Speed Racing

losna · Dec 26, 2014

Sinbad has started zooming around the house at lightning speeds. He's literally moving so fast that if I happen to be standing where he's going I don't have time to move in between the time I hear him coming and his arrival. Once I happened to be sitting on the stairs when he came zooming up from the basement and he ended up in my lap because he flew around the corner leaping for the stairs... and wound up stuck to my chest. I'm not sure who was more surprised.

I've done some searching on it, and I've seen articles saying everything from it means I should be flattered because he trusts me to be giving him enough food that he can waste energy by running around to I ought to be ashamed because it means I don't play with him enough.

It's rather cute, although we've had to change some of the things we do to account for the grey streak. When sitting on the couch we now put our feet on the coffee table, and we have to warn all guests that there might be a cat moving at the speed of light so they should be careful when going around corners.

At first I thought it was just him running away from his litterbox after using it, as I've seen cats doing that, but I've watched him enough times to know that he's just racing. He'll walk downstairs to the laundry room where his box is not to use it, but because that gives him the longest 'track' to run through the house. I think that's what makes it so funny - he doesn't just decide to run and take off wherever he happens to be - no, when the mood to run strikes him, he takes the time to walk down to the basement first so he can race through the entire house rather than just a few rooms.

Is he just having fun running around?

I'm really hoping that "it means I don't play with him enough" isn't the case. I don't think there is enough play for him because he knows how to pace his energy. We can't tire him out because when he starts getting winded he just lies on his back with his legs up in the air to play with the wand toy without moving. Even if we continue moving it around him where he can't reach, he just wiggles his feet happily at it until he's ready to start chasing it again.

Every now and again we try to tire him out by 'tagteaming' play, switching out with each other and all that happens is we play with him for hours until it's time to stop to make dinner or go to bed. He's super happy when we do that, but far from exhausted.

mservant · Dec 26, 2014

I don't think you have any worries here, though others may have different views.

I love it when Mouse has his hyper speed races about the house, tail in the air and a bounce in his paws. You get a draft before even knowing he's run past you!

He is usually super stealthy but when he does these run abouts he always sounds like a herd of elephants and it's hard to believe there's only one of him crashing about. Sometimes he goes so fast he can't stop and ends up doing head rolls across the sitting room or splatting in to furniture or walls, and yes he has also been known to meet the odd human around a corner and ended up having to jump up to the shoulders - on more than one occasion. He always looks so happy when he does these runs that I like to think it is a good thing, and enjoy his racing about and looking across at me for attention as he zooms past or breifly comes to a halt where he has to change direction. He usually sneaks up for a cuddle once he's exhausted himself so that makes these episodes even better.

I know when he wants attention and for humans to join in as he looks at us in a different way, and when he runs off he stops and looks back before he disappears round a corner so you know he wants to you chase after him - that's him starting a game of hide and seek - hunt the human and he always looks really funny and cheeky.

LTS3 · Dec 26, 2014

Losna said:
Sinbad has started zooming around the house at lightning speeds. He's literally moving so fast that if I happen to be standing where he's going I don't have time to move in between the time I hear him coming and his arrival. Once I happened to be sitting on the stairs when he came zooming up from the basement and he ended up in my lap because he flew around the corner leaping for the stairs... and wound up stuck to my chest. I'm not sure who was more surprised.

Is he just having fun running around?

You have an hyperactive cat

Your cat just have lots of energy to burn off. What breed is your cat? Some breeds are super hyperactive. My Aby zooms around all day at top speed.

losna · Dec 27, 2014

MServant said:
I don't think you have any worries here, though others may have different views.

I love it when Mouse has his hyper speed races about the house, tail in the air and a bounce in his paws. You get a draft before even knowing he's run past you!

He is usually super stealthy but when he does these run abouts he always sounds like a herd of elephants and it's hard to believe there's only one of him crashing about. Sometimes he goes so fast he can't stop and ends up doing head rolls across the sitting room or splatting in to furniture or walls, and yes he has also been known to meet the odd human around a corner and ended up having to jump up to the shoulders - on more than one occasion. He always looks so happy when he does these runs that I like to think it is a good thing, and enjoy his racing about and looking across at me for attention as he zooms past or breifly comes to a halt where he has to change direction. He usually sneaks up for a cuddle once he's exhausted himself so that makes these episodes even better.

I know when he wants attention and for humans to join in as he looks at us in a different way, and when he runs off he stops and looks back before he disappears round a corner so you know he wants to you chase after him - that's him starting a game of hide and seek - hunt the human and he always looks really funny and cheeky.

That sounds just like Sinbad!

How he can make so much noise when he runs is beyond me.

He likes to play chase, too. I don't do it very often due to my health, but when I do have the energy for it he purrs like an absolute maniac as I chase him around the house. That's actually the main problem we're having trying to integrate him with Tempest - he doesn't realize he's scaring her when she runs away from him, he thinks she's playing chase.

LTS3 said:
You have an hyperactive cat

Your cat just have lots of energy to burn off. What breed is your cat? Some breeds are super hyperactive. My Aby zooms around all day at top speed.

He's a Siamese mix. I don't know what the mix part is though.

