Please, need tips for rambunctious cat!

[Podoko]

This guy, this cat.... Jesus lord he is all gogogo. His name is Kaiyo and he is maybe 2, I adopted him in july. I must have just been used to the play level or mutual understanding of my senior cats because he is driving me a bit nuts.

5 am and midnight are my problem times, it doesn't matter if I have played for a half hour at ten before I sleep, or that they ate, for some reason he has to go in crazy mode to try and wake me up. He has a habit of box/paper shredding that he ONLY seems to do when he is trying to wake me up or it is an hour before lunch or dinner and he is losing his mind waiting.

So my cats get fed at 9am, 1pm or so, and 6pm. They get half their dry nibbles for the first two and split a 6oz can for dinner. Sometimes I have work at 5 or 6 am.... maybe once a week, and now I feel like he can't stop thinking he gets fed at that time. I don't get more than 4hrs solid sleep before he wakes me up. I have been dealing with him waking me up early by locking him in the bathroom in the morning.... no ceremony, just he follows me in and I shut the door.

Honestly I am thinking about crate training him. I also have a treat ball which they lost somewhere but I was using it at 10pm to keep him occupied for a bit. The problem as always is I have two cats, Poki is a smaller female and prone to being overweight. The trouble with her further is that she was abused in her past home, so when I feed him and not her, she starts acting like she has gotten in trouble, with a hunched back and hiding in corners if I separate them. Sighing too loudly or saying Kaiyo's name sharply can make her get all crouchy and nervous as well.

And also, anyone recommend a chew toy for a cat that loves to chew things???? I thought about getting him dried pet jerky so I can throw him one at 5 am and he can occupy himself with it, but I am also afraid of letting him have it unsupervised in case he gets it stuck or chokes.

So he is fed at 6pm, sleeps for about 3 hours, goes into crazy mode, I play with him with the laser or something for a half hour, then do my settling down routine, bed at 10 or 11, and at 12 or 1 he decides no one is allowed peace and finds something to tear apart loudly or just pulls himself around the side of the bed, then sleeps till 5am, and drives me absolutely nuts for 4 hours straight unless he is put in the bathroom, where he has toys and a potty.

I want to sleep from 11pm to 9am on my days off like I have for years, please help me!

 

[basscat]

For a chew toy, look at "Tall Tails" dog toys. They have small leather ones and mine hasn't destroyed one yet, and he seems to love it.
That's saying something because there's not much he hasn't destroyed yet either.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. That is a long stretch between last meal of the day and first meal of the morning. If you are happy with their current portions, just divide the daily amount into 4 instead of 3, and add a later meal. Or, you could consider getting timed feeders that you 'activate' for the 4th meal. You can place the appropriate amount in each of their individual feeders so that both get to eat somewhere between the 6 pm meal and the 9 am meal. There are timed feeder that work for canned food, as well as dry.

 

[Jcatbird]

In the kitty world, he’s still at a very active age. Not that far past kitten. Interactive toys might help. I agree with FeebysOwner about trying feeding more often or timed feeders. If you don’t want the other kitty to be able to eat more they do make feeders activated by chip. That limits who can eat from the feeder. I have multiple young cats and Kodiak is always getting the Zoomies! You can get warming pads for cats and I discovered that if I offer that when I want to sleep she likes to cuddle near me on that. Putting the kitty in the bathroom as a play area really isn’t a bad solution. As long as he sees it as a happy place to be. You might place some extra food in there when he is shut in so the other kitty can’t get to it. Crate training for cats isn’t like crate training for dogs. Although he might be okay to have a large cage as a play area, you don’t want he to become stressed by feeling it is punishment. It needs to be a rewarding place to be. Treats, toys, blankets and a fun place. I actually bought an inexpensive child’s hard plastic pool for these kitties and placed a rubber backed rug for scratching in the bottom and placed lots of balls and toys inside it. They chase the balls as they roll around the sides and generally love being in their “play pens.” Best 8 bucks ever! Even my old cats get in them to play. I’ve heard that the “Riplle rug” is a great toy as well. Hang in there, as he gets older he should mellow out. Hopefully one of the solutions will work for you. Please keep us updated!

 

[Father of furbabies]

I heard some people gets a cat wheel for them to run on. Not sure how loud they are but the videos I've seen, those cats seemed to love it as it allowed them to sprint for a while then hop off then back on when they feel like it.

 

[She's a witch]

You need to ignore him when he tries to wake you up, otherwise he knows that whatever he’s doing it’s working. ear plugs can help. Unless he’s doing it because he’s really hungry, then this should be addressed. If I were you, I’d experiment with feeding the canned food differently, I’d give them the half of this can at 6pm and another half just before bed time. Also, I wouldn’t let him sleep at 6pm, but I’d keep him awake until bedtime. I did that for two weeks with my kitten and it was enough to create a routine for him so that we finally could sleep through the night.

