My cat likes to destroy things. Help?

mothmansbf

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I have an almost 2 year old cat and a 11 year old cat currently. The younger one (Ryan) likes to mess around with things and knock things over like normal cats do. What's been the problem is that he gets into things he's not supposed to, but he never really learns from when we try to correct him. For example, the cats aren't allowed on the kitchen table, so we use a spray bottle to try and get them down. Whenever he's on the table, he isn't bothered by the water and I have to physically get him down. Other than that, he usually tears things up when I'm not home. He usually chews on plants or some toys accidentally left out. We tried getting some battery operated toys, but he usually loses interest in about 10 minutes. The straw that broke the camel's back is when (I'm assuming it was him, the older one is too small to knock it over) he knocked over a beta tank. The fish was nowhere to be found, and I'm worried he either ate it or hid it somewhere around the house. I know cats are naturally curious, but I really want to discourage him from further destroying our things. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do?
 
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mothmansbf

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Edit: I joined this site because I truthfully didn't know where else to go. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 

minish

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It's tough, you can't catproof everything. If I were you, I'd make a selection (fish tank in a no go zone etc). When minish messed up my apartment when she was kitten, I tried to find her reasons separately for each occasion. For instance, she can't resist freshly cut flowers because they come from the outside with many smells. So I keep my very very heavy vase supervised during the day and move it above the fridge at night. I would never keep a bird, so much lure for her.. For jumping on my desk and knocking pens down, I put a small box on the table where she can join me while I study. Instead of jumping on the counter, I trained her to sit on a barstool on the same level, where she can smell and see whatever I'm doing. (never works if there is unsupervised fried chicken or raw meat on the counter)
In general, most destructive behavior can be avoided by lots of play. Ryan is a young cat so he probably has too much energy. Until minish slowed down (around age 3), I played with her at least half an hour in the morning, when I returned home and at midnight. Since she knew what to expect, she slept when I was at work, gathering her energy for our fun times. This worked because minish always prefers social play even if it's only humans watching and cheering for her. She almost never plays by herself.
 

sunny578

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As minish suggested above, locating some kind of item that Ryan could hop on to (like a cat tree) by the dining room table would help! It's super natural for cats to want to be high up, so accommodating that need would be your best bet. I would ditch the squirt bottle, especially since it doesn't seem to be working.

I'm sorry about your fish:( I think your best bet with future fish is locating them in a cat free room. I know it's so hard to cat proof a house because they are so good at jumping etc. But I think your answer lies here--in more cat proofing.

BTW, I love Ryan's name:)

Another BTW b/c I learned this the hard/expensive way and bc you mentioned that Ryan is a plant chewer--Lilies are v toxic to cats.
 
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mothmansbf

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Thank you!! I really appreciate it. I try to play with him as often as possible, but life gets in the way sometimes lol.
 
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mothmansbf

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As minish suggested above, locating some kind of item that Ryan could hop on to (like a cat tree) by the dining room table would help! It's super natural for cats to want to be high up, so accommodating that need would be your best bet. I would ditch the squirt bottle, especially since it doesn't seem to be working.

I'm sorry about your fish:( I think your best bet with future fish is locating them in a cat free room. I know it's so hard to cat proof a house because they are so good at jumping etc. But I think your answer lies here--in more cat proofing.

BTW, I love Ryan's name:)

Another BTW b/c I learned this the hard/expensive way and bc you mentioned that Ryan is a plant chewer--Lilies are v toxic to cats.
I've bought a good amount of cat trees for him, and he seems to use them but I guess it's just his curious nature lol. But I will definitely take more measures to catproof around the house. We have other fish around the house, but it's super unfortunate he got to this one. I appreciate it though!! Also thank you :)
 
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