My Cat Has Behavioral Issues, Help!

• I found her when she was 2 months old in an incredibly bad state (infected eye, umbilical hernia, scorched paws, and sprained back leg). She has been sterilized and is completely healthy right now.
• I used to have a older cat but she escaped from the house and it's been 4.5 months since I lost her.
  They were getting along well, but during the last month before my older cat ran off (Tigra), Tigra seemed very annoyed by the kittten's constant pestering.
• She is extremely hyper and very energetic.
• I live in a small house where the kitchen is in the same place as the living room, so we're constantly both there.

• There are two scratch posts in my house but she won't use any of them. I tried catnip, I have been rewarding her whenever she even remotely gets close to any of the scratching posts but to no avail. She has torn my couch in strips.
  
• Extreme gluttony. I don't dare leave any kind of food (not just meat, seriously she has even attempted to eat fruit!) outside. She keeps digging the trash bin, she attacks any unwashed dishes I may in the sink, she won't let me eat in peace. I feed her the recommended amount of food on the label. She even attempts to drink juice, or chocolate, or tea I may be drinking at the time.
  
• Extremely clingy and needy. I can't sit to watch a movie, I can't read a book, I can't work (I work from home on my laptop, apart from my regular 8 hour job) without her constantly pestering me. Playing with her is never enough. No matter how much I play with her each day she constantly wants more. She follows me around the house like there's an invisible rope tying her to my leg. I go to the bathroom and she will stay outside the door, meowing as loud as she possibly can, until I'm out. I'll go out to the balcony to hang freshly washed clothes and she will scream so loud the whole neighborhood can hear her.

• She makes a mess, oh my god, she is capable of bringing the house down. If I forget to hide the trash bin, I'll return home to find all the contents shred to threads. If I forget to hide the kitchen rolling paper, I'll return home to find the floor covered in tiny papers and a non existent rolling paper. Just yesterday, I forgot to hide a bag with toast bread, and I returned home to find it completely covered in bread crumbs, which I spent two good hours cleaning up. She ripped a socket from the wall the other day! She disconnected the phone another time. She throws stuff off the kitchen counter. She upturns her water bowl and there's always fresh water in. She once broke a plate. What if I wasn't home? What if she stepped on glasses and I returned home to find her wounded?

Furballsmom said:

Hello - I'm glad you came here.

First; She needs to eat as much as she can consume, in quite the literal sense, until she is at least a year and half old, probably longer. She requires fuel for all the growth that is going on. She needs both wet food and dry food, by the way, in case you're only feeding her kibble. One of the main reasons she's pestering you so much is that you're the food giver and she's hungry. A lot of her other behavior is stemming from this as well.

Second; Pardon me for saying it this way, but her other normal behavior is normal for a very energetic rambunctious kitten. My suggestion would be to arrange your bedroom so that you can leave her in there, with her toys, a large supply of food and litterboxes so that you don't have to worry about the rest of the house while you're gone. More than likely, she'll grow out of the Tiny Terror-ist stage soon and you'll be able to relax and let her have the rest of the house.

Try some music to help her in the bedroom, although don't have it on all the time. Can you set up a camera so you can watch her during the day? It's entirely possible that she hears you leave, realizes you aren't coming back since you're consistent about going to work, and sleeps until you're due to arrive back home.

Three; you aren't doing anything wrong except not feeding her enough. Be sure and also be attentive to the litterbox daily - more input (food) will mean more output.

Four; find a heavy-bottom water bowl that she can't tip over. Buy some of those child-proofing products that cover the holes in the wall sockets.

Five; see if she'll be more interested in scratching products that lie flat on the floor.

Here are some articles that should be useful to you. They aren't long and they have lots of good info as well as some links to other short but helpful articles

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips)

8 Superb Automated Cat Toys That You're Going To Love!

How To Choose The Best Toy For Your Cat

How To Keep Cats Off Counters And Tables

23 Proven Ways To Stop A Cat From Scratching Furniture

How To Best Take Care Of Cat Claws

How To Stop Your Cat From Scratching The Furniture

Playing With Your Cat: 10 Things You Need To Know

And, for you, if you aren't drinking this already, get some chamomile tea. With a little honey it will help to calm you.

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Kflowers said:

Turn the ceramic planter opening down so it will sink to the bottom of the large planter. Our cats liked to sit on it surrounded by the water.

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war&wisdom said:

Like Furballsmom said, she needs to eat as much as she will consume right now (you really can't just follow labels with a kitten). She's probably hungry. Is she eating kitten food? And is it wet or dry?

She also had a traumatic infancy that you rescued her from, so she may be a little more attached to you than other cats. But most of her behavior does sound like that of a normal, healthy kitten.

Is there a lid on your trash can? I have two kittens of about the same age, and I keep all enticing trash in a can that closes firmly so that they can't dig in it.

Also, are the scratching posts of different kinds? Some cats prefer certain materials (sisal rope vs. carpet vs. cardboard etc.). And having horizontal, vertical, and diagonal options may help.

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war&wisdom said:

I understand your concerns about her gaining weight, but she's still growing, so she really can eat more than you think.

I considered feeding my kittens sterilized kitten food too, but after doing some research, I concluded that the labeling is a marketing gimmick (it's more expensive than regular kitten food and not significantly different in content or quality).

