"Yo! Put yourself in my paws would ya?!"

Imagine the following scenario:

You’ve volunteered for a social experiment hosted by a nearby college or university.  You agree to be isolated in a contained space for a 4 to 8 week period.  The space is equipped with basic necessities such as a bathroom and a compact refrigerator with snacks and beverages as well as a few nonessential elements like a few windows overlooking campus and a couple of pieces of furniture such as a bed, desk, bean bag chair, a knotted rope hanging in the middle of the room, a light, plants, and a rubber bouncing ball.  You are not provided with any communication outlets:  No cell phone; No laptop; No paper; No pens or pencils; No television; No radio; No magazines; No books.  However, a Research Assistant (known as RA from here on out) will check on you briefly first thing in the morning and provide you with breakfast; noon to provide you with lunch; late afternoon/early evening to provide you with supper; and around 10:00 pm before lights out leaving you to your own devices for the duration of the night.

At first, you find your accommodations to be an oasis from the accelerated pace of your life, the potential hazards and threats associated with the outside world, and the ever present noise and distractions constantly calling for your attention.  The first few days are bliss.  It’s nice and quiet except for the occasional sound of the air condition blowing through the duct work.  The first day you snooze off and on; enjoy the warm delicious meals that are provided on schedule; and enjoy an occasional look out the window at the activity below.  By day three, you’re feeling rested, refreshed and revitalized.  You decide to release that pent up energy in the great room by swinging from the rope attached to the vaulted ceiling in the middle of the room.  You climb up and down the rope, you swing from side to side, you challenge yourself by swinging high enough to touch an imperfection on the ceiling.  You’re occupied for a few hours.  Day four, you begin to incorporate the rubber bouncing ball into your day.  You begin by bouncing the ball up and down, then against the wall, then challenge yourself by creating games like ‘how fast can I bounce this ball’; ‘bouncing the ball and catching under your chin or behind your neck’; or ‘throwing the ball at a target’.  By day five, you’ve pulled the mattress into the large room and positioned it so you can fling yourself from the rope and onto the soft cushion.  By day seven, boredom is setting in and you notice that you long for human interaction, communication, and companionship.  You place your finger tips on the elevated window seal, pull yourself up and attempt to catch the attention of those passing below to no avail, they cannot see or hear you.  Although you find yourself looking forward to the visits from the RA, they are brief, hurried, and you often feel like you’re being talked AT instead of talked TO.  You can’t understand what the RA is saying.  It’s a language you can’t understand.  You attempt to make a connection by noticing and responding to body movements, postures, facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures.

Our PURR-version of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” is titled “Reach Out & Pet Me” about a cat in a shelter seeking adoption and meowing about the ways he can make a difference for the lucky human willing to give him a chance. Please consider adopting a feline family member and visit your local shelter today!  Find cats available at Columbia Missouri Second Chance.  Only nice humans need apply!

Sing along with the Depeche Mode and CatAWhack Crew’s lyrics on the next page:

“Cat scratching is a natural form of self-expression for felines that satisfies multiple needs associated with health and well-being.  Scratching provides a natural manicure that strips the outer sheath or layer of the claw for hygienic purposes; allows stretching of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons for health and vitality; provides an outlet for responding to stress and crisis; and provides an enjoyable species-specific activity associated with excitement and play.”

This list was created to assist those who need solutions to cat scratching behavior and alternatives to declawing. Our goal is to create an exhaustive list so that people have the information necessary to understand natural healthy cat scratch behavior and practice while feeling empowered and adept at redirecting it to designated scratch surfaces.

NOTE: This list is long and varied in recognition of cat’s individual purrsonalities, pawticular purreferences, and unique cat scratch expressions and impressions. Another words, some of these solutions will work with your cat while others will not. The purrpose is to offer sufficient pawsibilities that can be chosen and implemented based on your specific needs, the needs of your cat, and the needs of your interspecies household. Although we’re wanting to collect 100 pawsibilities, we want people to understand that we’re not suggesting that you use all of these with one cat. We do suggest that people observe their feline family members behavior for cues and clues in order to determine the solutions that will be most effective and functional in their particular cohabitation situation. Although it won’t be necessary for a person to employ every option, solution, or intervention mentioned in the list…more pawsibilities ensure that some solution can be found for any cat, any purrson, and any household.

