I'm a newbie with a manic bengal kitten - help!

rrushton · 14-02-2008, 02:34 PM

Can anyone recommend a decent pet behaviour spray to stop my kitten climbing the curtains in our front room & to stop tearing the carpet up by our bedroom door? Daisy is adorable, but i don't want her to completely destroy our house! She has a scratching post which she uses, but is very interested in the curtains & trys to get in our bedroom (which is out of bounds due to my husbands allergies!) Any advice would be greatly appreciated - i would prefer to use a natural deterrant rather than lots of chemical sprays.

Thanks - Rebecca

Fran · 14-02-2008, 02:36 PM

Warm welcome to Catsey! can I ask how old is Daisy? and is she an only cat??

rrushton · 14-02-2008, 02:53 PM

Daisy is 11 weeks old. We have a tabby & white moggy who is 3yrs & 9 months. They get on really well with each other (apart from when Daisy wants to play & Charlie just wants to sleep!) Charlie was a relatively quiet kitten - i know bengals are quite boistrous, but we wanted a bengal & were prepared for noise, jumping all over the place etc. But i can't just sit back & watch Daisy climb the curtains or damage my carpets/furniture. We expect the occasional accident, but she needs to learn some rules. Not sure what discipline route to take if any as hissing at her has no effect whatsoever. So this is why i thought of a deterrant spray to keep her away from the areas i don't want her clawing etc.

Rebecca

yola · 14-02-2008, 03:04 PM

Double sided tape is good if you don't want things scratched - once a cat's paws stick to tape they'll not want to touch the same place again. Not sure about scents/sprays as I've never used these, but if she's scratching it would suggest more physical things like putting the scratching post in front of where she scratches.

Fran · 14-02-2008, 03:07 PM

I am not very familiar with deterent sprays, hopefully someone will be along soon with more experience of them. I guess the clawing at the carpet at night is because she wants to be with you and is possibly lonely. The curtain climbing is just normal kitten activity, I've always found 'hissing' or a stern 'no' usually works and they soon get the idea that they are not supposed to be doing it. I'm sure others will be a long to offer advice, do let us know how you get on and good luck, she's still very young at 11 weeks infact most pedigree breeders don't let kittens go until they are nearer 13 weeks.

ellenlouise · 14-02-2008, 03:51 PM

Hiya and welcome.

Its sounds like you have a excitable kitten. He is still very young so probably needs a few more lessons. Trinity when young used to scratch our door so in the end we gave up and let her in (OH has allergies but since we have had cats they have dissapeared) but a good idea is placing duck tape around the door not so tempting to scratch and might save your carpets while you teach him it is wrong. I have found with Neo telling him no and the twisting the curtains so they don't wave about help and supplying him with hundreds of toys. Petsupermarket.com is a good place to shop I brought a pack of 24 mice for him to play with the other day quite cheap.

angieh · 14-02-2008, 04:50 PM

Hi Rebecca - Welcome to Catsey!

You sound as if your little 'un is causing no end of challenges for you. As I understand it, Bengals are intelligent cats and Daisy is a very young girl - she may be a bit bored, especially if your other 2 don't want to join in the fun.

I'm attaching a link to a website that sells cat trees - perhaps you could encourage her to use something like that instead of your curtains!

www.cattrees.co.uk/

All best wishes and hope something works! I am looking forward to seeing pictures of Daisy - I'll bet she's as cute as can be!

dandysmom · 14-02-2008, 05:40 PM

Hi and welcome! Daisy is young yet, and learning the house rules; Bengals are very bright cats with high energy levels! Hopefully hissing when she attacks the curtains will begin to give her the idea it's a no-no; you might try a squirt gun also, but be sure she doesn't see you using it...she needs to associate it with the curtains! I'm not aware of any deterrent sprays........
She sounds like a little charmer; I'd love to see a few pics...do let us know how it's going...

babycakes · 14-02-2008, 07:09 PM

Welcome to Catsey.

Unfortunately all kittens are destructive. There are little explorers. It will take a good while before she learns what's out of bounds. A water spray may be a good idea (like the one you spray plants with, but no chemicals). Just spray when she is scratching the carpet but make sure she doesn't know you have done it. (A good tip from Elaine was to make the cat think that it was an act of God, ie from the heavens and this will make them think that it happens wven when you are not around). When you are not in could you restrict her to one area full of toys and an activty centre to play on?

Hreow · 14-02-2008, 07:20 PM

Citrus-oils may help deter as well. Rover stopped gnawing the chair uprights after I polished a bit of lemon oil onto them.

Other than that, I agree with the rest. Time will slow them down, and an acceptable "upness" to serve as a look-out may aleviate the wear and tear on the curtains.

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