We've always had cats. Up until about 7 years ago, we had two cats who were just the best pets anyone could wish for. They had the same day-night rhythm as we had (awake during the day, asleep at night). They never broke anything (even though they played with each other all day long) and only sharpened their claws on the scratch post. They were friendly cats, liked to sit on your lap and they were each other's best friend. They were inside cats (we live in a city apartment). Then one day, one of the cats escaped the house, and we never found her again. The other cat died 6 months later, presumably from loneliness.
We were cat-less for about a year, but our then 4 year old daughter wanted cats again. So we got two kittens, sisters, when they were about 13 weeks old. We named them Buffy and Bones.
Bones displayed odd behavior from the beginning. She would sit in front of you and start meowing for no apparent reason. Their waterbowl was filled with fresh water, they always had a full bowl of dry food, the litterbox was clean. There was no apparent reason for her meowing. Because they were kittens, we regularly took them to the vet and she found nothing wrong with Bones. So apparently, she was meowing for attention.
Oddly enough, she apparently only wanted my attention. She followed me around the house all the time meowing. Petting her made it stop but as soon as I stopped petting her, the meowing started again. She did this every day, all day long. I watched a few videos of my daughter the other day, and in the background, you can hear her meowing all the time.
At first, Buffy and Bones played a lot and always played together. But as they got older, that changed. Bones was no longer interested in playing with Buffy. Buffy was as playful as ever but as soon as she got too close to Bones, Bones started hissing. This got progressively worse to the point that she now hisses at everyone - except me. Every now and then she'll "play" with Buffy, but only because Buffy ambushes her. They'll start running after each other. For Buffy this is playing. I'm not too sure about Bones.
Mind you, she hardly ever scratches someone. But if you pet her, she will start growling and whip her tail and sometimes hiss. But she will hardly ever scratch you (that happened only a few times now). And again, she does this with everyone except me. As soon as I get near her, she will start meowing and purring and she will accept anything I do with her.
This all seems cute but it is in fact incredibly annoying. She does this day and night. She will sit next to me and start meowing until I give her attention. Sometimes I do and let her sit on my lap. But she doesn't sit still. She'll start kneading (which hurts!) and starts licking my face. She won't sit still. And when I put her on the floor again, she starts meowing again. And like I said, she does this day and night. At night she meows a lot too. For no apparent reason. She just sits on the couch meowing, waking up everybody in the house. And at one point or another, she'll hop on the bed and lay next to my face to lick it. I'll turn my head and she'll walk around. This goes on and on until she finally gives up (which can take an hour). Usually she'll then start licking my hair. I let her do that because usually after 10 minutes she'll stop and go to sleep. Which is when I finally can get some sleep too. But then a few hours later, she'll wake up and start all over again.
I tried keeping her out of the bedroom, but then she will not stop meowing.
I tried everything I can think of. I once ignored her for about a month. Didn't help. Or only gave her attention when she was quiet. Didn't help. I even tried spraying her with water whenever she was excessively meowing. Didn't help. Tried everything I could find on the internet. Nothing helps.
Bones is in every way an odd cat. She displays behavior I have never seen from other cats. She isn't afraid of anything. Once I had a friend over with a Labrador and while it took about 0.001 seconds for Buffy to disappear, Bones simply walked up to the dog to "investigate". The dog actually peed itself. She also seems to lack the "finesse" of a cat. She often walks on a table (or closet) and falls off because she wasn't paying attention and ran out of table to walk on.
Both cats are spayed, BTW.
So what else can I try?
We were cat-less for about a year, but our then 4 year old daughter wanted cats again. So we got two kittens, sisters, when they were about 13 weeks old. We named them Buffy and Bones.
Bones displayed odd behavior from the beginning. She would sit in front of you and start meowing for no apparent reason. Their waterbowl was filled with fresh water, they always had a full bowl of dry food, the litterbox was clean. There was no apparent reason for her meowing. Because they were kittens, we regularly took them to the vet and she found nothing wrong with Bones. So apparently, she was meowing for attention.
Oddly enough, she apparently only wanted my attention. She followed me around the house all the time meowing. Petting her made it stop but as soon as I stopped petting her, the meowing started again. She did this every day, all day long. I watched a few videos of my daughter the other day, and in the background, you can hear her meowing all the time.
At first, Buffy and Bones played a lot and always played together. But as they got older, that changed. Bones was no longer interested in playing with Buffy. Buffy was as playful as ever but as soon as she got too close to Bones, Bones started hissing. This got progressively worse to the point that she now hisses at everyone - except me. Every now and then she'll "play" with Buffy, but only because Buffy ambushes her. They'll start running after each other. For Buffy this is playing. I'm not too sure about Bones.
Mind you, she hardly ever scratches someone. But if you pet her, she will start growling and whip her tail and sometimes hiss. But she will hardly ever scratch you (that happened only a few times now). And again, she does this with everyone except me. As soon as I get near her, she will start meowing and purring and she will accept anything I do with her.
This all seems cute but it is in fact incredibly annoying. She does this day and night. She will sit next to me and start meowing until I give her attention. Sometimes I do and let her sit on my lap. But she doesn't sit still. She'll start kneading (which hurts!) and starts licking my face. She won't sit still. And when I put her on the floor again, she starts meowing again. And like I said, she does this day and night. At night she meows a lot too. For no apparent reason. She just sits on the couch meowing, waking up everybody in the house. And at one point or another, she'll hop on the bed and lay next to my face to lick it. I'll turn my head and she'll walk around. This goes on and on until she finally gives up (which can take an hour). Usually she'll then start licking my hair. I let her do that because usually after 10 minutes she'll stop and go to sleep. Which is when I finally can get some sleep too. But then a few hours later, she'll wake up and start all over again.
I tried keeping her out of the bedroom, but then she will not stop meowing.
I tried everything I can think of. I once ignored her for about a month. Didn't help. Or only gave her attention when she was quiet. Didn't help. I even tried spraying her with water whenever she was excessively meowing. Didn't help. Tried everything I could find on the internet. Nothing helps.
Bones is in every way an odd cat. She displays behavior I have never seen from other cats. She isn't afraid of anything. Once I had a friend over with a Labrador and while it took about 0.001 seconds for Buffy to disappear, Bones simply walked up to the dog to "investigate". The dog actually peed itself. She also seems to lack the "finesse" of a cat. She often walks on a table (or closet) and falls off because she wasn't paying attention and ran out of table to walk on.
Both cats are spayed, BTW.
So what else can I try?
