Update on Barkley (Behavior Issues)

Amitriptyline is 'Elavil', and can depress people, so I can only think it might not have been a great thing for a cat. But other cats are on Prozac, which calms them down, and I wonder if it wouldn't be worth trying out. Can you not move your pictures somewhere else (at least til he forgets about them) in the interests of keeping your cat (alive)? As well as playing with him actively for a time before bed, and possibly even letting him have a couple of treats then? Most of us have been thru the early a.m. cat awakenings, but have somehow found ways to deal with it that don't involve getting rid of our cats.

Can you put him in a big dog crate away from your bedroom at night? That way, he can't run around or tear at the carpets, and he isn't meowing in your ear either. You might also try feeding him just before bed. He may be waking you because he's hungry. I know it can be very hard to deal with these behaviors. Odo wakes me up whenever it's been more than 8 hours or so since I fed him. Since his meowing doesn't wake me, he bites my head or pulls my hair. Ignoring him is the only thing that will ever get him to stop, but feeding him right before I go to sleep helps prevent his behavior.

Crating would be a good idea, I don't know how you would mask the howling though.

This does appear to be attention getting behavior.....did you get both cats at the same time? If not, who was first? I didn't catch the first thread that you had, but I am curious about this.

Oh yes, how does he react to catnip?

Someone here has put their cat on Prozac. It sounds a bit ridiculous at first, but she's had quite a difficult time with him, and now he's calming down a lot, so I would second the suggestion of trying some different drugs.
I sympathize with you on the lost sleep. Some people just don't understand how devastating it is to get woken up constantly night after night. It really wears on you, and it's natural to get angry at the cat.
We have a problem with Wiggies doing this. Now when he starts, I'll get up and lock him up straight away. Otherwise if we leave him, he just keeps on coming in and waking us up only to run away when we move. And he's not hungry. We exercise them and play with them, and wake them during the evening. I guess he's just bored or something.
Anyways, at least we found a way to keep living with him and loving him. Try the crating method, and feeding him right before bedtime, and maybe look into other medications. I know you're frustrated, but please hang in there and try some more before giving him up!

He is neutered, right?

I would consider the prozac...but a crate at night, in a dark room, should help teach him that nighttime is rest time. He may not be quiet in the crate at first, but he will learn. I wouldn't crate most cats at night, but I would certainly crate one that awakened me at night before considering giving them up.

Although you have changed your behavior at night, he still remembers that sometimes you feed him when he awakens you, so he keeps trying.

And if he gets energized by playing at night, switch to playing in the morning! And get some tall cat trees, so he can wrestle and play on them. Garfield and Jazz were wrestling so rough on their tree today, that Gar almost fell off!

My elderly cat has recently been constantly "at" me the whole evening after work, and early in the morning - for canned food. I finally decided to try a different brand, and I've discovered that the really premium canned cat food really fills her up and turned her into a different cat. Now I feed her and she just hangs around and purrs and rests.

Anyway, I know from your previous posts how hard you've been trying and I'm sorry it's not going that well. I also agree with the Prozac advice. It probably wouldn't hurt to try...

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

Can you put him in a big dog crate away from your bedroom at night? That way, he can't run around or tear at the carpets, and he isn't meowing in your ear either. You might also try feeding him just before bed. He may be waking you because he's hungry. I know it can be very hard to deal with these behaviors. Odo wakes me up whenever it's been more than 8 hours or so since I fed him. Since his meowing doesn't wake me, he bites my head or pulls my hair. Ignoring him is the only thing that will ever get him to stop, but feeding him right before I go to sleep helps prevent his behavior.

