Older Shelter Kitty With Boundary Issues! Help!

[Jbabz]

Hey guys! I could really use your help! We recently adopted an older male cat that was neutered right before we brought him home. He came from a bad hoarding situation so I assume he’s still getting adjusted to normal every day life. We have a female cat at home who is three years old and spayed as well. We love our boy, but he has no boundaries!! Our female cat gets easily stressed and has hyperesthia (twitchy back syndrome) and the stress makes her take off running. I assume he thinks she’s trying to play, so he chases her and backs her up into corners. He doesn’t react to her signs of ‘back off’ and he will keep coming closer. He doesn’t have boundaries with food either and he will dive straight into her food bowl after finishing his. He wakes us up during the night and attacks our heads to play. All night I hear growling coming from our female and the two of them running across the apartment. I constantly feel on edge while sleeping just Incase I need to break them up. Neither cat is aggressive- he is a sweet boy and our female is great, but she’s sensitive and needs her space to approach him, but because he is so abrasive he doesn’t back off and it doesn’t go well. He is also constantly talking which is super cute at times, but not when you’re trying to sleep. He will walk all over us while we’re in bed and talk to get us to get up. I’ve tried keeping him out of the bedroom but he will stand by the door and meow nonstop and shake the door with his paws. He also jumps on the counter nonstop while I’m prepping their food and no matter how many times I take him down or reward his good behavior he does it again. He is constantly climbing into the fridge anytime it opens, climbing into the shower anytime the bathroom opens, climbing into any drawer that we open while cooking. It can be scary because I’m constantly worried he will jump on our stove while cooking. Please help with any advice! We love them both so much but are always on edge! Thank you!!

 

[Furballsmom]

oh my goodness, he sounds like he's about 2 years old! Thank you for taking him in!!

Have you tried any calming products? There are a lot of different types, (treats, collars, diffusers) and all sorts of different ingredient formulas available.

Maybe there's something in these that may help;
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

 

[susanm9006]

How recently did you adopt this boy? Reason I ask is that it sounds like he is hasn’t learned any “house rules” in his previous home. He also sounds like he is really wound up which is better than being fearful and hiding but a challenge to deal with. I do think he will calm down as he settles in. In the meantime, you need to teach him the way you would a kitten, by warning him and consistently enforcing your rules. As far as cooking or preparing his meals, just shut him in in another room until you are done. If he jumps on the counters you may need to take him off a couple dozen times before he gets that this isn’t allowed. And you may need to listen to him meow all night long for weeks before he realizes the only way in to your room is to be quiet.

And your girl will eventually get annoyed enough to give him a couple swift paws to the nose which might make him more respectful of her space.

Despite all this he sounds like a wonderful high energy cat that you will treasure.

 

[Jbabz]

oh my goodness, he sounds like he's about 2 years old! Thank you for taking him in!!

Have you tried any calming products? There are a lot of different types, (treats, collars, diffusers) and all sorts of different ingredient formulas available.

Maybe there's something in these that may help;
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

Thank you for your message back! We actually bought a diffuser this morning that will hopefully help! Thank you so much!

 

[Jbabz]

How recently did you adopt this boy? Reason I ask is that it sounds like he is hasn’t learned any “house rules” in his previous home. He also sounds like he is really wound up which is better than being fearful and hiding but a challenge to deal with. I do think he will calm down as he settles in. In the meantime, you need to teach him the way you would a kitten, by warning him and consistently enforcing your rules. As far as cooking or preparing his meals, just shut him in in another room until you are done. If he jumps on the counters you may need to take him off a couple dozen times before he gets that this isn’t allowed. And you may need to listen to him meow all night long for weeks before he realizes the only way in to your room is to be quiet.

And your girl will eventually get annoyed enough to give him a couple swift paws to the nose which might make him more respectful of her space.

Despite all this he sounds like a wonderful high energy cat that you will treasure.

Thank you for your message back! We’ve only had him for a month! But yes we love him so much-he’s wonderful so hopefully the two will be friends in no time

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[KarenKat]

He sounds a joy and a curse lol! Do you give him some dedicated play sessions? We have an engergetic 3 yr old newbie and it helps a lot. Our favorite toy is Da Bird, the Olive go crazy for it because it has twirling feathers that sound like a bird flying. It could tire him out so he’s less likely to go after your girl as much.

Also, for the first 3 months we had Olive we kept her in her safe room (with litterbox, toys, trees, water and food) with the door closed at night. There were a few instances early of of chases that ended in a torn claw, and once a small scratch that abscessed. Even when all was calm I was also on edge wondering if I would hear the panther growl when one of the boys got too close to Olive. Before going to sleep I would play with her, feed her and close the door. At the very least it well let you get some desparately needed R&R!

 

[Jbabz]

Thank you for your message back! He’s definitely both of those things haha! He plays a lot on his own with his toys and we have been playing with him on top of that to hopefully get it out of his system I think he just really wants to play with his sister! We may have to go ahead and keep them separate again. We got them down to one litter box pretty early in the game because they seemed fine so that’s why we haven’t re separated them again. We may need to go back to that and get a second one again if it doesn’t stop! Thank you again!

He sounds a joy and a curse lol! Do you give him some dedicated play sessions? We have an engergetic 3 yr old newbie and it helps a lot. Our favorite toy is Da Bird, the Olive go crazy for it because it has twirling feathers that sound like a bird flying. It could tire him out so he’s less likely to go after your girl as much.

Also, for the first 3 months we had Olive we kept her in her safe room (with litterbox, toys, trees, water and food) with the door closed at night. There were a few instances early of of chases that ended in a torn claw, and once a small scratch that abscessed. Even when all was calm I was also on edge wondering if I would hear the panther growl when one of the boys got too close to Olive. Before going to sleep I would play with her, feed her and close the door. At the very least it well let you get some desparately needed R&R!

ssa