Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hmmm, this is a toughie.  I keep my ladies (Niniane and Charm) in
    the basement when I am not home to watch them (they manage to get
    into enough trouble when I'm home!).  They have a small light I
    leave on for them so they can play, they each have their own "bed"
    (ie, comfy place to sleep that Mom piled warm fuzzy blankets on after
    they'd picked it out), their food and litter boxes are also down
    there.  It's big, spacious, has plenty of toys and boxes to climb
    on, there's a set of stairs to thunder up and down, and best of
    all you can do kitty slides (running around a *little* too fast
    to make that corner) much better on the concrete than on the kitchen
    floor!  They don't seem to mind much.  They like coming upstairs
    when we're home (I like to think it's because they want to be with
    us), but if they get tired of us, or we stay up too late for them,
    or they get scared by a sudden noise, it's right back down they
    go and curl up on their chairs for a while.  They definitely claim
    it as their own.  They also have all their claws, and will remain
    that way, so I really don't feel comfortable giving them run of
    the house at night or when I'm not there.  They have a scratching
    post and carpet scraps in the cellar so there's lots to destroy.
    
    I had another cat when I lived at home who destroyed an entire living
    room and den ensemble (four pieces of furniture) in her lifetime.
    It's not fun.  Putting something over the furniture at night usually
    doesn't help -mine learned to crawl underneath it.
    
    I guess I'd suggest maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep them all in the
    basement while Cinnamon is around, and make it as comfortable as
    possibly for them during that time, and the rest of the year give
    TK and Bandit the run of the house. The only problem you would face
    was the chorus of "Mom is unfair!" from just behind the cellar door
    just after you put them down.  It dies down after a while.  And
    they keep each other good company.  They won't get bored, don't
    worry!
    
    Mary-Michael, Niniane & Charm

    
    I realised when I first started keeping cats that you can either
    have cats, or immaculate furniture.  Not both.
    
    For what it's worth, my cats are indoor/outdoor cats (they have
    a cat door, and go out when they feel like it), and they never claw
    the furniture.  Just leave large muddy footprints all over it, dead
    birds in the hall, live mice in the sitting room ... (Hector's
    currently in a hunting phase, oh well).   But I imagine you're not
    in a position where you can let Cinnamon out.
    
    I've just read through this again, and it doesn't sound very helpful.
    The best I can suggest is that you give up on the furniture!  Or
    couldn't you just shut the cats out of the room where the settee
    is, without locking them in the basement?  (I'm a bit hazy about
    how American appartments are arranged).

    I have sacrificed one piece of furniture to my two kitties for scratching
    (bwt, a beautiful queen ann wing chair), and discipline them whenever
    they scratch anywhere else. Discipline is a firm no, a squirt from
    the water spray bottle, clapped hands. Since they usually sleep
    when I'm not at home, they usually don't attack anything else.
    
     

    We have six cats.  When we got Jack, he was a neutered two year
    old.  He cannot get along with four of the girls.  At one point
    he was constantly beating up Minew and to this day, will not let
    her use the litter box when he is around.  So, for the past 5 years,
    he dominates the basement and he loves it.  He has his bed, water
    dish, dinner dish, litter box, and manages to confiscate most of
    the toys and hides them down there.  Once in a while we let Felix
    stay down there with him, she's the only one he gets along with.
    When we're home he is allowed upstairs, but frequently he asks to
    be let down because there are more things to do there.  It took
    a couple of weeks for him to get used to it, now he thinks he's
    getting special treatment!
    
    Diane

    Have you tried trimming nails once a week or every two weeks?
    I have 13 kids and two new couches - neither couch has a mark
    on it.  It's funny though, when I was younger, I had a kitty
    (note: one kitty - that was when I was living at home) that
    destroyed most of mom's furniture.  Boy, did that make her
    angry!  When the guy next door to us poisoned Squeekie, 
    mom put her foot down and said no more cats!  Boy, I could
    hardly wait until I got my own place - I always said that
    I would have as many cats as I wanted - guess I'm lucky
    enough to have fulfilled that statement!  Either my babies
    are little angels (ha ha ha ha..) or else between nail trimming
    and having lots of their own furniture  - they seem to leave my
    stuff alone except of sleep on it and leave lots of hair on it.
    They even have access to the backs of the couches because they
    are not up against walls. 
    E.T.                     

    Re: .2 (American apartments)
    
    Is this question: what is an American basement?  The answer is,
    it depends.  Some basements are dirty messy uninhabitable "rooms"
    with a furnace in them, maybe even a coal bin (does anyone use coal
    any more?).  Lots of basements, however, are "family rooms" -- sort
    of an informal living room, only down in the basement.  I assume
    the cats living in basements are living in the latter type places.
    

