Teenage cats?

Hey I know cats go through a teenager phase, but I'm not quite sure what kinds of behaviour that involves... I'm sure every cat is different, but can they get aloof and distant sometimes during this stage?

Sophie is 10 months old, and can be still pretty cuddly with me at times (when she's in the mood), but when I take her to visit my parents these days (most weekends) she's gotten more independent -- she used to hang around us, and fall asleep on our laps when she was tired.. These days, we're lucky if she'll even wants to be in the same room as the rest of us! Doesn't stick around to enjoy pets even...

I really thought she would be a people cat, now she seems very rebellious -- which is why it makes me think of the teenage phase!

I know its probably impossible to say for sure, but is this her personality coming out, or just a stage?

Oh, and recently she's obsessed with wanting to jump to places a smidge too tall for her. It drives her crazy sometimes

Most of my cats hit their "teenage" stage about 9 months and most of them were done with it by 18 months. I've seen everything from aloofness, to cuddliness, to extreme playfulness, to aggression, to just plain stubborn rebellion. The stubborn rebellion was the worst - Stumpy used to smack me every time I tried to discipline him for anything. I found out that he really hated me wagging my finger in his face when I said no to him. But if I didn't wag my finger at him, he ignored me completely.

I think they are testing their boundaries, but also trying to explore their own personalities during this time.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Most of my cats hit their "teenage" stage about 9 months and most of them were done with it by 18 months. I've seen everything from aloofness, to cuddliness, to extreme playfulness, to aggression, to just plain stubborn rebellion. The stubborn rebellion was the worst - Stumpy used to smack me every time I tried to discipline him for anything. I found out that he really hated me wagging my finger in his face when I said no to him. But if I didn't wag my finger at him, he ignored me completely.

I think they are testing their boundaries, but also trying to explore their own personalities during this time.

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Thanks for that explanation That helps a lot!

I'm convinced that if you have a few other cats in the house that will all engage a kitten in play and social activity that it really helps. My three kittens haven't really had a teen phase - as they've gotten older they've become more behaved. Blann and Tanna no longer try to eat everything they can get a hold of.

Blann is currently laying on my lap purring and drooling, he's been like this since he snap out of his wildness.


But usually, a lot of kittens will start testing boundaries and try to do things (get into things, that is) on their own.

Nuts will jump up on Paul's chair put only his front paws on the counter and look at me like 'what are you going to do about it?'(he knows he's not allowed on the counter.) I tell him to get down and he ignores me so Paul usually grabs him by the tail and tries to get his paws down(he never hurts him and it rarely works.) If that doesn't work I grab the can of canned air and that is usually enough to get him down, if not I spray it(never at him the noise alone does it) and then he gets down. He has also started coming into the bathroom with us and scratching the walls next to the toilet. He has Soft Claws on so he isn't hurting anything but I tell him to stop(I usually ask him "are you allowed to do that?") and he stops. It is cute when I ask him if he's allowed to do it and he quits.

He and Attitude(female) are both 13 months old and Nuts has decided to test his boundaries, just like kids do. Been through it with my 7 year old son, and he still sometimes does it, but a kid is easier than a cat, I don't need compressed air to get him to stop, even though sometimes I wish that would work on him. Attitude doesn't really do anything, she seems to not care about being rebellious.

Taryn

My youngest cat, Ajax, came to us being chased by what we later found out was his father when he was 5 weeks old. He's 7 months old now and 11.5 pounds of rebellious teenager. He used to want to sleep on my lap a lot, then all of a sudden he won't even cuddle unless I'm in the bathroom. It's as if he loves me but doesn't want anyone else to see. LOL!  His play aggression is off the scale so we try to tire him out with toys so he won't kill our older cats.  He intentionally starts things with them and often winds up getting his head bopped by the older cats.  I can't say bigger cats because he outweighs all but one of my cats. His father is quite possibly the largest cat I've ever seen. I'm hoping Ajax doesn't get that big. I really hope this doesn't last until he's two years old.

Hi @Kcpaull and welcome to TCS

This thread is five years old so I don't think you'll get a response from the original posters... but we'd love to hear from you in New Cats on the Block.