Hyperactive Tortie

[abby-anne]

I have adopted a three year old tortie from the local shelter. When I first met her, she seemed reserved and very timid--afraid of loud noises and sudden movements. I did not see her meow even once during the four times that I went to visit her before making the decision.

Now, what I have noticed is this: Her personality is not what I expected it to be. I guess you never really know with animals that come from the shelter though! After a few weeks, she seems to have settled in, and we now have a routine with feeding. She will usually sleep from 11:30pm-4, and if I feed her right at 4, she will (hopefully) leave us alone until 7 am.

However, she is bouncing off the walls constantly, and it is like the usual 2 hour cat zooms are actually 5 hours long, two or three times a day, non-stop. She does not usually have a long nap during the day either, and even when she has a proper sleep in the evening, if she hears us leave the bedroom at all, she will be up and alert again.

I have never owned a cat with this much energy before. Our apartment is pretty spacious and we have a large staircase that goes down to a small room where her litter box is, so she has a lot of room to run around, and there are *so* many cat toys around. We also have a few very large windows for her to sit in so she can look at birds.

I think I must have played with her for 3.5 hours yesterday (on and off in the evening and during the day). Before sleep, I make her chase her string toy until she falls over on the carpet from exhaustion. However. It seems like after an hour or two, she is ready to go again and really *needs* someone to be playing with her.

I guess I am wondering what to do. It is okay for us to play throughout the day several times, but she is definitely disrupting our sleep, and working from home has been a challenge. At 7 am, she will start to gallop around the apartment, meowing and jumping until I let her in. I have been trying to keep her out of the room until she stops meowing to get in, but she is so disruptive outside the door that I know the neighbors can definitely hear the loud thumps and bangs (we have hardwood floors).

I know that her being a stray before, indoor life must not be as interesting as outdoor life. It seems like she is the type of cat that absolutely needs to go outdoors given how much energy she has, but I am afraid of letting her out at this point, because I am not sure if she would come back. We do not have a second cat, and I don't think we could adopt another right now. I am wondering if bringing her outside on a harness would be a good idea, but I have never had to do that before.

I guess my question is: how can I calm her down? Is hyperactivity in a 3 year-old cat normal? Are there foods that are calming for cats?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[abby-anne]

I should also note that she is giving us "love bites" (mostly me) on my feet and legs when they are bare. She even bites my elbows when I am asleep.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Sounds like she is just a very energetic cat and might be a bit bored, despite the amount of time you spend playing with her. Have you considered buying some automated toys that might help to distract her when you are not in a position to play with her? A cat tree by a window, in addition to what you already have, might help to entertain her as well.

She also sounds like she needs some boundaries set in terms of disturbing your sleep and to help stop the unwanted biting.

You need to set up an established, consistent correction process for her biting - if you don't want her to do it. You can try hissing, or a firm 'No', or even a squeal to let her know you don't want her to bite. Whatever you choose, stick with it and don't change the reaction so that she starts to learn that particular noise you are making is telling her no.

If that alone doesn't work, you will have to follow up the noise by picking her up and putting her in time-out for a couple of minutes, then let her out and ignore her for a couple more minutes. If she immediately goes back to biting, you must immediately repeat the correction process - over and over and over again, until she 'gets it'.

I've included some TCS articles that might give you some ideas on how to entertain her and curb some of her behavior.

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

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

I am sure as she ages, she will settle down some - and like most of us, you will one day miss her crazies!!

 

[susanm9006]

When she plays with you or tries to nip you, give her a warning like “no biting” and put her on the floor. The second time you shut her out of your bedroom until you are ready to get up. Yes, she will meow and generally pitch a fit but you have to ignore it. If you do this consistently she will learn that if she want to stay in your room she must be quiet.

As far as her activity level, some cats are just hyperactive. But I think having come from a shelter she is enjoying her freedom to run and play. She may calm down once she settles in more and gets all the pent up zoomies out.

 

[SDerailed]

This sounds like my Salem..AKA ,"Baron Von Weeeeeeeeee". Lord, he is a terror. I'd spend 6 hours before bed playing with him, but he would calm down ever! We had to get another cat of his age and energy. Once we did that, life returned to normal.