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- Feb 4, 2022
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I think I own one of the world's most difficult cats ever, LOL. My 3-year old black domestic shorthaired male cat Boaz has been raised indoor only. I'm a first-time indoor cat owner. I've lived with cats for most of my life, but he's the first one that is actually mine.
Boaz is a self-serving control freak!
Boaz has his own litter box, but if he's in the living room, he prefers to pull past the grate to our fireplace and go potty in the fireplace, so I have to keep him out of the dining room and living room when I'm not watching the area (which is most of the time).
Boaz eats plenty of cat food each day, he gets treats, and he goes on leashed walks outside where he gets to fulfill his hunting instinct chasing after small wild animals on our 2 acres of land. In the house, he still prefers to be in his most favorite room- the kitchen. In the kitchen, he dives into the sink to lick dirty dishes (there are 4 humans in the house, so we always have dirty dishes in the sink), counter surfs, climbs up on shelves and in cupboards and knocks breakable items to the floor, and pulls past the child-proof latched cupboard and digs out the trash.
I try to get him to play with his variety of cat toys, but he's a picky player and a not-so-picky eater. Toys don't hold his attention long AT ALL. He usually wants to go back to the kitchen and hunt for food.
We have other cats in the house, 2 young ones his age: my brother's cat Asher and my Dad's cat Posie. Boaz's relationship with both cats fell apart over the course of 2-3 years. Why? I don't know exactly, but my guess is because he has no respect for other people's or other cat's wishes.
I think the reason why some people think, "The cats will resolve their differences themselves" is because in some cases, it's true, cats do. However, not all cats will always respect other cats enforcing boundaries. If one cat disciplines the offending cat with a hiss, growl, or smack, and the offending cat rarely causes a problem with the other cat from then on, then you can be sure that the offending cat and the offended cat resolved their quarrel. However, and this is what Boaz did with Asher and Posie, if the offending cat gets reprimanded by the other cats over and over again in a short period and he still keeps up his pushiness, the offending cat is not getting the message. At this point, if the humans don't step in and redirect/remove the offending cat, the hostility is going to grow and grow until the other cats hate the offending cat because the offending cat won't take "no" for an answer.
Because Boaz is SO destructive, mischievous, and making himself sick from constantly getting into garbage, I'm now at the point where the only "Boaz-proofed" room there is around here is my bedroom. I spend most of my work time in my bedroom (I work at home) and keep Boaz shut in there with me. He still is allowed to go about other parts of the house each day, but only when I'll be there to supervise him.
I can tell he hates having to spend so much time shut in my bedroom. When I have to leave him there and I'm not in there, sometimes he will just sleep, but other times, he'll start yelling high-pitched squeaky meows. I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM! I feel like a horrible cat owner.
I've lived with cats for most of my life, but really my specialty is dogs. (I owned a dog for 6 years before I got Boaz.) I feel like certain dogs are easier to manage than indoor cats. I'd love to hear input from other indoor cat owners on this forum and hear what you all have done to make living with indoor cats easy and enjoyable for everyone involved. Whether you have just one indoor cat or multiple indoor cats, I'd love to learn from you!
Thanks for your feedback!
Oh yeah, I should add that since Boaz's relationship with our other 2 young cats fell apart, I have to keep him separated from Posie entirely. I have to keep Boaz away from Asher unless I'm there to watch closely and engage them in treat time. So, when I hear Boaz having a fit and feeling very lonely and bored in his room, I'd love to be able to put one of our other cats in there with him, but right now that's not an option. I'm hoping that if I can successfully reintroduce Posie and Boaz and get Posie to be accepting of him again, that I'd be able to have her around him more often. When she and he accidentally meet each other in the house, most of the time he doesn't try to go for her.
When Boaz meets Asher, though, he will fixate on him and try to attack him. EVEN WHEN I HAVE ASHER IN MY ARMS Boaz will look like he wants to attack him, following me around and not taking his eyes off of Asher.
Boaz is a self-serving control freak!
Boaz has his own litter box, but if he's in the living room, he prefers to pull past the grate to our fireplace and go potty in the fireplace, so I have to keep him out of the dining room and living room when I'm not watching the area (which is most of the time).
Boaz eats plenty of cat food each day, he gets treats, and he goes on leashed walks outside where he gets to fulfill his hunting instinct chasing after small wild animals on our 2 acres of land. In the house, he still prefers to be in his most favorite room- the kitchen. In the kitchen, he dives into the sink to lick dirty dishes (there are 4 humans in the house, so we always have dirty dishes in the sink), counter surfs, climbs up on shelves and in cupboards and knocks breakable items to the floor, and pulls past the child-proof latched cupboard and digs out the trash.
I try to get him to play with his variety of cat toys, but he's a picky player and a not-so-picky eater. Toys don't hold his attention long AT ALL. He usually wants to go back to the kitchen and hunt for food.
We have other cats in the house, 2 young ones his age: my brother's cat Asher and my Dad's cat Posie. Boaz's relationship with both cats fell apart over the course of 2-3 years. Why? I don't know exactly, but my guess is because he has no respect for other people's or other cat's wishes.
I think the reason why some people think, "The cats will resolve their differences themselves" is because in some cases, it's true, cats do. However, not all cats will always respect other cats enforcing boundaries. If one cat disciplines the offending cat with a hiss, growl, or smack, and the offending cat rarely causes a problem with the other cat from then on, then you can be sure that the offending cat and the offended cat resolved their quarrel. However, and this is what Boaz did with Asher and Posie, if the offending cat gets reprimanded by the other cats over and over again in a short period and he still keeps up his pushiness, the offending cat is not getting the message. At this point, if the humans don't step in and redirect/remove the offending cat, the hostility is going to grow and grow until the other cats hate the offending cat because the offending cat won't take "no" for an answer.
Because Boaz is SO destructive, mischievous, and making himself sick from constantly getting into garbage, I'm now at the point where the only "Boaz-proofed" room there is around here is my bedroom. I spend most of my work time in my bedroom (I work at home) and keep Boaz shut in there with me. He still is allowed to go about other parts of the house each day, but only when I'll be there to supervise him.
I can tell he hates having to spend so much time shut in my bedroom. When I have to leave him there and I'm not in there, sometimes he will just sleep, but other times, he'll start yelling high-pitched squeaky meows. I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM! I feel like a horrible cat owner.
I've lived with cats for most of my life, but really my specialty is dogs. (I owned a dog for 6 years before I got Boaz.) I feel like certain dogs are easier to manage than indoor cats. I'd love to hear input from other indoor cat owners on this forum and hear what you all have done to make living with indoor cats easy and enjoyable for everyone involved. Whether you have just one indoor cat or multiple indoor cats, I'd love to learn from you!
Thanks for your feedback!
Oh yeah, I should add that since Boaz's relationship with our other 2 young cats fell apart, I have to keep him separated from Posie entirely. I have to keep Boaz away from Asher unless I'm there to watch closely and engage them in treat time. So, when I hear Boaz having a fit and feeling very lonely and bored in his room, I'd love to be able to put one of our other cats in there with him, but right now that's not an option. I'm hoping that if I can successfully reintroduce Posie and Boaz and get Posie to be accepting of him again, that I'd be able to have her around him more often. When she and he accidentally meet each other in the house, most of the time he doesn't try to go for her.
When Boaz meets Asher, though, he will fixate on him and try to attack him. EVEN WHEN I HAVE ASHER IN MY ARMS Boaz will look like he wants to attack him, following me around and not taking his eyes off of Asher.
