Help with Havana Brown

Ahoy,

I have a mystery breed cat named Zack who looks like a Havana Brown and Oriental mix.  He's big with long legs, very muscular, and has a pointy head with big ears.  He is around 3 or 4 years old, neutered, and I got him from the Humane Society who took him in as a stray.  He has turned my house upside down since he got here.

He shredded an entire couch and a hamper despite having two scratching posts in the same room as the couch.  One is sisal and the other is carpet-covered. I tried Kitty Caps (the soft caps that glue onto the claws) and he chewed them off within a week.

He drinks out of the swimming pool even though he has fresh water, and eats fake plants inside.

I can't keep him off the counter and he is not deterred by loud noises or sprays of water. We can't leave food out while we eat dinner because he steals it.  If we cover it up, he knocks the cover off. This weekend he grabbed an entire bone-in lamb chop and tried to eat it whole, gagged and threw up all over it. He has run off with entire steaks and stolen chicken carcasses right out of the trash can (which has a lid!). He rips through bread bags and shreds the bread all over the kitchen.

Every night he serenades us for 10+ minutes of singing after we've gone to bed. He does it in the front room (which is empty because he wrecked the couch) so it echos.

He doesn't enjoy being held and when we pet him he moves his body away from our hands.

I have two other cats who have never acted like this. Zack has to be fed separately because he wolfs his food down without chewing, then muscles the others out of the way to eat theirs.  Then he pukes it all up, undigested, all over the house.

My husband and I are at our wit's end!  The only thing keeping him here is that he's the dog's buddy. They wrestle and he washes the dog's face and ears occasionally.  I have considered making him an outdoor cat but I worry that he'll get sick or hit by a car or killed by a coyote.  I have also considered returning him to the Humane Society so they can find him a home that is more suited to his very active lifestyle.  Is this behavior typical of the breed? Are we just not cut out to have a Havana Brown?

Mrs H

Thank you so much for your replies and advice!  I have had cats for 8 years and I feel like a beginner with this one.  Thanks for being patient with me.

As far as scratching:

He shredded the arms of the sitting room couch & loveseat (smooth upholstery) but not the family room couch (velour-ish). We moved the shredded loveseat into what we designated the "cat room" (spare bedroom) and he doesn't touch it anymore.  He still uses his sisal post which I spray with catnip.  The old couch he shredded used to belong to the previous homeowners we bought the house from, who also had a cat (who did not scratch).  Is scratching a way for a cat to "claim" furniture?

If I make an upholstered scratcher for him, how will he distinguish between what is acceptable (his post) vs. what is unacceptable (brand new furniture)? The formal sitting room is not a room we use often, so we can't supervise him all the time if we ever put new furniture in there (which we are afraid to do).

For keeping him off the counter:

I can't believe I never thought of a cat tree. He's always on the back of the couch, the nightstands, the coffee table, etc.  There are so many features available. I found this on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Armarkat-Tree-Model-A6202-Beige/dp/B003BYQ150/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1AH7LAS8AEQ2J&colid=D1BKN7VLGW9J that I thought all the cats might enjoy.  Zack likes perching, Sweet Kitty likes having a hideaway, and Merlin built his own hammock out of the bottom of my boxspring already.  I thought I'd put it in the family room so Zack can still be in the room with us and watch us cooking without getting in trouble.  He's 11lb and the others are 5lb.  What do you think?

Mrs H

OK, I did two things today.

1. I ordered a cat tree from Amazon.  It comes Friday and I can't wait.

2. I calmed down.  I didn't get frustrated at feeding time when he and the others were all over the counter (on and off like synchronized swimmers!) or when slid all my papers off my desk into the trash can or when karate-kicked everything off the top shelf of the bookcase.

In return, Zack did two things:

1. He came when I called him - he came trotting up with a little chirp.

2. He sat with me on the couch and let me pet him.

This never happens.  I feel better already.

Quote:

I have a kitty I refer to as 'the nuisance'. She's just very very curious about everything in the world. She gets bored easy, so I make sure to have *tons* of toys down on the floor. I rotate them around, also, I pick some up for a week & put them away. When I get them out the next week it's like a great new toy!

That sounds great! We don't leave small cat toys around because our 5-lb schnoodle steals them and either (a) hides them in her crate, or (b) chews them up.  They're just small enough to choke on.  I have a Da Bird knockoff (feather on a string attached to a rod) that Zack goes crazy for.  We rarely use it because our other cats never cared about toys. I'll set some time aside for that though!

The cat tree came Friday.  He was instantly in love with it!!!  He sleeps there all day and all night, and he stays off the counter (mostly).  When the cats hear a can opening they can't help themselves.  Wet food is a special treat here and they just lose control.  I get it.  (:

The interactive play with our "Da Bird" knockoff really keeps him out of trouble!  Today he had a "bored" day with a lot of whining and crashing noises and clearing desks but I think he'll be happier with some play tonight.

Thank you all for your advice.  We are on our way to a happier house!  Here is Zack on the couch with me as we ordered the tree online together, and after.

OOPS.  i put them as attachments instead of images.  Let's try this:

I know he seems nice enough here.. but it's only because I don't have any photos of him parachuting out of the top of the closet.. although I do have one of him opening the door to a glass bookcase and climbing in..