My 9 month old cat is an absolute nightmare. Any ideas?

[jinxybruce]

Well first of all let me tell you about Brucie. His full name is Bruce Wayne, and he is named after batman because he's all black. Bruce is the most neurotic, crazy cat I've ever had. I'm confident he will grow up to be AWESOME but right now unfortunately he is just bat **** crazy. Bruce is fast, brave, and has great motor skills- always chasing things and climbing things and trying to grab things that are out of reach. Bruce also has a sister from the same litter, Jinxy, who is less coordinated and a bit more timid than he is. 

He seems to get into phases where he fixates on something and just won't stop destroying something till he gets it. First it was the kitchen magnets. All kitchen magnets have since been removed and now Bruce just whines at the refrigerator and occasionally jumps, but nothing happens. I took down a clock that was ticking by the fridge too, in case the noise was what was driving him crazy.

Now it it my bookshelf. The bookshelf is very old and unstable. This little phase started literally yesterday. He started jumping on one of the higher shelves and knocking things off just to watch them fall. I "cat-proofed" the bookshelf (I hope) but I am just scared while I am at work he will try to get up there and send the whole thing crashing down on top of him.

The root of all of these problems is my living situation, I think. I live with three other girls. One has a dog and an adult cat, and the other has a little Chihuahua. When a person is gone from the house, that person will leave her respective pet(s) in her bedroom. Things would just get crazy with five animals running around without supervision. And I have the master, so it isn't like Bruce and Jinxy don't have a lot of room...

But I think Bruce just has too much pent up energy. I am out of the house from 0730 to 1730 and then again for a few hours each evening to go to the gym. I let them out whenever I'm home but it doesn't seem to be enough... Every night when I shut them in my room to try to go to bed they will whine at the door for thirty minutes or start behaving really badly and try to climb the blinds...

I can't let them outside even though I have a fenced in backyard. Knowing Bruce he would just climb the damn fence and be gone in a flash.

Any tips on encouraging Bruce to calm down or discourage the constant whining? Or is this just a crazy phase my cats are going through? I suppose they still have "kitten brain" even though they are 10 and 11 pounds... I love them, but my life would be a lot easier if they would just grow up and be lazy cats who lay around all day!

Thoughts?

 

[minka]

So.. As roommates you decided no pets out when you are gone? I don't think I could have agreed to that.
I rent as well. I have my room open 24/7 for my cat. And next year when I have new roommates, I'll be installing a cat door so he can get in and out but no one can get in my room.
Why do you shut him up at night as well? That's when they are most active, right before sunset and sunrise.

 

[katluver4life]

Well...he's a kitten...doing what kittens do...and he's bored. He needs more interactive toys, maybe a cat tree also. He needs to be played with until he is tuckered out, which YOU have to do. Laser toys, the Da-Bird, or other rod type toy that will make him leap and run about to wear him out. A Feliway diffuser may help calm him some also.

I feel your pain. I also have a brother and sister pair. My male Boots is EXACTLY the same and he's nearing 2 yrs old now. Though it has improved some now, as a kitten he destroyed a lot of things just by knocking them down as he learned to climb higher and higher. His sis is the opposite. I found the feliway helped, but mostly I just had to wear him out till he was panting. Then he'd crash out and sleep for HOURS.

He will calm some with age. It's a shame they have to be confined. That's not ideal for a kitten like him, but they are free to run around the whole house when your home? Use those times to wear him out before having to be returned to your room.

Good luck and welcome to TCS.
 

 

[tammyp]

Ok, yep, he's a kitten, and an active one.  Wear him out and provide him with lots of climbing/running opportunities to engage that adventurous brain.  Physical wear out is essential.  Mental wear out is also excellent (and lessens the amount of time spent on physical wear out; aka YOU playing with him).  

So, you can get some puzzle type games to put out for when you are gone.  You can also have a heap of special toys for while you are gone; hide them in various places so he has to hunt them out.

I don't know how much you can modify your room.  But even if you can't nail things to walls etc, there are ways and means to give them an aerial gymnastics network.  Have a look at the Japanese cat houses for inspiration.  Then adapt your own furniture (you have to be neat so all the surfaces are left for the cat).  