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"Ignoring him" seems to be one of the biggest suggestions that Ive been given in reference to Barkley but the problem with ignoring him with certain behaviors is that its destructive, most if not all of his negative behavior right now is destructive in nature and that I simply can not and will not ignore. I can take his meowing, that doesnt bother me in the slighest and it's easy to turn over and go back to sleep when he starts that. But when he's actively seeking stuff out at night that I have attempted to place out of his reach it makes me frustrated because Im running out of hiding places for my possessions and feel that I should not have to totally rearrange my house because he doesnt know how to leave stuff that he knows he shouldnt be touching alone. That is mainly what I want to stop. When I am awoken out of my sleep every night and hear him literally ripping stuff apart or digging through stuff "looking" for something to get into that is when I throw my hands up and say "I give up". I will look into the Prozac suggestion. Im wondering why Barkley's vet has not suggested this medication. I know the Animal Behaviorist that I spoke to stated that his area of expertise is in Pharmacology with Dogs and Cats. Maybe it would be a good thing to speak to him although I know I really cant afford his fees at this time.

How does he react to Catnip, please?

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

How does he react to Catnip, please?

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He reacts favorably to it, I think he likes it. He has a catnip bag that he messes with periodically

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

Crating would be a good idea, I don't know how you would mask the howling though.

This does appear to be attention getting behavior.....did you get both cats at the same time? If not, who was first? I didn't catch the first thread that you had, but I am curious about this.

Oh yes, how does he react to catnip?

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To answer another of your questions, I adopted Barkley in Feb 04 and Petunia in April 04

Ahhh. The reason I asked about catnip is because of some studies they did on kids with ADHD. Ritalin is used to keep ADHD kids fairly sane. I was wondering that since your boy appears to be similar to an ADHD kid, if catnip, that usually sends kitties off the walls, might be used as a sedative in his case. But if it doesn't put him to sleep, then you certainly don't need a extra jolt of the jumpies.

He is neutered, right?

Ok, would you consider feeding him before you go to bed? I'm thinking that a full belly in most cats means siesta time.

As for the carpeting, I picked up some plastic runner from ACE Hardware, the kind with the pickers on the bottom. Stopped Tammy-Timmy from scratching on the carpets cold. You might want to get three feet, I got two and shoved half under the doorway. Keep your bedroom door closed and see if that helps.

As for the pictures, would you remove them from the walls and put them in a safe place for a week or so? Then, one at a time, start bringing them out and putting them back up and see how long it take for him to notice that the pictures are up.

You said that he would destroy "certain" things. What were they? Did they make a noise?

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

Ahhh. The reason I asked about catnip is because of some studies they did on kids with ADHD. Ritalin is used to keep ADHD kids fairly sane. I was wondering that since your boy appears to be similar to an ADHD kid, if catnip, that usually sends kitties off the walls, might be used as a sedative in his case. But if it doesn't put him to sleep, then you certainly don't need a extra jolt of the jumpies.

He is neutered, right?

Ok, would you consider feeding him before you go to bed? I'm thinking that a full belly in most cats means siesta time.

As for the carpeting, I picked up some plastic runner from ACE Hardware, the kind with the pickers on the bottom. Stopped Tammy-Timmy from scratching on the carpets cold. You might want to get three feet, I got two and shoved half under the doorway. Keep your bedroom door closed and see if that helps.

As for the pictures, would you remove them from the walls and put them in a safe place for a week or so? Then, one at a time, start bringing them out and putting them back up and see how long it take for him to notice that the pictures are up.

You said that he would destroy "certain" things. What were they? Did they make a noise?

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Yes, Barkley is neutered, but still excessively hyper, nervous and jumpy. I have been feeding him right before bedtime for some time now and then within 3-4 hrs he is back to acting up looking for food.

I will try moving the pictures but honestly do not know where Im gonna place them out of his reach for the time being. I will think of something though, I was hoping not to have to physically remove anything because Ive done this so much already but he's a private eye detective and I swear he has a map hidden somewhere of the whole layout of the apartment so he can look things up when I leave the house or fall asleep.

as for the stuff that he breaks/knocks over....he knocks over books, bottles (some glass, some plastic)...the thing that gets me is he will go out of his way (sometimes almost hurting himself physically) to get to something that he feels he just has to knock over. He will also knock pens/pencils off of the computer keyboard if I forget to place them in a drawer. Bottom line, just anything he can get his paws on As for noise, some things you can literally hear breaking when they hit the floor, other things you can hear him ripping apart and most times you can hear him scratching through things until he gets whatever it is that made him start scratching in the first place.

