kitty of mass destruction!

I wrote a few months back about my Siamese/Himalayan mix kitty named Zoe. She is about a year and a half old. I love her dearly and the thought of getting rid of her is not an option...but...her behavior is getting out of control! I honestly don't think there is anything in my apartment that she hasn't attempted to ruin. She opens my sliding closet doors, and is scratching and peeling off the wood as she does this, opens kitchen drawers and pulls items out, sharpens her claws on the carpet, couch, my clothes hanging in my closet and doorways, has shredded an entire roll of toilet paper and dragged it throughout the apartment, knocks on my bedroom door at 5 a.m. and won't stop, has bent and chewed the blinds on my windows....I could go on! I know the Siamese is a unique breed and require lots of attention, so I do my best at giving her the attention she needs. I've bought her a scratching post and a kitty condo, which she uses, but she still continues to claw other things. When I do tell her no, most of the time she just talks back to me and runs off to get into something else. On the rare occasions that she does something good, I praise the heck out of her and give her a treat! This upsets me because I feel like all I tell her is "no" and we're not enjoying each other as much as we should be able to. Can anyone help?!

Frustrated CatLuvr

LOL! Sorry I have to laugh, she sounds like a typical kitten!You can come to my home in the Williamette Valley and meet 3 of her right now! I have a tool I use that helps overactive kitties get tons of exercise. I take a long piece of sturdy string, long enough that it trails behind me a good distance. I tie a clip on one end, a feather toy on the other, clip it on to the back of my belt loop and do the housework. The kittens and cats love it, and because it has a lightweight toy on the end, it doesn't get caught on things. That is one way.

Also if she is spayed, that will help. Making her a ball bin out of a big cardboard box and several ping pong balls will help. Buying a second cat condo will also work- turbo scratchers are great- hanging lemon scented air fresheners in your closet and putting those in your drawers will work to stop her from opening them, although it will make you smell like a lemon tree for awhile.

She sounds like such a scamp! LOL And smart too!

Your frustration totally comes through, but sorry, I too had to laugh, as you've described all the goings-on here since the cats have been in residence. In addition to regular kitten destruction, your cat sounds like my Ginza - extra super active and smart. He constantly surprises me with his smarts - he just learned how to open ALL the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. So baby catches are going in now.

Sure enough, Ginza will talk back to me loudly when I scold him too. He says "WOOOOW", which sounds suspiciously cheeky, like "WHAT?!" or "You talkin' to ME?!"

Hissy's ideas sound fantastic; in fact, I haven't tried the toy on the belt and will try that. I fear that Pixie will merely claw her way up my pants as she always does when she wants to get to the top of my head. OUCH!!

Hang in there. You're doing well, and a lot of "No's" and training now will reward you with a happy lifetime with your cat. As far as destruction, you have to look around your house like you're childproofing: no more hanging clothes, latch your closets and drawers, more scratch pads over the areas she scratches, no more TP on the rollers. Spray that bitter stuff on the blinds and anything else she's biting. Do a search on these forums for more suggestions, as others have successfully kept TP on their rollers, etc.

No suggestions on the knocking at 5am though, remember it's prime time hour for cats. Ginza learned how to open the bedroom door, and when we locked it, he would hurl himself at the door and howled. The door is now always open. But they know not to disturb us while we're sleeping (mostly).

Edit: Sorry, by 'no more hanging clothes' I meant the ones over the doorway, your chairs, etc. And just saw Hissy's pic

Here, perhaps this might make you feel better? LOL

Hissy, I had to laugh at ur pic! That's a good pic of cats getting into things!

I went through the same thing with 3 of my cats (Buddy, Spike and Pepper).

With them, in ONE YEAR,over 5 pots/plants were broken, 2 statues broken, 1 vase broken, 3 floor lamps broken, some clothes were ruined, towels ripped apart and cabinet doors opened.

I put baby latches on all cabinet doors, got a stronger latch for my closet door so they couldn't open the doors, hung up a FEW plants and got rid of the rest, secured the remaining floor lamps to the wall using an "see thru" wire to a hook installed in the wall and put fraigle things in a glass hutch..

After I did all this, things don't get broken or ruined so try that and remember she's still young so she's very curious. Hang in there!

She is unstoppable! LOL

I always laugh at my husband because he is always saying how our oldest cat Rein is the best behaved out of all three. I always have to remind him that Rein is over 10 years old now and he didn't know her when she was a disturbing little kitten!!! In my house we usually never recover from "kitty" syndrom, but I usually find that by the time they are 3....they are a "little" (emphasize little) bit calmer. Actually this year is the first year that we have bought real plants for our apartment and they haven't seemed to notice them "yet" (emphasize yet.....knock on wood)!!! Good Luck, having a kitten around takes a HUGE amount of patience. I remember when Tigger was a kitten...no food was safe! She would actually dive across the room and attack my sandwhich that I was going to bite into...taking the whole thing to the ground.

We run our draw cords through flexible tubing and tuck them out of the way when the blinds are in use. Otherwise, the Trips decide there is nothing finer that tangling these fine draw cords! We also have to take off the hooks that turn the blinds. I lay those up on top of the window frame...Isn't Kitty Kaos wonderful?