My cat must be bored beyond belief

[zoebartlett]

We have two cats and we love both so much, but man, the male is driving me crazy lately.

Over the past two nights, he''s knocked over two completely full glasses of water for no reason. One swat with his paw and drip, drip, drip went the water, all over the end tables in the bedroom and the living room. Today I found him chewing on a gift bag that has a present I''m giving to a friend later. I now have to get another bag. I moved the bag and 10 minutes later I caught him trying to go headfirst in the bag. I finally moved it to the top of the fridge. I''ve caught him flicking poo out of his litter box. Now, WHY on earth would a cat do that? We keep it really clean, I promise. He loves to scratch the couches, and lately he''s started to nibble on the little stray pieces of fabric on the couches. He plays rough and he bites a lot (well, not all the time, ust when he''s playing). We don''t use our hands when we play with him but sometimes if we pet him he''ll try to get a good chomp in. Ouch! We play with our cats a lot and they have every toy known to man. Our female is more stealth about her wrong doings but for the most part, she''s an angel.

We use a spray bottle all the time but it doesn''t really stop the behavior. It does for a bit but then he''s right back to getting into mischief. It''s actually cute -- we point the spray bottle at him and he immediately squints his eyes..."come on, I dare ya..." We spray him and he licks the water off his face or his back, as if it didn''t bother him at all.

Any ideas on how to encourage him to be a good kitty?

 

[zoebartlett]

Here are his mug shots...one as a little kitty and one all grown up.

Sweet isn''t he?

 

[Cleopatra]

Oh my goodness Zoe! What an adorable little tot you have there! So cute!!! Sorry about all the ruffling of feathers that little cutie is doing!

My kitty is going through her first Christmas - and the tree and the presents with all the bows that blow in the slight breeze are too much for her little mind to handle. She just plain ATTACKS those presents!!! And I find at least three ornaments on the floor when I get home from work everyday. She NEVER plays with ornaments while we''re not home....she must think she''s being sneaky!

Ok - I know Cleo probably has no idea that we''re rewarding her - but when she''s good for several days in a row, she gets a little can of Fancy Feast - and boy does that cat go NUTS for wet food! She only gets it every now and then, but still, she''s beyond satisfied when she gets it. You should hear those meows.

When you want to punish the kitty, what about spraying him and putting him in a crate for five minutes. Cleo hates her crate so it''s a sense of punishment to her? Would that work?

 

[CrookedRock]

I honestly feel like I just wrote that! Mason is driving me nuts! I love him, he''s adorable, but geez! I bought the industrial long distance sprayer too, and it works momentairly. If he jumps on a counter and I show it to him he jumps down immediately, so I guess it is working a little... BUt this biting! He usually sleeps with us, more on us I should say, but between 4:30-5:30 he wakes up and starts going after us! I have to put him outside the door and close it! I''d like to think he''s teething b/c he''s only 4 months old. And the s*it flicking!!! You gotta be kidding me with that, we put his box inside a spare shower so it could only go so far! I am trying to potty train him for the toliet, but what a stubborn lil guy he is. My bf is so grossed out by that bathroom at this point, we had to put up a dogy gat with a lil cat door in it to block off the bathroom bc the dog was eating the s*it! Really? How could that possibly taste good???

I wish I had an answer for you!! Maybe someone can throw us a bone here!!!

 

[CrookedRock]

Date: 12/14/2007 9:12:21 AM
Author: Cleopatra
Oh my goodness Zoe! What an adorable little tot you have there! So cute!!! Sorry about all the ruffling of feathers that little cutie is doing!

My kitty is going through her first Christmas - and the tree and the presents with all the bows that blow in the slight breeze are too much for her little mind to handle. She just plain ATTACKS those presents!!! And I find at least three ornaments on the floor when I get home from work everyday. She NEVER plays with ornaments while we''re not home....she must think she''s being sneaky!

ROTFL!! the whole bottom of my tree is bare!!! He has pulled all the ornaments off!!! I''m not even going to consider wrapping presents to put under there!!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hehe, I''m glad to know that I''m not the only one who''s having troubles. We took our tree down because we didn''t like it and we still haven''t gotten a new one yet. Now I''m not so sure we should even bother because I KNOW Henry will attack it.

