Chronically bored and destructive

[kafeid]

Last August I adopted a high energy cat that has turned out to be a lot of trouble. He is about a year and a half old now, very friendly and affectionate, but incredibly needy. He follows me everywhere, even into the shower! I'm fine with that. The trouble is that when he's not following me, he's begging me to play, or milling about the house, whining and looking for something to break. He loves pushing things off tables, smashing dishes, pulling down pictures, and has lately begun toppling lamps and climbing the living room television. He breaks into the cupboards to steal food and drags it around the house. If he's alone in a room with me, he'll bounce off me or even jump on my head. It's gotten to the point that I live in constant anxiety about where he is and what trouble he's getting into.

I can't seem to play with him enough to keep him happy. On top of this, he has a lot of toys, but he's fussy about what he'll play with. He only likes feathered toys, but gets territorial when he catches them, tries to eat them and claws anyone that tries to take them away. He has a cat around his own age he plays with often. I take him for walks outside on a harness and leash a few times a week. He has windows to look out of. I clicker train him and fill a puzzle box for him to play with. I do the positive reinforcement thing and let him know I'm unhappy when he does something inappropriate. I don't know what else I can do! I have some health issues that make my own energy levels erratic, and the fact is I just don't have enough energy to satisfy him. I think he has a wonderful home, but he just seems so...unhappy. Understimulated. Cooped up. In a two-story house!

My husband and I have gone to some lengths to accommodate him: We put away breakables and edibles and the plastic bags he loves to get into, but he still seems to find things to break, and the trouble is that we live in our in-laws house, and they are not willing to inconvenience themselves for a cat. He's one accident away from getting himself kicked out.

Is there something more I could be doing? Would he be happier in another home?

 

[otto]

What are you feeding them?

My suggestion would be to look at his diet. There may be something in his food causing him to feel unsettled. A diet change, eliminating certain ingredients, may help. It will take time to find the culprit and to make the changes, and to see improvements, but what else do you have with him but time, after all.

(I am assuming he is neutered?)

 

[kafeid]

That's something I hadn't considered, Otto. He's had soft or runny stool that smells bad since I got him. He did have worms when the vet saw him last month; he should probably get a check up. He's neutered, and as for the soft stool, the vet recommended metamucil but otherwise didn't seem concerned, but I doubt that means there couldn't be an unaddressed, underlying problem. Our cats are on Purina Pro Weight Management formula because it's been the best match for us in terms of protein content and affordability. I'd be willing to try feeding him a better, more expensive diet to see if it improves his digestive health and attitude, if I could feed him separately. (Because of the cost.) But I don't know how to do that? How could I keep him from eating the dry food we leave out for the other two? I'm not just asking idly; I've actually thought about it for quite a while and have not been able to work out the logistics of feeding our cats different diets.

 

[txcatmom]

I'd be willing to try feeding him a better, more expensive diet to see if it improves his digestive health and attitude, if I could feed him separately. (Because of the cost.) But I don't know how to do that? How could I keep him from eating the dry food we leave out for the other two?

How about scheduled meals for everyone, with the other cats still eating their same food, just not having a bowl out all the time.  It is a change for them to go from free feeding to scheduled meals, but many cats have gone through it just fine.  But you are right....no way to keep him from a bowl of food that is left out for the other cats. 

As far as the behavior, just wanted to say that it sounds like you are doing so many of the right things.  I can't think of anything to add, but I'm linking my favorite cat blog.  She writes about cat types and your guy definitely sounds like what she calls an alpha type.  (She does not use the term in the traditional way....it is often used to mean a dominant cat.)  Anyways, if you read through all her posts about alpha cats maybe something would be helpful.  She is very insightful about cats and meeting their needs.  Good luck.

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/cat-types

Edited to add....I was thinking about it and my Leo has some of the same restless, bored tendencies as your cat (not to the same extreme.)  There could be something to the food, because he gets especially restless when he is hungry.  He will start chewing on my paperwork on my desk and seems really out of sorts when he is hungry.  Anyways, if the purina kibble doesn't have all the meaty nutrition he is craving, maybe it could lead to a sort of chronic state of restlessness.  It makes sense, I guess, since they would need to feel restless and get off their duffs to catch a mouse in the wild.  I'd try a good grain free meaty canned food.

He only likes feathered toys, but gets territorial when he catches them, tries to eat them and claws anyone that tries to take them away.

