my cat is deaf?

Question

ok my cat was born deaf as well as his sibling cat ( he's pure white) he also has a deformed back foot and two different color eyes.. the vet said he was completely healthy but he also told me that he will be really hard to keep from destroying my furniture, carpet and other things.. Also since he can;t hear me he won;t learn not to do those things. My vet won;t declaw him because of his deformed paw. Can you guys think of anything that i can do to get him to learn and not claw up everything. hitting him with a paper and spray him works for about 2 minutes. he;s 2 years old.

Answer 1

Hi there again...one of the best ways to teach a non-hearing cat is to use visual hand cues/signals with positive reinforcement techniques with food treats. Cats can feel vibrations so stomping on the ground is one way to get your cat's attention when he isn't looking your way. You can invent certain hand gestures to help your cat to come, sit and/or lay down. But each time he does one of these behaviours it must be reinforced with a special food treat (not his usual food). As soon as kitty does something you like (e.g. sit) use a hand signal (you can invent one of your choosing) at the same offer the food treat. I'm oversimplifying the technique, but this is the idea to help him understand you since he can still see, feel, but is unable to hear.

To help your cat to stop clawing inappropriately, place double-sided sticky tape strips on surfaces you would like discourage the bad behaviour. Packing tape not only works quite well, but is inexpensive and can last a long while as you'll need to replace strips each time the cat gets stuck to the tape strips. Cats dislike being stuck to tape so be certain to leave and replace the tape for awhile. Because a cat will return to see if it was a one time occurance he will need to be personally reinforced that these areas all of sudden and still seem to be unpleasant. Eventually, he will avoid those areas altogether.

As you've realized squirting and using paper is ineffective as the cat soon learned that it cannot hurt him so long it isn't attached to the human. All cats (hearing and non-hearing) are naturally inquisitive so anything that is unpleasant that they themselves discover will teach them to avoid those negative areas. If it involves direct human intervention they only learn to fear the human.

To encourage good clawing behaviour, keep a small jar of cat food treats (something different than his regular food) nearby all scratching posts. As soon as you catch kitty clawing these areas, hand him a treat and he will learn to eventually associate that clawing at those areas will earn food treat rewards so he'll return more often to do it again to test that idea and see if there's more treats. Be sure to be consistent so he is ALWAYS rewarded when he scratches at these stations ONLY. I realize you can't always be there to watch, but when you are try to make yourself conscience to redirect his bad behaviour to the positive one.

Answer 2

Positive reinforcement is always good and believe it or not they can learn hand signals just like deaf dogs or other animals...just takes a little research - easy online, though! I wouldn't declaw...my friend told me to do it because her indoor cats were and said it was great, so I ended up having a vet declaw my two cats and it was just the opposite - awful!! I learned just how terrible it was afterwards because I was having so many problems and had to research it more; very painful for them and can be very deforming - two things you don't want especially for your baby cat. Many vets won't even do this procedure anymore. And hitting never accomplishes anything with an animal - positive reinforcement and praise does wonders. Also there are great things online to protect your furniture and your vet can trim your cats nails and show you how - dull nails don't harm the house! :) HTH! Good luck!

Answer 3

The easiest solution that makes everyone happy is soft paws. Here is the link so you can check them out: http://www.softpaws.com/. Just because he cant hear doesnt mean he isnt capable of learning. The soft paws go over his natural nail, which you will keep trimmed. Your vet should be more than happy to show you how to put them on. They are easy once you get the hang of it. Also make sure that you have an allowable scratching surface such as a cardboard scratcher. They are only about $5, and I havent met a cat yet that doesnt love them. If you get a vertical post, make sure that it is solid. The ones that hang on the door are no good unless you are able to anchor the bottom too. With the soft paws on, he wont really be able to grip the couch so that in itself will deter him a little bit, not to mention with them on he cant tear up the couch anyway. When you see him start on the sofa just go and move him to his stuff. It worked with my two boys and all of the fosters that I have had adjusted no problem. I never did yell or make noise at them, I didnt want them to be afraid of me, I just needed to redirect them. Most pet supply stores carry Soft Paws...although the really cool colors you have to normally order.

Answer 4

We had a white deaf cat for 10 years, and had the same problem. Try a wee bit of ammonia in the water bottle, if that doesn't work, give him his own post to scratch. It takes a long time to get him to leave the furniture alone, and it can become a game for attention if you don't be assertive enough. We used to let ours out and he'd come back with bloody ears from fighting. After ten years he had only these hard scabs for ears. I guess he just whizzed everyone off! we used to shoot him with rubber bands and he just loved that, so he scratched more. Ask your vet if that "Pet Off" spray will work. Good luck .

Answer 5

I agree with the VET do not DE-claw. I would get the spray and spend sometime trying to get him to pay attention to vibrations on the floor from stomping on the ground or light flashing to get him to look at you and shake you finger and move his paws off th furniture to the ground then pet him. If it continues then do it again. He probably knows that he is different and is frustrated. Just try and be patient and maybe look up animals that are trained for the human hearing impaired and work from there but in reverse.

Answer 6

we also have a deaf cat. she is pure white with blue eyes. it is genetic in these cats. these types of cats have an 80% chance of being deaf. usually, if the cat is white and has one blue eye, it will be deaf in the ear on the blue eye side. i really don't know what to tell you to do to make her mind other than spraying her when she does something wrong, but that does not work real well. that's what we do. we don't whip her because she sure wouldn't understand that. cats are going to claw. we have just learned to live with it.

Answer 7

have the vet declaw the other paws that arent deformed, if that vet wont do it a different vet will. there should be a chemical spray that will deter him from the furniture, also get a cat scratching post and spray it will liquid cat nip and stop hitting him with newspaper, thats just mean

Answer 8

Our deaf cat was doing some destructive things until we gave him something else to do... we gave him a cardboard scratching box with catnip which he loves, as well as tons of toy mice and things... he also hates tape and foil, so try putting those things on surfaces you want him off of.

Answer 9

He might be deaf...but he has a sense of smell still...try some of the anti-clawing sprays...that might work

Answer 10

double stickey tape where he likes to scratch make sure you have a couple of scratch posts. if you see him scratching spray him with a squirt bottle.