Siamese Cat Driving Me Crazy! Normal Behavior Or Demanding?

Yufithecat

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Hi guys! I’ve been reading tons of posts on this forum but I’m at my wits end and can’t figure my issue out.

My boyfriend and I rescued an adorable 1 year old siamese around almost a month ago. She’s our first cat. I did some research on the breed before hand and was hoping it would work out. I love her to death but she’s been driving me crazy, but I can’t tell if it is because of her breed or I’m enabling her behavior.

She has chosen me to be the human she follows which would be completely fine with me but she keeps screaming at me. It doesn’t seem like just chatty meows, but that she’s demanding constant attention from me. In the beginning I was giving her all the attention she wanted so that of course could be why. She NEVER does this to my boyfriend. She just leave him alone and comes to see him sometimes. But with me she sounds like she is dying if I don’t pay attention to her.

I’ve been trying to do what my boyfriend does but she has started to grab onto my leg and nip at me if I’m ignoring her. She also started to tear up the carpet. I’ve bought and pheromone diffuser which seemed to help with the carpet issue but is her behavior normal for a siamese or did I let her think she can do whatever she wants?

Any suggestions? I’ll probably call a behaviorist tomorrow. I just recently went to the vet but that was before the carpet ordeal and attacking in retaliation lol.
 
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Yufithecat

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Oh, I also am unsure of how to go about changing her behavior since I don’t want to completely ignore her. There’s rarely ever a time that she’s not following me and not meowing so I always end up giving in. I feel so bad.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! She is a meezer. She is smart, talkative and can be demanding.
However....
Talk with her, hold conversations with her.
When she grabs and nips, giver her a hiss just like her mama would do to teach manners.
She's also needing exercise, both physically as in scratchers and cat trees etc, and mentally. Harness and leash for walkies, puzzle toys, wand toys, platter toys, pingpong balls, streaming video.
You must come up with ways for her to work off the pentup energy, and to engage her mind.
Have fun with this, have an adventure through life with her :heartshape:
 
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Yufithecat

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Hi! She is a meezer. She is smart, talkative and can be demanding.
However....
Talk with her, hold conversations with her.
When she grabs and nips, giver her a hiss just like her mama would do to teach manners.
She's also needing exercise, both physically as in scratchers and cat trees etc, and mentally. Harness and leash for walkies, puzzle toys, wand toys, platter toys, pingpong balls, streaming video.
You must come up with ways for her to work off the pentup energy, and to engage her mind.
Have fun with this, have an adventure through life with her :heartshape:
Oh yeah, I’ve bought her everything imaginable. She has a cat tower she loves, a cat tunnel, feather toys, jingly toys, fake mice, scratchers everywhere, wheatgrass to chew on, and I even switch out her toys every now and then. I’m always throwing toys around to have her chase. And I okay with her and love on her a lot. She would like it to be 24/7 though xD I would love to do the leash thing but she’s the bigger scardy cat so that would be a huge task.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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Yufithecat Yufithecat - Does this "Siamese" happen to have any white markings anywhere?

Furballsmom Furballsmom has the ticket here - Siameses usually just want to hold a conversation, and generally - if you talk back to them in a conversational tone - they'll be satisfied after a short time and go on about their cat business. They're like small, furry talk show hosts who've lost their jobs, but who continue practising, just in case their agents call. More often than not, if you ignore them, they simply continue trying to chat with you.
.
 

Furballsmom

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Some cats need more from their people than others, (kind of like talk show hosts LOL) there's no reason the bf can't stand in for you at times and play with her.
Start with harness training inside, see how that goes. In time you'll move outside but for now, working with her in the harness will help her.
What about a baby/pet carriage? This will help her mind.
Do you have a yard? Hang bird feeders.
 

Kieka

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It looks like she is a tortie point if she is your profile photo. Torties are notorious for having tortitude. Combined with a possible Siamese ancestory and you are probably looking at just her personality. There is nothing you could have done to spoil her too much or encourage because she simply is how she is.

The biggest thing is keeping firm boundaries. She's smart. She is testing how much you will tolerate and where her boundaries are. Think of her as a perpetual three year old. My boy is a Siamese mix too and shows many traits of the breed. He can be amazing but I've been working hard for years with him. He will try to push the boundaries but Everytime I tell him no. Nips, claws and aggressive behavior get a hard no and ignoring immediately. Link has learned to get attention he can bring me toys or meow but he can't scratch or bite.

He also chats a lot. I've learned that if I talk back and look at him he will quiet down. If I ignore him when he is chatty he just gets louder until I say something. I probably look like a crazy cat lady having a discussion with my cat about my day. Playing is also a good way to unwind him.

Routine is also vital. My boy knows when everything is happening. As long as it goes according to schedule he is relaxed. He gets more wound up when things change. One of the key routines is that we play, we eat, we sleep. It follows a natural pattern ingrained in cats.
 
