is here and she would probably not make it on her own.

I have 15 cats in the house, most of them have their claws. I do have several cat trees and things they can scratch but there are times when I have to get the fly swatter out and threaten to hit the hinneys. When they see the swatter they take off running (I don't ever hit them). The only real problem I have is constant cat fur all over everything and I don't have enough hands to pet everyone, especially when I go into the bathroom.

Several of them follow me around the house and I always have to watch where I walk because they don't always get out of the way and I have stepped on tails. Quite a few of them were ferals and strays. Four of them go outside during the day. I really don't like to let them out but they were outside cats and have never fully adjusted to being inside all the time.

I would never declaw a cat because of what they have to do to the cat. The tips of the toes are amputated and the cats are never quite the same plus it is a very painful operation and puts the cat through a lot of trauma. It is great that you took this boy in and the suggestion I would give to you is to get him neutered. Males are much friendlier once their "noogies" are removed. Give him lots of head butts and snuggles.

Hi Taylor, and welcome! Concats on your new friend! You've already been given a lot of good advice, so I will just agree with them...None of my cats have gone outside, it just isn't safe out there...spaying and neutering are a must for a happy healthier cat and kitten prevention...as for declawing, I would never consider it unless it was for medical reasons for the cat..as in an injury to the paw...good luck and let us know how things go
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PHTessie