I feel like I've tried everything to get her to stop!

I'm not sure if spaying her will calm her down or not, but either way I strongly urge you to do it unless you're breeding purebred animals! Your kitty can get pregnant if a male cat looks at her sideways (not true, but pretty much so ).

Peanut sometimes gets "the crazies" in which he'll randomly dash through the house, arch and puff himself up and try to look about ten times his real size. I always try to act very impressed and properly terrified, but sometimes it's kind of hard to do because he loses his balance and falls over. For us, the squirt gun works well when he's being naughty- does it not even faze your girl?

Some cats are just pesty . Personally, I just never leave shiny stuff where cats can get to it, I have a cat-proof garbage can, and the toilet paper stays in a coffee can. . .LOL. management goes a long way in preventing naughty behavior.

She should be spayed as soon as you can get her in, she's at an age where it ought to have already been done (ideally it should be done before 6 months). But don't count on it changing any of her behaviors (except for sexually-based behaviors)! She's probably bored. . .how often do you play with her? Do you have a fishing-pole type toy? A laser pointer?

Another reason cats do these things is to get attention. Even negative attention, they don't care. So any kind of punishment will probably just make things worse. If you just manage the situation to prevent her from doing things she shouldn't, that would be the best way to eventually extinguish the behaviors. Things will get better as she matures, as well. Kenneling at night is fine, don't feel bad about that. The kennel should be big enough for her litterbox, food, water, and a bed, once all her needs are cared for it's a perfectly good management tool.

You should definitely get her spayed so you don't have to deal with the constant horrible yowling when she's in heat. There are ton of other health benefits to getting her spayed as well.

As for her getting into everything you own, I would recommend kitten proofing your house. Her behavior is absolutely normal. Put everything away. Get covered trash cans. It's easier to change your behavior than hers. A past roommate I lived with had baby locks on all of her cabinets to keep her cat out.

If you haven't done so, buy her some kitten appropriate toys and make sure she gets her play times. I am sure she is very smart and probably very bored.

I have a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a soon to be 1 year old. My husband and I have learned to keep all our stuff put away. All of our breakable knicknacks are put where the cats can't get to them. My jewelry is put in it's box after I'm done wearing it. My kitten is much like yours. She is too smart for her own good. LOL

Sounds to me like she's just acting like a cat. She's still young and frisky.

When my cat was young, he was crazy. Almost every night, he would jump up and down my bed and throughout the house like a chicken without a head. It's how he burned energy.

Enjoy her when she's still young and full of energy. As my cat is approaching 10, he's slowing down and that's when you realize they're no longer young.

She's being a kitten. Charlie takes my jewelry and hides it upstairs in the litter pan. He takes my pens and keeps them under the bed. Let her be a kitten, she is not misbehaving, she is exploring, she is being inquisitive and you shouldn't get mad at her. Hissing at her, stomping your feet and spraying her will ultimately get her to start to fear you and she might start to attack you. Get her another kitten to play with- make sure it is the same age and have fun with them. Get them spayed and just let them be who they are. It always amazes me how natural instinct in cats and kittens get blamed as "bad behavior."

haha she sounds like my Zoe.

With her (and Floyd) we've had to put baby locks on the cupboards, keep the bathroom door closed all the time, and pick our battles (such as using corner of my computer desk is okay to jump on the lizard tank, but snoozing on my keyboard is not okay. going on the table that we don't use and just wash that once in a million time we do to visit the fish and stare out the window is fine, but going on the counters isn't.)

also when they start going psycho at night, we just shut them out of the bedroom or will take zoe in with us and let floyd have the living room as he doesn't like to sleep with us -ever-, and she does.

lasers have got to be the best cat toy EVER. Even 5 min of it here and there a day goes miles for entertaining both you and the kitty.

But yes. Your kitten is just being a kitten.

My kitten is eleven months old now. He too is very active. Have you tried getting your kitten into a set routine? When he was younger he was allowed to run around in the mornings (with lots of play time from me) but after lunch he was put into the kitchen to nap for a good four hours. At eleven at night he again was in the kitchen after his supper until my husband got up at six. He quickly got into this routine and follows it still, although he no longer needs to go into the kitchen.
I find that keeping his toys in a bag and getting out a few "new" ones each day helps to keep things interesting. He LOVES a toy called a "cheese chaser" by Petstages which he will play with alone if he is awake during the night. Plastic milk bottle tops provide endless fun. I skid them across the kitchen foor and he plays a very cute game i call "blind tennis" where we bat the top to each other underneath the kitchen door! Maybe your kitten would enjoy a game like this?
However.... the biggest thing that has calmed him down and gives him a big energy release( as well as giving him a lot of stimulation ) is that we walk him in the woods for at least an hour each evening. Harness training was suprisingly easy. Please let me know if you would like to know how i went about it. He is an expert tree climber and being able to do this each day, has stopped his need to climb our curtains
He is still a naughty kitten though, and knows which buttons to press to get attention

Sounds like a kitten being a kitten.