I can''t even tell you how tired I am of cleaning the bathroom! Yes, poo flicking happens occasionally but not too often. Yay for that. We have a little plastic grate on the floor in front of the litter box. It''s supposed to help with the litter being tracked all over the floor when the cats leave the litter box. It does help, as litter is often trapped inside that. Well, this morning, guess who I found digging in the small amount of litter that was inside (after he had somehow removed the grate''s top? Yep..our sweet little Henry. Luckily I caught him before he got it all over the place, but geez, I''m tired of sweeping and washing the floor.

 

[Miscka]

Wow, ok, so this must be some kind of cat-crazy season! We have 2 cats, and one of them is driving us NUTS! She cries for food all the time (she gets fed VERY expensive food at regular intervals) and wakes us up in the middle of the night by yelling, batting at us, or biting toes. She is constantly taking things (glasses, hair ties) and chews on all the cords. We couldnt put up our tree because she flipped out. Argh! The other cat thinks its hilarious, and occasionally mimics the behavior. They aren''t even kittens. They both play in the litter box, which is in a spare closet. They like to paw at the wall around it, like they are scratching in the box, but the noise is nuts. And they love to do the same on the window by my bed while I am sleeping and the mirror in the other room. Can you tell I am losing it a little here??

Anyway, here is hoping that all of our feline friends snap out of it!! I keep telling them that if they keep it up, Santa won''t come see them, but they don''t seem to care

I must not mean it anyway, since I bought them all kinds of xmas presents at PetSmart last night...

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 12/14/2007 10:12:11 AM
Author: Miscka

They both play in the litter box, which is in a spare closet. They like to paw at the wall around it, like they are scratching in the box

Henry does this too. He scratches the inside of the litter box then jumps out and does it to the tub (inside and out).

I just looked over at Henry and he''s sleeping peacefully in his bed. We made a bed for both of them by taking apart their carrier to show them that there''s nothing to be afraid of. We lined it with an old bath rug and now they sleep there much of the time during the day. It''s kind of cute...

 

[mirre]

I don't know how to handle the problem but I wanted to comment on your cute little furball there... My cat looks almost just like your's... same little markings and colors... and she acts absolutely CRAZY! She bites all the time... we can't play with her because she bites... just last night I was walking by her out of a room and she reached up with a paw and slapped at my hand slicing open one of my fingers. I was beyond mad. 30 minutes later she was laying in the floor with a very "Proud" stance head super straight chest puffed out. And I was starring at her in the eyes... I told her that I was upset and if she would apologize I'd forgive her (I talk to the cat... sometimes lol) I treat her like a kid. Some time later I was sitting on the couch by BF and he called Daphnee (the cat) over to his lap she came to him. He told her "You need to go apologize to her" and I'll be darned if that dang cat didn't walk right out of his lap over to mine and start rubbing on me!! She'll listen to him... but with me... NO she just wants to bite, scratch and attack me.

I'm thinking about trying the spraying and putting her in the crate for a bit and see if that works. Spraying doesn't work. She just runs off to pout for a minute then she's back acting crazy getting into everything. If we shake the bottle to make the water slosh to get her to stop she just croutches down and squints her eyes getting ready for water to hit her.

ETA: Daphnee also will be walking on the coffee table or the kitchen floor and just start pawing at a spot like she's trying to cover something up. It's cute when she does it the first couple times in the night but she'll just sit and paw and paw... we have to tell her that there isn't anything there and to stop pawing.

 

[sap483]

Can I join the club of owners with cats behaving badly. My 3.5 month old Theo is destroying my house too. I find huge chunks of my plants on the window sill on the floor every night. He also likes to knock over water glasses, and won't stay off of the counter tops. He would always much rather eat human food than kitty food- and so he feels the need to eat any he can get his little paws on- including licking dishes in the sink. He also climbs up the christmas tree and settles in on my of the branches for a nap. We haven't decorated it yet- I can't imagine how he'll react to the ornaments. He scratches at the couch and likes to pounce on my leather chair. He chews on power cords all the time. He also likes to hide behind corners and pounce on me as I walk by- latching onto my leg and taking a big bite. He also loves to scratch and bite my arms, hands, and feed too. He enjoys waking FI and I up every night at least once, and again in the early morning. He also owns every toy imaginable. I sympathize with all of you going through similar issues. I love him, but I'm desperately hoping this is a phase he'll grow out of.

