Concerned that my 6 month old kitten will grow up to be a problematic cat

Joe_Danger1337

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I know hyperactivity in kittens is normal, in some more so than others.
But as a primarily Persian cat owner and a person who likes his life calm, peaceful and slow, these past few months have been very stressful and often anxiety inducing.
As many of you probably know by now on June 20th we found a barely 3 week old kitten on the street, we looked for its mom but the kitten was in terrible shape with nonstop diarrhea and such. We took her in, she was FIP free, sorted her out and kept her.
For the first 3-4 weeks she was fine, but then....oh boy what we thought was a gray kitten turned out to be a tortoiseshell and those aren't the calmest of cats :) I've talked about the kitten, Spaska, pestering the persians when they dig in the litterboxes, about how she has it in for the mom Persian, Mila and constantly harasses her, even making her faint twice. Mila has had major health issues over the summer and the last thing she needs is stress.
The persians quickly accepted Spaska, but she started bothering them and never stopped.

I don't know where to start anymore
- She is hyper for about 6 hours of the day 3-4 hours in the morning 8AM-11AM or 12PM
- Then sleeps/is mostly calm
- Then starts being hyper at around 8PM and this lasts until 12:30AM or even 1AM sometimes

I play with her A LOT, more so than I'd like to
Sometimes I have no choice but to play with her for 2-3 hours at a time just so she is going to leave the adult cats alone, but when she decides to pester a cat no toy, noise or food in the world can divert her attention form the cat.
I give my cats endless love and I give them as much attention as I can, but spending 6 hours a day playing with a hyper kitten has been exceptionally emotionally draining for me, I keep doing it but I can't keep it up for much longer :(
I can't just leave her to play with the persian when they don't want to play and if I do leave them be, Mila, the mom is the one who suffers.

I've said this before, she shares a VERY STRONG bond with Casper, my big white persian
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They all eat comfortably together and the other cats, when Spaska isn't hyper don't mind sharing the same space with her
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When Spaska is hyper, her main targetis Mila, the mom (first cat form the left, our left in the pic)
Then Kala and finally Casper.
Spaska is 3.2kg
Mila 3.1kg
Kala 3.3kg
Casper 5.5Kg or so I believe he varies between 5.3 and 5.5kg

Spaska outweighing Mila by a bit and being generally VERY strong is no good, because she pins her down, holds her by the scruff and they get into what Spaska clearly sees as a playfight and Mila sees as something stressful and annoying, she fainted twice when trying to escape this grip. They found nothing wrong with her heart or lungs, but her immune system isn't too good.
Anyway she needs rest, less activity and NO STRESS!

THE MOST concerning issue I have with Spaska is her endless biting
She bites casper she grabs his ankles/feet and doesn't let go, he has to drag her around to get rid of her sometimes.
She is very quick to bite just about anyone.
I taught her not to use her claws on me when she was little, I thought we could learn not to bite just as quickly but it's not gotten much better :(

I am very well familiar with techniques, ways to teach cats not to bite and claw and all that hence why teaching her not to use her claws on people took less than 2 weeks if that.
My biggest concern is that she jumps on my mom's ankles, clamps her jaws and doe snot let go no matter what, same as what she does to the cats. My mom understands cats well but she is unable to stay consistent in training them and this isn't going to change.

The way I train her not to bite is, I stop playing or stop using the keyboard/mouse
I say NO and just get up and leave
Same with her jumping on ankles, she rarely jumps on my ankles anymore and when she doe sshe doesn't do the whole grabbing and not letting go she does to my mom, Casper and the girls.

So far, Spaska has never once hissed or growled at anyone
but I'm starting to think that she may grow up to be one of those cats who never really settle down and that concerns me.

I know having a kitten should be fun and enjoyable but to me it has been stressful and not very fun at all
I have beautiful moments with her, but more oftne than not I'm stressed if she is going to harass one of the cats, mainly Mila
if she is going to break something or hurt herself or hurt us.

