ed@hp-pcd.UUCP (ed) (07/31/85)
My wife and I have a cat we both love very much. The problem was he was scratching our furniture, and we were determined not to have him declawed. My wife is an educational psychologist so she figured she could cure him of this. We took the following steps: 1) Obtained a scratching post. Praise and treats were administered whenever the post was used. 2) Obtained a squirt gun. This was administered whenever he scratched anything other than the scratching post. He was also chastised for this behavior. As in anything in life, results were mixed. He no longer scratches any of our furniture, but does scratch at the carpeting on the bottom of the steps leading upstairs. We have discontinued use of the squirt gun but continue the praise when he uses the scratching post. Good luck everyone, Ed Lee Hewlett-Packard Corvallis, Oregon (The opinions expressed above are not those of my employer, or my cat.)