P.S. He's not nearly as bad about biting and scratching with FI....

 

[Deelight]

Zoe your cat is adorable

I seriously thought I was the only one with strange psycho kitties at the moment

mine are going absolutely ape

*ponders* is there something in the air

, even the older fat one is going banana''s

Sorry no hints to make the kitties behave otherwise mine would be better trained

 

[Patiently_Waiting]

There must be something in the air. My two girls have been acting so strange lately. They are going around the house yipping at me and each other, no explanation. Their box is clean, water dish full, and food in their dishes also.

Zoe - You say you both play with your cats a lot, but I was wondering if you guys were away from home more than usual? I notice that if I have to travel more or am away from home more than usual, sometimes my cats will act up by pushing things off of tables and such, even though I play with them and cuddle with them a lot when I am around. Just curious. And cute kitties, btw

 

[laine]

Date: 12/14/2007 10:36:54 AM
Author: sap483
He also climbs up the christmas tree and settles in on my of the branches for a nap.

Please tell me you have a picture of this that you want to share with us. While it is incredibly bad kitty behavior, it also sounds incredibly cute!

And I'll add my cats to the crazy list. I made cookies last night and left them to cool. I came back to find the cat (8 months old) on the counter checking them out. Luckily he only licked one. The same cat loves to steal pieces of candy out of the bowl beside my computer. He runs away and plays with them (lollypops are his favorite--he unwraps them).

Our cats also know they don't belong on the counter/table, shouldn't eat plants, etc, so they only do it when we aren't around.

ETA: Zoe, I meant to tell you, your cat is adorable!

And Patiently Waiting, our cats are the same way. They cause much more trouble when we leave them alone for too long (paying us back for abandoning them?) and the older cat humps things alot more when we're gone (tshirts and things--he drags them around in his mouth while humping them and purring).

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks for the compliments! Henry is quite the cute furball. We haven''t been away lately any more than we usually are. We both work full-time away from home but as soon as we get back, we''re all theirs. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Henry''s just vey mischievious (sp?).

 

[VegasAngel]

Woohoo for once I am the lucky one my cat hasnt even blinked an eye at the tree. Usually, she takes decorations off. My daughter is doing all the work for her I guess.

It's probably just that the kitties can sense the excitement, stress whatever is going on in the household. Adding all that new stuff (Trees, presents etc.) gives them a lot of new stuff to explore & may be overwhelming for them.



Forgot I wanted to add to watch the pets around plants, tinsel, chocolate, all that good stuff. I remember we used to have a lot of sick pets come in around Christmas & Thanksgiving (Dont feed cats Turkey

)

 

[FireGoddess]

It sounds like he''s pretty hyped up and excited these days, and I think what would help most is more ''active play'' with you. If you let the kitty get his energy spent on things that ARE allowed for him to do, then he won''t have as much energy do to these naughty things, and just maybe less inclination to WANT to do them.

Holly has had a few ''behavioral'' issues as far as the tree is concerned so I''ve been doing more play with her (she loves fetching my hair elastic bands) so we play fetch and pretty soon, she''s lying down contentedly exhausted on the carpet, and not screwing around with the tree.

So I think that finding a positive outlet for this energy can only help.

 

[Aloros]

Forget the squirt bottle, I went ahead and bought a pump-action squirt gun. It''s been much more effective in disciplining my cat. It SOAKS the house when kitty''s being bad, but it is oh-so-worth-it! As for the couches, grab some of that sticky paws stuff (basically like double-sided tape) and put it up on the places he scratches. I''ve found it really effective. You can spray the stuff he nibbles on with bitter apple spray. I use this to teach kittens that chewing on wires = BAD. Plus, I''ve ended up having to use it on the tree this year, since my cat seems to think that fake trees are delicious.

