Help me with my cat

mustangfreak

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I have a male DSH that is almost a year old. And he does things everyday that annoy the crap out of me.

One of them is that he will run at full speed through my apartment for about 20 minutes. I have to isolate him in a room just to get him to calm down.

Another is if I close my bedroom door at night to sleep, he will reach under the door and claw at the carpet, and he's slowing ripping it up due to this.

Plus he also claws my furniture.

How can I correct this behavior?
 

larke

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Hi, my first reaction to your question was going to be "get a dog", but that won't help anything I guess. A male cat of that age is so full of energy he doesn't know what to do with it, and needs to be allowed to use it up and needs to be played with, interactively. He will grow out of the crazies sometime in the first year (before age 2, in other words), but still will need play time and exercise. Locking him up only makes things worse, of course. Is it really a hardship to let him run it off for a while late in the day like he's doing? You do need to remove (as you would for a small child) anything dangerous to him (or valuable to you) that would be in the way, such as trinkets, sharp tools, etc. until he's older, but isn't he worth more than stuff? Also a tall cat tree with a couple of perches, a hidey hole and sisal scratching post legs (Google Armarkat... they're the least expensive and have the best variety) would help a lot, as would a playmate/brother of a similar temperment and age. If you can't take the heat, however, maybe you know a friend or someone who'd be happy to have such a clown around and has the patience to live through it. I do hope he's been neutered - that also helps in the long run. Take a 4' piece of thickish cord and tie knots at either end. Drag and wiggle it under a sheet or piece of newspaper, then watch him pounce trying to chase the 'mouse'. Throw little (1") balls of silver foil for him to chase, but be prepared to keep fishing them out from under the furniture.
 
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mustangfreak

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Originally Posted by Larke

Hi, my first reaction to your question was going to be "get a dog", but that won't help anything I guess. A male cat of that age is so full of energy he doesn't know what to do with it, and needs to be allowed to use it up and needs to be played with, interactively. He will grow out of the crazies sometime in the first year (before age 2, in other words), but still will need play time and exercise. Locking him up only makes things worse, of course. Is it really a hardship to let him run it off for a while late in the day like he's doing? You do need to remove (as you would for a small child) anything dangerous to him (or valuable to you) that would be in the way, such as trinkets, sharp tools, etc. until he's older, but isn't he worth more than stuff? Also a tall cat tree with a couple of perches, a hidey hole and sisal scratching post legs (Google Armarkat... they're the least expensive and have the best variety) would help a lot, as would a playmate/brother of a similar temperment and age. If you can't take the heat, however, maybe you know a friend or someone who'd be happy to have such a clown around and has the patience to live through it. I do hope he's been neutered - that also helps in the long run. Take a 4' piece of thickish cord and tie knots at either end. Drag and wiggle it under a sheet or piece of newspaper, then watch him pounce trying to chase the 'mouse'. Throw little (1") balls of silver foil for him to chase, but be prepared to keep fishing them out from under the furniture.
Thanks for the link to the furniture!!!! They are CHEAP compared to petsmart!!!
 

callista

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Get a plastic carpet runner, the kind that is supposed to protect your carpet from chair legs and things, and cut it to fit into your doorway. That way when he claws at the door, he claws plastic carpet runner instead, which is way easier to replace when it gets worn down.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Callista

Get a plastic carpet runner, the kind that is supposed to protect your carpet from chair legs and things, and cut it to fit into your doorway. That way when he claws at the door, he claws plastic carpet runner instead, which is way easier to replace when it gets worn down.
i have one of those under the cat fountains.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Callista

Get a plastic carpet runner, the kind that is supposed to protect your carpet from chair legs and things, and cut it to fit into your doorway. That way when he claws at the door, he claws plastic carpet runner instead, which is way easier to replace when it gets worn down.
i have one of those under the cat fountains. i cut the size i needed from a $5 roll i got @ dollar general.
 

katkisses

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Google "soft paws." They are little caps that go over kitties nails, they don't hurt, and your furniture doesn't get clawed up. You have to re-apply them when they fall off (4 weeks I think). Good luck.

ps, don't declaw, PLEASE.
 

meow meow

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Don't shut your door. Most cats feel it is there right to go where ever in the house they feel like it. The minute you shut a door, that is the room they will want in.
 

katkisses

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Ditto with the above poster. The one place you tell them they can't go, they are going to HAVE to go-to see why it's so great that you have to hide it, LOL!
 

lsanders

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Originally Posted by Larke

He will grow out of the crazies sometime in the first year (before age 2, in other words)
Could you send that memo to Albus? He should have gotten it three years ago!
 

mrblanche

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The "zip zop kitty hop" crazies are normal. That's how cats stay in shape. They have fantastic muscles, but those muscles need to be exercised.

I'm going to guess this is your first cat. The ways of cats are mysterious to humans, since cats are so different from every other animal we've ever domesticated. Even to those who know cats well, any particular individual can have behaviors that are a total surprise, and, again, mystifying.

But almost all of us are acquainted with the "10 o'clock crazies," that wild spurt of energy just before bedtime. And the thing about closed doors...well, obviously, that's not news to any of us!
 

aswient

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Those plastic runners work very well. My cat Charley was a little terror when I brought him in the house. He was about a 10 months old. He would chase after all my cats to play. He would run on 3 legs and have the fourth one up so he could hit each cat as he went by. He calmed down considerably when he got to be about 1 1/2 years.
 

lsanders

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Get some double-sided tape or bitter apple spray, or one of the myriad of other products out there that stop cats from scratching furniture- they sell them at any Petco or PetSmart.

Get a laser pointer that you can shine and have your cat chase around and join in the fun!

That's why you got a cat, right?
 
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mustangfreak

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I'll look into the plastic runners.

I've used the plastic claw cover things you glue on, that was PITA to put on haha.

And about the comment where the cat thinks they should go wherever they want....My cat better learn I make the rules on this house! LOL


He has gotten better though since I got him. I can leave the door open to my bedroom now, and he sleeps with me now and most of the night he sleeps on my bed.

And no, he's not my first cat. Though he is my first cat in 4 or so years. Before then I was only 17-18 when we got our new kittens so I didnt mind the hyper attitudes. Now those 2 cats are about 6 years old now.
 

howtoholdacat

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Originally Posted by Mustangfreak

And about the comment where the cat thinks they should go wherever they want....My cat better learn I make the rules on this house! LOL
Oh my gosh! This IS your first cat isn't it!? Lol!
 

cc12

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Cat trees really help with that. My boys were up and down and up and down the trees. They had each other and Mary so it took the pressure off of me to come up with stuff all of the time.
You may need more scratching posts around.
 

forensic

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Originally Posted by Mustangfreak

And about the comment where the cat thinks they should go wherever they want....My cat better learn I make the rules on this house! LOL
..... I think maybe you want a dog.
 
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