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.)