Acting out-Scratching

Question
I have a healthy 13 yr old indoor female domestic shorthair. She has claws,is spayed and loved. She is an indoor cat and alone during the day while I work. I see and interact daily with her and don't leave her alone overnight. I am a bachelor, 50 yrs old. We have a close relationship and I talk and pet, play with her all the time. Never been to vet but always cared for by a vet assistant i know. We moved to new place 1 year ago after 12 years in a 1/2 house rental. Very stable environment. New behavior at first was she clawed at carpets for a while but that faded. Recently I have been finding her on the kitchen table which is off limits. I have repeatedly removed her and she keeps returning there. She can see most of the place and a hall to front door, but not door. She fooled me because she has gotten older and not able to jump as high...I thought. So she refuses to yield and after putting her in her room with door closed as a lesson she defecated on floor in corner. I was shocked and she got an earful and then repeated it again the next day, I don't know what to do and feel bad about it. She is obviously upset and my Brother said to let her have her way and clean more often but I am unsure. He suggested the pennies in can shake but I wanted to ask you first. Please help. thanks
bill

Answer

Phoenix, Evo, Luna, & Hi Bill,

It sounds like for whatever reason, she is stressed.  I have found that when moving to a new place, you in effect need to make sure you reestablish the rules so that they know what is off limits and where everything is.  What kind of scratch post does she have (material, height, size, etc.)?  Did the location of this change?  Is the new place larger, smaller, or about the same size?  If you currently do not have some piece of cat furniture at least four feet tall, I would start there, and make sure it is wrapped with sisal rope and has more than one perch.  This will serve two purposes: to give her something tall to perch on, and a good scratching post.  When and if you get one, you need to make sure it is in a central location that she likes to frequent, and introduce it to her and make it positive.  You can feed her a small meal on it (say, put a little food in her bowl and set it on it, place her there, let her eat, praise).  You could also buy catnip spray and spray some on it which will attract her to it.  

What I do with my cats from almost day one is teach them both the 'off' verbal command as well as my hand signal which is snapping and pointing down.  You can begin teaching this by snapping and saying off when you see them about to jump down, then praise them like crazy once they're down.  The more you do this, the more they begin to understand what the cues mean.  In this way you can teach them what they are allowed to be on and what they're not.  I understand you're saying she already knows this, but it never hurts to find new ways to reinforce the point.

As far as locking her in a room, that can work, but only for certain personalities, and only for an appropriate amount of time.  If she's particularly sensitive or clingy, then that may stress her too much, hence the defecation on the floor.  You need to be sure to clean the spot with an enzymic pet cleaning product to ensure the smell is completely removed, or she may go there again just because of the smell.  I only use the timeout method with one of my six, and that's when it's her third warning.  She's quite stubborn, so if she doesn't listen three times in a row (i.e. within about a 10 minute timespan), I lock her in the bathroom for about 10 or 15 minutes tops, and when she comes out, she's like a different cat.  My other cats are all varying degrees of submissive and sensitive, and taking a tone and using body language is all it takes with them, but this is from me spending hours every day the first 6-9 months of their lives training them and reinforcing the behaviors I want.

Just to clarify, don't ever scold for a cat eliminating in the wrong place.  The best you can hope for is to catch them WHILE they're doing it, say no, put them in the litter box, and then praise, whether or not they do anything.  You want to make sure they view the litter box as a positive experience.  Never rub an animal's nose in it, or take them to the spot and hold them and yell--they don't understand, and if you do that with a cat, you are well on your way to ruining your relationship with them forever.  Cats are very clean and tidy creatures, and want to use the litter box instinctually.  If they eliminate elsewhere in your home, it is due to either a medical or a behavioral problem.  In this case, it seems clearly behavioral because she was upset  she was locked in a room which I assume is not a common practice by you.  Either that, or she really had to go and her elderly bladder/bowels couldn't hold it.

As far as pennies in a can as a means of sound aversion, you can use that in the instant you see her doing something you don't agree with, however she may be so sensitive it will stress her more than help redirect her attention and potentially cause more unwanted behaviors.  The key to redirecting unwanted behavior is to first figure out why the animal is doing it in the first place, and then finding a suitable alternative for both, and then redirecting their attention to what you want and praising.  This can be a time-consuming process, but worth the effort for the end result.

I would try the cat furniture with sisal post and redirecting her attention there.  I recommend specifically products with sisal rope only for scratch posts because they train to it so much easier.  Cats scratch because it's hygienic--they need to shed their nails, and sisal is the coarsest material, so it not only feels better, but does a better job at what your cat is trying to accomplish.  They also scratch to stretch their muscles.  Also, sisal is a distinguishable material unlike anything else in your home, so they are more likely to scratch there and only there.  Believe me, I have six cats, and they are all trained to the sisal posts.  The only time I have a problem is when I leave them for too long and Evo gets really stressed and will scratch one particular stair.  He *never* does this unless I leave him for more than 3 days.

At any rate, I hope all this helps.  I wish the best of luck, and please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,