OMG! he's driving me crazy please help

[courtney22]

Hello everyone,I'm Courtney and it's my first time here. Ok my cat is about 1 1/2 years old, male, neutered. There's so many things he does that my boyfriend and I can't stop. I've never seen or heard of another cat doing this but ours likes to dump out this water dish or drag it along the floor(yes we got a heavier dish but he still does it). He is always up on shelves or on top of the refrigerator knocking things off. He scraches on fruniture(we bought him a nice big scratching post with a hanging toy, that was a waste of money). He chews on everything and I mean everything. He's in the trash can, or chewing up toilit paper and paper towels. Or he's just running up the walls. Or he's playing in his litter box. He is non stop all day long. We got him when he was about 6 weeks old and from day one he's been like this. He was neutered at 6 months because of his behavoir, we heard that it would clam him down. Well a year after and it seems to have done nothing. We've tryed everything, water spary bottles, foil, bad smells, yelling, making loud noise, spanking, putting him in a room by himself. He just dosen't respond, he looks at you like you're stupid and goes right back to what he was doing. He has toys upon toys. And he gets every drop of attention. Plus he has a thing for biting. I just don't know what to do anymore, he's driving me nuts and I can't take it. We can't even sleep at night cause he's always knocking things over and being loud. I've had cats all my life, male and female, and none of them have been like this. Someone please please please help me.

Thanks so much
Courtney

 

[enigma]

hmmm, not quite sure on all the issues, but how much quality time do you spend daily with the cat, or how long is the cat alone during the day. Background also deals a lot with the behavior of cats.

 

[hissy]

Good Lord! That is a lot of punishment for what sounds like a bored cat. Perhaps he and you would be better off with rehoming him to a place where he doesn't have to worry about being spanked, hit, scared, sprayed with water, or any of the other stuff you have subjected him to. He sounds like a normal and bored cat that is looking for an outlet for his frustration.

 

[gayef]

Get him a playmate. This one sounds bored.

 

[courtney22]

Originally Posted by enigma

hmmm, not quite sure on all the issues, but how much quality time do you spend daily with the cat, or how long is the cat alone during the day. Background also deals a lot with the behavior of cats.

I'm with him pretty much all day, he's not really alone

 

[courtney22]

I don't see how he can be bored, I'm with him almost all day, he has a ton of toys, my boyfriend and I are always playing with him. And to say that something like "have to worry about being spanked, hit, scared, sprayed with water, or any of the other stuff you have subjected him to" makes it sound like we beat him or something which is not even close to what we do. He gets treated just like a real child. His spanking is a light almost tap on the butt. I've heard many people use spary bottles and for him it never worked he would just keep chewing on whatever it was he was chewing on.

 

[cheesewoman]

Definitely get him a young playmate. Then they can torture each other.

 

[rosiemac]

You'd be suprised at how bored they get.

When i just had Rosie she would claw at the leather sofa, the wall, the carpet, and i played with her all the time!.

As soon as i got Sophie to keep her company she's never touched them since because she's too busy playing chase with her, and Sophie has never ever touched anything with her claws, so to me that proved that Rosie was bored.

Granted it hasn't stopped either of them knocking over the odd vase etc...., and i have went through a fair few, but all i do is replace them with cheaper ones.

So i would seriously think of getting another kitten as company, or like its been mentioned find him a good home because you can't train cats like you can dogs i'm afraid, and spanking and yelling is wrong no matter how lightly it's done

 

[jennyr]

I agree with the above - almost certainly a playmate would solve the problem, even if they fought like mad at the start. My Dushka was a bit if a terror and bit people before I got Ellie, now she is as calm as they come.

 

[whiskersgg]

Hi, my first time here, too. My cat was neutered too just because of these problems. He's still doing it! U should try playing with him more interactive games, that will calm him down,if that doesn't try exhausing him once, then he'll be calm for a few days. This is totally normal, trust me.

 

[kai bengals]

I agree with the playmate idea, but if it's not an option you might try some of these things:

Feli-way diffuser and feli-way spray will have a calming effect on many cats.

Catnip makes our cats calm and sleepy after the intial 10 minutes of the "high" they get from it.

Perhaps look into changing his food...maybe it's making him hyper. Turkey is supposed to make cats calm and sleepy. I don't know if this is true or not.