These are cool adaptations for the renter - all variations on the ikea stoleman pole, so you can make your own if you are handy and cash poor:

http://www.franklincatfurniture.com/PRICELIST_HFT.pdf

http://whiskerstudio.com/index.php/products/elevation-cat-trees

http://www.moderncat.net/2012/07/03/behind-the-scenes-of-my-cat-from-hell-creating-the-revolving-door-for-olive-and-pepper/

I also like this to convert a bookshelf into a cat run. (Maybe for later when he isn't as likely to swat down the books!): http://franklincatfurniture.com/SMFP/

Ok, now the tough word, you chose/were chosen by a kitten.  This means 2-3 years of lots of time spent on the kitten.  Really good that you got two (seriously! we are regretting that and fixing the omission in a month), but you still have to devote the time to wear them out.  Worst case scenario, you have an uber active cat (we spent 3-6hours per day with out cat, and I know there are even crazier ones!) and these super active ones don't really slow down with age.  SO you may need to think about your schedule and possibly living arrangement.  

Part of the time we spend with Kato to wear him out is going for a walk on a harness for an hour a day - currently training him to walk off-lead when it is safe .  We have also built a closed in 'roof' for the backyard out of chicken wire so that he can go out and not get out.  It took a few rounds to get right - he is so wilful and a real houdini.  Nothing can get in or out now!  But it is worth it; he derives so much stimulation and happiness from these things.  There are professional cat netting systems.  But we are renting so needed to construct something we can take down - also much cheaper.  We used chicken wire, nails, wire to string horizontally where there wasn't a wall we could nail to, long metal stakes, zip ties.

Lastly, here's a site I found really helpful as I raised our terror - this blog writer has an active cat too, so it's all her tips in these links.  (I'm assuming your cat is an 'alpha' - She doesnt mean alpha in terms of domineering, but energy level)

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/alpha-the-monkey-cat/17000

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/keeping-ahead-of-the-alpha/1515

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/review-our-secret-tristan-weapons-revealed/20653

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/tristan-in-my-arms/11520

Goodluck!! They really are great cats!!

 

[jinxybruce]

I am aware that my living situation is not ideal. I hate living with people and if I had my way I would be living in a one bedroom apartment with just my kittens and most of my problems would be solved. Just graduated college and got a full time job so it will be a while before I can afford a place on my own that won't get me shot or raped.

I do as much as I can to wear Bruce out, I swear. I also leave toys out and hide them when I leave and they have LOTS of puzzle toys, PLUS a cat tower. Right before bedtime I will run around the house with this shiny jingly toy trailing behind me and the cats will just chase me and chase me, or I will play with a laser toy with them. Then they collapse on the floor of my bedroom and are zonked out... until I close the bedroom door. Then they are up and away, whining and trying to piss me off enough to let them outside.

I don't give them free run of the house when I am asleep because they need constant supervision, lest they destroy the house. My pets are way more destructive than the other girls' pets.

I am considering getting them harnesses and leashes and taking them out in the backyard now that it is warmer. I'm just scared that the ability to go outside will create a bad habit of trying to"escape" every time someone opens the door. And I don't trust my roommates enough to be watchful to make sure a cat isn't underfoot when they open the door. My roommates can't even remember to put the paper towels away, yet they know Bruce will immediately destroy any paper product he comes across. Very frustrating.

I also used to have a Feliway diffuser when the kittens were babies, but then I moved and somehow it got lost in the move. I don't know if it worked on them when I had it originally... although they were REALLY young (like, two months old) and might not have been responsive to it. Also I didn't have any prior behavior to compare it to so I don't know if it worked.

Last night, for instance, after I played with them and attempted to cat proof my bookshelf, I deliberately stayed up until midnight with the door open so my cats could have time outside my room. I have to wake up at 0530 for work. I then closed the door, played with them for about another fifteen minutes, and went to bed. Lights out, and BOOM Bruce is meowing at my bookshelf trying to figure out a way past the obstacles. And there isn't one, but he jumps anyway, and down goes all of the books off of one shelf. Tha'ts not the worst part, I can deal with that, it's just that I'm scared he will end up tipping over the shelf when I am at work and that he will be pinned under and get hurt.

So anyway Jinxy was fine during all of this and Bruce eventually calmed down after I started spraying him every time he was poised to jump on the bookshelf. And he curled up next to me and we slept till about 0400. which was when he woke up and decided to start the antics with the bookshelf and the blinds and scratching the door.

Ahh! So frustrating.