 

[rosegold]

I also have a super-hyper cat who keeps me up at night and loves to chew on things... I wish I had some tips but I'm still finding the best way to deal with her too. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. When she was a kitten and I first brought her home, she stayed in the bathroom during the night for a few weeks with lots of toys and it worked fine. She's a spoiled brat / screamer now though so I don't think I could lock her up in there again. But it might work fine for your boy.

Sometimes I just give her a spare paper towel roll and let her go to town and clean it up in the morning. It keeps her busy for a while, and is quieter than most other things she does while I'm trying to sleep!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! You've gotten some great advice

There might be something for you in this post and the ones following it in this thread;

Help! My new cat is destroying my house! and other problems

I got my new cat (NC) late November. I already have a resident cat (OC) who is 10 years ago. NC is just over a year old. They are both spayed and up to date on their shots. NC is very high energy - complete opposite of what she was at the shelter, to be honest, while OC is medium/low energy...

thecatsite.com

 

[sivyaleah]

I just want to add that you can't "crate" train a cat. Dogs will view a crate as a "safe" space but cats will view it as punishment, as someone already mentioned. Plus, dogs can be trained to hold their bladders and go to the bathroom "on command" but cats go when they need to go (although they can hold it quite a long time when need be). The best you can do would to be getting a very large cage which would hold his litter box, food trays, toys, beds, etc. and large enough for him to move around in and play in. These type of enclosures are available, but certainly are not cheap.

Let alone a 2 year old cat that has never been cooped up like that? I think it will make thinks worse, not better.

 

[pearl99]

I have used the bathroom containment and it has worked, and if he's okay in there that's what I would do. Hopefully little Poki might get used to it some? And realize he comes back out at a later time.

 

[Poweranni74]

When our cats were babies, we often "bathroomized" them. Thing is, we had two. If your rambunctious cat is an only cat I would consider getting another one, especially a kitten. In my experience, domesticated animals like human company, but it had its place. Just like we love feline company, but it also has its place. Sometimes we need to do people things; sometimes they need to do "cat things" like chase each other at 5 am.

Also make sure that you have a scratching post for him, windows to stare out of, high places to search and low places, like under beds and sofas to retreat to.

 

[ArtNJ]

You can google cat & food puzzle. Also try the term "slow feeder" which is really the same concept, a feeder where the cat has to work to get the food - which takes time and is challenging and engaging for the cat. Apparently -- I've not used one myself, but some of the products seem to have good reviews.

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer here, but I've always found that with one of *those* cats, whatever you do is like trying to drain the ocean with a thimble, and the only thing that really and truly fixes the problem is time as the cat ages. Try all the suggestions. Why not. Just not sure they will help much, unless you can make confinement work or are willing to take on the considerable risk of adding another kitten (which may or may not help or make things worse). Sorry.

Confinement totally can work, but its going to be harder for you than me. I have a furnished basement now, which makes it as easy as it can be. However, even with a furnished basement, if they hear you up and about (and I have insomnia so they do) they might try meowing, and if you give in once your toast. Confinement *can* work. But you must never give in. I'd certainly go with a spare room rather than a crate -- likely to be a better experience for the cat, and you can more easily make the room a special place where the cat likes to be (when not confined anyway) which can only help vs. a crate.

 

[Festus Haggen]

This guy, this cat.... Jesus lord he is all gogogo. His name is Kaiyo and he is maybe 2, I adopted him in july. I must have just been used to the play level or mutual understanding of my senior cats because he is driving me a bit nuts.

5 am and midnight are my problem times, it doesn't matter if I have played for a half hour at ten before I sleep, or that they ate, for some reason he has to go in crazy mode to try and wake me up. He has a habit of box/paper shredding that he ONLY seems to do when he is trying to wake me up or it is an hour before lunch or dinner and he is losing his mind waiting.

So my cats get fed at 9am, 1pm or so, and 6pm. They get half their dry nibbles for the first two and split a 6oz can for dinner. Sometimes I have work at 5 or 6 am.... maybe once a week, and now I feel like he can't stop thinking he gets fed at that time. I don't get more than 4hrs solid sleep before he wakes me up. I have been dealing with him waking me up early by locking him in the bathroom in the morning.... no ceremony, just he follows me in and I shut the door.

Honestly I am thinking about crate training him. I also have a treat ball which they lost somewhere but I was using it at 10pm to keep him occupied for a bit. The problem as always is I have two cats, Poki is a smaller female and prone to being overweight. The trouble with her further is that she was abused in her past home, so when I feed him and not her, she starts acting like she has gotten in trouble, with a hunched back and hiding in corners if I separate them. Sighing too loudly or saying Kaiyo's name sharply can make her get all crouchy and nervous as well.

And also, anyone recommend a chew toy for a cat that loves to chew things???? I thought about getting him dried pet jerky so I can throw him one at 5 am and he can occupy himself with it, but I am also afraid of letting him have it unsupervised in case he gets it stuck or chokes.

