Thread: Kittens and CLAWS!!

Originally Posted by Kateinportugal

I have owned Maine Coons for 13 years now and am totally hooked. However, my latest addition, now 9 months old, we have had from 20 weeks. He is the soppiest most affectionate cat we've ever had. BUT we cannot train him to retract his claws when seeking our attention. We've tried blowing in his face, which has always worked with our other cats, tapping his paws, and as a last resort slinging him off the bed. It is seriously unfunny to be woken at the crack of daybreak by a bunch of five claws on any exposed parts of ones anatomy. He is also very naughty at scratching on furniture. We have sisal scratch posts, and pads around the house. Every room has a cardboard scratch box and they also have a huge playstastion. The easy answer is to shut him out of our bedroom but that would seriously upset our other 2 MC's who are used to sharing our room with us, to separate him would not be nice either. So please, HELP, all sensible suggestions welcome!

Kitten and Claws
When walking past the stairs from the kitchen, Buddy used to stick out a paw and hook us. His game, wasn't funny. He missed my right eye by 1/4" . Now months later, I only have to raise my index finger and say 'no' now (7 months old) and he stops misbehaving. How? We tried positive reinforcement. We used to pick him up having shouted or sworn and put him in another room and leave him for 10-20 mins. We then opened the door with a treat which he loved. My long suffering husband used to call him away from the stairs and bingo he'd rush away and be rewarded for coming when called.

Keeping calm when you've been hooked (clawed) is v v difficult. Have you tried leaving him outside your bedroom till you're ready to put the light out, then letting him into your bedroom when everyone else is ready to snooze? Keeping consistant, patient and calm, will do the trick, tho' easier said than done. Buddy has his own space downstairs. He's too active at night and his very loud purr has kept us awake. So he can zoom and go mad cat without hinderance from us.