"Need" is such a strong word, toothdoc.Originally Posted by ToothDoc
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Do any of your cats ever "scratch" the inside of your bathtub? Feverishly? It's almost like they're trying to escape the inside of the tub.
Both of my boys have recently started doing this, and it seems they're stressed or unhappy while doing so. They have a scratching post which they frequently use, and they're really good about not scratching my furniture or carpet.
Their litter box is clean. They have food and water. I'm with them 24/7, and they're loved all day long, so I'm perplexed what's making them so unhappy.
Any clues?
Are you using a new product? There may be an ingredient that is annoying their sensitive noses. Wasn't horse urine an ingredient for estrogen in something? I'm reaching here. Or was it some kind of placenta? Check the ingredients or switch from any new products you've started using and see if that ends it.
Jewels, do you think maybe one of them has just now 'discovered' the slick surface on the inside of the tub, and they're trying to figure out what it is? Maybe they aren't unhappy, just concentrating really hard? Maybe a new kitty toy would distract them, and give them some extra exercise to burn up excess energy. Is there maybe a reflection from a bright light that they could be trying to "catch", the way cats will try to catch a flashlight beam?
Sorry this is distressing you, Jewels. I know it's upsetting to you. I suspect one of the guys has gotten bored for whatever reason, and the other is copying him.
I know my Mom's cat was fascinated by the tub, but instead of 'scratching', he would get inside and pounce at the reflections from the light bulbs in the bathroom. That is, until my "cat hating" Dad taght him something else about the bathtub. Now the cat sits in the tub and screams until Dad will go in there and turn on a very thin stream of water, which the cat never tries to 'catch', just sits and watches, until Dad turns it off. Then Sparky tries to see where it's going as it goes down the drain. It's pretty funny when Dad turns the water on-and-off real fast, and Sparky looks up at the faucet then down the drain, and he will do it as long as he can get Dad to play. It's also pretty funny to see see my Dad doing this, chuckling, and going "I wonder what that fool thinks".
Has ANYTHING in the household been changed? Furniture, routine, anything. They may just be doing it to freak you out. Since Mona and Joey do not have their front claws, (not my doing, another long story)they REFUSE to capture bugs, so they both sit side by side watching whatever it may be crawl across the floor or up the wall, then daddy here has to get up get a paper towel, get the bug and dispose of it, and I hate bugs. Then they both look at me like what the heck did you do?
Mine loves to jump in the tub and lick water off the bottom after I've taken a shower. This is the same cat who refuses to drink from his water bowl...he prefers toilets.
Maybe the tub scratching is just one of those weird habits they pick up, Jewelsy?
My brother had a cat who would lick up all the water around the tub drain and then pee down the drain! My sister-in-law's first impulse was to make him stop, but then she realized that it just meant that she had to clean the litter boxes less!
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
Thanks everybody.
And, yes... there's been a HUGE change. I moved July 1st, but the tub scratching didn't start until a couple weeks ago.
My cats aren't typically very vocal, but they'll get in the tub, start scratching and meow -- LOUDLY, like something's bothering them.
waywyrd, my boys refuse to drink out of a water bowl as well, they insist on a running stream of water which I typically having running in the tub. And when the scratching/meowing occurs, there IS streaming water.
I don't know. . . they just seem unhappy and pissed off at me; they're not sleeping with me anymore, they're meowing MUCH more and have had a couple of accidents in the past week (which is REALLY strange for them as they've always been so good about the litter box).
I've been going through some hard times the last several months. . . perhaps they're *finally* picking up on it? Or maybe they're pissed with not being able to go outside anymore.
I'm taking them to the Vet next week to have them checked out.
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