Have you tried filing them Z? Palmer won't let us anywhere near him with clippers, he turns into a lil spawn of satan! but he will let me file them while he's lazing around. I actually find filing them better, it keeps the duller, longer, but the other 2 won't stay still that long :P
I agree that Uma just needs some time to get comfy. Just give her all kinds of lovin' and she'll come around. All of our cats where a little out of control in the begining, but we don't have any trouble anymore.
"Only when the last tree has died,
and the last river been poisoned,
and the last fish been caught,
will we realise we cannot eat money. "
Uma
Zeli: I say from experience that declawing is definitely a last resort, but do not rule it out completely. Because my cats were declawed (front paws only), they could stay with me through college, my wedding, my first house and the birth and childhood of my children. (Of my college kitties, who were born back in 1988, the last died in 2004.) It was months of agony (guilt) and frustration (destruction of curtains and furniture, not all of which were mine) while I debated having the declawing done, the procedure and then 1-2 weeks of sore paws and shredded newspaper in the catbox for them, it was a short blink in our long lives together.
P.S.: These kitties were loved and petted since birth and they didn't like their feet touched either. I always thought it was because they were incredibly ticklish.
Re: Uma
Dogs and cats just have an instinct that tells them that if their feet are being touched or especially lifted, it's bad. It took a long time for my pup to let her take her feet, but now she thinks it's a game. Just gotta keep playing with their feet until they're more used to it.
We have one kitty that is declawed and one that is not. I sometimes think it is more cruel to have so much furniture, clothing, etc destroyed by claws than to have the cat declawed... We just can't have nice things. Tho most of the scratching is kept to the scratching post, but the back of the couch, the back of my husband's computer chair, his robe, my jeans.... they're still on her shred list.
Re: Uma
I'm very suprised to hear of so many people having trouble with scratching. We've had 6 cats, all with claws, and didn't have a problem with any of them. Perhaps we're just lucky?
"Only when the last tree has died,
and the last river been poisoned,
and the last fish been caught,
will we realise we cannot eat money. "
also, i've heard that they teach each other, which can go both ways, but if you have older cats that are well trained, the younger ones follow suite. Also, if you have a stubborn alpha-cat with a bad behaviour, they can get the others to start in on that too.
my friend at work can't get anything to stop his cat. He wont declaw. he simply lives with shredded furniture.
EDIT: we had a cat, "daphne" and she was a doll. Never scratched where she wasnt supposed to. she was absolutely easy to post-train.
My Pepper was never abused, but he was only 3 weeks old when I bought him (with a health certificate from a vet saying he was 8 weeks old!) from a pet store. I know this because he was unable to eat kibble. I took him to my vet and he had me put him on the milk you buy at the pet store until he was weaned onto kibble. This meant I had to loan him to my disabled brother who was able to feed him around the clock until he was REALLY 8 weeks old.
So then I brought him home to my little apartment where he was alone 12-14 hours a day. As a result, Pepper ended up very, very poorly socialized and he thought the house was his. He attacked me constantly...that's why I had to have him declawed. It had nothing to do with furniture.
Then, when he was 9 months old, I moved him from Seattle to Las Vegas. I made every conceivable mistake in the book in that move and Pepper was badly traumatized. The one thing I did right, believe it or not, was to buy another kitten when I got to Vegas (Punkin). Pepper thought he was the best 'toy' I ever bought him. I don't think he understood that he and Punkin were the same species but they really bonded anyway.
For the better part of a year, Pepper wouldn't let me touch him. He would sit on the floor in front of me to be admired, and I would tell him (in a soft, soothing voice) what a pretty, pretty Pepper he was and how much I loved his big, blue eyes. He would purr, stretch, prance, preen....he looked like a cat who was being stroked. But if I made a move towards him, he'd bolt and hide under the bed. Any little noise, and he would bold and hide under the bed.
Then I moved to Los Angeles, then I moved to Chicago, then I moved to the Chicago suburbs where I live today. When we arrived here, I promised Pepper no more moves and we settled in.
As the years have gone by, Pepper has become more and more affectionate until now, he's an absolute little lover. And he runs to the door when someone knocks, greets them and prances around for them to admire. Pepper is now 14, Punkin is 13 and I added two kittens (who are now 9) along the way. Pepper loves the other cats, though I'm still not sure if he understands that they're not toys and that he's the same species as them.
He still hates to be held or confined in any way and turns into devil cat when I take him to the vet (he's bitten both me and the vet's assistant during check ups). But as long as I respect his space, he's a wonderful companion and I'm very, very glad I put the time into letting him develop his comfort zone.
So the moral of my story is this: time, patience, respect, time.
Oh, and by the way, cats love routine and hate disruption. Keep Uma's environment as quiet and consistent as possible. That includes not changing out furniture, rearranging or having lots of guests over. If you have guests over, put her someplace quiet, like a bedroom, with food, water and clean litter, until they leave.
Good luck....believe me, it's worth it when you win their trust!
Re: Uma
Zeli, it definitely takes some time to build trust with stray cats, but you'll get there. Engaging your kitty in interactive play is a great way to build trust. Use a wand toy that you can maneuver from a distance, and then reward your kitty with a little treat for playing nicely when you're finished
Once you see some improvement in the trust area, and your kitty lets you near her without so much fear, you can work on the nail issue. Rub/pet her paws regularly so she gets used to having them handled. My cats don't particularly like to be picked up, but my husband can now hold them long enough for me to trim their nails. Then I give them a little treat and they quickly forget about what we've done and go about their business as usual
In the meantime, there are a few tricks you can try to deter her from scratching your furniture. Make sure you have multiple scratching posts throughout your home - and definitely put them near whatever furniture she's been scratching. Rub a little catnip on them. The stand up posts covered in sisal rope and the flat cardboard scratchers are the best. Don't place her on the scratcher yourself, because that will cause her to have a negative association with it and she won't want to go near it. There is a product called Sticky Paws, which is basically a clear, double sided tape that you can put on whatever furniture she's been scratching. There is also a spray product called Comfort Zone by Feliway, which was initially developed to prevent urine marking, but has many other uses. It is a "friendly" scent to cats, similar to the pheromones released when they rub the sides of their mouth on an object or the scent glands in their paws. It has a very calming effect, so it is good for reducing stress (1 spritz of this in the pet carrier 20-30 minutes before going to the vet can make a world of difference). And as far as deterring scratching, the friendly scent makes the kitty think she already "owns" this particular object or area of the house, so she won't bother with it. Spray any furniture, etc. at about nose level of your kitty, 8 or so inches above the ground.
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