Solution? Don't leave jewelry on your desk, get a tall trashcan with a lid (mine is battery powered, opens when you put your hand close kinda neat), I also have to close the bathroom door else they play with the shower curtain and roll.

Although they mellow as they age, dogs and cats are essentially like kids for their lifetime, and with a new kid you have to babyproof the house as well. I'd ditch the kennel, as its not appropriate for cats (good for kids though heh) and is likely to just make the kitty want to blow off that much more steam after being confined, and instead just catproof the house and play with her more. Bouncy balls, wire ties, da bird, crinkled up receipts, etc are all good fun. I had been warned, so got siblings, and sure enough half the time they are racing through the house chasing each other and wrestling, the rest is pretty much eat and sleep and supervising my acivities. Personally, I hope they stay active for a while, as my buddies older cats are kinda boring and just lay around all day.

PS: and yes, she should have been spayed ages ago. she can get pregnant at 6 months old IIRC, and you'll go bonkers when she goes into heat and gets really annoying.

Welcome to kittenhood and human training 101!!

You've gotten a lot of good advise, but the best thing to do is change your behavior since that's much easier. Put your stuff away that you don't want her playing with. Close the door to the bathroom, put the TP in the cabinet, or get a locking TP cover for it. Put baby locks on your kitchen cabinets if she's getting into them. We had to do this to deter our now 6 yr old when she was a kitten.

Distraction is also helpful. Use wand toys, a laser pointer, balls, wads of paper, box forts and other simple things like that to redirect her "bad" behavior into something more appropriate for your home. Also, as another poster mentioned, having regularly scheduled playtime with you is a great idea. Do you have a cat tree by a window so she can look outside? What about getting a bird feeder so she can watch the birds?

I would also recommend a kitty companion if you can afford it and if you've got room in your home for another younger kitty. You'd want one of a similar age (10 mos-18 mos) and similar energy level.

I have an 11 month old boy and he can be quite a handful at times!

This sounds just like our story. (Kittica had her first birthday about two weeks ago.)

Spaying helped in her case, a little bit and we never had problems where she'd destroy any of our things, but she opens everything she should and shouldn't be able to do, as well as she gets into anything and everything. But that's fine.

I'd like to hear more about harness training, Turks! Kittica will wear it and we go outside, but we can't really walk like a dog would, or anything. It looks like she's starting to understand it, but I'd like to do it properly.

I would like to know how you did the harness training. My cat hates just having the collar on. Once I put the collar on he will just lay on the floor and roll around non stop until it is off him! Maybe you could email me so we don't hijack this thread?

I wrote about this for Cat Fancy, if you want to email me I will be happy to help you out. You can PM me for my addy-

Definitely spay her unless you intend to breed her. Some cats are normally curious and pesky but spaying her might help to calm some of her rowdiness down. Cats can be really obnoxious when they are in heat too. She is only a year old and will settle down. My Swiffer is almost 2 and she has calmed down quite a bit. She was a hellion until she was about 14 months old and she was spayed!

Hi

You kitten should be neutered at around 6 months.

You mention about what she is doing around the house, is she indoor only, or does she go out?

She needs more activities. Look at getting a box full of cat toys. Balls on string hanging somewhere for instance - so she can play on her own. You also need to have play times with her lasting a good half hour a time. Give her a specific time when she has a regular play time, perhaps just before you go to bed at night. This will channel her activities to suit you a little more, but still give the puss the play she needs.

Agree with all of the above!!! She is being a normal kitten and is very over-active. I would get yourself a couple of those wand feather toys (DO NOT leave them out, put them away when you are done playing, cats will eat the strings) Play with her for a few 15 minute sessions during the day. This will make her burn off lots more energy. I also would think about getting another kitten. Your kitten sounds very bored and has lots of energy!!

Also, if you don't already have one, invest in a laser toy! That will really wear her out as she chases the dot! LOL They have ones that have interchangeable tips, too. Mine has the plain dot and a mouse.

Please don't allow kitty to have free access to balls of string, yarn or ribbon. To many times, these kittens eat the string, ribbon thread and end up in the vet hospital in emergency surgery. ALL string related toys should be supervised play only. Anything else is just asking for trouble. On the laser toy, keep it low and out of kitty's face. You can blind a kitty if you accidentally get the laser in her eye- it will burn right through her retina.