The most “defiant” and strong willed cat.

[Picky_Piki]

Good morning!(well for me when I’m writing this.) jump down to the bolder paragraph for the behavior.

the purpose of this post is to understand what it is my cat is trying to tell me or to know why he does what he does out of curiosity and Maybe help him stop.

my cat is 6.5 months old and has been neutered since 12 weeks of age. We dont play with him with hands. We feed him a mix of wet and dry food in two separate puzzle bowls side by side that have varying levels of difficulty. He has a million toys. Motion activate. a fish that moves. Balls with bells, different cardboard boxes that I’ve cut holes in to make into games, purchased toys, rolled up socks, the cardboard on a wire toy, a toy that moves under a blanket etc. Etc. he has a scratching post, a scratching box, a 5ft cat tree with scratching posts that looks out a window. We play with him multiple times a day, even get him panting from running so hard, we feed him 3 times a day. His litter box is cleaned at least once but more often twice a day.

He was raised with his mom and siblings till 9 weeks, given to my sister at 10 weeks and then to us. He is from my cousin and that family really made sure to handle him. He was raised with 10 children, cats and dogs and the mom and previous litter are the most chill cats in the universe they let the children carry them everywhere.


here’s the issues I’m seeing. Running up and biting me hard on my thigh when I’m just standing there, not moving. Biting my blankets and shaking them. Attacking my hand if I try to pet him when he’s just chilling. Swiping us as we walk by his cat tree. pulling books out of the bookshelf. Try to chew my rug and get under it. Chewing up the carpet. Wool sucking to the point I had to get him his own blanket. Spinning in circles and chasing his tail 9 times in a row like a kennel crazed dog. We doesnt care about sticky tape or different kinds of bitter spray. He is afraid of the cocking sound of a nerf gun. (Don’t judge I know disciplinping a cat doesn’t work but neither does all the other things). He sometimes will run up and jump on the back of my knee knocking me over and the get all big and puffy like he’s afraid or standing off to me so I’ll grab him by the scruff and hold him down till he settles. He is 11.5 pounds and not over weight.


so is this normal teenage kitten behavior? Why is he attacking and shaking my blankets. This morning he would not stop. I’d give him alternative things to play with. I’d blow on his face. I’d shoo him away. But 20 mins prior he was snuggled up next to me. I just don’t understand this cat.

first time cat owner. I’ve watched a lot of jackson galaxy videos. Read probably a hundred articles on owning cats. I almost was convinced to feed raw but I just don’t have the Ability to do that at this time. So I’m in deep but he’s still a mystery to me.
you think he’s OCD?

 

[Picky_Piki]

I see my post included doubles of photos. Sorry, still figuring out this platform.

 

[Willowy]

Sounds like normal teenage male cat behavior. He's trying to play with you; he doesn't have anyone else to play with. Everything except the biting, I'd say just go with the flow and play along. Like if he jumps at you and jumps away all puffy, he's trying to start a game of chase, so maybe chase him around a little.

Any possibility of getting him a kitten friend?

 

[Picky_Piki]

Sounds like normal teenage male cat behavior. He's trying to play with you; he doesn't have anyone else to play with. Everything except the biting, I'd say just go with the flow and play along. Like if he jumps at you and jumps away all puffy, he's trying to start a game of chase, so maybe chase him around a little.

Any possibility of getting him a kitten friend?

So chasing him isn't a bad thing?! I can play chase haha. I have been strongly considering getting him a friend but not sure it's financially wise for me and my husband. This little kitty was free but ended up costing us so much.

 

[sivyaleah]

I agree it sounds like very typical kitten behavior of that age. I was a newbie to kittens when we got our younger one (she's nearly 2 now). I was not prepared for the craziness she exhibited from around 6 months to 8-9 months old. I remember every night she'd come flying into our bed, attacking us like mad. At first we laughed but after a few days of that it got seriously old. That phase lasted a few weeks. Luckily she was never the kind to jump at us otherwise although she went through a very bitey stage too.