My Leo is the same way about his "DaBird" feather toy.  He wants nothing more than to drag it to a corner and eat it after he catches it.  I can't let him do that, of course, if for no other reason than the cost of replacement feathers.  With Leo, I've taken to pushing the feathers into his mouth to get him to let go (pulling doesn't work....just makes him bite down harder.)  But I do fear for the safety of my hand sometimes since he is in full growling mode.  Sometimes I have to grab the treat jar for him to let go.  Actually ending this sort of "hunting" play with a meaty treat is recommended, since hunts would end with food in the wild.  How about loading your pocket with a few treats before your feather toy play with him?  Then each time he catches it he would get a bite of food and you could get him  to release the feathers.  I know how exasperating it can be, but I'd hate to see you give up on interactive play....it is so important for this type of kitty. 

 

[kafeid]

Thanks, txcatmom. So, cats will eat dry food on a schedule? Well, I'll try it...

I am liking that blog. I don't think of him as a particularly intelligent creature (not like our big, sleepy cat that taught himself to open both lever-handle doors and standard knob-handled doors) but otherwise, he does sound like her description of an alpha cat. He's a climber, too. He loves to jump from the bottom landing of the stairs to the top floor, tight-rope walk the fence at the top, then jump down to do it all again. Personally, I'd rather this be an upset stomach than his personality, though! I have never encountered such a demanding, energetic cat and just don't have the energy for it.

 

[txcatmom]

I keep thinking of more things, just edited my post with a tip to help him let go of his feather toys. 

 

[kafeid]

I appreciate your thought on the matter, truly. Hearing about your Leo with his toy gives me hope. I'll get another feather toy and some treats and see if I can persuade him to let go. He's pretty food motivated, so it might work. I wish I were better at keeping the toy from him, but he's a crack shot when it comes to that thing... lol.

 

[minka]

Does he like other toys with feathers? Could you find some and throw them for him? If you are doing clicker training, maybe you could also teach him to fetch and drop it?
You said he climbs the stairs a lot, does he have other places to climb on? Like a cat tree or shelves?
It seems like you are doing a Lot of things for him, we just have to figure out what one thing that will get him entertained for long enough to be satisfied. Which by the way, when you play Da Bird with him, you don't want to stop till he is Pooped. Try not to let him catch it too often if he just likes to take it away and not let go. Make him jump for it and run around really good. I like just trailing it behind me and running around the living room. Kinda like track racing xD

As for the food, I think you might be able to choose one that is a similar price but better protein. I say better because even though it's 46% protein, the majority of that is from the rice and soy, not the meat. I don't buy dry food anymore, so I can't recommend foods by price, sorry :-(
Another suggestion so you don't have take up the dry food would be to just supplement his diet with more protein. Either in the former of canned food or raw meat added to his normal diet. Now of course.. This would only work if he would self regulate. If he eats the same amount Plus extra, that wouldn't be any good.

 

[tammyp]

Wow Kafeid,  yes you are doing so many of the right things!  And txtcatmom, wayofcats is surely my favourite cat info blog.  We have an alpha cat too, and are familiar with the astonished exhaustion and 'what more can I do' that I'm reading here!!  In our case, daily 1hr walk, 2-3hrs of interactive high energy play aiming for at least 3 'flops' of  tongue sticking out panting.  We were and are convinced that he doesn't sleep anywhere as much as he should!  But, hey, we signed up for it

What doesn't sound familiar is the discontent/restlessness.  Kato is a happy contented thing if he's had his activity and he'll tell you for sure if you haven't given it to him.  He has never gone around knocking things over (but I think in his case its his breed; super energetic, but also gentle and careful and very dextrous not to knock things over).  It sounds like the food suggestion is a good thing to investigate.  We feed 1xcan and the rest raw.  With a high quality meat protein, the stools will be harder (and on full raw, they don't smell). And as you know, meat protein is what gives them that feeling of satiety.

Being ill is hard with this type of cat.  We have chronic illness in our house too, but somehow, manage between us, to cater for Kato.  We are working on getting him a like-minded playmate - but wow, you already covered this!

The only thing I can think of to say, is that sometimes it doesn't work out.  Pamela, the lady who writes way of cats, has experienced this.  The alpha cat for whom they found a better home was called 'Ordell' and the second post tells a bit of his story - follow the links for more:

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/dear-pammy-i-give-up/17493

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/the-energetic-cat/1310

 

[orientalslave]

One thing you might be able to do is make an outside enclosure for him - the larger the better.  It would need some shade, some high-up resting places and things to play in and around.

