My Cat from Hell? :))

Hello to everyone. As some of you might have already read in the introductory section, this Monday I have adopted a tabby kitten. It's my first cat and it's proving a bit more than I can handle, which is why I'm opening this thread, asking for advice.

Some background: she was found in open field next to her dead brother, rescued by a lady who could not keep her, given to a bunch of students who put her up for adoption - and that is how I found her. What I *ideally* looked for: an adult, quiet male cat, who could be on his own while I was missing during the day. They thought this one was a male, but after I took her (very briefly) to a vet, she was labeled as female. I am still not sure about her age, but they also assumed she is 3-4 months old. I can post pics if needed.

The bigger issue here, besides her age and sex, is that once the customary 1-2 day of quiet exploring ended, my quiet furball turned into a real rocket. She will climb and jump on everything, and I mean *everything* she can reach - and if she can't reach, she will try anyway and growl frustrated with her failure! And yeah, that includes my legs and my shoulders, hence the scratches. Other times she will vocalize just running everywhere in the house, having occasional bursts of seek and hide. Also, if there's anything hanging in the house, anything, from the ends of my skirt to a electrical chord, to a kitchen towel, she will try to grab it, pull it down and restle with it. And lastly, if I get anywhere near her while she's doing her crazies, she will bite and scratch me.

At this point I know people will mainly say two things: get her toys and use the Owww! & Down! technique. She has plenty of toys, and I've tried to both leave them all over my room and hide them from her and give them only at regular times in the hopes that when she's not playing, she will quiet down. She doesn't. If she doesn't have her toys, she will make toys out of everything she finds. If she has her toys, she will go crazy on them *and* everything else in the room. It's like I can't win with her. The Owww & Down! technique has been efficient in the first two days, now it's like she just doesn't care anymore. In a moment of weakness today, I've sprinkled Chanel No. 5 at her to just get her off me. It was clearly uncomfortable and it made her stop, but I felt like the biggest jerk on the face of the Earth, and probably was!

And at last, the good points. Jokasta (that's her name, not mine, btw), when she's not doing her crazies, she is the most loving, gentle, purring, kissing, licking, adorable thing in the world. She seems to have developed some bond with me, and me with her, clearly. And even though she's a complete wreckage during the day, when the lights go down, she won't even meow until it's morning and I'm well out of bed, so all my fears that I won't get a good night sleep seem unfounded.

I don't want to give her up, she's my girl and I've made a commitment to her, but if our lifestyles might prove completely incompatible, then I will do that rather than make us both miserable. I'm in my twenties, pretty active lifestyle, and living in a large house with two other people. I cannot handle wreckage on a daily basis, for years to come.

My questions are: Will the crazies disappear with age? And what age would that be exactly? Again, would the crazies disappear once I spay her? I plan to do it anyway, but... well, I guess I want to know if there's any kind of light at the end of the tunnel, and how far away.

Thank you for any input you might have.

well, i'm sure someone else will come along here with more experience but from what I can tell from your post there are a few things you need to realize

You have a kitten. Kittens play and are very very active. It's what they do. NOW, they DO calm down as they get older (and spaying will also help) but a younger cat is always going to be more work than an older cat. Getting a playmate for them can help (another cat the same age / activity level), but you should only do that if you know you are going to be committed to both of them for their lifetime, even when it's inconvenient, and can properly care for them (and pay for vet bills).

I have a 14 month old who still has the crazies, but he's a lot calmer now than he was as a kitten. 

To combat the crazies you should make sure she has stuff like a cat tree (very good for climbing and scratching) and some interactive toys like "da bird", which allows her to go wild .

but you do have to remember you have a pet not a piece of furniture

I am against people giving up animals because it inconveniences them, but if you do give her up, make sure it's to a rescue group or a no kill shelter, or to someone that understands what the needs of a cat are.

Thank you, redvelvetone!

I don't want to give her up, I feel there are still things I can try with her, and if this is temporary, then we can probably work it. As I said, I'm fond of her. And even if I'd gave her up once I thought there is absolutely no hope, the previous owners have said they have no problems taking her back, so she wouldn't end up on the street, DEFINITELY.

