A problem with roughplay

[Picasso]

My cat Picasso has allways been a bit... wild. And at times he would scratch me pretty bad, but I allways thought he would grow out of it. But he is allmost a year and a half now, and he STILL does this. The scratching was no problem when he was a kitten, but now he's grown up to be rather strong and the cuts are getting deeper and bigger .
My parents love to roughplay with him, they dont mind. But it hurts like hell when he scratches me.
I would like to teach him to stop drawing his claws while he plays.
I dont want to de-claw him, because that is just evil.
And I do try and trim his nails often, but he just cant tolerate me playing around with his feet for long, and I dont want to hurry while cutting, incase I cut too deep.
I was thinking, if I cant get him to stop scratching, I could try and get covers for his claws? Like these: http://www.softpaws.com/

What is your opinion?

[Medusa]

I've not tried them but I know that others here on PT have and with success. Your cat is not going to give up the rough play unless your parents do. Try a toy called the Cat Dancer. My fur posse all love it; it gives them lots of exercise and tires them out, too, so that they don't want to play rough. Good luck and keep us posted.

[kb2yjx]

I have to agree with Mary. The only way to stop the rough play is to STOP the rough play!! If you ask your parents NOT to play like that with your cat, might that help?? Cat Dancer is a good toy. Will your cat chase after balls?? I do not think I would exposure your cat to catnip until his behaviour improves! Good luck and please keep us posted!!!
PS: Talk to your vet about Soft Paws!!

[Picasso]

I did mention to my mum that she should stop roughhousing with him, for MY sake, but she claims he needs a way to vent his fustraton. Which is something I agree with, but seriously, thats what he has a scratching post and toys for. I'd rather he vented on the doorframe than my FLESH! D:

And no, he is not interested in balls at all.
Even jingly balls... which I find rather hard to belive that a cat does not want to play with a jingly ball... theyre so inticing.
The petshop here has something like a Cat dancer. But Im probably gonna have to buy that with my own money, cause my mum refuses to spend any money on cat toys. *sigh*

[Medusa]

The cat dancer is very inexpensive, just a few dollars. And your cat can release his frustration, whatever that means, by playing w/the cat dancer, not your flesh. Your mom isn't going to think it's normal if he decides to attack a guest one day. He may be only playing rough but your guest won't see it that way, I assure you. Try the Cat Dancer; you won't be sorry.

[Picasso]

Oh he's already attacked guests before. We have to close him in a bedroom if he gets too vicious.
But thats not cause he is playing, he's just extremly territorial. :rolleyes:
Think the toys will help with that too? :p

[Medusa]

I have no idea. I've never had a cat that was vicious, just overly enthusiastic, shall we say. I'm sure someone on PT can help you w/that issue. Personally, I wouldn't tolerate that behavior but everyone has different levels of tolerance. I keep a water squirt gun nearby in case one of my fur posse decides to become obnoxious. S/he gets it right in the face and that usually stops it. If not, s/he gets banished in exile until s/he learns how to behave.

[critters]

I have toys I can play rough with my monsters with, like fishing pole toys from the $1 store. An absolute fave is a (longish) ankle sock, turned inside out so the terry faces out, and stuffed pretty solidly with polyfill and catnip. It's big enough for punching, rabbit-footing, and good, mouthy biting, yet light enough that it can be fetched and toted.

When he bites or rabbit kicks you harshly, say "no," then play with him with an acceptable toy. If that doesn't work, say no then ignore him a few minutes.

[KitCat]

Look at it this way: your kitty is very smart but he has learned the wrong thing! He has been rewarded for rough play by having interaction with your parents. He may get more aggressive if this continues and may hurt someone!
I have had to deal with this problem, but the good news is that if you cat is smart enough to learn negative behavior, you can teach him to be gentle.
First step: You have to stop the roughhousing and reward him for being gentle. Don't play with him if you can tell from his body language that he is getting wound up. What I would do is stop playing and see if he was calm enough to pet or touch him without being bitten. If I saw he was about to lunge at me, playtime was over. If he was able to play without being "bitey", he should get a treat.

My cat is 99% gentle now, and he is a much better pet. In fact, he is so well trained that he was able to not touch a baby bird that was in our yard because I told him to "Be soft!" (which means be gentle) when it flew near him. Of course I gave him a treat for that!

[Picasso]

Woah he didnt touch the baby bird! I dont think Ive ever hear of a cat resisting that! :eek: :D
The only thing Ive been able to teach Piko is to meow. xD

I made a toy for Piko, becuase I havent gotten a chance to go to the petshop to get a toy. Its basiclly just a crude imitation of a Cat dancer, and I dip the end in catnip. He goes CRAZY for it! :D
I dont really get to play with him much though, he tires very fast because of the hot weather and his thick fur.

[Genny]

Is that Picasso in your signature? He sure is pretty.

[Picasso]

Yah it is him. :D
Thank you. :)

[Picasso]

Okay well Ive been working on calming Piko down a bit.
Ive been playing with him, pampering him, giving him treats when he purrs and is nice, stuff like that you know?

When he bites I tap him lightly on the nose and say 'No' as menacingly as I can (not yelling), and then walking away.
Problem with the walking away thing, is that he goes for your ankles, and you cant ignore him, because it HURTS! :eek:
He takes the walking away as an invitation to chase! :C

Ive been telling my parents and my brother to just walk away when he bites and scratches, and sometimes they listen. But most of the time they just tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about, and continue right with it. Ha ha, its sucks being the youngest in the family :rolleyes:
Just this morning my mum was playing with Piko and he started biting and scratching, and instead of stopping, she just kept telling Piko to stop bitting and kept on playing with him.
This cat does not understand our language mum, he don't get what your saying! D:<

I think Im gonna have to discipline my parents before the cat. :rolleyes:
But Im getting there.
Sorry for this looooooong boring and pointless post. :o

We'll see how Piko is doing a month from now...

[Catty1]

Show your parents this thread. Or Google some information and show them that.

Then it's not 'the youngest' telling them something! :)

Piko is SOOOO gorgeous!

[nancys]

I've thought about ordering the softpaws for my cats - has anyone here used them & if so, what do you think of them?

[Lof]

I have to say my cat is exactly the same however she's now 3 so she can hurt! However i hope this doesnt sound mad but i talk to my cat quite a lot the same kind of softness in the voice as if you were talking to a baby so when she does something bad or wrong i just raise my voice and say no or stop and then move away so she knows shes been bold! Believe it or not it works and i always have people remark on how obedient she is to my voice!! Try it

[Lof]

I have to say my cat is exactly the same however she's now 3 so she can hurt! However i hope this doesnt sound mad but i talk to my cat quite a lot the same kind of softness in the voice as if you were talking to a baby so when she does something bad or wrong i just raise my voice and say no or stop and then move away so she knows shes been bold! Believe it or not it works and i always have people remark on how obedient she is to my voice!! Try it

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I think Im gonna have to discipline my parents before the cat

I think you have summed up the problem in one short sentence

[Medusa]

I think you have summed up the problem in one short sentence

I second that. I shudder to think what will happen if Picasso decides to take a good chunk out of your mom one day while "venting his frustrations". I doubt seriously that she'll take it that way but she'll have no one to blame but herself. I hope it doesn't happen but it very well could. Good luck w/this and please keep us posted. :)