Manyyy behavioral problems.

[laceaface]

Let me tell you about Ava. She is half-Siamese, and was primarily an outside cat for most of her first 5 months, before I got her. She is now 11 months old, we love her to death, and getting rid of her is not an option. But she has so many behavioral problems, it is extremely frustrating and something needs to be figured out.

1. She yowls all night, most nights.
2. She steals everything that moves and hides it under the couch. Mostly bottle caps. Tolerable, because it is kind of adorable.
3. She digs her claws in extremely hard when you pet her.
4. She always wants you to pet her, and once you start, she rubs her head all over your face. This is also more tolerable.
5. She digs almost all of her litter out of the box and onto the floor, multiple times daily. This is ridiculous and EXTREMELY frustrating.
6. We have to keep the bedroom doors closed at night because she attacks feet under blankets.
7. WORST OF ALL, in the past month, she has been getting her feces out of her litter box and playing with it in the bathroom. This also causes her to dump her food and water out from trying to get at what she has knocked underneath the bowl. It is disgusting, and she will not stop.

If anyone has any advice at all, it would be very much appreciated!!

She has not been fixed, at this point, by the way.

 

[rad65]

The excessive yearning for pets and affection and the night yowls sound like a cat in heat, you should get her spayed ASAP and it will remove a lot of your problems. Also, it will prevent her getting pregnant if she escapes at some point and it is healthier for her in general. She will cycle in and out of heat very frequently and you will have these problems until she is spayed.

After you get her spayed, most of these problems sound like you just need to play with her more. Kittens are full of energy, and the playing with poop is generally a sign of a bored cat. You're also in pretty much the most energetic part of her life right now. You should have some vigorous play sessions multiple times a day until she is tired every time. My kitten will start to pant and I know he's had enough. Also, if the yowling is energy related and not hormone related, try having a long play session with her a little before you go to bed. The overactiveness might be related to her being a stray, since she grew up constantly wandering around outside for 5 months, then during the most energetic part of her life she finds herself indoors.

As for the hiding things under the couch, that's a cat being a cat. My kitten will chew up any toilet paper roll or napkin, and will run away with keychains, bottle caps, and anything else he can get his adorable grubby little jaws around. The same goes for the litterbox, a lot of cats have inexplicable litterbox habits like digging, sprinting out after use, patrolling other cats using the box, etc.

 

[Willowy]

I agree that the yowling and being overly affectionate are probably caused by her being in heat. Having her spayed will fix that. Although Siamese are by nature vocal cats, so no guarantees on what she'll find to yowl about next! But the constant rubbing should stop and the yowling should be reduced, at least. I'd recommend having that done ASAP, you don't want her to cycle in and out of heat for too long, it's not healthy for her.

The litter issues would likely be fixed by getting a deeper box. . .an 18-gallon sterilite tote is only about $5 at most stores, and a young athletic cat should have no problem jumping in so you don't even need to cut a hole. Just pour the litter in, don't put the top on, and voila! a dig-proof litter box! She can dig all day and all night and most of the litter will stay in. She'll have a much harder time fishing poop out from a deep box, too.

As for the kneading, I don't know of anything that will stop that. Trimming her nails will help. . .if you don't know how, ask the vet or groomer to show you how to do it. Soft Claws can be applied for longer-lasting scratch prevention.

The rest of it is pretty normal kitten behavior, especially for a high-energy breed like a Siamese. Does she have a lot of toys? Do you play with her often? Laser pointers and fishing-pole type toys are great for wearing an energetic kitten out.

 

[ldg]

You can even buy a deep sterlite box, leave the top one, and cut a large hole in it if just a deep box doesn't do the trick.

But basically, I think she needs to be spayed, as the others have pointed out.

 

[my4llma]

Is she spayed? If not at 11 months old she is old enough to be spayed. Could she be yowling at night because she's hungry? Attacking your feet under the covers is something all my cats did/do as kittens. Maybe if you played with her each night before bed, it would tire her out enough to sleep through the night.

 

[crazycalico]

Absolutely get her spayed ASAP!
A thought on the litter box issue: If you go with the rubbermaid with the lid on with a hole in it....try gluing carpet to it, around the hole. It'll catch the last of the litter on her toes!
As for playing with your feet in bed....try to discourage that behavior! I didn't and now my cat tries to play "catch the blanket-monster" in the middle of the night (even if she was played out at bed time....she takes a nap and is ready to go at 3am!). Of course if you want your kitty to feel welcome on the bed (or the bedroom), its going to be a hard lesson to teach!
Good luck!

 

[gardenandcats]

Also you say shes up setting her food and water which is near the litterbox? Don't keep her food and water near her litter box.Most cats do not like there food near the litter box. And I agree with the other posters she needs to be spayed.

 

[laceaface]

Getting her spayed is definitely something in the near future. And yes, she has tons of toys (one of her favorites is my 5 year old son, haha) and we all play with her until she gets too rough, when we are home. We both work and I go to school as well, so I know she gets bored during the day but I have had cats my whole life and none that I recall were this active. She wasn't a stray before, she was an outside cat at my mom's out in the country, just to clarify. Although it still has the same effect, I'm sure. The litter box idea is definitely going to get a try, for sure. And the thing is, while they are in the same room, the food and water aren't near the litter box. She just plays with it til it gets over there. I might go ahead and move it to another room just to solve that problem. Thanks everyone for your help and I'll let you know how it goes, haha. Also, do you think getting a covered litter box would help?