Unfortunately a second kitten is a big no-no. For every reason you can think of, including financial.

Yeah, a kitten is not a piece of furniture. A kitten is not a dog, either. I guess the shock came from raising dogs for 20 years now.

Sounds like perfectly normal kitten behaviour to me - they climb everything including humans, they run like fiends, and like any young animals (humans as well) explore with all senses including biting/taste. This will dissipate as she ages, at least for the most part although even older cats have cat attacks where they run, yowl and climb everything but the cat attacks get shorter. Da Lip, at almost 12, still has cat attacks where he 'kills' the arm of the hide-a-bed, and one inside cat just sits and surveys, never does anything silly.  The outside cats at 9, 8 and 7 also get them but they are outside and the two that do come in will sometimes get silly inside.  There is no set age for this to stop. .

Give her places of her own to climb - cat trees and things. Toys that are chewable are good and do play with her but not with your hands; get wand toys for that. If she is cuddling and sleeping inbetween cat attacks, she is perfectly normal. Probably the worst stage is when they are teething at around 6 months

one thing my cat loves are the cat loungers in front of a window, so he can watch the birds outside. he'll spend HOURS doing that. And if your cat is a climber a cat tree will be great for her. You can find better deals in terms of prices on Amazon or Ebay for cat trees (or some people make them themselves too). there is a website called IKEA HACKS and there were some posts on there about how to make cat trees and cat furniture out of inexpensive Ikea furniture. I'll see if I can find it. I think someone posted it here before too

sk_pacer said:

Give her places of her own to climb - cat trees and things. Toys that are chewable are good and do play with her but not with your hands; get wand toys for that. If she is cuddling and sleeping inbetween cat attacks, she is perfectly normal. Probably the worst stage is when they are teething at around 6 months

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She does get very affectionate inbetween attacks, yes. And also when I come home, even if I haven't gone for long, she will come and "talk" to me and purr her throat out. Then the madness begins anew. )

Alrighty, then. Seems like I need to invest in some more appropiate toys for her than what she already has. Very useful, thank you for contributing!

redvelvetone said:

one thing my cat loves are the cat loungers in front of a window, so he can watch the birds outside. he'll spend HOURS doing that.

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Cat lounger sounds good! As my kitten is the climber type, a climb tree or something similar would eb the first thing for her.

Thank you! Your kitty is completely adorable.

Oh i found the site. it's ikeahackers.net. they have a section on pet furniture. Here's a cool climbing thing for a cat

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/05/long-one-for-cat-lovers.html

redvelvetone said:

Oh i found the site. it's ikeahackers.net. they have a section on pet furniture. Here's a cool climbing thing for a cat

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/05/long-one-for-cat-lovers.html

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Thank you, redvelvetone!  I'll see if I can make it for my little Tarzan here.

FWIW, the toy of choice here is a knotted piece of baling twine. They all love twine mice even super reserved Zabbie, who thinks playing is beneath him.

I solved the problem of places to sit by putting a board over the sink so they can look out that window and an old bookshelf by another, and a chair by a third and of course they have the big window with a built-in shelf to sit in and that window will hold 5 large cats on a winter day. I do have one fridge sitter though and finally gave up trying to get her not to do it and just cleared everything off the fridge top. .

sk_pacer said:

I do have one fridge sitter though and finally gave up trying to get her not to do it and just cleared everything off the fridge top. .

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Yeah, sometimes it's easier to just give them what they want and then adjust accordingly. 

She's rather fond of her little play mice, yup, but I need to buy a wand one asap, as you suggested above. More space between my hands and her claws that way.

they DO learn to not use their claws on you.

My Magnus when we first got him (6 months) would play with you and use his claws but whenever he scratched us we took a time out or used some other toy that allowed us to play with him without geting scratched. After a while he learned to use "soft paws" when playing with us. Not to say he does not ever scratch but by and large he's learned how to play with humans.

If the cat ever gets aggressive you teach it to not be like that by not playing with them for a little bit and they learn that is not acceptable and if they want you to pay attention to them they will have to use "soft paws".

