My cat is awesome he's half bengal so he's bigger than the normal house cat. As you know from previous posts he's scared of car rides.
I adopted him and had to sign a waiver I wouldn't declaw him. He doesnt scratch anything. Except when he wants to get into the bedrooms. If anyone in my family is in the bedrooms with door closed he will try to get in. If his attempts are not successful he will then begin to scratch at the carpet.
Can anyone give advice on how to keep him from doing this? Other than that he's awesome! He always uses his scratch post. Never claws the furniture or anything. I understand he just wants to get into the room and be with whom ever in my family at that time. My family usually closes the door when sleeping.
Any advice would be truly appreciated! Thanks ahead of time!
Hi @US Army Veteran I'd clear the valium use with your vet if possible, as has been said. But I give my dog 1/2 a benadryl sometimes and it makes him very relaxed. Not sure what the cat dose would be, but it seems like Benadryl is used often for cats and dogs. One of my cats always goes #2 and vomits, every.single.time we go in the car (she's in a kennel big enough for a dog, to give her room, in hopes that she won't get yuck all over herself), because she gets car sick. However, I finally realized that I can put a sheet over the kennel so she can't see outside, and it cuts down dramatically on car sickness.
Maybe it would work the same for fear of car-riding? If they can't see whats going on, it's less bothersome it seems. My vet put one of our cats on 10mg Prozac right now because she's anxious and attacks the other cat. It's working. If the vet is too costly, you can get a care credit card. it works even if your credit isn't great (i say that because mine isn't great) and works at Banfield pet hospital, which is part of pet smart.
Also, for scratching and meowing at the door, one method is using a water bottle and squirting them with it when they do that. It requires that you get up out of bed and go squirt them. But i used it for my cats and dog, and i swear....they act like it's friggin' hot acid and can melt their skin! Like i'm spraying them with hot acid. and its lukewarm tap water, lol. I eventually had to find a place for my cat to "go nite-nite" and it's a room (it could be anything - a laundry room, the bathroom, extra bedroom ...anywhere that is far away enough that you can't hear the meowing, which will happen in the early morning hours for a while until kitty gets used to the set up) with a cat bed, favorite blanket. And around the same time every night, when we go to bed the kitty also goes to bed. This routine suits mine very well.
@Heavenlee that's an awesome set up you have. I like the plastic bag added in there for kitties to lick on haha.
PS Bengal kitties are very special, beautiful and fun. That's a good cat to have, I think. Entertaining, too. The one I used to know was always active and playful. Declawing is awful, horrible. I have one cat who was declawed without my knowledge, while temporarily living at my moms like 10 years ago. It makes her unable to get around good at all, she can't jump up high, can't grip, is always falling off of stuff. Also it makes her a target for other cats with claws, and makes her very, very fearful because she has no method of defense. If she ever got out, she wouldn't make it very long outside at all. It is surprising how much the kitties use their claws for everyday living, and you don't realize how much it handicaps them....The only thing that has worked for scratching in my experience is putting out a ton of scratchers and blocking things they like to scratch (but shouldn't be scratching) with special tape, or the spray that repels them. Also i have things like an electric mat that I put on the bed - it emits a slight "buzz" when touched (it's not inhumane, i've accidentally 'shocked' myself about 3 million times. but it is aversive and keeps them off the couch during the day). But with the scratching things, what really helps on scratching posts for me, is fresh cat nip.
Anyways i could talk about pets all day. I watch Jackson galaxy on animal planet and am probably too worried about our pets all the time