The American Veterinary Medical Association {AVMA} is holding a 4 day convention from July 16th-19th in St. Louis, Missouri with declawing being one of the topics of discussion.

Below is the current policy regarding the declawing of cats.  The CatAWhack Crew aligns with the points indicated in GREEN and provides additional commentary within the policy indicated by italicized text:

15.  Your cat calls 9-1-1

14.  Your cat attempts a vertical 3-foot scratch and falls whiskers first into the 2-foot post

13.  The post mysteriously shows up at the neighborhood block sale

12.  The texture of the post creeps your cat out (evident by the frenzied self-cleaning after pawing)

11.  Your cat circles the new post and then reminds you that he’s a horizontal scratcher not a vertical scratcher

10.  Your cat has staring matches with the post from across the room

9.  Visitors see the post and exclaim, “What IS that ugly thing?”

8.  Your pawsitive reward attempts have your cat thinking the post is a treat dispenser not a scratch outlet

7.  The pawsitive reward supply has been exhausted and still no scratch or interest in the post

6.  The couch continues to get more paw and claw action then the post

5.  TIM-BURRR!

4.  Your cat passes off the post to the dog as a fire hydrant

3.  Your feline family members show up at the PAW-N Shop with the post in tow

2.  You notice neighborhood cats looking at the post through the window shaking their heads

1.  First Scratch…Wobble, Wobble…Thump!

"Put yourself in my paws"

Everything was going great…cat scratch practice had been reconditioned to occur on designated “claws on” surfaces…and then suddenly, your feline family member returns to previous scratching haunts on your furniture, your doorways, and your rugs.

What happened?

Remember…cat scratch relapses may occur for a number of reasons.

Cat scratch relapses are similar to canine chewing relapses. Kittens tend to scratch indiscriminately as they’re becoming accustomed to their retractable claws in play and attempting to establish space or boundaries within the household by scent glands on the bottom of the paws. Puppies tend to chew on all kinds of things because they’re teething or because they haven’t learned what is an appropriate chew toy.

I once heard someone say, “We don’t detooth a puppy or dog for chewing on the leg of our new table and yet there is often an immediate move to declaw a cat for scratching that same table leg.”

Bring to mind that beautiful canine companion who hasn’t chewed up anything he shouldn’t since he was a puppy. Then one day, you’re a little late getting home to walk him or you leave him with your sister while you go on a three day vacation and return to find your favorite pillow destuffed or your favorite shoes chewed beyond recognition.

Whether it’s a scratch or a rip and a tear, animals may return to former outgrown behaviors to alleviate stress, anxiety, or boredom.

The most important thing is to not take it purrsonally. They are not doing it out of spite or because they’re mad at you. Dogs and cats display behaviors in response to internal (health, energy) and external (new family member, absence of family member, change of residence) changes that disrupt their routine, their environment, their sense of safety, security, and well-being.

Think like your feline family member or canine companion. What could be contributing to their behavioral relapse? What can you do to establish balance or ease their anxiety?

If they’re in a transitional phase, be patient, be consistent, and return to reconditioning methods that worked before or reinvent approaches and rewards that are applicable to your animal companion’s current state and needs.

This is Kitten.  Kitten lives next door to the CatAWhack Crew.  Kitten is a vertical scratcher.  He purrfers the sides of couches and chairs.  Although his human provided him with a scratching post, it did not dissuade him from scratching the furniture.  Why?  Because the scratching post merely provided a scratch outlet…It did not establish a designated space that set up the conditions for the creation of territorial boundaries and scratch perimeters within an inter-species household.  His human didn’t know what to do.  The veterinarian offered no information about cat behavior, cat scratch reconditioning, nail trimming, or alternatives to declawing.  Kitten was scheduled for a declawing procedure at the same time that he was to be neutered.

