Cat scratching solution

First, cats scratching things is not a problem, it's an expression of a normal feline need. It's only inconvenient because sometimes our pointy-eared friends claw things that do not benefit from the attention. For example, the arms of overstuffed chairs, table legs, or door moldings.

When you see something you like being shredded, you might express your displeasure with a shriek and then begin thinking about what to do. The worst thing to consider is declawing; it's unnecessary and will alter the cat in a fundamental way. There's no going back once it happens so please don't even consider it.

It's unnecessary because solving cat-clawing problems requires nothing more than a good scratching post and training. It's pretty simple. Plus, it's fun to train a cat, and it's cool to make this kind of connection with your critter. Just about everything you need to succeed is available at naturalscratch.com. What's lacking? Love, consistency, some time, and a treat your cat will perform for.

Cat scratching aha!

Training cats is a fun process that sometimes starts out slowly but eventually--if you're consistent--reaches a point where the cat finally understands what you're trying to tell it--a classic *aha* experience.

It would be nice if cats (and toddlers for that matter!) understood English but despite the language barrier, you can get them to understand if you repeat something often enough.

Currently, I am training our cat Leo, aka Polar Bear because of his nearly all-white coat, to jump up on a counter in the basement. The goal is to get him to make the leap on the command, "jump." So far he only does this occasionally--he hasn't quite got it yet. But he's getting there.

As I've mentioned time and again in this blog, many cats take to Natural Scratch readily, but behavior is always a Bell Curve so some cats are going to need more training than others. Following the simple directions that come with Natural Scratch, however, ensures success no matter where your cat falls on the curve. One day he or she will have that aha experience and you'll be home free.

Scratching Cats Like Natural Scratch

There is no doubt that many cats take to Natural Scratch with little prompting by their human companions. Regardless of the cat's willingness to do naturally and without persuasion what you want it to do, it can be trained to claw Natural Scratch exclusively. No exceptions.

With features such as the softness of white cedar and red cedar; the Mouse Hole and Antenna (interactive toys); excellent stability; and the training booklet, Natural Scratch has nearly everything most cat lovers need to succeed.

Add a kitty treat reward your cat craves, consistency, and love, and you're nearly home free. Now all you need to do is put forth a little time.

Soon, your cat will be scratching exactly where you want it to: Natural Scratch.

Giving thanks

On this day of celebration, it's wise to remember how fortunate we are if we have our health. My mother used to say, "When you have your health, you have everything." So true but easy to forget in the rush of life.

If *you* have everything, pledge a little plano cash or some of your time on this day of thanks to organizations that help those who don't, from animals in shelters and in the wild to people here in America and around the world.

Charlatans have given some charities a bad name but in our Google era, it's easy to check the legitimacy of a group just by popping the name into search and hitting enter.

I wish I had more to give because the need is great but at least I do what I can. I urge you to, too. John Lennon wrote many brilliant things including, "Love is all you need."

Cat scratching? A proved solution.

Natural Scratch has worked well for many cats and humans and I hope you'll give it a try, too.

It was designed by a lifelong cat lover and has exactly the right features to help any human train her or his cat companion. Cats, like humans, aren't perfect and complicating matters is the fact that they only understand a few English words.

Training them though is relatively easy if you know what to do. This is why Natural Scratch comes with a training booklet that is concise and easy to follow. It's an instruction that anyone can read and use.

Please take a few minutes to read the testimonials at http://naturalscratch.com/ns3testimonials-5.html They show the range of reactions cats have to Natural Scratch. Many take to it quickly; some need more instruction. All can be trained.

Cats scratching up a storm

There are few things more pleasing than to have clawed cats that only scratch what they have been trained to scratch. It's a cool fact to see, know, and tell.

For a long time, I didn't think cats could be trained, but I came to find out that I was wrong.

All it took was a quality post and much more important, an understanding of what to do. You too can succeed. Give Natural Scratch and its brief, accompanying training booklet a try. It's guaranteed.

Cat scratching training consistency

Along with taking the time to learn what to do probably the most important aspect of training a cat to scratch where you it to and nowhere else is consistency. This applies in particular to eliminating bad scratching habits.

If your cat scratches where it shouldn't and you see or hear it, you have to take immediate action or the cat will think it's okay with you.

Making loud noises such as clapping your hands or rattling a shaker can is an effective way of getting your cat's attention and letting it know you don't approve of whatever it's doing.

This is critical, too. You need to catch the cat *in the act*. Doing the negative conditioning five minutes later won't work because the cat won't make the connection.

Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of thinking, "I'm sitting comfortably and it's been a long day. I know Tiger is clawing where he shouldn't but I'm just too tired to deal with it..."

It only takes a minute to make your displeasure or your approval clear but the impact of what you are communicating can last a long time; even forever... Don’t miss a single opportunity.

