Hi all! I've written here before when my two cats were in their younger kitten years, and now they're in their terrible twos stage. I have two kitties, Arwen who is 1, and Pippin who is almost 2. My younger girl, Arwen, has always been an absolute piece of work--she's the mischief-maker, always gets into everything, and the one who is most frequently getting into trouble.
Lately, she's gotten into the habit of wreaking havoc on my apartment while I'm trying to sleep! I woke up this morning to discover she had scaled my bookshelf and knocked all my memorabilia off it and broken some of it, she somehow tore into a bag of cat treats and helped herself (and I think she literally ate the piece of plastic she tore off to get into the bag because I can't find it anywhere), she tore all the clingies I have on my windows down, and I discovered all of it when I woke up for work this morning.
They have a very tall cat tree with multiple perches and plenty of space to run around, and yet nothing I do seems to keep her from being an absolute little menace while I'm trying to sleep. Sometimes Pippin will join in, but not as often as Arwen, who is the primary concern. I've tried stacking things in front of the bookshelf to keep her from climbing it but every time I think I have her beat, she find another creative way to tear down whatever barricade I've put up to prevent her from climbing up. I've also tried deterrent sprays, double sided sticky-tape, and unfortunately plain old yelling when I catch her doing it because nothing else works and raising my voice, as much as I hate doing it, is the only thing that sends her scurrying under my bed. I feel awful about it, but none of the other methods that are commonly suggested work.
I do play with both of them, but Arwen in particular has so much energy that no matter how much I play with her, she never tires. Believe me, I've tried. I can have her sprinting around my apartment, doing leaps in the air for her favorite feather toy, but no matter how much playtime she gets she continues to be an absolute menace and I'm at my wit's end! I live in a studio apartment, so keeping them out of particular areas is very difficult since there are no doors to close on them. I've raised cats from kittenhood through adulthood before, and my late cats were never like this even in their kitten years! Sure they got into stuff sometimes, but never to the extent Arwen does now, so I've never had to deal with this level of kitty mischief before and I have no idea what else to do. I do my best to keep things away from them that they aren't supposed to get into and keep them away from areas they shouldn't go, but when you live in a studio apartment, there's really only so much you can to do keep things and areas physically out of reach of the cats lol. I do love them very much, but Arwen is really, really testing me right now :')
Lately, she's gotten into the habit of wreaking havoc on my apartment while I'm trying to sleep! I woke up this morning to discover she had scaled my bookshelf and knocked all my memorabilia off it and broken some of it, she somehow tore into a bag of cat treats and helped herself (and I think she literally ate the piece of plastic she tore off to get into the bag because I can't find it anywhere), she tore all the clingies I have on my windows down, and I discovered all of it when I woke up for work this morning.
They have a very tall cat tree with multiple perches and plenty of space to run around, and yet nothing I do seems to keep her from being an absolute little menace while I'm trying to sleep. Sometimes Pippin will join in, but not as often as Arwen, who is the primary concern. I've tried stacking things in front of the bookshelf to keep her from climbing it but every time I think I have her beat, she find another creative way to tear down whatever barricade I've put up to prevent her from climbing up. I've also tried deterrent sprays, double sided sticky-tape, and unfortunately plain old yelling when I catch her doing it because nothing else works and raising my voice, as much as I hate doing it, is the only thing that sends her scurrying under my bed. I feel awful about it, but none of the other methods that are commonly suggested work.
I do play with both of them, but Arwen in particular has so much energy that no matter how much I play with her, she never tires. Believe me, I've tried. I can have her sprinting around my apartment, doing leaps in the air for her favorite feather toy, but no matter how much playtime she gets she continues to be an absolute menace and I'm at my wit's end! I live in a studio apartment, so keeping them out of particular areas is very difficult since there are no doors to close on them. I've raised cats from kittenhood through adulthood before, and my late cats were never like this even in their kitten years! Sure they got into stuff sometimes, but never to the extent Arwen does now, so I've never had to deal with this level of kitty mischief before and I have no idea what else to do. I do my best to keep things away from them that they aren't supposed to get into and keep them away from areas they shouldn't go, but when you live in a studio apartment, there's really only so much you can to do keep things and areas physically out of reach of the cats lol. I do love them very much, but Arwen is really, really testing me right now :')
I'll try playing with her one last time before bed! I also just learned of museum putty, which someone recommended to me as a good way to keep her from toppling any breakables over when she scales shelves, so I'm very intrigued to try that out. It sucks because I want to display my knick knacks and home decor on my shelves, but Arwen knows only destruction haha so I'm going to see if making them less knock-overable will help.
I was thinking of a cat wheel too for a long time but I am worried no one will use it and it takes up a lot of space and will be too heavy for me.