[koshya]

We have two cats. We adopted abused Koshya in 2001 and in 2002 we adopted a main coon kind of cat named Katya (she had been neglected sn starved and was about 18 months when we got her). Immediately a relationship developed between the two cats where Katya got bit or picked on by Koshya (who is smaller than Katya but came first) if Koshya saw me or my husband petting Katya.

Katya is healthy, loves to eat, loves bags and contained places. She has two VERY high kitty posts and lots of places she can sleep away from the other cat and my husband and myself. She loves to get pet ONLY in the bathroom after we shower, and every night we go to bed she kneads and purrs between my husband and myself while we fall asleep. She also loves to play in the hallway of our condo without the other cat (Koshya there).

When we come home from work, both cats run to see us. They get a treat and attention. HOWEVER, if we touch or pet Katya she walks away out of arms reach. We assume this is because the other cat is dominant.

Unfortunately, we have noticed that Katya will act out for attention by scratching walls, usually up high when she gets on top of one of our many cabinets. She has two VERY tall kitty posts that she loves and many toys so there is no reason for this except to get our attention. But when we give her attention, she walks away if we pet her more than twice and clearly does not want to be touched. So we play with her and acknowledge her with words and she likes to be in our presense-near us but not being touched. Each hour I try to give her a kiss and a nice word and play with her when she seems active. I am currently working from home so she gets a lot of my attention as does the other kitty.

We have tried to stop her by using cayenne pepper and sour apple spray on the walls (she loves licking these things), liquid air things that blast her with air and an alarm (bought from our vet), sprays of water (even with a bit of vinegar) and she loves being sprayed and playing with anything to do with water, and so we have resorted to using a sharp tone to say no and then holding her in the air away from our bodies as she detests losing her independence. Then we put her in a naughty spot like under the bed. Unfortunately, it seems to us that the negative response is at least a response and she likes the attention. She will sometimes wait until we are watching and usually out of arms reach then she will look at us and start scratching a wall.

Katya has toys, a kitty couch, two tall kitty posts she loves, and two kitty guardians that love her, food and snackjs, and clean litter. She also has a smaller female kitty companion that ignores her most of the time or is not so nice. Katya does get attention on her own terms after showers in the bathroom and at night when we go to bed and each day when we let her run in the hallway without the other cat.

She rebuffs all efforts at our petting and hates being picked up. But she is clearly acting out for our attention. We do know she likes chasing toys so we play with her daily although she loses interest within 5 minutes (we do it anyway).

We love her and will keep her no matter what she does. But to make our home less damaged and to help us meet her need for attention in a positive fashion, how do we get her to stop scratching our walls?