Question to the blogsphere:
I have a cat that not only likes to play with my beaded doorhangers, but likes to claw up the toilet paper. She has other toys, and other scratching posts that she uses, but she seems to like the toilet paper and the beads the most.
How can I cure her of these habits?
You can try using a squirt bottle of water to spray her with every time you catch her doing something you don’t want her to do (which doesn’t work if she’s one of those cats who love water). To keep her away from the toilet paper on the holder, I would drape a hand towel over it (yeah, it’s a pain to have to move the towel every time you want to use the paper, but it might discourage her from playing with the TP). I haven’t had a cat yet that wants to play with the TP, so haven’t had to deal with that problem. Our cats just want to drink out of our glasses (diet Coke and lemonade seem to be their favorites).
It depends on how stubborn your cat is. Try the water bottle, and if that doesn’t work, it might be easiest to stash the toilet paper somewhere out of kitty reach…
Does she roll the TP out? If you turn the roll around, she may lose interest.
No, she claws it all to heck.
The secret to breaking an animal of any habit is frustrating it. If it’s more work to do it than not, they’ll give it up. With toilet paper, that means closing the door so the cat can’t get to it. My dog trainer told me that dogs who jump on the couch can be frustrated by putting laundry baskets upside down.
Behavioral psychology suggests that punishment (like the squirt gun) ranks below all other forms of behavior modification. It’s rewards, then frustration, then punishment, then painful punishment. The last is so ineffective it’s basically useless. You can’t reward the cat for not shredding toilet paper, so the next thing to do is make sure she can’t get to it. Sorry. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but honestly, less time from you than other methods.
If she’s a kitten or juvenile there’s a good chance she’ll grow out of it. If she’s over a year old, you’re probably screwed.
Hmm, I’ll have to try the towel on the bathroom thing. I can’t keep her out of the bathroom; that’s where her stuff is (it’s the only place to put it in our tiny-ass apartment). She is a kitten.
I have a cure for your cat (I have met this cat, by the way). Mostly, it involves Me, Your Cat’s Tail, and You Leaving The Room For A Good Solid Twenty Minutes. Your apartment is not guaranteed to survive this training, nor your good relationship with your neighbors, but I guarantee the cat will never claw a damn thing again!
TRH
I’m not letting you abuse my cat.
D00d. Stop trying to oppress your kitties! Speciesist!!!111
(My advice: buy more toilet paper, and sweep more often.)
Sweep?
Vacuum? Just to get the lil’ paper bits off the floor, you understand.
I had a cat that used to do this from time to time. She may grow out of it.
Oh, I thought maybe it was to sweep the cat away.
You can’t move the toilet paper? put it below the sink or something?
There is no cabinet below the sink: the bathroom is completely open. We have to store the toilet paper in the closet, and keep that closet door closed.
You could sweep the cat away, I suppose, if you want your sheets to smell like cat pee :-p