If your cat likes to run and chase things....tie a favorite toy to a string and walk around your house with it for 30 mins, allowing him to attack it. This will wear him out.

Note: Cats often do certain "bad" things because they are smart enough to know it causes a reaction in you. When you react, you're actually rewarding his bad behavior and he will do it again.

 

[conor]

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

Note: Cats often do certain "bad" things because they are smart enough to know it causes a reaction in you. When you react, you're actually rewarding his bad behavior and he will do it again.

My thoughts exactly. My bengal seems to know exactly how to get something from me, whether its him being good or bad.

 

[isis]

Giving cats turkey actually might work! Tryptophan (which is also what makes people sleepy after a big ol' turkey dinner) is a precursor to serotonin, which controls mood, sleep, etc. But, in order for tryptophan to work, it must be eaten with carbohydrates, as this is what helps the body metabolize the tryptophan to convert it to serotonin. (That's why we get sleepy with turkey dinners, which often involve bread, potatoes, etc.). If you read the abstract for this study, it shows that they did not see hypnotic effects on cats after administering tryptophan, but when using insomniac cats, they did find a sleep effect. So I guess it depends on whether or not the cat is actually having sleep problems. But, it just may work. In either case, since tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, it should make kitty happier, at the very least

.

Who thought that my psychology degree, and specifically my drugs and behaviour course would help in answering cat questions?

 

[rang_27]

Oh I feel for you honey. My Jordan is an extreemly inteligent cat, and he makes a lot of trouble. He's about 2 1/2 years old now & has clamed down some, but not completely. I will say I agree that you cat sounds bored & a companion may help. Because he is so smart, Jordan is a difficult cat to redirect. I have also tried the putting him on a "Time Out" in my bathroom (only at about 2 AM when I can't take it any more & need to get some sleep). Just the other night he was in there (with water & a litter box of coarse) for about 2 hours. When he came out he went right back to doing what he had been doing when I decided to put him in there. Moral of the story time out's do not work with a highly intellegent cat. Spanking doesn't work because it teaches the cat to fear you. The spray bottle doesn't work with Jordan because to him it's a game & when I spray him he thinks it's an invitation to get a drink & comes & puts his mouth over the end so I'll spray it in his mouth. Double sided tape doesn't work because he likes tape & chews it. As far as the chewing behavior in general I suggest going to a pet store & getting "Bitter Apple" spray like people use for dogs. That worked like a charm for Jordan. The other behaviors, well I've had to come to a compramise on some of them & pick my battles. Not only is your cat bored, but a lot of these behaviors are attention getting. So what I discovered was that just like a child if he couldn't get positive attention, negative attention would do. It can be difficult, but certain behaviors (like trying to knock pictures off my walls) I ignore until he stops. Then I give him attention because if you give attention right after he does it he's learned a new trick to get Mom's attention. However, he is obviously looking for attention, so if he's being good you give him attention to reinforce the good behavior. I know it's a lot of work, but he's your baby and he's worth it. I have also "Baby Proofed" my appartment so that some of the things he used to get into he can't any more. If you want to know specifics you can PM me. As far as toys there is a great dog toy called the Buster Cube, I got the small one for him & he loves it. Sorry this was lengthy, but I've been where you are & wanted to share what I've learned.

 

[lizc41]

Our Mystiec likes to play in his water bowl also, we fill it up at least 3 times a day. Before he takes a drink he paws the floor in front of the bowl, then he puts his paw into the water and shakes his paw then he moves the bowl. He is a happy kitty just full of mischief. We did get him a playmate but it just didn't work out. My friend has Mystiec's brother and she said his brother does the same thing as Mystiec.

 

[katlady007]

i would say that was normal all three of my cats do that expecially when you are trying to go to sleep they try to make as much noise as they can...maybe you should try and buy a bunch of new toys most of the time it is just because they are bored, good luck

 

[larke]

One thing you could definitely look into is one of the new watering bowls - they are like a central thing the water goes into, and then it runs into little bowls at the bottom. Cats love running water, so he won't be so tempted to make his water 'run' on the floor (that's what he's doing) if it runs from the new one to begin with. Plus the new ones are large and hard to knock over.