She is a very loving cat but when she is active she is VERY active and it lasts for hours on end
she has INFINITE energy, to a point where no technique I've read or seen online works on her, nothing tires her out
I can make her jump for an hour straight and she won't tire out.
Running, jumping, nothing tires her out, it's like she is on a timer, she is going to be hyper for 3 hours straight and THEN she is done and that's it.

I have been unable to work for months
I don't even bother picking up gigs now, just waiting for her to grow up
I work as an illustrator and I honestly can't do my work under stress, I did some quick gigs here and there to make some video game money but that was it.

if I sit at the computer she goes absolutely BALISTIC biting, pouncing during her hyper hours
so I entertain her, I play with her, but it's never enough.

I'm sorry for being so negative
I'm just very emotionally tired of spending 4-6 hours a day playing with her :( it's not fun anymore

I tried rehoming her 2-3 times
nobody wanted a hyper kitten like this, plus finding a good home for a cat in my country where people know how to properly treat and raise cats is exceptionally difficult.

I don't want to rehome her
but I worry she might grow up to be one of those cats from hell who attack their owners or something, I don't feel very safe around her when she is hyper at all.

The doors in my apartment/condo don't lock, we're not calling a locksmith to change the locks amidst a pandemic in acountry where over 50% refuse to vaccinate or wear masks, so all I can do is wait this out and Spaska is a pro a topening doors lol
 

Willowy

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I know it seems like a lot, but is it possible to get another kitten about her age and activity level? That way they can tire each other out and hopefully leave the older cats alone.

If not, keep doing what you're doing; she'll calm down eventually. Can you get baby-proofing things for the doors so she can't open them? You can usually order them online and install them yourself, no locksmith needed. That way when she fixates on the older cats, you can pop them into a safe room and keep playing with her yourself, that should save them a lot of stress. You can also try clicker training to tire her mind out as well as her body.

Do you have a balcony or garden you can cat-proof? That should give her enough stimulation to help calm her down.
 
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Joe_Danger1337

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Everything I can, physically and financially I've done already, all we have to do now is wait and hope she settles down.
Initially for the first 4 or even 5 months I had no issues with her being hyper but it's getting exhausting now and it's starting to make me think she may grow up to be one of those problematic cats even tho she can be very affectionate and loving.
Another kitten is not an option, I knew from the start it could help but it's financially and physically impossible for me to keep a 5th cat in such a small apartment, there's no room for any more litterboxes and we don't want overcrowding.
Four cats is too much as is, as I said I was initially only going to foster Spaska but since finding a good new home for her locally proved pretty much impossible she ended up staying.
I love all four cats equally, so her staying is a good thing of course, she just needs to settle down a bit so we can all go about our lives, both cats and people.
 

LightningM

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I have a 3 month old female kitten and boy am I learning how much work it is and how exhausting! I only have the one though and it can definitely be anxiety enduring. I’m seriously considering adopting another kitten for them to tire themselves out. Or as ridiculous as this sounds, should i reunite it with the littermate and mother until it’s a little older or would that confuse the cat? I’m trying to be patient and understand it takes time! I’m just enforcing the NO when it comes to bitching and scratching as well as the spray water bottle when scratching furniture. I hope the cat adjusts with time! I understand where you’re coming from. If anyone has advice I’d appreciate it.
 

vince

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Two is definitely better, if you can afford it. Let them beat up on each other!
 

arr

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Is there any possibility you could do a bird feeder in one of your windows? We set up a bird feeder this summer and it attracts a multitude of birds and squirrels. It keeps our cats occupied for literally hours a day.The other thing I want to mention is that I think your cat will calm down. 6 months is still really young. Our tortoiseshell female was crazy active at that age and into everything. She is still the most active of our cats but around a year to year and a half, she started calming down.
 
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Joe_Danger1337

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I can't do a bird feeder but we have tons of birds arond anyway, they sit and watch sometimes
Spaska needs personal interaction, like today she was an angel all day, normal activity nothing out of the ordinary, she entertained herself mostly.
Then out of nowhere she starts pouncing on Mila the mom after both ate peacefully and groomed next to one another and what not, she decided she wanted to play, Mila does not and then Mila hid in my computer room and started stress eating, something she does every time Spaska pesters her too much.
My point is, Mila as much as she loves Spaska needs peace and quiet, both for her health condition and in general, the stress comes from me having to watch them like a hawk when Spaska is hyper so Mila doesn't faint again as it happened twice, once in September and once in October.

