Hyperactive adult cat

[Prancu]

I'm officially at my wit's end, so I made an account here to ask for advice. I have a 5 yr old tortie who has been super hyperactive and vocal lately. She's always been energetic for an adult cat, but the last couple weeks have been much worse. She's alone until 5 pm 3 days a week , and I understand that means pent up energy (though this schedule has been the same for months, so I'm not sure what has changed). That's why she has many toys she can play with while I'm gone, and as soon as I'm home, I try to dedicate at least the next hour to playing with her (though it's usually much longer). I also try to play with her all day on the days I'm home all day. The problem is, I'm pretty sure she just sleeps while I'm gone. And then when I try to play with her, nothing holds her attention for long before she's off with the zoomies or being destructive. If it was only for that first hour, that'd be one thing. But the hyperactivity lasts all night. From 5 pm to midnight when I finally give up and go to bed. I cycle through toys that whole time, trying to hold her attention and get the energy out in a healthy way. She has every toy imaginable at this point. I've read lists of toys for active cats and tried them all. Nothing works. She has the da bird thing, several ball-in-track pusher things, cat towers/posts, mice, balls, springs, tunnels, several automated toys, the ripple rug, etc etc. I've put toys away for a while in hopes that reintroducing them later will reignite her interest. Nope. She half-heartedly plays for a minute than runs off to destroy something else. I'm just not sure what to do at this point.

I'd like to get another cat to help burn her energy, but she hates other cats. She's super aggressive with all cats, and I'd fear for the other cat. And I have too small of an apartment to keep 2 cats separated for long enough for her to get used to them. I've also tried the feliway calming stuff. It seems to help a bit, but not enough.

I did wonder about a hyperthyroid problem, but she has no other symptoms and she's still a bit young for that. And I take her to yearly vet appointments and they've always said she's very healthy.

So any suggestions?

 

[Mr. Meow]

I'll start out by saying a cat is never too young to have a thyroid issue. While it may be common in older cats, they can actually have thyroid issues at any age. So, out of an abundance of caution, I'd schedule a vet visit and explain your current situation, along with asking specifically to have a thyroid test.
I'm also curious, when you say "destructive", what do you mean? What exactly is she destroying? Knowing what it is could help narrow down a way to solve it.

 

[Prancu]

I'll start out by saying a cat is never too young to have a thyroid issue. While it may be common in older cats, they can actually have thyroid issues at any age. So, out of an abundance of caution, I'd schedule a vet visit and explain your current situation, along with asking specifically to have a thyroid test.
I'm also curious, when you say "destructive", what do you mean? What exactly is she destroying? Knowing what it is could help narrow down a way to solve it.

Pretty much whatever she can. Last night, she was carefully pushing figurines off of shelves. She was also trying to break into the container that holds my wifi router (not sure what she was planning to do there). She pulls dvds off my media tower. One of her favorite past times is jumping to pull magnets off of the fridge. She also likes to get on the fridge and knock everything on it to the floor. Really, she just loves knocking things off of other things. I'm as careful as I can be with breakable stuff (I do not use glass cups for a reason). But 7 straight hours every work night of her seeing what she can climb and push to the floor is a bit much. Plus, the insane running and yowling like she's dying in between. If I knew it was on me for not playing with her enough, that'd be one thing. But I try so hard every night to get her to play with so many different toys. She just would rather get into other things.

 

[Prancu]

Oh also, I've had to child proof my outlets because she insists on trying to electrocute herself by sticking her claws in. The plastic caps are in the outlets now, but she likes to try to pull them out. And chew on cords too. I swear sometimes she's trying to give me a heart attack...

 

[Mr. Meow]

You can try citrus scented spray, whether it be a cleaner, an air freshener etc. Cats tend to not like the smell of citrus, so maybe a quick spray of something on the areas you want her to stay away from could work.
Now, you may have to reapply this for a little while until the areas are no longer interesting to her, but you'll also want to pair the spray with positive places and things she SHOULD be playing with.
Was she ever an outdoor/stray cat at any point in her life that you know of?

 

[Prancu]

You can try citrus scented spray, whether it be a cleaner, an air freshener etc. Cats tend to not like the smell of citrus, so maybe a quick spray of something on the areas you want her to stay away from could work.
Now, you may have to reapply this for a little while until the areas are no longer interesting to her, but you'll also want to pair the spray with positive places and things she SHOULD be playing with.
Was she ever an outdoor/stray cat at any point in her life that you know of?

Citrus spray works sometimes. I went through 3 bottles in December to keep her from eating the tree (interestingly, she had no interest in climbing that). I had 2 different varieties. One that tasted bad and one that smelled strongly of citrus. The smell one didn't phase her. She kept right on going. The taste one worked for a couple weeks with constant reapplications. At the end of December though, she was looking right at me as she licked the freshly sprayed tree with no problem.

And I adopted her as a 4 month old. So if she was an outdoor kitten before the shelter found her, I doubt she remembers. She's always been energetic and stubborn though. I've always blamed it on "tortitude." It's just gotten worse recently...

 

[Mr. Meow]

Ok, so other options can include bubble wrap or aluminum foil. Cats usually tend to dislike walking on those. You can also try the "no scratching tape" and use it as a location deterrent.

 

[LTS3]

Instead of those plastic plugs that go in the outlet, try a different type of child-proofing cover like these:

Electrical cords can be covered with thick plastic tubing. Hardware stores sell flexible plastic tubing in various diameters. The tubing sold for fish tanks are too thin and are easily chewed through by a cat.

 

[Prancu]

Ok, so other options can include bubble wrap or aluminum foil. Cats usually tend to dislike walking on those. You can also try the "no scratching tape" and use it as a location deterrent.