We always gently but sternly would say "NO", sometimes a light tap on the top of her head like a mom cat might do, and remove ourselves from her for a while until she'd calm down. No discipline. It really doesn't work with cats very well at all. Especially considering they are just doing what a cat naturally does which is chase, hunt and capture.

The best toy we got was Da Bird. This is the only one where she'd really get tired from after a 15 minute play session with us. She still loves that one the most. My husband would also chase her around but when you do that, you have to make it clear that's a game, not some big clunky person hunting her down. That's a different thing altogether.

Some cats are just way more hyper than others and yours clearly has a high activity drive. My suggestion is whenever he "attacks" you to realize he thinks it's fun and half the fun for him is getting a reaction out of you to continue the "game" and to just quietly remove yourself from his presence so he begins to realize that when he lunges, it results in no more fun for him.

Rewarding for quiet time snuggling is a good tactic too.

And last, please don't scruff him. It's too easy to hurt a cat that way.

He also may need to be fed more than 3x a day. Kittens should eat as much as they want to. Perhaps try adding one more snack during the daytime, or just before bedtime and see if that helps. He may also be trying to tell you he's hungry and the only way for him to do that is to get overly rambunctious.

If it's any consolation, our girl settled down a lot once she hit a year or so which is typical. She hasn't tried to bite in gosh, can't even remember when so these behaviors do usually tend to see themselves out the door as they grow older.

 

[vince]

So chasing him isn't a bad thing?! I can play chase haha. I have been strongly considering getting him a friend but not sure it's financially wise for me and my husband. This little kitty was free but ended up costing us so much.

Ain't no such thing as a free cat!

 

[Picky_Piki]

Ain't no such thing as a free cat!

Haha we knew that going into it but we didn't realize is that it would be more expensive than adopting. After all his wormings, shots, tooth extractions because baby teeth weren't falling out, vet visit for vomiting, nueter, which toy is going to entertain him over our hands and feet today. etc. etc.

 

[Picky_Piki]

I agree it sounds like very typical kitten behavior of that age. I was a newbie to kittens when we got our younger one (she's nearly 2 now). I was not prepared for the craziness she exhibited from around 6 months to 8-9 months old. I remember every night she'd come flying into our bed, attacking us like mad. At first we laughed but after a few days of that it got seriously old. That phase lasted a few weeks. Luckily she was never the kind to jump at us otherwise although she went through a very bitey stage too.

We always gently but sternly would say "NO", sometimes a light tap on the top of her head like a mom cat might do, and remove ourselves from her for a while until she'd calm down. No discipline. It really doesn't work with cats very well at all. Especially considering they are just doing what a cat naturally does which is chase, hunt and capture.

The best toy we got was Da Bird. This is the only one where she'd really get tired from after a 15 minute play session with us. She still loves that one the most. My husband would also chase her around but when you do that, you have to make it clear that's a game, not some big clunky person hunting her down. That's a different thing altogether.

Some cats are just way more hyper than others and yours clearly has a high activity drive. My suggestion is whenever he "attacks" you to realize he thinks it's fun and half the fun for him is getting a reaction out of you to continue the "game" and to just quietly remove yourself from his presence so he begins to realize that when he lunges, it results in no more fun for him.

Rewarding for quiet time snuggling is a good tactic too.

And last, please don't scruff him. It's too easy to hurt a cat that way.

He also may need to be fed more than 3x a day. Kittens should eat as much as they want to. Perhaps try adding one more snack during the daytime, or just before bedtime and see if that helps. He may also be trying to tell you he's hungry and the only way for him to do that is to get overly rambunctious.

If it's any consolation, our girl settled down a lot once she hit a year or so which is typical. She hasn't tried to bite in gosh, can't even remember when so these behaviors do usually tend to see themselves out the door as they grow older.

Thank you so much! We are definitely on the right track then. We walk away when he starts getting rowdy, and initiate play with he settles down. He has pretty much every toy you could think of and loves them all. We don't give him catnip toys though, ever. He has a bird that chirps too.

I'm concerned about giving him more food. He already eats over a cup of Nulo food a day. He also gets chunky fast. It's not from lack of activity.