Do cats have a "teenage" phase?

Kizzy didn't....but Kitchi, ohmygoodness..... he's become a terror. Meaning getting into things he shouldn't, and being naughty.... all while looking us straight in the eyes as he defies us.

He's 8mos old now.... and I swear, he's acting like a teenager

Anyone else seen this?

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Kizzy didn't....but Kitchi, ohmygoodness..... he's become a terror. Meaning getting into things he shouldn't, and being naughty.... all while looking us straight in the eyes as he defies us.

He's 8mos old now.... and I swear, he's acting like a teenager

Anyone else seen this?

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My vet calls is the juvenille delinquent phase. With Merlin, it lasted two years, but he was a feral kitten. I never thought he'd be a lap cat, but finally at the age of FOUR, he is the sweetest, lap cat you could ask for. He is, however, still an imp!

Yes. I've had several foster kittens go through that - PJ & Punky hit the "teenage" phase from about 6 months to 1.5 years!

Pardon but PJ and Punky are still in the teenage years.. Zoey their big sister ... Of course Mom says I was in mine till age 4.5

Mine started anywhere from 6-9 months and lasted until about 18 months. I actually called them teenagers at that time of their lives.

Stumpy was the worst. Add stubborn to teenager and OMG what a monster he was!

Ditto Aya, she turned into 'crazy kitty' around 4 mos old and still acts wild at one year. She was also a feral kitten. The only thing that's gotten better is that she now naps a bit more than when she was a kitten so I get breaks now and again from the insane adolescent cat behavior. She's slowly learning how to be petted and be a lap kitty.

She's always looking for something to get into and if you tell her no she stops and looks at you for just a second then does it anyways, all the while watching to see your reaction. She also has what I call 'spaz attacks' where she runs around the apartment jumping and attacking everything she can.

Definitely, I have one at home at the moment too, 7 months old and thinks he can do whatever he pleases, he is messy, annoying but darn cute too

The worst is when they are in the shelter at that age, they trash their cages is in them and pick on the other cats if out of them, pure terrors

Jake still does this, at a year and 1 month old ...I find it cute that he always thinks he is boss and everything in the house is his property to play with

My Luke is 1 and we say he sometimes is "in a mood"..lol

He'll stand in a doorway and wait for me to walk by and jump out and grab me and then run away...lol

Yes, definitely! Molly and Polly were a bit. . .weird and crazy for a while once they hit 7 months it was a totally different definition of "kitten!" Now that they're four years old they're both a lot calmer! The crazy thing is, coming out of that "adolescent" phase and saying "Thank goodness!" gave me kitten fever again! My mom didn't take to the idea well after I had to break it to her that one of the cats ripped up the shade of her best, most expensive lamp. Oops!

That's precisely what I am going through with Sugar right now. (See hard headed cat post).
Its times like these that mothers of teenagers understand why some animals eat their young. LOL

yeah flash still has her moments sooty is quite placid but smooch is a horror at times he deffinatly has the terrible two's haha

From 6wks to 14wks they always seem to act like young children, after that somewhere in between. Then like others have said, 6-7months to about a year and a half you get teenage kitties.

I swear that Tomas, at 3 years now, acts like a guy in his early 20s.

Harley was my worst so after him everything else is a cake walk! I swear from age 4-5 months he was into EVERYTHING (and I mean everything....we found him one night in the drop ceiling of the kitchen tearing back and forth!). He stayed like that until about 2 yrs old when he finally started calming down and sleeping the 16-20 hrs everyone says cats sleep. They all go through it but he was my worst.

Yep. Generally sets in somewhere between 4 and 6 months, and lasts for varying lengths depending on the cat in question. My worst teenager was Samantha, who regularly gave me the "Yeah, you and what army, Mum? " -- but she was at the same time the sweetest little luvbug.

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

"Yeah, you and what army, Mum?

"

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Now that's a very good way to put it!!

All of our kitties always have been and are perfect angels.

YEAH RIGHT!

Blossom certainly did it lasted until after she turned 1.

Yes they sure do!! I think it helps if you have more than one kitten though. At least, Church and Roxy (who are less than a month apart in age) did not have as much of an obnoxious "teenager" phase as other "single" kittens I've known, and my four 1-year-old littermates have been really good, I think partially because they were able to get their energy out on each other.

Well tis good to know that others have suffered before me

I swear, Kitchi is going to be the end of me. He'll go places where he knows he's not supposed to, right when I'm standing there Nothing seems to work with him....so I am really really HOPING that he gets out of it soon OR that having him neutered will help some of it.