Cat getting on my very last nerve...

Hi all, I need to vent.

I woke up this morning to a huge mess in the kitchen. My tortie found her way to the very top shelf and ripped our new pack of paper towels to shreads. Some of the paper towels fell onto their food/water area and got dirty. That wasted several perfectly good paper towel rolls. Furthermore, she knocked over a bunch of sauces. Thank god they didn't leak though.

I was fuming mad... I saw her and wanted to yell . But don't worry, I contained myself, I knew if I yelled, she wouldn't know what it was about. She was just napping cozily.

My orange tabby is goofy and klutzy but behaves so well. My tortie has given me so much grief in the year I've had her. I must have thought about giving her away several times already.

We moved to a new place a little over a month ago. Before I brought my cats over, I tried so hard to cat-proof the place. Meaning I tried to think of every scenario that can cause a problem. I thought I was successful but obviously not. I try to stay calm, but I feel like this cat is going to give me high blood pressure because of all the stress!

Boy do I know it's hard. Benson has been a handfull. He was calm for the last month and not he is back to some old tricks. It's tough but hang in there. Just come here when your upset and vent Oh speak of the devil Benson is now on my desk pawing at the screen.

Well, I take high blood pressure medicine and just let the cats go! We have long since passed the point where we could keep a vase of flowers in the house. DW had never had a cat before we got Persi and I told her it was going to be just like having kids again. You have to put up with basically all the same stuff and you just gotta keep loving them. It's like it was 25 years ago when our kids were small. We just could not stand having peace and quiet so when the kids left we replaced them with cats. Have you had children? Kid proofing the house and cat proofing the house are just about impossible! Good Luck and just remember, like kids, your cats will settle down some day. Well, most will anyway. I'm still waiting.

I know it's aggravating, but it's only a few paper towel rolls. I used to get really peeved about it when my bengals would do that. Now, if I'm dumb enough to leave the roll out or in a place they can get it, I just laugh when I see the mess and blame myself.
Sometimes I'll even give them a paper towel roll and let them have fun in the kitchen.

We do our best to keep stuff off the counters (especially food). Cats kinda turn you into a better housekeeper

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

We do our best to keep stuff off the counters (especially food). Cats kinda turn you into a better housekeeper

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So true.

That's why they say torties have Tortitude

Originally Posted by Persi

DW had never had a cat before we got Persi and I told her it was going to be just like having kids again. You have to put up with basically all the same stuff and you just gotta keep loving them.

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SO TRUE!!!!! You have to have patience as you are going through these things just like training up a baby! They know just what to do to get your attention. Yes, keep loving them anyway. I think if you have patience and keep dealing with it right, it will all work out! Good luck Don't give up!!

Oh my goodness! I so understand what you're feeling! I have an 11 yo who's no problem at all, but then my almost 2 yo gets into EVERYTHING!!! We're probably the only people who don't have children but have child-proofed the cabinet doors in the kitchen to keep said cat out. We also have to put everything that's not nailed down into cabinets and such where it's out of her reach.

I have found that when I get most aggravated and impatient with my kitties is when I'm stressed out and/or tired. Maybe you should take a little time out and treat yourself to a nap or your favorite form of relaxation.

Stephanie

Well, if it's any consolation, we've probably all been there (and continue to be). I can't tell you all of the things my four babies have gotten in to, and I think we have cat proofed our house more than I child proofed my house when my children were young. My DH and I are grandparents now so we have no little ones at home. I guess we're just glutens for punishment because these furbabies give us a run for our money.

I'm feeling a lot calmer now... Yes, I realize it's only paper towels but it's many things that she has done throughout the year that has cost me a lot of money and labor.

Sometimes I vent to my boyfriend's mom about the difficulty of having cats. She always responds with "why don't you get rid of them??" (As you can tell, she isn't an animal lover). She says they are just as hard to take care of as children, but with children, they at least grow up and they learn. Cats stay at the same intelligence level. And when they do something bad, you can't even discipline them because they don't have the capacity to learn.

It's difficult when everyone around me is telling me to "get rid" of my cats. Sometimes I feel I should because I spend more time being angry at them than enjoying their companionship. But other times they make me so happy (particularly my silly tabby boy)!

The two cats I have are my first real pets. I've had pets when I was a kid, but my parents ultimately took care of them. These two cats are my repsonsibility. I really did not anticipate they would be so hard to care for! Maybe I should have gone for a hamster

Anyways thank you all for listening!

They will calm down as they mature.

You should just give her a roll so she can get it out! Maia loves the cardboard centers! Another thing is that this is really a way of getting attention, she probably needs more playtime focused on her, this way she doesn't look for things to do.....