I was asking about the racing because it's a new behavior. He used to follow me around the house talking to me while I worked and cleaned, but now he spends most of his time zooming around the house, or sprawled out in a hidey hole near me either sleeping, grooming, or watching me.

He was a very sickly kitten, the shelter where we got him told us that the vet was concerned he was too sick to be adopted for several months. They thought he had a blood disease of some kind, but that turned out to not be the case. His immune system is still not the best - he's largely healthy but he comes down with respiratory infections every time he gets stressed. I can always tell when he's upset by something, because his purring starts to spray little wet droplets and he lets himself get tired out.

I mention this because it has occurred to me that his racing may just be him enjoying being healthy since for him it's a very new experience to be able to breathe without difficulty. Look! I'm not sick!! I can run! I can jump! I have a house! And I can run in it! But because of that very health issue, I try to figure out if any new behavior is something I should be concerned about.

cassthecatlover · Dec 27, 2014

How much do you feed him? Does he go outside? If he goes outside, how often? How old is he? (Sorry for all those questions.)

But I don't think there's any need to worry. I'm pretty sure he's just havin' fun!

vbcatparent · Dec 27, 2014

That sounds a lot like my Regent. He is entertaining himself. If it really bothers you or he's in danger of getting hurt, I'd recommend setting up a fenced in place for him to run safely outside.

losna · Dec 27, 2014

Cassthecatlover said:
How much do you feed him? Does he go outside? If he goes outside, how often? How old is he? (Sorry for all those questions.)

But I don't think there's any need to worry. I'm pretty sure he's just havin' fun!

No need to apologize. I will talk about my cats until everyone is so bored they leave.

He gets 170 cal in carb-free canned food a day, with chicken hearts, livers and spines with his dinner. Tempest is smaller, so gets 130 cal + the raw chicken bits. I checked with several vets to make sure I feed them properly, and they all agreed that both cats are at their ideal weight and their diet is great. They both have scratching posts, climbing posts, mansions we've built out of boxes, and a million toys. We play with them multiple times a day every day.

Sinbad is an indoor cat. I wouldn't allow him out even if he wanted to. He has no common sense when it comes to interacting with other animals. He misinterprets warning signals as invitations to play.

Thankfully Tempest would rather hide than fight.

That's part of why I worry about him more than Tempest - when we first adopted him, well, the best way I can think of to put it is he didn't know how to be a cat. He thinks eye to eye contact staring is a sign of affection (he loves being stared at), hissing doesn't deter him at all (I actually don't think he realizes that hisses or growls are any different from meows or trills, he certainly doesn't react to them at all), he didn't know how to scratch his claws, how to climb, not even to play. It's completely bewildering. Luckily he's very intelligent, so he has been learning a lot from his stalking of Tempest. He intently watches her do things, then goes to try doing them himself. It was really bizarre watching him trying to figure out how to sharpen his claws. He would watch her at her scratching post, lift his paw and stare at it, then run to his post and try to imitate her. Over and over until he finally figured it out! And when he did, he got so excited he warbled happily for the entire rest of the day and wanted mommy to watch him doing it and give him praises.

But this new running thing, she doesn't do that. That's all him.

I don't mind it at all, I just make sure to keep his runways free of obstacles. But because of all his issues I'd rather question things he does even if they're normal and I look like a fussbudget than miss something important. These are the first cats I've ever had, so even beyond his oddities I have a lot of questions still!

mservant · Dec 27, 2014

I don't know about Sinbad sounding just like Mouse, Mouse sounds just like Sinbad! Sinbad is probably a more suitable name on that basis.

Mouse doesn't have any common sense either, or have any clue about cat communication like hissing, spitting or growling. He doesn't know what his claws are for which is a good thing when it comes to being his human climbing frame but not when he's running at speed and doesn't know how to stop.... Were you able to get any history on Sinbad when you adopted him? Mouse learned from his mom who was a very patient and loving cat who was very quiet and never used any kitty bad language which is why he only purrs, squeaks and meows, and she didn't use her claws. He had no siblings so didn't learn anything that way either. It sounds like Sinbad maybe had a similar time without a lot of cat companionship to learn from. Mouse does the same with cat hissing on the odd occasions he meets other cats (at cat shows), he just looks at them quizzically and has no idea they're telling him to buzz off. Same with the direct gaze which he is completely unfazed by. It makes it easier for me with him as an indoor cat, but I agree, I would be very worried if Mouse or Sinbad went out and then didn't understand what the usual cat interactions meant.

I still think it sounds like Sinbad is happy running about, and when you describe how he can be quite sick sometimes and it seems to be when he is well that he behaves like this it makes a lot of sense. When Mouse is sick or run down with his herpes virus he doesn't play much at all and spends a lot of time curled up and on his own. I know when he feels better because his silliness starts up again.

Have you ever had discussions with your vet about the respiratory symptoms showing when ever Sinbad seems tired and run down because that sounds like what happens for a lot of cats with feline herpes virus. There are a lot of other things which can cause respiratory signs too, but if your vet thinks Sinbad might have this virus there are things the vet can give him which block the virus and keep him well more of the time. You might have to cope with more crazy racing around though!

losna · Dec 27, 2014

What we know about his history is ... odd.

