First Time Cat Owner w/ Concerns

Hi All:

Please Help!

My hubby and I adopted a 2 year old neutered black and grey Tabby from the ASPCA.  Simba was labeled as a sidekick which means he is cuddly and cute, yet independent.  When we brought him home, he was immediately ready to explore.  He didn't shy away at all but he did sleep a lot more than what is considered normal.  The first 6 days we had him, he slept so much we only saw him awake about an hour a day.  The last 4 days, I have not seen him sleep at all.  He is a ball of energy.  My concern isn't about his sleeping habits.  Just an observation.

Here are my concerns:

1.  Cannot keep him off of my kitchen table, stove or fride.

2.  Whenever we open the fridge, he makes a mad dash to jump in.

3.  When we try to eat anything, he is after us ferociously.  (We feed him both wet and dry, twice a day).

4.  He cries to come into our bedroom at night.

5.  It seems as though all of my clothes smell like cat.  I'm sitting at work one day and I get a whiff of cat.

My husband loves the cat already, but because of my concerns, I have a little regret.  I don't mind keeping him, but I need a way to address my concerns.  My biggest concerns are the smells.  I do not want to smell like cat.  Do cats even have a smell other than urine?  Is it possible the smell comes from him using the litter box and then jumping up on everything leaving a trail?  I do not want to smell like the cat lady.

One other thing, he scratched me out of frustration when I went to pick him up to take him out of our bedroom.

Any advice will be super appreciated.

Thank you

Hi and welcome 

I will ask that this be moved to behavior so you can get more and more detailed replies.  However, in truth, most of what you describe is him being a cat. He can be trained, but it is not a quick or (necessarily) easy process and you are going to need to be patient and ready to devote a substantial amount of time and consistency to it.

Regarding the smell I am honestly confused? Are you saying you smell like cat pee all day? This is really not normal. How often do you scoop out the litterboxes? Does he always go in the box? 

everything you are describing sounds like normal behaviour. With a spray bottle and some patience, you can curb some of the unwanted behavior and teach him right from wrong.

In regards to the smell, I have an air purifier / ionizer right next to the litter box and I keep the windows open to keep the area fresh. I also empty out the litter box at least once a day and have an arm and hammer deodorizer next to it (my litter box is actually hidden in enclosed furniture so i just stick the baking soda on one of the walls)/ I have 2 cats in a condo and people always comment that my house never smells like cat.

Oh, please do not use a spray bottle! Please read this article about cats and discipline http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix

While I am not going to lie and tell you a spray bottle can't be effective, I do have to say that even if it is effective, it is basically equivalent to terrorizing your cat. While a cat may learn that the spray only comes when she does X, and stop X she will nonetheless not understand that X is wrong and will instead view you as a crazy person who just wants to hurt her. Further, using a spray bottle for many things is just likely to confuse the cat, This site is anti spray bottle.  There are far more effective ways to teach a cat.

For the refrigerator, just persistently pick him up and place him away from the refrigerator every time he jumps in.  It's not very dramatic, and may take a while for the message to sink in, but eventually he will no longer go in and will not be terrified.  For the bedroom issue, just get some earplugs and ignore him for as many days or weeks or months as it takes.

Please don't resort to a spray bottle.

I don't know the cost of this but, I was watching Jackson Galaxy on my cat from hell. He used motion activated air squirters to squirt air at the cats jumping on things. You can also try putting something that makes a loud noise on the table. So when the cat jumps up, position the item to fall and make a loud noise. Or lay sheets of foil on the table.

When you are there....make a loud noise when kitty jumps where you don't him. Immediately treat him when he jumps down. You need to reinforce good behavior with positive rewards.

If kitty likes being up high, get a nice cat tree so the cat has it's own spot that is high up.

I don't know about the cat smell, all my actual cats have smelled delicious to me. It's their urine that smells so I'm not sure if your cat is using the box or if it's something else.


Why can't he sleep in the bed with you? If it's a no go you may have to deal with the crying until kitty realizes he can't go in their. Of course, do make sure he has his own comfy bed to sleep in.

When you are eating, do not feed scraps. Do not speak to kitty. If kitty jumps on you say get down and gently remove kitty. The cat will eventually learn. You may decide to feed kitty right when you are going to eat too.


Good luck! Don't give up.

Hi! Is it possible your cat still smells like the shelter? My new pet Jay did for about a week, and was stinking up his blankets, bed, etc. I got some kitty wipes at PetCo, washed his blankets, and plan to scrub out his original "safe room" - it's a big improvement already!

Cats do not smell, they are much cleaner then dogs. If you are getting a 'whiff' of cat, that may be because the cat urinated on them or the litter box is next to the clothes and is not clean, emitting a strong odor. You may have to get different litters, some deodorize a lot better then others.I, too, think he may still smell of the shelter.Don't try to bathe him, since he is new, he will freak out, just wipe him down with some Pet wipes. If he is 'attacking' you while you eat, HE IS HUNGRY! Try to leave a bowl of dry food out for him to eat for a while until he adjusts, it would most likely cut back on those lunges into the fridge, and the counter-top cruising too. I have had over 50 cats in my life and none have gotten overweight from eating dry food left out. I get a sense that you are hostile towards him, please give him a chance, he's new in your house, scared and insecure, please try to find a little compassion, and look for good things instead of all negative, he can give you a lot of love and joy. Coming to this site shows you care, please continue to ask us anything you want, this site has been through it all! Bless you for giving him a home, keep posting!

Hi:

Thank you for all of the replies.  Let me begin by saying, I don't mean to seem hostile.  I think I am being pretty gentle with him.  I've never lived with a cat before so I did not know what to expect.  I think maybe I became a little afraid of him once he scratched me, however, I have begun to relax on that.  I think he is the cutest cat and I don't want to give up on him.  I just needed some advice. 

We feed him 2 tablespoons of wet food and 1/4 cup of dry food, side by side, twice a day (7am & 7pm).  We were following the advice from the shelter.  Perhaps it is not enough for Simba.

The litter we just started using is the Nature's Miracle brand.  I also add a little of the baking soda to the litter.  When I am home, I scoop minutes after each use.  Based on what everyone is saying, one of my problems may be because after I scoop, I add more litter.  Maybe I should completely empty the box after a couple of days, clean it, and add fresh litter then?

I did allow him to sleep on the bed with us one night, but the next morning, my covers stunk and I was congested.  Some of you may be right about the shelter smell because his odor does remind me of the shelter.  I'll give the wipes a try.

Again, thank you for all of the replies.  I will come back often for more advice and updates.

I'm glad you posted back, you sound a little more relaxed with things. I hope someone more knowledgeable posts, but 2T. of wet and 1/4c of dry doesn't seem like near enough, is he on a diet? My cats get 1 whole can a day and freely graze on dry, and neither one is overweight. Especially since he is new, he may need a little more 'comfort' in the way of food, like we do! The shelter may cut back too because of inactivity, I wouldn't imagine the cats get a whole lot of exercise. Cats scratch because they are frightened, or 'think' someone might hurt them, or even by accident, but if they 'mean' to, they'll have their ears back, their tail will puff up, and they will be growling. I have scratches right now from just playing with mine, and nobody was mad! Good luck, and thank you again for giving this poor baby a chance!

I hear you! I've lived with cats before and I was really taken aback by the adjustment to actually owning my own. Smells were/are my biggest concern, but I do think it gets better as they adjust to your place and you find the right litter system, etc. Are you using a hooded litter box with a mat outside it to catch litter before it tracks? Those are helping in my small place ...