SmokeAndMirrors
DP Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2011
- Messages
- 18,282
- Reaction score
- 16,154
- Gender
- Female
- Political Leaning
- Other
Hey folks. I have tried Googling this, and I get pretty much nothing.
So my cat is about a million, and she has problems with mobility. Two issues with that.
One is obvious: getting up onto things, like my bed. I tried to get her to use a step a year or two ago. No dice. The little queen has too much pride. So instead, I took the frame off my bed to lower it for her. Yes, I'm a cat lady. That worked for a while, but her mobility has declined further. Now she's struggling again.
So I just built her a ramp. I walked her up it a couple times, but she still doesn't seem convinced. She gets the concept, but I think she's still having issues of pride. And I am not sleeping on the floor, damn it!
The other issue is that her mobility problems are partly neurological. It's not painful, but it causes her to be pretty unstable when she's walking about. She climbs on me while I'm sleeping, slips, and tears me up with her claws while trying to catch herself.
I am thinking of putting claw caps on her, so she can still sleep with me, and I don't have to wake up bleeding all the time. Declawing is NOT an option. I won't do that to any cat, but especially not an old one.
But if I do the claw caps, she definitely won't be able to get on the bed without the ramp because she uses her claws to pull herself up. She's slept with me all her life, and I don't want to simply kick her out of bed at this late stage in her life. I have to make this work for her.
How the hell do I get her to use the ramp? Do I need to put her food up there? Do I need to squirt her? Do I need to cry and beg?
How much does a cat's pride cost?
So my cat is about a million, and she has problems with mobility. Two issues with that.
One is obvious: getting up onto things, like my bed. I tried to get her to use a step a year or two ago. No dice. The little queen has too much pride. So instead, I took the frame off my bed to lower it for her. Yes, I'm a cat lady. That worked for a while, but her mobility has declined further. Now she's struggling again.
So I just built her a ramp. I walked her up it a couple times, but she still doesn't seem convinced. She gets the concept, but I think she's still having issues of pride. And I am not sleeping on the floor, damn it!
The other issue is that her mobility problems are partly neurological. It's not painful, but it causes her to be pretty unstable when she's walking about. She climbs on me while I'm sleeping, slips, and tears me up with her claws while trying to catch herself.
I am thinking of putting claw caps on her, so she can still sleep with me, and I don't have to wake up bleeding all the time. Declawing is NOT an option. I won't do that to any cat, but especially not an old one.
But if I do the claw caps, she definitely won't be able to get on the bed without the ramp because she uses her claws to pull herself up. She's slept with me all her life, and I don't want to simply kick her out of bed at this late stage in her life. I have to make this work for her.
How the hell do I get her to use the ramp? Do I need to put her food up there? Do I need to squirt her? Do I need to cry and beg?
How much does a cat's pride cost?