CrookedRock, I meant to ask you how Mason was doing! He''s only 4 months, so I''m sure with time and training, he''ll grow out of the biting thing. When Amazu was 4 months old, he used to run after me and bite my feet and ankles! What a little terror! He got better after a few more months, and stopped biting when he was older.

The poop thing though...yea. You can always buy a big rubbermaid bin for the litterbox.

 

[Gypsy]

Mine are... oddly enough, behaving. Well, Hally never behaves, but she hasn't done anything out of the norm. We've been very busy and away from the house a lot more than usual too, so I was actually concerned. But we did come home to find white confetti all over the floors in the entry, dining, and living rooms the other day. We figured Hally just missed Snow since this is their first Christmas in CA, and wanted to do her best to make it snow for everyone. She shredded a TON of paper. Took it right out of the printer. She's a wonder.



I too would love pics of sap's kitten in tree.

Zoe.. Henry looks like a love! He's a very handsome boy!

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 12/14/2007 11:23:55 AM
Author: Aloros
Forget the squirt bottle, I went ahead and bought a pump-action squirt gun. It's been much more effective in disciplining my cat. It SOAKS the house when kitty's being bad, but it is oh-so-worth-it! As for the couches, grab some of that sticky paws stuff (basically like double-sided tape) and put it up on the places he scratches. I've found it really effective. You can spray the stuff he nibbles on with bitter apple spray. I use this to teach kittens that chewing on wires = BAD. Plus, I've ended up having to use it on the tree this year, since my cat seems to think that fake trees are delicious.

CrookedRock, I meant to ask you how Mason was doing! He's only 4 months, so I'm sure with time and training, he'll grow out of the biting thing. When Amazu was 4 months old, he used to run after me and bite my feet and ankles! What a little terror! He got better after a few more months, and stopped biting when he was older.

The poop thing though...yea. You can always buy a big rubbermaid bin for the litterbox.

HAHA, Waterguns make it so fun to discipline cats. You are right too double sided tape is really good for keeping cats off of places they shouldnt be. Even better if it is attached to a piece of foil.

<---Good way to keep cats out of cribs.

 

[Lynn B]

I''m with Gypsy, my little furball, Boo, is being such a good boy! Although if the KITTY FRENZY is contagious and moving east, I''m sure we''ll be next!

Honestly, I cannot complain at ALL. He is such an angel. We have a soda can with some marbles in it, and we shake it when we have to tell him "no" (we''ve had to do that only twice and he''s 10 months old!) and he''s never done it again!

A side note -- I have read that a spray bottle is much more effective if the cat doesn''t know that YOU are spraying it. If you can be sneaky about it (so they don''t see you) then they associate the *deed* with the spray, not *you*, which is preferable. Knowing that *you* wield the sprayer can just teach them to be more sneaky about whatever it is they aren''t supposed to be doing (i.e., do it when you aren''t around!) (Just my humble 2 cents, of course, based on a few things I have read.)

 

[portia]

Heheh... I was starting to think this is the Cats Behaving Badly thread!

We''re having our troubles, too. Our female cat is hungry all the time... she pesters us like crazy at night to be fed. Not sure what''s up with that. She goes absolutely crazy for food and we give her plenty.

Our male cat likes to leave us presents on the ivory shag rug in yellow and/or brown shades. Just lovely!

And Zoe our youngest (1 yr. 3 mos.) likes to play vigorously with the other cats (read attack). She was ''playing'' with our male bengal last night and left a huge pile of fur on the floor. He was screaming so loud I thought she drew blood (he''s also known to be a big drama cat). However, when I saw the fur on the floor I was a bit horrified. He now has a growing bald spot on one side of his neck because she apparently wraps her arms around his neck and rips the hair out while they are ''playing''. I feel really bad for him. However, she will submiss to him if he fights back so I don''t know what''s going on there. Why doesn''t he just do that all the time?

And I''m not even mentioning the scratching, getting on countertops, waking us up early AM (that would be Zoe), chewing up papers, knocking over lamps, etc, etc.
Is mercury in retrograde or something?

Although when they are good they are absolute angels!

