My Big Guy Is Misbehaving, Need Advice

[Outerzone92]

Hello everyone! I'm Outerzone92 and I just adopted my first ever kitty (and first ever pet) almost a month ago. My buddy Dracula is a really sweet and loving boy, but he tends to misbehave quite a bit and I would really like some advice.

I'm not quite sure how to start this off, so I'll just describe what's going on, and go from there.

- This has been a problem since I first adopted him, but I can't seem to stop him from clawing at my carpet. He seems to avoid clawing my furniture thank goodness, but he keeps clawing at my carpet. I've bought several scratching posts for him (cardboard and rope) so he can scratch those, but he seems to show no interest in doing so. I even gently lift him up to introduce him to his posts and put his paws on them, but still in the end he ignores his posts and goes straight for the carpet again. No matter how much I try to get him not to tear up the carpet, he just doesn't listen to me. I would love some tips on how to get my big guy to use his posts if possible.

- I make sure to give Dracula plenty of love and attention, but sometimes he does a weird quirk. He tends to circle around my couch, then start meowing at me until I either pet him, or he jumps up on my couch to get my attention even more. After that, he'll knead my blanket that I usually have, then hop off the couch. He'll repeat this several times until he goes to lay down somewhere else in my trailer. The vet that examined him before said he's healthy, save for a tiny case of swollen gums that have gone back to normal (That's how the shelter gave him his name, the poor guy came in with bleeding and infected gums. They had to remove 9 teeth from his mouth, but he also has really large incisors that makes him look like he has vampire fangs, really cute when he shows his pearly whites.). I'm wondering if anyone has any idea why he might be doing this? I just want my guy to be comfortable around the house. Something to note: He does like being pet to a certain point, and does fall asleep in my lap at times.

- My last issue that I'm concerned with is that at times he'll really be focused on grooming himself. As I mentioned before, the vet said he's fine, but I'm trying to figure out why he grooms himself so often. He won't do it all day, every day, but I'm still concerned as to why he might be doing this. He does it in almost 5-10 minute bursts, though he hasn't licked anything raw or caused scabbing, ect. I have thought about the fact that he doesn't have many teeth, so he can't "nibble" the itching area, which might be a reason why he might be doing it in a little excess. If someone could give me a possible reason why he might be doing this, it would be greatly appreciated as well.

To give a better idea of what goes on in my household, I do have a somewhat lengthy job where I work 10 hour days, 4 days a week. I do have a housemate who takes care of him as well, and has a lot more experience with cats than I do. Dracula has his own dedicated area in the living room, complete with toys, his litter box, food, several scratching posts, and a climbing post where he likes to climb and watch everything going on outside through his window. He's a wet food kitty and I make sure he's properly fed, and I'm going to invest in a timed feeder to help even more with the timing of his meals. I have thought about getting him a companion so he doesn't have to be alone while I am at work, however I'm not sure if that's a good solution. I also don't know if I could handle 2 cats at the moment, given I just started raising my first one. I try to make sure to spend some time with him on my days off, making sure he feels loved and secure when I'm home.

I'm sorry for the large amount of text, but I wanted to describe as best I can about what is going on. Besides these issues, he's like any other kitty, meowing at night, doing cardio at 3AM, playing with his favorite toy, and showing a lot of love. I'm hoping that someone could help me out, and thank you for your time!

(P.S. Here's a picture of the sweet boy)

 

[KarenKat]

Hello and welcome to The Cat Site! How fun that Dracula is your first kitty, and a very handsome one.

The behaviors you describe sound fairly typical. We have three cats, and one really likes to scratch carpets as well. Do you have any scratchers that are horizontal (not vertical posts?). Cats like scratching vertical and horizontally, so maybe a cardboard scratcher or two on his favorite area of the carpet will work.

Our Girl Olive grooms a lot too ... similar to what you describe. She does it’s for 10/15 min straight multiple times per day. The vet thinks it could be a flea allergy, and she is being throrough. I wouldn’t worry unless he seems unduly stressed or starts having fur loss or injuries. Cats often groom a lot especially after a meal.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on being a first time kitty mom. Dracula is adorable. How old is he?

About carpet scratching, I'm still trying to break my Ruby's habit of scratching/destroying my basement carpet. But here's a TCS article that might help with your Dracula. It's title is furniture, but might apply to carpet too.
23 Proven Ways To Stop A Cat From Scratching Furniture

Not sure about the attention seeking, and grooming. Might just be him getting used to being in his new home.

 

[Outerzone92]

Hello and welcome to The Cat Site! How fun that Dracula is your first kitty, and a very handsome one.

The behaviors you describe sound fairly typical. We have three cats, and one really likes to scratch carpets as well. Do you have any scratchers that are horizontal (not vertical posts?). Cats like scratching vertical and horizontally, so maybe a cardboard scratcher or two on his favorite area of the carpet will work.

Our Girl Olive grooms a lot too ... similar to what you describe. She does it’s for 10/15 min straight multiple times per day. The vet thinks it could be a flea allergy, and she is being throrough. I wouldn’t worry unless he seems unduly stressed or starts having fur loss or injuries. Cats often groom a lot especially after a meal.