They also learn this from socializing with other cats (other kitties won't play wtih them if they play too rough).

would you consider leash training her? or getting a pet stroller?

redvelvetone said:

they DO learn to not use their claws on you.

My Magnus when we first got him (6 months) would play with you and use his claws but whenever he scratched us we took a time out or used some other toy that allowed us to play with him without geting scratched. After a while he learned to use "soft paws" when playing with us. Not to say he does not ever scratch but by and large he's learned how to play with humans.

If the cat ever gets aggressive you teach it to not be like that by not playing with them for a little bit and they learn that is not acceptable and if they want you to pay attention to them they will have to use "soft paws".

They also learn this from socializing with other cats (other kitties won't play wtih them if they play too rough).

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Oh, thank you for mentioning this! Claws and teeth are my biggest concerns (my line of work focuses on hands from time to time), and I'm always trying to teach her how not to use them. So far it's been so and so.

I use the method you wrote about constantly - stop playing with her the moment she uses her claws or her teeth, even move away from her at such times, or turning my back on her, etc. The problem with that is that sometimes she will attack my hands even when we're not playing, for example: I'm typing at my computer, she sees my fingers move on the keyboard and she'll jump right for them. Or if I rest my hand on the armchair while watching a movie, she will attack it. You get the point.

At such times I try the Owww! high pitched voice method. Sometimes it's working, sometimes not. If I act really pitiful she will release me and sometimes give me a lick for compensation. )

Btw, how does everyone feel about spraying her with water when she starts biting or clawing?

@ aeevr,

Oh, wow. Those are some options I never even knew existed. I'll have to think on them. Maybe as a last option, if everything else fails. I'd like to think this is just puberty for her, and it's bound to get a bit messy.

It IS possible, even advisable, to clip her claws to reduce the carnage. Another possibility is SoftPaws.

I agree with clipping her nails. I didn't start clipping mine (2 kittens I adopted at 2 months old) until they were about 9 months. I see now that I would have saved a lot of things (curtains!) if I had started clipping them earlier. And it really does hurt a LOT less to get scratched when their nails are clipped. My 2 are right around a year old now and they do still get the crazies from time to time, but it's absolutely better than it was 6 months ago.

this is what I do - I get all dramatic with the pain - whimper, suck on the wound, etc.

Then I get the nail clippers and start clipping some claws. They hate nail clippings and I'm lucky if I can get 3 claws when they are good and awake.

The only time they get me with their claws is when I play mousey-under-the-blanket and let's face it - I'm asking for it.

mrblanche said:

It IS possible, even advisable, to clip her claws to reduce the carnage. Another possibility is SoftPaws.

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I was totally stunned with SoftPaws. Never even knew such things existed. Too cool.

RIccaDawn said:

I agree with clipping her nails. I didn't start clipping mine (2 kittens I adopted at 2 months old) until they were about 9 months. I see now that I would have saved a lot of things (curtains!) if I had started clipping them earlier. And it really does hurt a LOT less to get scratched when their nails are clipped. My 2 are right around a year old now and they do still get the crazies from time to time, but it's absolutely better than it was 6 months ago.

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Yeah, clipping. Clipping WILL happen. Maybe I'll cheat my way and ask the vet to do it so that she doesn't hate me for it.

Also, every time someone mentions the crazies thinning out with age, I get another handful of patience. Lol.

aeevr said:

this is what I do - I get all dramatic with the pain - whimper, suck on the wound, etc.

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Haha, I LOVE this! I will definitely put some theatrics on her next time she does it.

Edit: I've just discovered clapping. Clapping freaks her out. Good to know.

You can also blow on her face. They hate that but it doesn't harm them, and  they don' t know it's coming from you so they won't resent you for it. It will startle her out of a clawing or biting episode though!

redvelvetone said:

You can also blow on her face. They hate that but it doesn't harm them, and  they don' t know it's coming from you so they won't resent you for it. It will startle her out of a clawing or biting episode though!

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Thank you! These tips are invaluable. Honestly.