catfilter: enriching the class clown
October 12, 2020 7:11 AM   Subscribe

She clawed through the carpet under the door last night. face/desk. help me come up with an enrichment plan to prevent these shenanigans in the future. ...also welcoming encouragement.


previously.

New kitty has been staying in my office at night because I can't supervise her and old!kitty when I'm asleep. This morning, lo and behold, the carpet under the door has been clawed up.

Letting her roam the house at night would presumably lessen the boredom aspect, but a) she's a chaos beast b) doesn't have that solid of a relationship with old!kitty yet and c) if she gets up to more mischief throughout the house, I have a much smaller chance of finding it quickly. Thoughts on office at night/free range at night?

I have a list of enriching things I can do/already do, but I'm not really clear on how to structure a schedule, or do enough to 'tire her out' for the night. I've started feeding her on a slow eating mat (kind of like this) for all meals. She's very food driven (gestures at previously), so I'm going to give clicker training a try. Leash training is an option after that.

We already have cat trees around the house and plenty of stairs for zooming. Both are on canned food only due to mouth issues.

Enrichment activities: scavenger hunt (hide treats around room, let cats in to room). treat dispenser. laser pointer. throwing around toys for chasing (bonus points for making them go up or down a flight of stairs). Cardboard box with brown packing paper in it. catnip sprinkle. I've enriched dogs before by stuffing a kong with wet food and peanut butter and freezing it, wondering if I can do something similar for cats...

She's great with the litterbox so I don't want to give up on her... just need some guidance.

Anyway, to bring this full circle:
How do I build an enrichment schedule?
(...will enriching this cat actually help or am I going to be playing defense in my house forever? / encouragement pls)
Confined to office at night or not?
Will keeping her nails short prevent her from destroying more carpet?
Clicker training suggestions/anecdotes/etc?

thank you :)
posted by snerson to Pets & Animals (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Clicker training is always good and gets their minds going. Get Karen Pryors book from the library, Clicker training for cats. It's slim volume but it will get you started the right way.
posted by Ferrari328 at 7:22 AM on October 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


In the short term, I recommend some of that plastic mat that you'd put down in front of a business entrance. You can buy it in a roll for not much, and then run it all the way under the door to the other side. It tapes down with packing tape easily and prevents the claw-ening.

How long has she been spending in the office? I usually find it takes a week or two for cats to get used to a new schedule and then (depending on the cat) they mostly relax into it. Enrichment for cats I find to often involve all the exercise. So, more sessions of actively playing with the laser pointer or other toys, to the point where the cat flops over tired. Doing that and then feeding them not long before they "go to bed" may help them to be in a time for the sleep now cycle for longer.
posted by past unusual at 7:24 AM on October 12, 2020


Catiary
posted by aniola at 8:09 AM on October 12, 2020


Large branches affixed to your walls that climb to near the ceiling so the cat can climb and perch in her rightful place.

Walks.

I regularly petsat this one cat who needed literally two solid hours per day minimum in order to be willing to eat her food. Two solid hours in which she was chasing or stalking her cat fishing toy, including tearing after it, and leaping back and forth, high in the air. (AND she had another cat to keep her company.)
posted by aniola at 8:12 AM on October 12, 2020


With the right training, some cats will do walks, some won't.

I know this one person who has trained every cat who comes to live in her household. They very quickly learn to sit, lie down, roll over, play the piano, jump through a hoop, etc.
posted by aniola at 8:17 AM on October 12, 2020


Take everything breakable out of the bathroom, close the vents and shut the cat in there with half a dozen live feeder crickets. When I say everything I mean if you have shower curtains they have to come down first or they will come down during.

She will grow out of this, eventually. Eventually is not necessarily remotely soon.

Cats can also be taught to fetch. Something rubber that bounces is good as the abrupt changes in trajectory will require her to do more turning.

Take her for a ride outside in a cat carrier for more stimulation.

Remember dawn and dusk are her most active times so be prepared for increased activity at twilight and if the moon rises and brings light into the room.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:18 AM on October 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


You could temporarily use a supplementary pheromone collar and see if that helps.

It takes months to settle into a new place. She may have somewhat less nervous energy once she feels settled.
posted by aniola at 8:20 AM on October 12, 2020


Trim her claws, just the tips. I used to use a large nail clipper, but they sell nail clippers for cats & dogs. Make sure she has a scratching post, maybe 2. Make it more appealing by adding a toy dangling on a string and/or catnip spray.

Cats like ping-pong balls, the plastic lids from water bottles, any bit of plastic they can bat at that skitters away, and those toys should be plentiful, as they will end up in dark recesses. Other toys can be brought out at different times, to avoid boredom. Scheduling? As Jane the Brown notes, dawn and dusk are most active. If you can get a large sturdy cardboard tube, they can be used in different places to climb on if secured, and in, even if not. Cats adore boxes, and I'd make several available. Some cats like tv of cats, mice, etc., worth a try.

Can Old Kitty, who may sleep more, be the one restricted, so New Kitty can have more than 1 room?
posted by theora55 at 11:36 AM on October 12, 2020


You could put SoftPaws claw caps on her nails. They are not exactly *easy* to apply, depending on the cat... but wrapping kitty in a towel (swaddling) and pulling one paw out at a time can work. Treats immediately afterward to distract from the nails while the glue dries, and to reinforce that they aren't that bad... SuperGlue works as well as, if not better than, the glue that comes with the caps (they have the same ingredient). Trim the nails first, as suggested above (swaddling helps with that, too).
posted by acridrabbit at 11:40 AM on October 12, 2020


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