You can also try putting his dry food in various places around the house so it takes him time to find it, and as he gets better at that start putting it in things he has to work at to get it out of.

Has he been wormed?  If not I'd suggest he needs it, plus possible a faecal to test for the other things - giardia, coccidia, T. fetus and camphylobacter all come to mind as possible causes for the nasty stools.

He might also like raw chicken wings which are messy to eat, but take quite some time compared to wolfing down a plate of wet food.

When you play with him, see how long you actually play for.  10 minutes or more works better, but feels an awful long time to be twitching a finshing rod toy.  When you put it away give him a treat.

His diet might be part of it, but in the main I think you have a very bright, energetic and easily bored cat. 

 

[kafeid]

Minka: Yes, he does have a Play N' Squeak bird he loves to chase (and, importantly, doesn't try to eat). I'll see if he can learn to fetch! I've avoided it because it seems like it would be too hard to teach him to do, but that's what I thought about all the other tricks he knows Upon your prompting, I am putting together a material list and planning a trip to Habitat for Humanity next weekend so I can build him some carpeted shelves to climb on downstairs. I've been meaning to do it for forever (I even got a power drill for Christmas) and we have so much unused wall space down there. I've been intimidated by putting together a cat tree in the past, but after thinking about it, I think just some carpeted boards at different elevations would thrill him. I mean, that's basically all the stair landing is.

tammyp: Over 4 hours of direct interaction and play a day? Oh my goodness, I love this cat, but I know I couldn't do that. I'm going to try everything I can to accommodate this little guy before I attempt to rehome him, but I admit that the thought has come up, and it's made me feel like a failure. When I adopted him, I wanted an intense cat that needed a lot of attention, but I wasn't expecting this.

I am looking at Evo wet food. Is this a good brand? Grain free, 95% meat, and it looks like I could feed him for under $40 a month, which is doable.

I lucked out with how well my girl gets along with him. Before we got him she was a handful, still full of kitten energy and wanting to swat at everything and everyone. She's since calmed down, and while she gets excited when the toys come out, otherwise all of her needs for play are met by chasing him around the house. She hated him at first, and now she follows him everywhere. I caught them sleeping together on the kitchen counter yesterday, which was both infuriating and adorable. (I'm afraid she's picked up some of his bad habits.) But in terms of a playmate, she's good for him, but I think he's even better for her!

 

[kafeid]

I'd consider an enclosure, but I'm concerned about the cats that hang out in our yard. They're friendly enough with people, but they're unneutered and clearly don't receive vet care, considering how mangy they look, and how one carried around a mangled paw for a week.  

He did get a fecal test, which showed worms, which he took dewormer for. Does he need to go back for a follow-up to make sure the worms are gone? This is the first cat I've had that has received regular vet care and I don't know the drill.

I have some good news! I got a new feather toy, and for whatever reason, this one is harder for him to catch. But the best part is, when he did catch it, I pushed it into his mouth and he released it! For the first time ever, we were able to get in a really good, intense play session. I followed it up with a spoonful of Blue's Wilderness wet food I picked up at the store, and while he was eating, my little girl kitty ran up and stole his food and growled. Which has NEVER happened before. I think they must really like it. I hope this improves his attitude tonight.

 

[txcatmom]

Wow!  So good that the worms were detected and he got dewormed.  I'd ask the vet if there needs to be a follow up test.  Sometimes there needs to be a second dose of dewormer about three weeks later too.  I'd definitely follow up on that and ask the vet.

Also, did you ask the vet if your other cats need to be dewormed?  I think sometimes that is done, just assuming that if they share a litter box they may have gotten the same worms.  (But I don't know all the procedures for worm issues.)

I'd be concerned about the cats hanging out in your yard too.  My fear would be that being up close and personal with them would make him (or the other cats) stressed and start spraying or something.  But fleas or other contagious things could be an issue too.

That's great that you had a good play session.  You do want him to catch it some so he feels fulfilled after the "hunt."  But that's great that you were able to get him to let go.  Glad they liked the food too! 

 

[tammyp]

Hey that sounds really positive Kafeid!  And it's awesome that you have so much height and wall space that you can use to create a kitty wonderland!  There are so many good ideas for making cat friendly spaces (which use energy!).  If you haven't already, check out the Japanese cat houses...it sounds like you are a handy person...