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Yufithecat

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Some cats need more from their people than others, there's no reason the bf can't stand in for you at times and play with her.
Start with harness training inside, see how that goes. In time you'll move outside but for now, working with her in the harness will help her.
What about a baby/pet carriage? This will help her mind.
Do you have a yard? Hang bird feeders.
Haha I mentioned training her on a leash to my boyfriend a few days ago and he thinks I’m crazy. But I still kind of want to do it. We live in an apartment :( so no yard. I wish we could get another cat but our place is so small at the moment. Hopefully eventually.
 

Azazel

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Just reaffirming that you have a Siamese on your hands. What you describe sounds completely normal. Everyone gave great advice.. all I can add is assurance that you will get used to each other over time and it will get better.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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Yufithecat Yufithecat - They genuinely are wonderful cats once you come to an understanding of Siameses. My Parents stuck me with bought my first Siamese for me in 1958, and since then I've never been without at least one. As the long-suffering Kieka Kieka has mentioned already, they're extremely intelligent, and excellent problem solvers. Just bear in mind the species looked like this about 70 million years ago:

meesesaurus.jpg
 

Azazel

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Yufithecat Yufithecat - They genuinely are wonderful cats once you come to an understanding of Siameses. My Parents stuck me with bought my first Siamese for me in 1958, and since then I've never been without at least one. As the long-suffering Kieka Kieka has mentioned already, they're extremely intelligent, and excellent problem solvers. Just bear in mind the species looked like this about 70 million years ago:

View attachment 245386
Wait, is this a joke? :flail:
 
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Yufithecat

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It looks like she is a tortie point if she is your profile photo. Torties are notorious for having tortitude. Combined with a possible Siamese ancestory and you are probably looking at just her personality. There is nothing you could have done to spoil her too much or encourage because she simply is how she is.

The biggest thing is keeping firm boundaries. She's smart. She is testing how much you will tolerate and where her boundaries are. Think of her as a perpetual three year old. My boy is a Siamese mix too and shows many traits of the breed. He can be amazing but I've been working hard for years with him. He will try to push the boundaries but Everytime I tell him no. Nips, claws and aggressive behavior get a hard no and ignoring immediately. Link has learned to get attention he can bring me toys or meow but he can't scratch or bite.

He also chats a lot. I've learned that if I talk back and look at him he will quiet down. If I ignore him when he is chatty he just gets louder until I say something. I probably look like a crazy cat lady having a discussion with my cat about my day. Playing is also a good way to unwind him.

Routine is also vital. My boy knows when everything is happening. As long as it goes according to schedule he is relaxed. He gets more wound up when things change. One of the key routines is that we play, we eat, we sleep. It follows a natural pattern ingrained in cats.
Yeah she’s a tortie point! I’m loving everyone’s advice and I’m feeling a bit better, but I definitely needed some mention about boundaries. I can definitely tell she’s used to getting what she wants, and the nipping and clawing development isn’t okay. I did just try hissing at her and it worked so beautifully.

I’ve been working really hard at a routine with her feeding schedule, play time, and ESPECIALLY sleep routine. I have horrible anxiety and insomnia and I can’t have her in the same room. She has been very good about me closing the door on her at night. My worst fear is her scratching and meowing at the door.

But my little girl meows every time I look at her and even move, it’s pretty funny. She does make the funniest noises.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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Wait, is this a joke? :flail:
A Azazel - It's sort of a joke, but now they don't have those tiny little arms.


Yufithecat Yufithecat - It sounds like you're a good sport; that's exactly the right attitude for getting along with Siameses. They truly are the aristocrats of cats, and of course, by, "aristocrats," I mean

Annoying
Relentless
Insufferable
Stubborn
Terrifying
Outlandish
Crybabies
Raucous
Assertive
Turbulent
Siameses!
 

misterwhiskers

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Oh yeah, I’ve bought her everything imaginable. She has a cat tower she loves, a cat tunnel, feather toys, jingly toys, fake mice, scratchers everywhere, wheatgrass to chew on, and I even switch out her toys every now and then. I’m always throwing toys around to have her chase. And I okay with her and love on her a lot. She would like it to be 24/7 though xD I would love to do the leash thing but she’s the bigger scardy cat so that would be a huge task.
Try one of those electric butterfly
toys or another interactive toy. She’s used to being outside where stuff moves, not just stuffed toys.
 

Animagus

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Haha I mentioned training her on a leash to my boyfriend a few days ago and he thinks I’m crazy. But I still kind of want to do it. We live in an apartment :( so no yard. I wish we could get another cat but our place is so small at the moment. Hopefully eventually.
I want to leash train my kitties so they can sit out on the balcony facing the woods and my boyfriend thinks I'm craaaay as well!! Lol :)
 
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