Cat scratching and endearing behavior

If one of your cats is scratching things it shouldn't, chances are you're not happy and you're wondering what to do. The answer is straightforward: buy Natural Scratch or another good post or build one yourself and then train your cat to claw only where you want it to, much as you would train a child not to draw pictures on the walls.

Natural Scratch comes with a brief booklet that trains people how to train their cats. It has worked well for many.

What is endearing is a cat that does what you have trained it to do--that's nice and not terribly hard to achieve--and one that does the unexpected. Our white cat Leo whom I sometimes call the polar bear because of his color, recently purred heavily into the phone so our daughter Ann who is in Australia could hear him. She got a major kick out of it.

BTW, Leo's far from perfect. Even though he certainly knows better, now and then he'll scratch something he shouldn't just to get our attention. He does this very infrequently now because he knows it will *definitely* lead to a short stay in what we call cat jail.

Cat scratching and other companion wear

People who want absolute perfection in their living spaces will have a hard time dealing with the wear that occurs when any living thing is brought into the environment, including children and even prior to that a human companion or spouse. Living things cause damage...

Pets are wonderful but those who decide to have one take up residence should be prepared to clean up "accidents." Such things are totally natural.

Children are much harder on things than pets could ever be so if you have children already you won't have to adjust much should you bring a cat or dog home. And I hope you will.

Cats with claws, even when completely trained and only clawing what you want them to claw, will still now and then race across something with their claws outstretched for additional traction. It's in their natures.

But, keep in mind what a great thing it is to have companions. It's certainly worth the rather minor wear and tear that might occur.

Cat Scratching? No. Fox update.

'Course I think foxes are beautiful and wonderful creatures but they don't belong in suburbia--too many hazards for them.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our dog caught scabies from foxes that took up residence in our neighborhood and almost died. After treatment, he's doing great.

Yesterday while taking him for a walk, a lady I passed who was tending her lawn wanted to pet him and struck up a conversation. I asked if she had seen the foxes and indeed she had. I warned her about the scabies and she immediately said she had been itching like crazy lately. My advice was to hurry to a dermatologist.

Another lady farther on the walk also wanted to pet Comet who is a handsome pup. I mentioned the foxes to her too and she said she had recently found one dead, struck by a car.

Coincidentally I saw the final one of the three kits on our deck just yesterday morning. As I always do, I chased it away in an attempt to get it to fear humans. That's its only hope.

Cat Scratching training: the price of success

In addition to the cost of Natural Scratch or another quality post, human companions have to invest the time it takes to train their critters.

Most train pretty quickly but there is a great deal of variability among cats just as there is among people.

Reports of cats taking to Natural Scratch as the customer is assembling it are not unusual, but reports of cats who are indifferent at the outset are also fairly common.

Even difficult cats, however, respond well to reward-based training. Give it a try. It's an interesting and rewarding process.

Natural Scratch includes everything you need to succeed but kitty treats and love.

Scratching Post Forest

Our three cats have benefited from my side enterprise roygbivdesignsLLC and its primary product Natural Scratch.

Currently, there are no fewer than four posts set up in one area of the living room, so Twinkles, Gem, and Leo have many clawing options.

Two of the posts are experimental models and the other two are regular Natural Scratches but one is missing the laser-engraved medallion, which was clawed off and disappeared.

It's fun to walk by and see one or more of the feline clawing away. Which post each cat chooses is interesting, too.

It's great that they are clawing approved targets rather than the furniture.

You can train your cats to claw Natural Scratch, too.

Cat scratching? No. Wonderful? Definitely.

Rachel Carson wrote an amazingly influential book named *Silent Spring* that was published in 1962. In it she reported on the terrible impacts on American birds DDT and other pesticides were having.

This hawk (either a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk or juvenile Cooper's Hawk, a representative of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology tells me), which recently landed outside my office window, is wonderful evidence of the impact of her powerful book.

When I was a boy in the fifties and sixties, my friends and I never saw hawks and we would have noticed them. When my parents took me from Janesville, Wisconsin, where I grew up, to my birthplace in northern Wisconsin—Shawano County—we didn’t see hawks or eagles there either. And we never saw them when we traveled the highways of Wisconsin which we did regularly.

Raptor numbers had declined precipitously.

After Carson’s book, DDT and many other chemicals were banned and, by the 1970s, I saw my first hawks. Now, hawks are common again, and I frequently see them circling in the skies outside my office window. Rarely does one land as this one did but it clearly had been attracted by the birds visiting the feeder that is to its right.

Eagles too have made a comeback, and we frequently see them when we visit a family cabin in Florence County, Wisconsin. Moreover, a nesting pair was reported last summer in a community only about 20 miles north of Milwaukee.

Thank you, Rachel Carson!