Is there a such thing as ADHD in cats/pets?

Yes. That's why I was hoping that catnip would have the reverse effect on him.

If you can, put them in a drawer, cabinet, some place where he absolutely can not get a hold of them. I too have had cats that when you bring something new into the house they HAVE to go and smell it, touch it, push it over, knock it down...so I started putting things in places only when the cats were not around, so that they couldn't see where I put the thing. Sometimes it took months for them to realize something was there that they hadn't seen before.


He likes the sound of glass breaking. Of things being knocked over. Hummmmm, have you tried keeping a radio on for him? Would it drive you complete bonkers if you set up some bells for him to yank around?

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

Yes. That's why I was hoping that catnip would have the reverse effect on him.

If you can, put them in a drawer, cabinet, some place where he absolutely can not get a hold of them. I too have had cats that when you bring something new into the house they HAVE to go and smell it, touch it, push it over, knock it down...so I started putting things in places only when the cats were not around, so that they couldn't see where I put the thing. Sometimes it took months for them to realize something was there that they hadn't seen before.


He likes the sound of glass breaking. Of things being knocked over. Hummmmm, have you tried keeping a radio on for him? Would it drive you complete bonkers if you set up some bells for him to yank around?

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I hear what you are saying but the only problem is I am limited for space as far as putting things away and Barkley knows this, he is a smart fella! I have not tried the radio being on for him but I might try that, I have a radio alarm clock on the nightstand by the bed. He likes the Game Show Network, too bad for me Love Connection with Chuck Woolery doesnt come on 24/7, he loves that show and will only sit quietly when that show is on

Tape it for him and run the tape on an endless loop.

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

Tape it for him and run the tape on an endless loop.

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I do think the key is that you have an unusual cat, and it will take an unusual solution.

Maybe keep some of the kitty toys put away all day, and then hide them at night, so he can hunt for them. Then instead of playing with your stuff, he will be hunting for his stuff.

Try putting a crinkle ball in a shoebox, and taping it shut. Leave one or more small holes cut, so kitty can reach in for the crinkle ball, but can't easily get it out. Hide the shoebox under the couch before bed. A small dog toy called a Kong can have kitty kibble hidden inside. As he rolls the Kong around, the kibbles fall out. We have a large Kong that my dog loves. Just be creative, like the kitty!

And he doesn't know he is supposed to leave stuff alone. Kitties have different rules than people.

Does he only do these things at night? If so, you might want to install some nightlights--maybe he's extra clumsy at night because he can't see where he's going. Seriously, I would consider confining him to a dog crate at night for his safety and your sanity.

My Ophelia is on Amitriptyline now & it is working for her. However, she had cat/dog/kid aggression issues. She is now better with cats, tolerates the dogs, but will rip a kid 7 ways to Sunday still.

I've got some questions for you:
1) Does Barkley play/spend time with Petunia?
2) Are you the only person in the home?
3) Is there any way you can give him an "acceptable" object to destroy(like a newspaper, or a large stuffed animal)?

I know in Wal Mart they have these large round balls that hold treats for dogs, but I use them for the kitties. They make a lot of noise rolling around on the linoleum & food comes out....

Originally Posted by white cat lover

My Ophelia is on Amitriptyline now & it is working for her. However, she had cat/dog/kid aggression issues. She is now better with cats, tolerates the dogs, but will rip a kid 7 ways to Sunday still.

I've got some questions for you:
1) Does Barkley play/spend time with Petunia?
2) Are you the only person in the home?
3) Is there any way you can give him an "acceptable" object to destroy(like a newspaper, or a large stuffed animal)?

I know in Wal Mart they have these large round balls that hold treats for dogs, but I use them for the kitties. They make a lot of noise rolling around on the linoleum & food comes out....

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Barkley does spend time with Petunia, but because he is the more active of the two she tires of him easily and quickly and then will put up one of her paws as if to say "that is enough Barkley". I am the only person in the home and on the days that I do work Im gone 12-15 hrs at a time. As for an acceptable object to destroy he likes paperbags so he has a gigantic supply of those to rip apart for the time being.