Well I rehomed 2 of the little cuties and decided to keep one who we called Phantom. All was great. I bought her a litter tray, which she took to straight away, a bed which she uses, a scratch post which she's not so keen on and a collar so that we know where she is. Anyway my OH took to her - or so I thought. He's decided he doesnt want to keep her because she's ruining the sofa and cats are dirty creatues. I tried explaining that actually cats are very clean and she's only clawing her way up the sofa because she's too little to just leap on there but he wont have any of it. I get the feeling if he thought I'd choose him he'd say 'its me or the cat'! :rolleyes:

I dont know what to do. How can I persuade him to let me keep her? Or are there any people out there who want a cute little kitten whos really well behaved? :(

Unfortuately scratching is a natural instinct, it is territorial, playful and of course is a natural way to sort out those claws. :-D

You have two options as yes, you can stop a kitten from using your furniture, firstly you can buy a no scratch spray from any pet shop, ;-)

Secondly, the minute your kitten starts to scratch, you say NO! Use a stern voice and move your kitten to the scratch post, she will understand, make sure that the scratch post is somewhere she likes to go or close to where she will wake up, the other trick is to place a little cat nip on the scratcher to entice her to go to it.

The last resort and it really is a last resort, is the water pistol if she continually scratches the sofa, but use your voice and remove her for a few weeks before you resort to that.

Sometimes kittens just don't like the scratcher you have bought, (make sure it is an interesting one with things on it to play with too) and don't understand why they can't use your furniture, you just have to teach her. :-)

Cats are very clean as you say , but they can be a bit smelly when they use the tray its probably that that he doesnt like, my hubby doesnt either ! I have one cat that doesnt use the tray he prefers to go outside my two other cats use the tray but I am always there to empty it asap the covered trays are much better also make sure you get a good litter I hate the clay I use tesco premium red litter .
I agree with Carrington about the scratching I have 3 cats (one time 5) and non of them scratched the furniture simply because I didnt allow them to , cats love toys they like to play just like a puppy does , I find when a cat stretches it is inclined to scratch after , just have a scratch post in the living room and one in the hall if  possible.
I saw a great toy for a kitten in PAH like a tunnel that made a noise like paper when you touch the inside if I had a kitten I would have one my cats are all old and grey now so not that bothered about toys!!.
I am sure he will come around .

good luck

Roni

Give him time :) Litter trays are a pain and I get frustrated at times with the wmount of mess our kittens make :rolleyes:

I also have one kitten ( the norty tortie :D ) who is still peeing and pooing inside mostly in the litter tray but has her moments elsewhere :rolleyes: The black one is fine and is very clean and does most of her pee and poos outside now

With scratching they both did this quite alot but after some stern 'No' they have soon got the idea, well almost :D

They are also the messiest eaters I have know Gh yes and are always coming in with wet and dirty paws and insist on jumping up on the sofas to come and say hello :rolleyes:

All in all they are pesky messy cats but having Labs you don't really notice the increase in mess to be truthful :D :D

I think going for a petless house to having one you notice the mess abit more but you soon get used to it ;)

Lucy
xx

Yeah our hamster doesnt make much mess at all! :rolleyes:

Hopefully he'll come round.

Hi Lucy,

Have you tried the litter tray that is enclosed, this seems to work very well.

I swear I have never ever known a cat not to use the litter tray.  Even as a kitten.  To begin with you need to clean it out daily and probably continual with two. :-)

Yes we have one but they seem to have the knack of scratching it all out of the door :rolleyes::rolleyes:

The litter tray is now by the back door so going to try to see if we put it outside when it starts to get warmer in the New Year so we can wean them off it as the have a cat flap now so no excuses apart from laziness :rolleyes:

OH, I had a kitten/cat like that :rolleyes: Nightmare, to be honest once the kittens start to go outside and explore, I take the cat litter tray away and pop it in the garden to give them the message this is where they need to go, and then eventually removed it, it only ever came out when it was freezing cold and we were out for the day or over night when I would shut the cats in.