He is a pretty handsome boy, he was everyone's favorite kitty at the shelter . I felt a little bad when I was taking him home, everyone in the shelter was getting misty eyed when I was taking him out the door

I do have a horizontal scratch post that's part of his climbing post, along with one on an incline, which is his cardboard one. The incline one is one of those Kong Naturals type of scratchers. He's used it a couple times, but never really latched onto it honestly. I'll try to put it near where he scratches, hopefully he'll take a liking to it .

I appreciate you reassuring me about the grooming, he does tend to do it right after he eats, I just didn't notice it in that way before. He also tends to eat quite a bit since he's a larger than normal cat as well (He's about 11.5 Lbs and he's pretty long. His tail alone is 12+ inches)

 

[KarenKat]

He's about 11.5 Lbs and he's pretty long. His tail alone is 12+ inches

Wow, what a big tail! We have a large 14-lb tabby with a rather large tail. He is at a healthy weight, he's just a large-framed cat.

Unfortunately I think some kitties prefer the forbidden scratching fruit ... Olive loves the edge of the couch, which is right next to a scratching post. Sometimes she shifts over to the post after a few shreds of the couch.

 

[Outerzone92]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on being a first time kitty mom. Dracula is adorable. How old is he?

About carpet scratching, I'm still trying to break my Ruby's habit of scratching/destroying my basement carpet. But here's a TCS article that might help with your Dracula. It's title is furniture, but might apply to carpet too.
23 Proven Ways To Stop A Cat From Scratching Furniture

Not sure about the attention seeking, and grooming. Might just be him getting used to being in his new home.

Thank you for the welcome . Being a cat dad takes some getting used to honestly, but he's totally worth it. Dracula is between 4-7 years old. That's a bit of a range, but it said 4 on the original paperwork, but was switched over to 7 when they wrote over the adoption papers.

I appreciate the article as well, I'm going to try some of the tips that are in there. Putting a scratch post near his sleeping area definitely sounds like a good idea, his Kong one is easy to place, so I'll set it against the wall so he has a stable structure to latch on to.

I was thinking about him getting used to his environment as well. I'm trying my best to make sure its inviting and safe for him. He's starting to love his cat perch/tree, he just loves to climb to the top and sleep with the sunlight on him

 

[Outerzone92]

Wow, what a big tail! We have a large 14-lb tabby with a rather large tail. He is at a healthy weight, he's just a large-framed cat.

Unfortunately I think some kitties prefer the forbidden scratching fruit ... Olive loves the edge of the couch, which is right next to a scratching post. Sometimes she shifts over to the post after a few shreds of the couch.

The tail is pretty big. Sometimes he accidentally knocks stuff over with it, and the best part is when he tries to chase or play with it . Big tabbies are the best, my girlfriend has quite a few of them and they're lovely . Dracula is actually a Tabby/Bengal mix, so he has this really crazy pattern to him. It'll be stripe-y near the front of his body, but becomes spots toward his tail.

From what I've seen I definitely agree with you, that forbidden fruit is sometimes just too tempting for them. Drac will do the same sometimes when it comes to shifting, but mostly it'll be the carpet, then when I stop him, he'll go for the blanket I gave him, which I don't mind as much.

 

[rubysmama]

Thank you for the welcome . Being a cat dad takes some getting used to honestly, but he's totally worth it. Dracula is between 4-7 years old. That's a bit of a range, but it said 4 on the original paperwork, but was switched over to 7 when they wrote over the adoption papers.

I appreciate the article as well, I'm going to try some of the tips that are in there. Putting a scratch post near his sleeping area definitely sounds like a good idea, his Kong one is easy to place, so I'll set it against the wall so he has a stable structure to latch on to.

I was thinking about him getting used to his environment as well. I'm trying my best to make sure its inviting and safe for him. He's starting to love his cat perch/tree, he just loves to climb to the top and sleep with the sunlight on him

Ooops.... sorry I referred to you as a cat "mom". Congrats on being a new cat DAD !!!!

And though you've had Dracula a while, here's another article that might be helpful:
First-time Cat Owner's Guide

As well as Can Cats Manage Without Their Teeth?

With his teeth issue, I figured he was an older cat. But per the above article, cats do fine with few/no teeth.

 

[danteshuman]

Welcome and congrats on joining the "crazy" cat people group!

About the scratching.... why we give cats carpet scratchers and then tell them carpet is a no no ; is beyond me! However the damage might already be done. So I would do a few things. Shampoo your carpet with an enzyme cleaner to start with a blank slate. Then spray scratch repellent on the carpet because it might work for you (it didn't with my cats.) I would at the same time buy him a carpeted scratching post (in the room, near the spot of most of his carpet scratching) and spread the catnip around on the tree. Give him his treats on the carpeted cat tree. That is your yes. At the same time, every time you see him scratching the carpet clap your hands or shake a penny can. It will only teach him to hide his scratching when you are around. Long term you really want to encourage scratching in the cat tree. I know your boy can get there. It took my boy a year of penny can work plus a year of encouraging him to scratch his cardboard scratcher on the halfway point on the carpeted stairs. My boys got in the habit for over a year before they were retrained. If you can nip this habit in the bud.

My hyper punk used to chase his own tail in the tub. More play was the solution. He had to much energy.