Our old kitty, Margaret Tootsie Lou Thatcher, is very well mannered. She NEVER jumps on the kitchen table or counter tops. She never peed anywhere naughty, no matter how much we neglected her litter box. She doesn't whine to go outside; she doesn't like to go out at all. She doesn't bite or scratch (she was declawed before we got her). And she is just a big sweety pie.
Milo, however, is a naughty rascal of a kitty. He needs to be neutered. And as soon as I can get my husband to find the money, snip snip, Milo. He wants to sleep with people, but in the middle of the night, he attacks your face, so, we all sleep with our doors shut. If the litter box isn't up to snuff, he pees on piles of laundry - clean, dirty, it doesn't matter to Milo (though it has helped me be slightly more efficient about laundry). And he thinks he's a jungle kitty. He jumps up on the counters and creeps though my plant shelf .
And he used to dig in my plants. I don't think he was using them as bathrooms, but he did make a big mess everyday. For a while, I gave up, just let the plant shelf be covered with dirt. But then I had an idea.Back when we were dog owners, Juna used to dig holes in the back yard. After we got rid of her, it turns out she was hunting rats, but I didn't know that. The Internet told me to sprinkle crushed red pepper around her favorite digging spots. It didn't work.
But I tried the crushed red pepper for the house plants and it has been 2 weeks and my plant shelf is still fabulous. Milo still plays jungle kitty, but without the mess.
SO - Crushed red pepper. But, let me advise you NOT to boil black pepper balls and crushed red pepper, then strain the "tea" and make a pepper spray bottle to deter the cat. The "tea" will make everyone in the house choke and cough while you make it and it just clogs up the sprayer. Plus, it's pepper spray ... you don't want it lying around where the kids could get into it. Just ... a word to the wise.
Oh, and the scripture of the day comes from the Old Testament: Amos 3:7"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
(just in case you like scriptures, or prophets, or Amos.)
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What a pretty plant shelf and cute kitties!
I'm going to attempt to "clicker train" my cats. We'll see how it goes. We've tried plain water in a BIG squirt bottle. It works well to instantly stop a bad behavior, but I want to try a reward system to see if it might further prevent the behavior. They say cats get bored and look for things (usually naughty) to entertain themselves like digging and scratching because in the wild they are busy surviving all day. They need to spend some of their energy working toward something / experiencing new things. You might try alternating cat toys.
Also I recently read that orange cats tend to be the most rowdy because of aggression/fear instincts genetically linked with their color, but it's an area that's just now under research (in the book Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin). On the hopeful side, Grandin says neutered/spayed orange cats calm down considerably.
Good luck with "The Milo."
He won't want to go outside nearly as much if you neuter him....a while back I thought I sent you some low-cost spay/neuter info...I could dig it up if you are interested.
Please let me know.
Also, Milo is very cute.
And if it make you feel any better, this week my big fat orange and white cat peed on me. Yes. On ME!!! Because I was trying to groom him earlier this week. He PEED ON ME!!!!
(As you can tell, I am still in a bit of a state of shock, even if I have forgiven him)
I have the same situation, a bit reveresed as our younger kitty is super sweet and loveable and fairly well-behaved, while our slightly older kitty is the biggest brat I have ever met. She constantly whines and cries for attention, but like a true snot, rejects any attempt at affection. Ach!
We have two good kitties and one bad kitty. Every morning, my husband tries to make friends with the bad kitty. And every morning, after about 3 or 4 seconds, I hear my husband say "ouch! bad kitty!" I think it's cute how he keeps trying, though. I don't pet bad kitty. But she does sleep on my pillow, so that's our compromise.
The Big Fix will be in Layton next week - just $25 for a neuter. Check out http://www.utahpets.org/img/spay/0309BigFix.pdf.
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