Yes, around 4hrs is a lot!  It's one of the reasons we are getting him a playmate; also so we can leave him more easily for holidays.  Glad your two are working together to play and help wear each other out!  In case it helps, these are the toys we use.  I am blessed that my husband can think of thousands of 'new' play things or ways of playing, so maybe this might give you a few things to try when you feel inspiration is exhausted and the cat is not!

Kato's Furniture: 7ft cat tree, tall bar stool with fluffy cover, ikea 'staircase' storage with the stairs carpeted.  Unfortunately we rent, so everything has to be free-standing.  We also have the very small courtyard entirely enclosed with chicken-wire so Kato can't get out and other cats can't get in.  A cat tunnel, cat cube, and two carpet off-cuts.  Several cardboard boxes with various holes cut in them.

Uses:  Play on the furniture with a wand toy involving leaping and climbing.  Position the furniture (along with chairs and couches) to create a circuit (even the dining room chairs arranged in a circle work).  Kato goes bananas flying around the circuit after a toy.  Hide the wand toy in the cube and through the tunnel - flying leaps that crush these things will result.  Make the wand toy hide under that carpet - can't be resisted!  'Hump' the carpet by putting something under it, or stand with your feet pressing up the carpet so it holds the tunnel-hump.    Kato wears himself out grabbing toys on the 'hump', worming through or hiding under the carpet 'tunnel', and loves to rabbit kick the humped carpet.  You can also use cushions, blankets, pillows so the wandtoy can 'hide'.  Remember that stealthy hunting wears out a cat just like crazy aerobics as it exercises the mind.   Remember that for some reason, any time you change the environment, the play is refreshed.  Change the normal room you play in.  Race around the house and up and down the stairs.  Play in the garden.  Add another element - shopping bags, drycleaning bags (always watch to avoid suffocation/ingestion of plastic bags - we put away after supervised play), shoe boxes, backpacks, sheets of wrapping paper/packaging stuff, even hide the wandtoy in a SHOE, or down the crack of a couch, between the wall and your bed etc...Make the wand toy make small noises by rattling it on plastic/cardboard/wood.  Also I've noticed 'trash-talk' winds Kato up!!  Its hilarious when my husband has the wand toy, but adds the verbal element, for example 'the mouse is in your house, what you gonna do? Ooh its a nice house!  Can you get me, can you get me?', or he makes ridiculous 'squeaks' as he dashes around with a toy.

Best wand toys:  

-Da-bird (of course) with every kind of attachment.  They have fluffy feathers, fur, glitter streamers (a current fave).  Now make your own (the attachment is provided on the original toy, so its really easy).  We go to haberdashery stores and get all sorts of fur trim, feathers, sparkly faux diamonte mesh.  Also, attach crushed paper, cardboard clothing tags, bread-bag clips, a small bell (I think originally from his walking harness), a hair elastic (make sure they don't eat it!)

-Neko flies.  A lot can be broken by an energetic cat - the only one that survived is the rat.  The pole and string certainly arent as easy to move as Da-bird, but you can just put the rat on the Da-Bird apparatus.

-Go Cat Cat Catcher and Cat Dancer.  There's one with a small mouse (awesome - reattach on Da-bird if the wire 'string' concerns you).  There's also one with a long streamer of multi-coloured material.  This is another fave - its very soft and stretchy.

- Long feathers eg: ostrich plumes, peacock feathers. REAL feathers that you find outside - if you're worried about cleanliness, freeze them for a few days.

- A stick of lemon grass (crazy I know, but some cats get super stimulated by the smell.  Kato is genetically non-aroused by catnip, but goes crazy over lemongrass.  Careful not to cut your hands on it as it is rough)

Best other toys:

-For 'fetch' or 'throwing and you race the cat to retrieve': hair elastics, pipe-cleaners twisted together to make a 'spider' thing, balled up paper or aluminium foil, ping-pong balls, fluffy mice or bigger 'rats', the cord-handles from fancy gift-bags

-For when you just can't move much... Nanobugs!! There are also bigger spiders and crabs and stuff, but the hex nanobugs are the best.

Best other games:

- Chasey

-Hide and seek chasey 

Sorry for the HUGE list!  Hopefully it will give you a few more ideas to try.  Lastly, just for fun, if you want to see our Kato, this is one of the ways we wear him out: