By angrypetowner - 29/03/2016 03:24 - United States - Warrensburg

Today, I tried to train my cat to scratch the scratching post by giving her a treat every time she used it, but she took that as getting a treat every time she scratched something. Now, not only does she scratch all my furniture, but she also meows for a treat while doing it. FML
I agree, your life sucks 17 318
You deserved it 4 854

Same thing different taste

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My brother used to have a few pennies in a small sandwich like container. He shook it every time his cat was scratching something up, or jumping up on tables. The cat REALLY hated the noise the pennies made.

Do not use spray bottles to deter cats from doing something, if she tends to scratch somewhere more than others put tinfoil on the ground by it as cats dont like the feel of it on their paws, or buy more scratching posts and put them everywhere she likes to scratch. Also try to put catnip on the scratching post, but the main thing is DO NOT USE A WATER SPRAY BOTTLE!!! Cats do not learn things like us and do not understand that what they are doing is wrong and just see you as terrorising them

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One of my cats does something similar, I tried to get her trained to use the new scratching post by giving her a treat when she used it but she didn't understand and thinks she gets treats by just sitting next to it. She'll make me follow her into the room, sit by the post and then wait expectantly, it's kind of adorable.

Best way to deter scratching stuff is a stern 'no' (don't shout) and pointing with eye contact at kitty. Then pick them up and plonk them down on a scratching post. Whenever they scratch in the right place, compliment then and perhaps reward them.

Op, you did the right thing. It just back fired big time on you. This is going to be hard but you're going to have to train her. When she scratches where she shouldn't a firm NO first and then move her to the cat tree and reward with a treat. With patience and consistency she will get there. If it makes you feel any better my cat meows a bunch of times and then runs through my house to climb walls. Lol!!

a trick I've found works is get the liquid catnip spray, and spray the scratching post with it.. it works really well

stop giving her treats, use catnip spray it - only - on the scratchthingy, it will get her more interested in it..

If you rub catnip into the scratching post that should entice you cat scratch the post verses the other furniture.

Perhaps you should switch from positive reward to negative punishment. Try spritzing her with water whenever she scratches something other than the scratching post.

I think i might just have heard Pawlow laughing in his grave.

spray her with water every time she scratches something that's not the post

When my cats wouldn't stop using the sofa instead of their scratching post I started giving them their treats on the scratching post (to make them want to get on it more) and drenched the thing in catnip spray as well as conventional catnip and used an "ehh" sound that I've used to discourage them from doing things since they were kittens when they went to claw the sofa. It worked well for one cat, but the other didn't catch on and kept at the sofa. After I exhausted all other methods I resorted to drastic measures by filling a water bottle with water and a bit of vinegar. After getting squirted a few times the other cat caught on. I would use that as an absolute last resort though, because even with that success it took him a day or two to realize he was only being squirted at the sofa and not his post (I love my kitty but he's not the brightest crayon in the box). I'm pretty sure the only reason it took is because the other cat had already caught on. If you do use the squirt bottle method use it sparingly. Additionally, look at the type of post your getting. Cats need different types of surfaces to scratch. Try to get a post with as many varied surfaces as possible. It's hard to train problem behaviors from cats and something that works on one cat won't necessarily work on another. Make sure to do your research on different methods. Good luck OP.