Outside The Media. Beyond the News. Live from Greensboro, NC.

C. Alice wrote:For those who apparently don't get it- the Ceiling Cat is, umm, the cat's concept of God. Unlikely it would waste time rolling grapes around, but it would administer eternal pain and hellfire to those barbarians who would declaw their kittehs.

I have never had a cat declawed myself. But the rescue kitty I have right now came declawed on the front. And boy am I glad! When she "claws" my new couch, no damage. In fact, the organization forbids declawing of its cats for adopters. But this cat came this way, and I picked her primarily because she would be an only cat and an inside cat, and because otherwise I wouldn't have got a cat.

So I'm torn. I understand why cats claw the furniture, and I have never been able to stop that behavior. Not with multiple clawing posts in every room, a cardboard clawing box in the bedroom, and more toys that the cat will play with. What can be done to keep the cat from ruining the furniture short of declawing???

Cats are agents of entropy. If they can't destroy furniture by clawing it, they will piss on it or vomit on it. There is no solution.

Questioner wrote:What can be done to keep the cat from ruining the furniture short of declawing???

Multiple choice:
A. Get a dog instead of a cat.
B. Get rid of your furniture.
C. Pray to ceiling cat.

A Person wrote:Cats are agents of entropy. If they can't destroy furniture by clawing it, they will piss on it or vomit on it. There is no solution.

LOL! I've been calling my cat/critter/varmints "agents of entropy" for years! I just love watching the really happy cats. The ones that walk with their tails straight up -- they invariably knock stuff off of tables as they walk by and rarely, if ever, notice the destruction they bring.

It takes a special sort of insanity to enjoy living with that sort of thing.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:

A Person wrote:Cats are agents of entropy. If they can't destroy furniture by clawing it, they will piss on it or vomit on it. There is no solution.

LOL! I've been calling my cat/critter/varmints "agents of entropy" for years! I just love watching the really happy cats. The ones that walk with their tails straight up -- they invariably knock stuff off of tables as they walk by and rarely, if ever, notice the destruction they bring.

It takes a special sort of insanity to enjoy living with that sort of thing.

Oh don't limit the idea to accidental tail problems. I've watched my cat jump up on my desk and push papers off with her paws and nose, just to watch them float to the floor. Then she pounces on them. I'll tell you, I'm perfectly safe from rogue printer paper in my house! My cat has those papers totally subdued.

Questioner wrote:Oh don't limit the idea to accidental tail problems. I've watched my cat jump up on my desk and push papers off with her paws and nose, just to watch them float to the floor. Then she pounces on them. I'll tell you, I'm perfectly safe from rogue printer paper in my house! My cat has those papers totally subdued.

Well, yeah... the tail-destructor was just an example. I've had cats that will chew on newspapers, pull plastic bags out of storage spaces to create their own sleeping nests, open drawers to find things to play with, attack perfectly innocent socks waiting to be laundered... the list goes on.

And there's a study that says that cat servants live longer than they would have had they owned dogs. I can't imagine how cats manage to extend the lives of their staff... unless the ceiling cat has something to do with it.

Questioner wrote: What can be done to keep the cat from ruining the furniture short of declawing???

Seriously, regularly trimming their claws with nail clippers does work. If their claws aren't sharp, they won't do damage.

I'm very much afraid Ceiling Cat may abandon our home. Last night, my kitty fell into mortal sin. She somehow managed to open the cupboard door and get out the baggie of catnip. (God help me if for any reason the police search my home and find that catnip baggie. I'm sure they will think it is marijuana!).

Anyway, she threw all good sense and self control to the winds and attacked and ate a bit of that catnip before I could get it away from her. And then proceeded to gallop about the house most of the night like a banshee on an amphetamine high. I'm sure Ceiling Cat will find some way to punish such profligate behavior.