So he is fed at 6pm, sleeps for about 3 hours, goes into crazy mode, I play with him with the laser or something for a half hour, then do my settling down routine, bed at 10 or 11, and at 12 or 1 he decides no one is allowed peace and finds something to tear apart loudly or just pulls himself around the side of the bed, then sleeps till 5am, and drives me absolutely nuts for 4 hours straight unless he is put in the bathroom, where he has toys and a potty.

I want to sleep from 11pm to 9am on my days off like I have for years, please help me!

Melatonin look it up. I use it to calm down mama cat. And agreed on what every body especially to how we react to their actions. That boils down to a who's training who thing.

 

[Festus Haggen]

This guy, this cat.... Jesus lord he is all gogogo. His name is Kaiyo and he is maybe 2, I adopted him in july. I must have just been used to the play level or mutual understanding of my senior cats because he is driving me a bit nuts.

5 am and midnight are my problem times, it doesn't matter if I have played for a half hour at ten before I sleep, or that they ate, for some reason he has to go in crazy mode to try and wake me up. He has a habit of box/paper shredding that he ONLY seems to do when he is trying to wake me up or it is an hour before lunch or dinner and he is losing his mind waiting.

So my cats get fed at 9am, 1pm or so, and 6pm. They get half their dry nibbles for the first two and split a 6oz can for dinner. Sometimes I have work at 5 or 6 am.... maybe once a week, and now I feel like he can't stop thinking he gets fed at that time. I don't get more than 4hrs solid sleep before he wakes me up. I have been dealing with him waking me up early by locking him in the bathroom in the morning.... no ceremony, just he follows me in and I shut the door.

Honestly I am thinking about crate training him. I also have a treat ball which they lost somewhere but I was using it at 10pm to keep him occupied for a bit. The problem as always is I have two cats, Poki is a smaller female and prone to being overweight. The trouble with her further is that she was abused in her past home, so when I feed him and not her, she starts acting like she has gotten in trouble, with a hunched back and hiding in corners if I separate them. Sighing too loudly or saying Kaiyo's name sharply can make her get all crouchy and nervous as well.

And also, anyone recommend a chew toy for a cat that loves to chew things???? I thought about getting him dried pet jerky so I can throw him one at 5 am and he can occupy himself with it, but I am also afraid of letting him have it unsupervised in case he gets it stuck or chokes.

So he is fed at 6pm, sleeps for about 3 hours, goes into crazy mode, I play with him with the laser or something for a half hour, then do my settling down routine, bed at 10 or 11, and at 12 or 1 he decides no one is allowed peace and finds something to tear apart loudly or just pulls himself around the side of the bed, then sleeps till 5am, and drives me absolutely nuts for 4 hours straight unless he is put in the bathroom, where he has toys and a potty.

I want to sleep from 11pm to 9am on my days off like I have for years, please help me!

Another idea you may already know is that there's a laser toy called annoyed pigeon, pop and play and hex a bug mine love them and they know how to turn the pop toy on. There's a plethora of options on ebay and the best pigeon price I got was HSN or QVC.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I think you should get Kaiyo a playmate. Another cat to play with all day would wear him out. Plus, if he had a playmate he'd most likely leave you alone at 5:00 am.

 

[Festus Haggen]

I think you should get Kaiyo a playmate. Another cat to play with all day would wear him out. Plus, if he had a playmate he'd most likely leave you alone at 5:00 am.

Oohooh I'm so excited and I hope I did this share thing right. But if I didn't I just discovered a toy called the babble ball at petqwerks toys and the reaction I just got from mine after playing the recording was Wow! They reacted more to the 20 animal sounds including grabbing my phone. I'm getting this and the bubbles. Check it out maybe it'd be good for you.

 

[Festus Haggen]

I just want to add that you can't "crate" train a cat. Dogs will view a crate as a "safe" space but cats will view it as punishment, as someone already mentioned. Plus, dogs can be trained to hold their bladders and go to the bathroom "on command" but cats go when they need to go (although they can hold it quite a long time when need be). The best you can do would to be getting a very large cage which would hold his litter box, food trays, toys, beds, etc. and large enough for him to move around in and play in. These type of enclosures are available, but certainly are not cheap.

Let alone a 2 year old cat that has never been cooped up like that? I think it will make thinks worse, not better.

Regarding the crate thing better or worse... Nothing beats a failure but a try. And don't forget to check Craig's list and your local newspapers(the merchandiser or penny pincher) for free stuff. Also consignment shops, Good Will, flea markets, estate sales, churches, Harbor Frieght and Habitat for Humanity. Also Sears, Kmart on line offer layaway and my favorites HSN & QVC have payment plans on almost everything and check Ollie's.
Finally in the words of Mary Poppins "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" cage smage try Kitty's Kingdom of Terrific Toys! (members only)

 

[sivyaleah]

Oohooh I'm so excited and I hope I did this share thing right. But if I didn't I just discovered a toy called the babble ball at petqwerks toys and the reaction I just got from mine after playing the recording was Wow! They reacted more to the 20 animal sounds including grabbing my phone. I'm getting this and the bubbles. Check it out maybe it'd be good for you.

Our cats LOVE this ball!