    Re.7  That was what I meant really.  I suppose the UK equivalent
    to a basement would be a cellar, and I would not shut a cat (even
    a spraying one - see note 1200) (or any other animal) in a cellar.
    Cellars are usually dirty, damp, cold, etc., and used for storing
    junk, fuel and so on.

    Does Cinamon always scratch in *1* spot??? Would it be possible
    to (after having the couch repaired) prevent him from accessing
    the spot by strategically placing a pillow, afghan, etc.?
    
    Aja only likes to scratch in certain places. She actually scratched
    her way through a 1/2" piece of wood! Surprisingly, she has never touched
    the stereo speakers which seem like they'd be the perfect place
    to scratch. Go figure...
    
    Edd

    My cellar has cement floors and walls also.  Jack's bed (he actually
    has three) is next to the radiator so there is plenty of heat in
    the winter.  It stays cool in the summer and in the afternoon the
    sun shines in thru the door.  We also have four small windows. 
    For some reason, mice and chipmunks like to hang around them so
    he has plenty of entertainment.  Maybe they come to tease him since
    he can't get out!  Don't worry about Jack, he really does have all
    the comforts of home in his cellar, otherwise I wouldn't do it.
    
    Diane

    
    Not long ago I bought a new couch that contained sissal (sp?) so
    I knew my cats were going to tear it to pieces.  The two chairs
    the couch was replacing were in shreds, stuffing all over the place.
    A few months previous to this a kind sole in this notes file gave
    away a kitty condo.  The cats loved it but still scratched the
    furniture.
    
    So I began the retraining process with the help of my SO.  Though
    neither of us were at home during the day, we trained when we were
    there.  I sprayed the kitty condo with spray catnip and put it NEXT
    TO the couch.  Everytime the cats began to scratch the couch I picked
    them up and showed them how to scratch the kitty condo.  After only
    a few weeks they were retrained.  They forget maybe once a month,
    but I remind them and they remember.  During the retraining process
    they had access to the couch as I only have a studio apartment.
    
    A few weeks of patience and you just might be able to "teach your
    old cat a new trick"! :-)

    Sharon
    

    I just bought one of those scratching posts with the sissal rope,
    as my kitties have been using the furniture.  I placed it right
    in between the two chairs they love to claw, and put catnip toys
    inside and hung a ball from the top for them to bat around.  So
    far, they have walked around it, through it, and dragged out all
    the toys to play with.  I placed their paws on it and even stooped
    on all fours myself and started to "claw" the sissal rope with my
    nails to show them how it's done.  They did not find this amusing.
    
    I already have a second scratching post with tree bark connecting
    the two platforms which I saw Nikki clawing the other day.  The
    sissal one is going back to Breeders Pride on Saturday.
    
    Sigh...
    
    /Roberta
    
    P.S.  We, too, will have an unfinished basement when we move into
    our new townhouse next weekend.  Since Chauncey has to stay indoors
    for at least a week until he gets used to his new surroundings,
    you can bet he will be spending his nights down there if he gives
    me any problems about wanting to go outdoors.  I plan to keep the
    litter box, food, and a few nice things to sleep on down there.
    Like Karen's, our basement is heated with the rest of the place.
    
    

    My cat Alex was an outdoor cat and never touched the furniture.
    He became an indoor cat in June of '86 because we moved to a place
    where he could not go out.  He started scratching the side of my
    love seat.  I tried everything I could think of to stop him, but
    nothing deterred him.  I finally bought a small piece of carpet
    and nailed it to the side of the love seat.  Now both of us are
    happy. He just LOVES his new "scratching post". 

    I'm fortunate that neither of my two boys scratch the furniture
    (except for Chauncey occasionally using the speakers as scratching
    posts...sigh).  But one of my neph-cats, the very distinguished
    Ashley Van Grayson, has a soft spot in his heart for the left front
    arm of the sofa.  What I do to minimize his impact is to turn the
    arm caps that normally sit on top of the arms (to protect them against
    kitty landing gear) to cover the front of the arms, lengthwise.
    We call this the "Van Grayson barrier".  It works on my contemporary
    style sofa.  You might ask your upholsterer about making up something
    like this for Cinamon.
    
    Mary

    I agree with an earlier note that a cat can be retrained to scratch
    somewhere else but your nice furniture.  Several approaches have been
    mentioned, and you may have to try several to find one that works for
    your cat (also a lot of patience and persistence!).  Another one that I
    read about in a magazine or book was to attach balloons to their
    favorite scratching places.  They will either avoid the balloons or
    !pop! one during a scratching episode and be so startled that they will
    not repeat the behavior in that spot!  It's at least worth a try! 
    
    I also read that bark is a favorite scratching surface, so I'd be
    interested to hear if that worked for the previous noter who mentioned
    using it.