First, keep her claws trimmed. Unfortunately, you've learned the hard way what does not work and are causing her a lot of fear unnecessarily. It's not too late to fix this, but it will take time, patience and NO YELLING! :-)

The first thing you'll want to do is purchase a new scratching post that does not resemble the old one. Something tall and stable is your best option unless she is a "horizontal scratcher that likes flat surfaces. Then a flat, *wide* cardboard scratcher might be more appropriate (some cats like both and it doesn't hurt to have several options in different parts of your home.) This post is a favorite in my household: [www.grabcart.com]

The key is to observe the type of surfaces and angle they prefer to scratch at and then provide them things of their own that fit that preference.

Next, you want to place the post close to where she usually scratches. Rub catnip on it and see if you can entice her to use it by dragging a string up the side. Give praise and or treats every time she uses it, but never yell or get visibly frustrated if she doesn't at first. Never try to force a cat to use a post by grabbing their paws and making them scratch. You want them to understand that this is "their" post and make it a pleasurable experience.

If you see her start to use the couch do NOT yell as this creates fear, and this is especially a no-no when you are dealing with a "scaredy-cat." Instead, use a treat and/or a "happy" voice to distract her and then scratch your fingernails on the post and make it look like fun, or use a toy to entice her to come to the post instead. It also helps to cover the areas of the couch she is scratching with double-sided tape or a sheet or throw and make them inaccessible so her only option is the post. Yelling, etc. is not an effective training tool and doing anything that punishes or instills fear for doing what is a natural and necessary behavior is unfair and stressful for cats. Being kind and using gentle, fun persuasion is very effective and, while it is not instantaneous, it does work. It will take some time, especially considering there is some damage to undo, but it is not impossible.

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"Over the same period, there were 2378 positive tests for chlamydia, 1357 for gonorrhoea and 15 for syphilis in Los Angeles County among people describing themselves as adult film performers.

And this is only among people who voluntarily got themselves tested, only in Los Angeles County, only people who listed themselves as adult film performers.

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"AIM Healthcare Foundation is an HIV testing clinic. We serve the Adult Industry, as well as the general public. Quite often, due to the early detection nature of our testing, and the low price, and 24 hour turnaround time for results, the general public with utilize our services. If and when these patients come back positive, THEY ARE ALWAYS REPORTED TO THE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN A TIMELY MANNER, AFTER CONFIRMATORY TESTS RESULTS ARE IN OUR FILES.

Also, while serving the Adult Entertainment Industry, most talent have an HIV test from AIM, to present on the set when they arrive. Typically, in the Heterosexual Porn Industry which does not utilize condoms regularly, folks who desire to be talent will not be hired with an HIV positive test. AIM, continues to follow reporting regulations and does so to the County Health Department, as well as refers Positive patients for desired treatment either private or non profit. This is why they are not "publicized" as they had never fulfilled the desire to work in Adult Entertainment, due to the positive test. These are the two categories that the "16 HIV cases since 2004" are involved. All cases were reported, and referred for treatment."

Further, 2378 positive chlamydia tests over a period of FIVE YEARS in an industry that employs tens of thousands of people is still not shocking to me. AIM tests over 1200 people A MONTH. That's a shockingly low rate of infection. According to Planned Parenthood, one in 5 people are infected with some kind of STD. And according to the NY State Dept of Health, one in 5 teens contracts an STD every year in the US. In, for instance, the state of Illinois alone, JUST in 2005, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health there were 1,880 reported cases of HIV, 28,910 reported cases of chlamydia, 11,653 reported cases of gonorrhea and 489 reported cases of early syphilis. In one year. In Illinois.

So, no, I don't really think there is a rampant STD problem in the adult film industry. I think there is a rampant STD problem in Illinois, and we should all make smug, judgmental comments about how of COURSE the state of Illinois would have an STD problem.

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Yay Zicam!

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Perhaps we should form a support group?

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