Also he has this thing where he obsessively tries to eat books. He loves paper and cardboard and just likes to chew chew chew or tear tear tear whatever he can, and it's always my books. I know that craving paper is a sign of a vitamin deficiency in humans... is that similar to cats, possibly? Or is Bruce just weird? Jinxy has an obsession with grocery bags and makeup brushes so I think I just have some very strange cats. Haha

 

[katluver4life]

It's possible he's a PICA kitty. Has he/they been seen by a vet? I would have them checked just to rule out any deficiencies. If they are ok, then I'd try the feliway. There are also herbal remedies I have heard of but never tried. Also is he neutered? Forgot to ask that.

Believe me, my male was the same. I discovered the feliway diffuser helped him quite by accident. I was fostering a momma and her kittens and got it for them. Because I put them all around the house, I found Boots to be oh so much calmer. He used to paw incessantly at my window frames, chew anything, ect. Now that the diffusers are used up, I hadn't bothered getting more cause my foster family have all been adopted out, I notice some of these behaviors returning. So they may help. It's of course not a sure thing it will work. Just worth a try imo.
 

He will out grow most of the issues you are having with him. Most is just part of being a kitten. Some kittens just have A LOT more energy, curiosity and plain old devilishness in them. Sorry I have no more suggestions

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[jinxybruce]

Yeah, they've been to the vet and have had all vaccinnes and are fixed. I will have to do some research on PICA. I keep telling myself that Bruce will grow out of it because he would be impossible to deal with if I didn't keep thinking that to myself! I love him though. So funny... when the sun is up and I'm not trying to sleep or keep him in my room. Thanks for all of your help everyone!

 

[tammyp]

Is he actually eating the paper/cardboard though?  My cat also has a love of paper products.  He tears and spits.  It is actually one way they deal with their frustrations and stresses - which is just fine by me, as Kato only uses the cardboard boxes and stuff we give to him.  Can you put your books away for a time - say in a lidded plastic box?  Then give him something else to chew and rip.  Always provide substitutions for these types of cats; simply taking away is going to frustrate them/paint you as the evil 'taker-awayer'.  Oh, also the make-up brushes; not surprised, Kato also loves bristles of all types and will invariably want to chew them when in use...the pan and brush, the broom, my hairbrush!, the toilet brush 

...so I think it's kinda normal!

I understand your reservations about the outdoors and possible escapes.  You'll also probably have him asking to go out.  But I would lay the ground work now, while they are young, in case in the future this is more of an option.  The groundwork is getting them used to the harness.  First step is to have them wearing it in the house without really realising they have it on.  This takes time and a few stages; allowing them to sniff and play with it, then put it on for 10secs, next time 20secs, next time...you get the idea.  Then add the lead (still in the house) and let them experience you at the other end - following them. 

I guess I can't add much more as it seems like you are doing so much.  I hope you get through this tough phase ok and with some sleep.  And yes, they are worth it - we love them to bits, despite the work!

 

[tammyp]

Oh, and yeah, definately kitten proof that bookshelf - even if you have to get rid of it.  You'll be happy to eliminate that fear of it crushing your babies.  We live with some of our stuff in plastic packing boxes, so a pain, but the things we do for love...until we can get the place of our hopes...

 

[tammyp]

oops, just one more thing I thought of!  You say you run them around before bed until they flop.  Awesome.  BUT, do you know how many 'flops' the energetic one needs before he is done?  For our cat, it's three flops (takes about 30-40mins).  Another thing to experiment with...

To reassure you though, it is easier now at 2.5years than at 9months.  I remember thinking he just wasn't normal! Normal cats SLEEP!  Normal cats don't have so much energy!!  But he is normal...it's just that this type of cat needs more.

 

[minka]

I think if you can try to find a way to cat proof the apartment, I would so that you can let them free at night.

 

[katluver4life]

oops, just one more thing I thought of!  You say you run them around before bed until they flop.  Awesome.  BUT, do you know how many 'flops' the energetic one needs before he is done?  For our cat, it's three flops (takes about 30-40mins).  Another thing to experiment with...

To reassure you though, it is easier now at 2.5years than at 9months.  I remember thinking he just wasn't normal! Normal cats SLEEP!  Normal cats don't have so much energy!!  But he is normal...it's just that this type of cat needs more.

I have to get my boy to the point of panting before he's satisfied and will finally settle down.