If you haven't got a cat flap or a way for your cat to get out then I guess you have to stay with the litter tray. (And keep cleaning it up :-( )

The cat that used to be a real cat litter digger and flicker, also used to do it with his food bowl, he was a nightmare and would try to dig and bury it, sending cat food flying all over the kitchen. :-D

Just a thought,
Sorry all you cat loving people BUT....
I wish you would all teach your cats to go in the ltter tray or YOUR gardens.
I HATE, with avengance, going into a graden that does not own cats and sticking my hands in cat muck thats is from 2 doors down.
Why is it that owners will clear up after dogs, but dont mind about their cats poohing in who evers garden they like???
I Know I know I know they have the right to roam and I would not harm them, but why do you get prosticuted for dog mess that is easily visable, and can be cleared up, but not cat mess that they pooh in the middle of plants for me to put my hand in or have to run the other way as otherweise I will throw up at least once a week :(
I am not a cat person, but I nearly did get one last year,(I got fish instead!!!) and if I did have one I would somehow make sure they didnt pooh in other peoples gardens as it, to me, would be the same as my dogs going into other peoples gardens to toilet :( :(
Lea.

My cats do go in my garden in a place I have made very very tempting to them(lots of bark chippings) & when they are indoors they use a litter tray, when I clean up after the dogs I clean up the cat's as well

Moonmaiden, thats what I would like ALL cat owners to do!!!
I have no qualms with cat owners that encourage their cats to go in the places they want. Its the ones that let them fowl anywhere they want!!!
Lea.

I hate this as well, I paved over the grass because in the winter when the grass was longer all the cats around were using it and of course then I have to pick it up before the dogs do   and there's no way of telling if the cats have been wormed, anyone had the joy of picking wet/soggy cat poo from longish grass? eeeew

With our (indoor) Burmese cats, who used to attempt to reach Australia via the litter tray, I stopped using a litter tray and used a large plastic storage tub, too big for them to throw the litter out and easy to clean - worked a treat :D :D :D   My first, cat who was allowed out, before the traffic around here became too bad, used to rush into the house to use her litter tray, but then we had her from about 5 weeks as the farmer was going to drown her, and she was very attached to her litter tray - bless! :D :D :D

I'm a cat lover, and I hate it as well.  There are so many cats around here and they all seem to love my garden (There's only a small bit of garden anyway that I have plants in, but that's their favourite place to go)
Takes the mick really as my own cats are indoor girls!

Well, I'm a good girl too with my cats, my first cat was in a flat, and was a flat cat :-) he would sunbathe on the roof but no amount of tempting would he come downstairs or outside, so he always used a litter tray.

My next cats were on a large estate and I had a private alley leading from my house, I covered it in woodchip which is where my cats always went. (Unfortunatley so did other neighbourhood cats :-( )

And now, my cats which are now cat, uses the garden and neighbouring woods, fields so again not bothering anyone. 

It is just one of those things with cats though as with all the will in the world, they will choose their toileting places, you can try to persuade them and encourage them to go in an outdoor litter tray or place in your garden but it will be up to the cat! And none of us cat owners can go and collect any toileting from neighbours gardens etc, unless an arrangement is made.

I must admit I would hate it too, having to clean up mess which was not mine, but I've had to do it too, cats love woodchip best, so those houses will get the most visits.

I have four cats and they tend to use my garden to poo in. I havent trained them to do so they just do. Trouble with cats is that will do it where they prefer and no training will make them change the place they choose but you can make areas that are more attractive for them to use as moonmaiden said.

I have always looked on cat poo like bird poo an unpleasant fact of life.

We use to have this problem with our neighbours cat, he used to use our patio as his toilet until we got Abby and after she chased him out of the garden several times he never ame back. Havent had a problem since even though our neighbours on the other side have cats, one of which used to chase Piper.
Mary