biting, climbing cat

by ken
(duncansville Pa)

Hi

I have a male Turkish Van (I think he is a Van) who I found as a stray. he is 4 months old and I really love the litttle guy BUT...he has several habits I am hoping to break . he is very friendly one min. the next he attacks my feet and hands with light playful biting, the more I firmly say No the more he attacks. I do not want to hit him ..I tried spraying him with a water bottle but that did little to stop him. one other thing he does when he wants to cuddle..he tries to nurse my neck or if I put out my palm he will suck on it for several min then fall asleep. I am planning on having him neutered soon and am considering having him declawed as well as he thinks nothing of climbing up curtains ,sceens etc. I do let him outside for a few hours a day and I know declawing him he will lose his ability to protect himself as I live in the country. Is there any hope for him changing his habits? I can put up with the nursing thing but the climbing and biting has to stop . thanks!

Answer by Kate
Hi
first can i beg you not to have him declawed, i can't begin to tell you how bad this is for a cat especailly one who goes outside. I live in the Uk and it is actually illegal to hve it done here as it is considered cruel.

there are many things youi can do about preventing your cat using his claws innaproprately etc.

first of all you can ensure that he has his nails clipped regaualy, i do this with my cat, they get used to it after awahie. please see this page for more info on this

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/claws.html

Then there are things you can do to dissuade furniture scracthing etc. see these two pages for more on this

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-scratching.html

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/scratching-post.html

lastly there is also a discipline technique which helps cats to understand right from wrong but uses a language they understand, ie through positive and negative experiences.
please see this page for more on this technique

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-discipline.html

best wishes Kate

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