Honestly, knowing how Spaska works, when she gets excited by something she jumps on another cat instantly, so a bird feeder would make it worse.
I did put up a long youtube video with birds on my monitor a few times because Spaska LOVES it when things move fast on the TV/Monitors in the house, she watched for about 2-3 mins and ran off filled with even more energy. :)
 
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Joe_Danger1337

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I have a 3 month old female kitten and boy am I learning how much work it is and how exhausting! I only have the one though and it can definitely be anxiety enduring. I’m seriously considering adopting another kitten for them to tire themselves out. Or as ridiculous as this sounds, should i reunite it with the littermate and mother until it’s a little older or would that confuse the cat? I’m trying to be patient and understand it takes time! I’m just enforcing the NO when it comes to bitching and scratching as well as the spray water bottle when scratching furniture. I hope the cat adjusts with time! I understand where you’re coming from. If anyone has advice I’d appreciate it.
Regarding biting and scratching
the way I taught Spaska not to scratch was to meow/show it hurts, say no and immediately walk away
She was less than a month old and quickly picked up on this.

Biting isn't something she seems to be able to understand, even when Casper meows and walks away she keeps biting and holding onto him, same with people, this is what really worries me.
Granted her bite is much gentler now but it's still not ok of her to do that.

Scratching on furniture, we've long given up on that, I have yet to have a cat I've successfully managed to divert from that.
Casper is the only one who scratches where he is supposed to, the rest....yeah.
I personally wouldn't use a spray bottle, I don't think it's effective, I'd say it's more stressful on the cat than effective but that's a debate that I don't think I'm equipped enough to handle.
From what I understand all they do is learn not to do things in front of you and all the spray bottle does is makes them fear you/the bottle but doesn't change their behavior which only adds to poor behavior in the future.
Some people swear by the spray bottle and don't want to so much as hear me saying anything against it so I dunno anything anymore.
 

Lucy&Petra

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First, you sound exhausted and I am so impressed by how long, despite the sheer exhaustion you must be facing, that you've been diligent and caring towards this excited little rascal!!

Maybe when she's hyper-excited you might buy her a very large playpen (I have a HUGE very inexpensive collapsable pen I have in my house, we don't ever close it, just leave it out in one of our rooms for them to play in and sleep in whenever they feel like it, and it was very inexpensive, check Amazon) and put a few toys in there with some treats and let her get some play energy out in there. Put a kicker toy, a plush little fluffy ball, something that makes a squeak noise, and make sure the playpen is pretty large so she can run around. (I put a very thick blanket at the bottom of ours, for extra comfiness).
 
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Joe_Danger1337

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Thanks :) I don't care about anything other than my cats being happy and healthy so to me, Spaska's wellbeing is a priority. Strangely enough after I made this topic she hasn't once had a 3hour twice a day hyper period, just normal hyperactivity and normal playtimes lol
As for a playpen we don't have enough room it's a very smal lapartment hence why we can't have a 5th cat, but toys she does have, still the live cats are more entertaining than the toys.
I even have a realistic toy cat I bought when I was a kid but Spaska pays it no mind.

Over the summer Mila had major health issues, but I spent a ton of time with Spaska and the other cats as well regardless of how difficult the situation with Mila was, I can't imagine neglecting any of my cats, they mean the world to me.

One thing people find strange about me is
say a cat poops at night, I'm a light sleeper and I hear it, I immediately get up and scoop it up because I don't want them having poop in their litter boxes. I've never ONCE had a problem with this.
When I had a CRF cat some years back, for the 2.5 years she lived with CRF I never once had a problem getting up at night, giving her water form the tap because that's how she wanted it.
So when I say I'm exhausted from a cat....that cat must be REALLY exhausting :)

I just hope there's never a situation again where Spaska harasses Mila enough to a point where she'd faint again or worse, other than that everything she does for now is fine and will pass in time.
 
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