Did you have your other cat from the time she was a kitten? The "gluttony" sounds like a normal, hungry kitten to me.

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Furballsmom said:

If you can achieve a balance where she's eating as much as she needs - you could consider a higher protein lower carb food - and she isn't becoming sloppy-fat, you'll have things well in hand

Try weighing her once a week and keep a log. This kitty is VERY energetic and needs more calories just from that aspect. Also, if she has the genetics of big breed cats in her dna makeup - she could possibly gain a lot of weight in a short period of time, so that is something to keep in mind as well. My neutered boy self-regulates his eating, as did my Maine Coon spayed female. There are other adult cats who are eating machines, it just depends on the cat.

Every cat is different. Try utilizing this chart as well - note that it is for fully mature adult cats.

http://www.activphy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/petweightcart.jpg

Also, you could try a rotation where you're giving her your special food, and then switching with a higher protein food every other day, or week, whatever works.

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

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rubysmama said:

Although she was only 2 months old when you found and rescued her, I wonder if somehow she still remembers being hungry, and that's why she's so food obsessed. That happens a lot with former strays. Most do eventually get over it once they're safe and being fed regularly.

However, like the others mentioned, as a still growing kitten, it's also possible she just needs more food.

About her clingyness, I think that's because she was separated from her mom and siblings so young, and so now she considers you her mommy. Plus she may be lonely now that your other cat is no longer around. (Fingers crossed he's ok, and will return. )

About her getting into things when you're not home, do you have a cat safe room you could put her in? As long as she has food, water, litter box and toys, she'd be fine. And safe.

What kind of scratching posts do you have? Are they made of different materials?

Furballsmom , I think, has covered all the TCS articles that could be helpful, so I won't post any links. Do look at them, though. Most are short, and may have some tips for you.

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Kflowers said:

socket covers, put this into the search in Amazon

Outlet Covers Baby Proofing 50-Pack By Wappa Baby | Safe & Secure Electric Plug Protectors | Sturdy...

It is completely normal for any young creature to get round then a few days later with a growth spurt they are lean, but bigger. My puppy did this twice a month during her first year. She stopped growing at 50 pounds and maintained her weight on her own. She had dry food left out all the time. The same was true for the kittens, who had dry food left out all the time.

If, as an adult, your cat is too heavy, you can put her on a diet, high protein and low carbs works for our current one and she free feeds.

Furballsmom is right, just put her toys, litter box, water bowl (check out dog bowls on Amazon they tend to be weighted better than cat bowls. I did have a cat who pushed the dog bowl everywhere emptying it on the floor. I got a large planter - (put this in Amazon for example, ours was larger - Akro-Mils GAB22000E21 Garden Bowl, chocolate, 22 inch)* use the largest you have room for - and put a heavy 10inch diameter 12 inch high ceramic planter in the bowl. (
Arcadia PSW TD25TC Sleek Bulb Pan, 10 by 5-Inch, Terra Cotta by Arcadia **
She couldn't shove that around. It's a project to change the water, but the water stays in the bowl. Turn the ceramic planter opening down so it will sink to the bottom of the large planter. Our cats liked to sit on it surrounded by the water.


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Despite the pictures in real life the brown bowl should be bigger 22 inches and the terra cotta one smaller at 10 inches. Most garden shops, Home depot etc carry these things.

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sargon said:

Kittens are always difficult. here are a couple of items that helped during my own cat's kitenhood. I'm aware you are in Greece, but i included Amazon links anyhow, so you could look at the items.

If you don't have one, try a Bergan Turbo Scratcher. It combines a ball track that most cats enjoy with a decent sized cardboard scratching surface. additionally, it isn't very expensive. As a kitten, my cat played with hers... a lot.

The best scratching post I know if is The Ultimate Scratching Post, which is large, tall, stable, and covered in sisil cloth instead of rope or carpet. it even includes an optional paltform you can affix to the top, which my cat loves.

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danteshuman said:

I agree with fursballsmom! I would add that sell double sided sticky tape you can attach to your couch to get her to quit scratching it. They also sell vynl couch corner covers on Amazon. Either one would protect your couch. Be sure to get a tall, very sturdy cat tree .... and place it next to the couch.
Those short two foot pole scratchers suck for fully grown cats because they wobble to much. Cats need to be able to climb, jump, borrow and stretch as they scratch.
She sounds like a normal, hungry, bored kitten that needs to learn the house rules...... like every kitten
*eyes the mini rose petals all over my carpet that my 6 month old kitten knocked off my mini rose bush..... then looks at his collection of toys/chew sticks strewn all over the carpet.*

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danteshuman said:

3 kittens 6 months old. The boys (white and grey .... the other is black) are always play fighting. The girl (grey)?Hunts her brother if she spies an opportunity but otherwise stays out of it. Attached are photos of them play fighting.
My point is your girl is at a high energy/high play time in her life. She doesn't have a kitten to hunt/play with. She doesn't have a stay at home mom to entertain her all day. A bored kitty is a very destructive kitty!
I would try a bird feeder in a tree outside, in view of her window (preferably from your room.) I would also play with her in the morning and evening for at least 15 minutes. Interactive toys you rotate and or some puzzle feeders.

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