New Cat Stealing All the Attention

Last summer I found a 12 week old kitten, Wally, at WalMart and brought him home. He is a very loveable and wonderful animal at times, but now that he is older and more familiar with his surroundings, he is becoming a holy terror. He will not leave my other cat, Sadie, alone, and is always picking fights with her even though she is twice his size and weight. He hogs all my attention and I cannot get a moment's peace and spend some quality Mommy-Sadie time with my first cat, who I can tell is extremely attention-starved. She looks at me like I've betrayed her and don't love her anymore. What's worse, Wally is most active at night and has a bad habit of tearing across the house, getting into things, knocking things over, and crying even though my bedroom door is open. He also won't let Sadie on the bed, and I miss having my fluffy footwarmer Sadie sleeping with me. I don't want to have to get rid of Wally. I keep telling myself it's because he's still a kitten, and a male one at that. He has been fixed, but that hasn't calmed him down at all. Will he eventually grow out of this reckless, annoying stage? I've had cats in the past that were rambunctious until they reached a year of age and finally settled down, but he is ten times worse than anything I've faced thusfar. I would really appreciate some advice so I can get back to my healthy relationship with my wonderful, perfect baby Sadie.

Just talked to my veterinarian today, and he suggested using a squirt bottle on Wally when he's misbehaving. I've considered that option, but he is most active at night, and I've noticed he is strangely more well behaved in the daytime anyway, not to mention that it would be really difficult to get out of bed and scold him everytime he does something wrong when I'm trying to sleep. Also, that still doesn't help me with Sadie...I want to make her feel loved and let her know that she's still the world to me. I set aside certain times of the day to spend alone with her, like in the morning when I'm getting ready to leave (she likes to sit on the sink and watch me), but she still seems to feel neglected. I'm so torn about what to do in both instances. I'd really like some advice. Has anyone else had this problem?

Cats are not like dogs, I have yet to meet a well behaved cat. They have instinctive behavior and we think they are acting out, but they are being cats. Is he neutered?

In the behavior part of this website there is an article, Cats and Night Crazies. The way he is behaving is perfectly natural for him or any other cat for that matter. Jackson gives great advice in this article about how to tame the beast and it doesn't even involve water

MA

Oh yes!

I've decided that having 2 or more pets is it's probably very much like having 2 or more children in the house. The oldest always feels a bit jealous of the new one, and the new one is always in need of more attention because they are little.

You do the best that you can and you all have to adjust and find a new routine that accomodates all 3 of you.

Things will settle down once your youngest is a bit older and not so needy.

Just make sure you still make time for your oldest one too. Pick her up and take her to bed with you and let her know hat she's welcome in your bed.

When I got Abby, Chynna stopped sleeping with me for months because she didn't want to share. Now, years later, they realize that neither of them are going anywhere and they have learned to share the bed with one another. They each have their spots.

well, just found a small kitten that had been hiding outside near the house.
he is much the same as yours, sounds like they are around the same age.
i put him in his own bedroom at night. how i am working. when i get home in the morning i play and spend some time with the other cats. before i let the wild one out.

he does much the same, in always trying to fight and play with the older cats who put up with it for a little before they hiss and bob him on the head. after that he comes and watns me to pet him until i go to bed, Bad part is he goes along, and tends to sleep with me, but anytime the other cats try to get in bed he seems to think its play time agin so the older cats wont stay long. but he is a kitten and will grow out of the wild times.(i hope)

I have had similar problems. About two weeks ago now I brought home a 4 month old kitten to my 2 year old cat (who HATED all other animals, including stuffed animals! She would attack even them!) I am still feeling that my old cat Hollie feels unloved and betrayed. She also used to sleep with me and my boyfriend but now when she gets on the bed the kitten either follows her or is already up there and then Hollie gets down. All I try to do is pet Hollie when I can and always feed Hollie first. Can you try putting Wally in a separate room and feeding Sadie first? I have read alot about cats and feeding time and how much they love it . I also put the kitten in a room by herself when she misbehaves, I tell her NO loud and firm and I put her in the room. No food or water, just her litterbox. Then when I let her out and she misbehaves again, I put her back.

As far as making Sadie feel loved, I think yuo should keep doing what you are doing, show love to Sadie every chance you get and try feeding her first. Hollie, I think, is slowly coming around. She doesn't hide or anything and the two cats play together every now and then.