 

[nebe]

I didn''t read through all the comments to make sure it wasn''t said (it''s midnight and I need sleep

) but I heard from my vet that if your kitty is misbehaving you should get a penny can (empty soda can or metal jar) put five or six pennies in it and tape up the lid. Whenever kitty is doing something bad, you sneak up behind them and shake it REALLY loud to scare them. Eventually they associate the scary noise with whatever they''re doing wrong and they stop. It''s along the lines of Pavlov''s dog.

Hope that helped!

 

[Lynn B]

OHMYWORD! This is sooooooo funny... you'll never believe this, but little Mr. Boo was SOOOOO BAD last night!

After I typed up that nice, smug reply (above)

, I turned off the laptop and went to bed. Normally, he goes to bed with us and sleeps all night like a perfect little angel. NOT LAST NIGHT! He would NOT settle down! He got up and RIP SNORTED through the whole house, up and down the stairs, batted his crunchy mylar bar all over the bed (and me and DH), dragged his DaBird up the stairs (thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...!) and onto the bed... meowing LOUDLY in 5 different languages and basically carrying on non-stop till 5 am!!!

I was actually thinking of this thread and thought, "Well, I guess I deserve this!"

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Gypsy! AS much trouble as Henry causes, I think he''s a keeper.

I''m really glad that I''m not the only one with kitty issues, although I don''t wish these on any cat-owners. He is a love but when Henry gets something in his mind, he doesn''t let it go. Fell from the top of the TV (when he was climbing around) THREE times? No problem! Keep tryin''. Fourth time''s a charm.

I like the idea of shaking a can of pennies when he does something wrong. I just wish that we could be consistent with it all day, but work gets in the way.

I also like the thought of surprising him with the squirt bottle and staying out of sight. I''ll give it a shot.

 

[risingsun]

OK...a warning that this is gross

Our older cat, Woody, managed to eating the ribbon from a package left under the Christmas tree. The curling type of ribbon. We became aware of this the next time he used his litter box and presented us with a perfectly gift wrapped piece of poo. Looked a freaking candy cane

We are now aware that cats ingesting ribbons are dangerous to their health, so presents cannot be placed under the tree until we are ready open them!

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 12/16/2007 11:27:00 AM
Author: risingsun

...the next time he used his litter box and presented us with a perfectly gift wrapped piece of poo. Looked a freaking candy cane

LOL! Now THAT''S a visual!!!

(Glad he''s OK... the little rascal!!!)

 

[movie zombie]

your kitty looks like my harley cat.....

cats are most active around dusk and dawn, they are night creatures by habit. activity at the 4-6a is not unusual for cats, wanting attention and being fed. in fact, it is species appropriate. to expect them to adhere to human species behaviors is unrealistic. the most you can expect is that they will eventually grow older and calm down a bit. your cat is asking for your attention. my lahonda cat has trained me to give her a few kitty pets at that time of the a.m. and she seems contented. but then she is now 14 years old.

an obviously trained by her cats to adhere to cat species behavior cat care giver, movie zombie

ps spraying with water does work if you''re in the room: however, cats are rather bright creatures and they know that when you leave the house, the counter and anywhere else you don''t want them on and/or in is fair game. also, cats are like kids: negative attention is better than no attention, you''ve now been engaged in a game. i used to have a kitten that when i got up in the middle of the night would attack my legs, sliding with claws from knees to ankles........he out grew it and was a wonderful cat. when they want attention they use the tools they''ve got! this is the cat that also jumped from a counter onto the shoulders of a guest..... and also the cat that loved xmas so much he climbed the tree. and each a.m. i got to redecorate it because once we were in bed he thought the decoration balls were there for his personal batting pleasure and to roll across the floor once he got them off the tree! he was my first cat and i learned a lot.......

 

[Linda W]

I know this is a cat thread, but my dog Mazie is misbehaving badly. She has been peeing on our Christmas tree skirt.hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

ZOE: Adorable kitty cat


Linda

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Linda! It''s hard to be mad at a kitty (or dog) who looks so cute, isn''t it? I''m sorry for the uh, peeing incidents.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/14/2007 8:59:29 AM
Author: zoebartlett
Here are his mug shots...one as a little kitty and one all grown up.

Sweet isn''t he?

awwwwe, what a cutie!