Tried that too. She used to try to claw under my door when I went to bed, destroying the carpet. So I tried the foil and bubble wrap methods, as well as many other methods. She just thought it was fun to walk on it. Luckily, she eventually outgrew that. The anti scratch tape or regular double sided tape also doesn't work. I had a fabric set of drawers she scratched all the time so I tried both. She enjoyed the challenge of pulling it down. One of the rare cats who apparently doesn't mind sticky...The one thing I've found that works is those sssscat motion sensors. But they're expensive, and I already have like 7. I put them where I can, but she just finds new places to go.

 

[Prancu]

Instead of those plastic plugs that go in the outlet, try a different type of child-proofing cover like these:

Electrical cords can be covered with thick plastic tubing. Hardware stores sell flexible plastic tubing in various diameters. The tubing sold for fish tanks are too thin and are easily chewed through by a cat.

That's a good idea. Unfortunately, outlets are only part of the problem (probably the most dangerous problem though)

 

[susanm9006]

I had a cat like yours once and I most certainly understand your exasperation. I actually ended up putting a screen porch on the house so that she could jump and climb on it until she wore herself out.

Lesser expensive things to try. If she is food motivated you can try a food puzzle. They range from quite simple to complicated but it might keep her attention for a while. If you don’t have bird feeders or watering stations, adding those would give her something to watch. Cat videos may also occupy her. And, if you have the right spot like a coffee or end table put as many of her toys up there as you can so she can spend time knocking them off.

As for your things, I used museum putty and Velcro to stick things down because my girl also loved the drop and break game. Setting things inside of baskets also worked.

 

[Prancu]

I had a cat like yours once and I most certainly understand your exasperation. I actually ended up putting a screen porch on the house so that she could jump and climb on it until she wore herself out.

Lesser expensive things to try. If she is food motivated you can try a food puzzle. They range from quite simple to complicated but it might keep her attention for a while. If you don’t have bird feeders or watering stations, adding those would give her something to watch. Cat videos may also occupy her. And, if you have the right spot like a coffee or end table put as many of her toys up there as you can so she can spend time knocking them off.

As for your things, I used museum putty and Velcro to stick things down because my girl also loved the drop and break game. Setting things inside of baskets also worked.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment, so a screened in porch is out of the question. I do want to get a catio someday though, when I have a house. I think that would help a lot with the energy issues. As for the food puzzle, she loves canned food, but doesn't really care about treats or dry food. And I don't know if there are any puzzles that would work with wet food. Let me know if you know of any, though.

I do think I might see if I can find a small bird feeder. I don't know if I'm necessarily allowed to have them in my apartment, but I know the critters outside keep her entertained during the summer. With winter though, there's been nothing around. Maybe a bird feeder will bring in something...

 

[Moggielady]

As for the food puzzle, she loves canned food, but doesn't really care about treats or dry food. And I don't know if there are any puzzles that would work with wet food. Let me know if you know of any, though.

Maybe one of these would work? (Seems to be a review site with videos of each puzzle feeder being tested by cats...) Wet Food Puzzles - Food Puzzles for Cats

 

[Prancu]

This is awesome, thanks! I totally didn't know they made them for wet food. Because I've tried some of the ones for treats and she never even tries to get into them. But she's been obsessed with wet food lately (she gets it as a treat to enhance her dry food), so this might work!

 

[Mr. Meow]

There are bird houses you can suction cup to your window, and you can see inside but they can't see you. Same thing with the bird feeders.

 

[Prancu]

There are bird houses you can suction cup to your window, and you can see inside but they can't see you. Same thing with the bird feeders.

Yeah a coworker just told me she has one of those. I only have a sliding door, so I'd have to keep the screen open on the outside to use it, but I think it might work for the rest of winter at least. Thanks for the links!

 

[Moggielady]

This is awesome, thanks! I totally didn't know they made them for wet food. Because I've tried some of the ones for treats and she never even tries to get into them. But she's been obsessed with wet food lately (she gets it as a treat to enhance her dry food), so this might work!

Fingers crossed, let us know how it goes! I also have a suction-cup Perspex bird-feeder stuck to the window and my cats are obsessed with watching it.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Yeah a coworker just told me she has one of those. I only have a sliding door, so I'd have to keep the screen open on the outside to use it, but I think it might work for the rest of winter at least. Thanks for the links!

I have a bird feeder on the oversized window looking out onto my roof deck.

I removed the inside screen so I could attach a suction cup perch on the opposite side. My kitty loves to sit in that perch and watch the birdies. I thought I might put the screen back up in the spring (so I can open the window) but now I don't think I'll have the heart to take this away from her.

 

[Maurey]

I have a bird feeder on the oversized window looking out onto my roof deck.

I removed the inside screen so I could attach a suction cup perch on the opposite side. My kitty loves to sit in that perch and watch the birdies. I thought I might put the screen back up in the spring (so I can open the window) but now I don't think I'll have the heart to take this away from her.

View attachment 369881

That's a lovely setup! Out of curiosity, what's the weight capacity on that perch? Jum would adore something like it, but I've yet to find anything that would be intended for a Maine Coon sized kitty (13.5 lbs or so).

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

That's a lovely setup! Out of curiosity, what's the weight capacity on that perch? Jum would adore something like it, but I've yet to find anything that would be intended for a Maine Coon sized kitty (13.5 lbs or so).

According to Chewy, it can hold up to 60 pounds. Of course, that presumably doesn't account for the effective force exerted when a cat jumps up there, so you might want to place it somewhere where your cat isn't jumping too far. My kitty is small (7 pounds) but does sometimes bound up there with a good deal of energy; but it's only about 6 inches from my desk, so it works. I have been very impressed with its sturdiness, especially for the price point.

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