When the CatAWhack Crew discovered that Kitten was three days away from being declawed, they sent Bret with the new CatAWhack Unit.  Kitten’s human was totally unaware that declawing was an amputation of the distal toe digits.  However, with this new information, she was open to considering other options.  The following was proposed:

• A 14 day period to help Kitten change his established scratch practice (It takes 14 days to break a habit or change a behavior)
• Washing former scratching haunts with a pet odor remover and covering with double-sided tape
• Positioning the CatAWhack Unit next to former scratching haunts to encourage transfer of scratch practice to the designated surfaces of the unit
• Positioning the CatAWhack Scratch Panel in a vertical position since Kitten purrferred the sides of furniture
• Reinforcing scratch practice on the CatAWhack Unit by providing rewards that appealed to Kitten’s pawticular purreferences (treats, catnip, affection, pawsitive praise, play time)
• Gradually moving the CatAWhack Unit away from the former scratching haunts and toward a more permanent location in order to establish Kitten’s purrsonalized designated space creation within the home environment
• Placing the CatAWhack Unit in front of a window with a view for environmental enrichment; mental stimulation; in order to stimulate Kitten’s predatory claw sharpening preparation in response to outdoor critters (birds, squirrels, rabbits)
• Ensuring that Kitten’s daily living activities (eating, drinking, sleeping, snacking, playing, scratching) occurred on or around the CatAWhack Unit Space Creation.  This created pawsitive associations with the space and made natural recurrent scent placement a reinforcer for return visits and repeat purrformances.
• Removing double sided tape or Sofa Savers from furniture after new scratch practice was established.
• Placing citrus scents on or around old scratching haunts to make these areas less desirable and therefor deterring a potential cat scratch relapse (i.e., orange rinds;natural orange spray; bitter apple sprays or repellents) NOTE:  If spraying directly on furniture, rugs, or carpets, be sure and test on an unseen area before applying
• If Kitten experienced a relapse and began scratching the furniture, exploring what may have triggered the behavior:  Was there anything new or different in the environment?  Did something such as a loud noise startle or spook Kitten when he was occupying his designated space or practicing his scratch behavior?  Was Kitten bored?
• Consider moving the CatAWhack Unit occasionally (every 4-6 months) to another desirable location to keep Kitten engaged, curious, and stimulated OR reconfigure the CatAWhack Unit by moving the scratch panel, bed, or leaf toy OR introduce a new component such as a box, a blanket over half of the unit, or a new toy

When Bret checked in with Kitten’s human at the end of the 14-day period,  she reported that Kitten was scratching the CatAWhack exclusively.  YES!  Way to go Kitten!

Check out these pics of Kitten (When he received his CatAWhack; got a reward for using his CatAWhack; and weeks later as he perches on his CatAWhack and looks out the window):

 Sometimes people think that they  have done everything that they can  do to redirect scratch practice and if  unsuccessful seek declawing  amputation procedures as a last  resort.

 How would a veterinarian know if  someone had actually tried  EVERYTHING? How would the  person  seeking the procedure know  if they  had, in fact, tried  EVERYTHING?

 Sometimes decisions are made out  of frustration, a sense of  powerlessness, and a desperate  need for a solution.

I want to develop an intervention checklist that peeps can utilize, kind of a step-by-step process, to determine if they have, in fact, tried EVERYTHING.

If they are armed with a multitude of potential solutions, one is bound to be effective with their particular feline family member resulting in one less amputation procedure and one more feline who remains intact – toes, paws, claws and all.

I need your help in compiling this list. It may be something that could be utilized at veterinarian offices and adoption centers across the country. Please forward to others and encourage comments.

CatAWhacka-Whoo-Whoo Thank You!

It looks like cats are not the only ones who are curious.

Disneynature presents “African Cats”, Earth Day April 22nd. See “African Cats” opening week and disneynature will make a donation in your honor to protect the Savanna they call home.

After watching the video, discover more at Disney.Com/AFRICANCATS