Welcome to another Service Cat Monday. We so totally furgot that mommy had an early ‘pointment today. And, that today is Boxing Day here in the blogosphere. That bein’ said, we’re not gonna leave ya’ hangin’. Let me get the business outta the way so we can get on with it. As with all our Trainin’ posts, the followin’ will be written in human English fur translator and reader ease. Our Trainin’ posts aren’t meant to be a step by step manual, but rather, Tips, Tricks and Techniques mommy has used/developed throughout her many years of animal training, cats in purrticular. Ifin ya’ have any questions or trainin’ questions, purrlease leave them in the comments or send us an email. Purrlease be as specific as pawssible when askin’ behavioral questions. Ifin you have missed any posty in this series, you can ketch up by clickin’ the links at the bottom of this or any Service Cat Monday posty. And always ‘member, Training is all ‘bout Repetition and Rewards.
Well, the last several Service Cat Monday posts have been about dealing with the “Aggressive” Kitty. As we stated last week, that topic is almost unending, but we felt we had covered the issues that had been presented to us and were planning to move on this week. But alas, our sweet friend Valentine left a comment after last weeks post that requires an almost immediate response. The one thing we won’t do, is leave a topic when a kitty or it’s human are in danger or being hurt. And, the reason we’re addressing this here instead of an email is our belief that if one person’s asking, there are more wondering.
After our apartment flooded, we were all packed up and livin’ in
inches fur months befur the remodel was finished and we could get back to livin’.
Let me explain the situation and question as posed to us: A friend is having their house remodeled and one of the 3 indoor kitties is having a very hard time of it and has become “Aggressive”, going so far as to bite and scratch her human. Kitty has been shut in a back room to allow her to decompress, but it’s not really helping. There may also be an outside factor, as there is a family of strays living under the porch. Apparently, kitty has also attempted to escape to the great outdoors.
Fearless sis Lexi cautiously floats on the carpet after the flood while
the noisy fan dryers were blowing.
Well now, sounds like there’s a few problems here, right? The first issue we have, is that we wouldn’t call this kitty’s behavior “Aggressive”. Nor, are we surprised this is happening. As we stated in our previous post, Cats Do Not Like Change or Loud Noises. Having lived through a flood, move, apartment remodel, new roof, new a/c, new hot water heater, and more stranger’s traipsin’ through me’s house than me cares to remember, me’s here to tell you that can really stress a cat out; even one as laid back as us Ragdolls. This is one of those situations, where more information is needed to determine the exact problem. But, we’re going to do our best to help with what we have. Based on the fact this is a remodel and the kitty in question wasn’t presenting this behavior beforehand, we feel pretty safe saying, the feral family under the porch probably isn’t a problem. However, it wouldn’t hurt to feed them a bit further away from the house. We also don’t know exactly where this person lives, but we do suggest providing shelter for the ferals’ away from the house as well. You know, gotta take care of our ferals.
Now let’s get to the heart of this problem, the Remodel. This noise is kind of like the carpet monster (vacuum cleaner), you can’t get rid of it until the job is done. That means, kitty is going to have to learn to live with it. Thankfully, it’s only temporary. Now me knows some of you just said to your selves, What? Your mommy wouldn’t do that to you?. Well folks, let me tell ya’, sometimes, life just isn’t perfect and everybody/kitty has to adjust. What we don’t know, that would really be helpful, is why and when is kitty biting, scratching and trying to escape. A scared kitty will often react with claws and teeth, and that’s what we suspect is happening here. The good thing is this can be fixed.
(While me’s at it, let me give you an example of a “specific”. The workers are in and out and my kitty is trying to run out the door. Or, the workers are hammering and making a lot of noise and my kitty went running crouched down and I grabbed her to put her in the decompression room and she scratched and bit me.)
The Decompression room needs to be a kitty oasis until the remodel is over and the human needs to remain calm and positive when dealing with kitty. The room needs to have a litter box, food, water, cat bed, covered box or cat carrier (with the door open or better yet, off), a few favorite toys, and a well scented piece of clothing. And not the shirt you’re wearing during that fight with the contractor. (MOL) Leave a piece of clothing you were wearing during a time of no stress and happiness. Remember, cats are all about the smell. And trust me, we know happy smell and mad/upset smell. A small perch or cat tree placed near a window would also be good. Before the workers come in the morning, kitty should be taken to the Decompression room for a quick play session and a bite of breakfast. Maybe even a few of those extra special favorite treats you only buy at Christmas and birthdays. Now’s the time to buy them. It would also be good if you could put on some calm music or one of those white noise machines. Or, if you have kitties like us that like to watch teevee, turn on the boob tube (television).
As long as all the cats are getting along, all 3 should be in the Decompression room together. Believe it or not, their presence will help “Scared” kitty to be more relaxed and secure. Make sure there are several hide outs (covered boxes or carriers) available, so all kitties can hide if they need too. If this room is a bedroom, leave the closet door open. Mommy says to please remove any expensive or treasured clothes or quilts. Can you believe we’re not allowed in the closet at all? Anyways, this would be the exception to that rule. And as silly as it sounds, think positively. Yeah, we said it, think happy thoughts. See all of this as a good thing. Tell kitty how wonderful everything’s going to be when all this is over. And each day when the workers leave, let kitty explore and get used to her new territory. Remember, it’s kitty’s newly remodeled home, you just pay the bills. MOL
As for the “trying to escape”, we really don’t have enough information to even guess at a solution. We seriously doubt it has anything to do with the ferals’ under the porch and more likely trying to escape the noise and strangers in her home. But again, we just can’t be sure. It would be irresponsible for us to give a specific answer about that.
We hope we’ve helped a little, and we’re sorry we can’t offer more. The friend is welcome to contact us directly, and we’ll do all we can to help her and kitty. A happy peaceful home is our desire for every kitty in the world. As always, we welcome your questions, comments and post suggestions. And, ifin you’ve missed any of the posts in this series, you can ketch up by clickin’ the links below. As me said earlier, mommy has a ‘pointment today and one tomorrow, so we’ll be ‘round to visit as soon as we can. In the meantime, have a great Boxing Day. Hope you enjoyed our boxing day fotos and a little blast from the flooded past. (See, we can laff ’bout it now).
Till the next time………………………………………..Be Blest!!!
Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses
Deztinee and RaenaBelle
Service Cats U.S. 
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