GregHowley.com

Kitten Update

December 19, 2005 -

BenderLinda and I have named the cats. I've named him Bender, after Judd Nelson's character from The Breakfast Club, and Linda's sister Regina gave us the name for the female cat - Linda wanted a name that sounded like a wild animal, so we went with Tonga.

We're still having trouble with Tonga biting power cords. After the horror story someone told Linda at work about a cat biting a power cord and being fatally electrocuted, we're trying to be vigilant about hiding all kitty-accessible power cords. I got some split rubber tubing at Home Depot that works really well, but it's hardly practical to encase every wire in the house in tubing, and downright impossible for the massive tangle of cords behind our TV and computers. We tried a spray product that we bought at the pet store which was proported to keep pets away from whatever you spray it on, but 30 seconds after spraying the power cord on the humidifier, the cats were all congregated around it, intensely curious at to what that smell was. They love it. Freakin' ripoff $10 product. We'll be returning that soon. Someone also suggested tabasco sauce, so we bought a little bottle of "sudden death" brand hot sauce yesterday, but we saw the warning not to use the stuff undiluted and now we're hesitant to subject the kittens to taste bud torture. What will we do?

TongaAnother issue is the kittens scratching things. We've got them sequestered in the bedroom and master bath right now, so they haven't had access to the couch or drapes, but we'll eventually be letting them have the run of the house, and we don't want them to destroy everything. One thing we're about to try is Soft Claws. They're rubber claw-sheaths that you glue on. Apparently, the cats aren't supposed to mind wearing them, and they last for 4-6 weeks. I'm not sure whether this will work out, and I'm a bit frightened of being maimed during the application, but we plan to give it a try. Hopefully, it won't be much worse than giving the cats their antibiotics, which brings to mind that cat bathing article.

We also bought the cats this great little waterbowl with continually-flowing water. It looked great in the store. When we opened it up at home, we first found that it had to be plugged in, which meant that we couldn't put it where we wanted. Then, when we set it up, the cats loved it. Great. But I had to fill the thing about 3 times last night. I just figured they were drinking a lot because it was new and interesting. When I woke up, it was nearly empty and the carpet was soaked. Yep, it leaks. I'll be returning that and only getting another if it's battery powered.

Aargh. So much to do. I should start Christmas shopping soon...

Comments on Kitten Update
 
Comment Mon, December 19 - 3:11 PM by HoneyHoneyNY
My cats don't scratch furniture when they have something nicer to scratch. I have at least a couple of different scratching surfaces for them to use in different spots of the house, and I spike them from time to time with catnip so that they become intensely more desirable than any other surface. I also occassionally leave treats on/inside the scratching toys, which keeps their curiosity going. My cats have the cheap corrugated cardboard scratchy, which is cheap and they LOVE it. They also like the sisal rope scratching ramp, and the carpet covered tube that they can also hide in.
 
Comment Thu, December 22 - 8:34 PM by NH friends
Greg,
Bruce and I are friends of your mother from NH. Advise for power cords "bitter apple spray." We have used this for both our ferrets and cats. Worked well for us.

The Claw issues...Soft Claws work EXCELLENT. The soft claws do not harm the cat and they come in stylist colors. If at all avoidable DO NOT DECLAW your cat. The first cat we owned we declawed, a big mistake.
If you ever need to give your cats a pill, obtain a pill shooter from the vet. It will save the skin on your arms.
 
Comment Mon, January 2 - 4:42 PM by Rindle
I can kick any cats butt, you name the cat I can take it.