The shelter where we adopted him and Tempest don't cage their animals - they are fostered with families all week and only go in to the shelter where you can meet them for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. This is why we adopted from there over the other shelters in the area.

Normally, this means they can tell prospect families all about the cats. They know personalities, whether the particular cat is ok around other cats, dogs, children, etc. But Sinbad was a different case. I don't know all the details, but the first family that fostered him did some things that caused the vet to call the president of the shelter in alarm. They did some investigating, and ended up removing all cats from this family, as well as marking them in the system as people to avoid. Sinbad then went to another foster home, once again had to be removed - he had such a poor draw, the poor baby - before winding up in a foster home that treated him well. But she only had him for a few weeks before we adopted him, so there wasn't much they were able to tell us. They actually apologized to us at one point for how little they knew about him; I asked them for advice on dealing with Sinbad because the first week we had him he developed a severe dependency on me and I had no idea what to do about it. and they felt terribly that they'd been unable to warn us that he was that needy.

I didn't care, I loved him already. I just wanted to know how to help him be able to exist out of my sight. ^.^

We've taken him to the vet many times, and have tried everything from homeopathic remedies to antibiotics. He's pretty much permanently on an immune booster (which smells disgusting - I'm amazed he eats it). They've done tons of testing, bloodwork, etc. The ultimate conclusion the vets drew (we've taken him to 3 different ones just to get different opinions) is that his immune system is weak and all we can do is keep an eye on him to catch anything early. He does have the feline equivalent to hayfever - when my allergies are bad, so are his and we curl up together miserably in bed. He even lets me wipe his nose (if I don't, he soaks the blankets with cat snot). My husband thinks it's horribly amusing that I wound up with a cat as generally sick as I am, especially since his problems are respiratory like mine.

What has helped his heath more than anything was when I started feeding him raw meat in addition to his canned food. I'd love to transition him fully to raw, but have been having problems finding a source of secreting organs. When did it become impossible to find kidney???

MServant said:
You might have to cope with more crazy racing around though!

If all it means is that he's healthy and happy, I'll build him a racetrack. I already got my husband to move the 300lb coffee table in the living room to suit Sinbad's preferred route. Tempest has her own bedroom, and Sinbad gets a racetrack through the living room. I guess I spoil them a bit.

cassthecatlover · Dec 28, 2014

Yeah, it's probably play.

Awwwww, your cats sound very cute!

My cat doesn't really do things like that, but he's often going CRAZY. He'll give you that funny look, and then climb up a tree (in our garden usually.) jump down, run off really fast, play in the grass, try and hunt down his own tail, act really calm and then try and scratch your leg if you walk past him, etc. And the vets think he's 8, or maybe even 9 years old! And yet he acts like he's about 3-5 years!

losna · Dec 28, 2014

Sinbad is my little baby.

20141227_193758.jpg

losna
Dec 28, 2014

So it seems like everyone agrees that his racing around is just him being happy. Now I am happy.

I want to see pictures of your kitties!!

vbcatparent · Dec 28, 2014

Look at that tail! So cute!

Regent is like that with my DH. He curls up in a blanket that smells like DH and will sit by his laptop, staring at the front door, whenever DH leaves.

This is how he likes to sleep in the afternoons:

SleepWithSteve.jpg

vbcatparent
Dec 28, 2014

losna · Dec 28, 2014

Oooh so fluffy!! Is that a maine coon? My husband wants a maine coon, but I seem to be allergic to them.

And yeah, SInbad's tail is pretty crazy. You should see it when he's not hunched up and sad, it gets all big and puffy and looks like a raccoon's tail.

vbcatparent · Dec 28, 2014

Yeah Regent is a purebred Maine Coon. He is the sweetest and best behaved cat I've ever seen. Most evenings he gets his exercise by running through the house. I'll have to throw a ping pong ball from the front door all the way through the living room so he can chase it. When he's bored, one of his favorite games is to run up and down the stairs as fast as he can. One time we had our bedroom door shut, and Regent shot upstairs assuming he could dash into our room. We heard a THUNK when he collided with our door! Of course like a typical cat, he went trotting in some other direction acting like he totally meant to do that.

losna · Dec 28, 2014

VBCatParent said:
One time we had our bedroom door shut, and Regent shot upstairs assuming he could dash into our room. We heard a THUNK when he collided with our door! Of course like a typical cat, he went trotting in some other direction acting like he totally meant to do that.

Heheheheh! I love it when cats do that. "It's not that I fell... I just realized midjump that I needed to groom ... immediately..."

Sinbad has only collided into something once - that time he landed on me on the stairs. Ever since then, he has carefully started inspecting his running route before using it. He'll walk a circuit through the house, trot downstairs then the herd of elephants sounds.

cassthecatlover · Dec 28, 2014

Awwwwww, he looks so happy and cute!

Sure, here's one of my favs.

DSC06917.JPG

cassthecatlover
Dec 28, 2014

It's sooty, playing around with catnip. I would send pictures of my other cats, but sooty's my only cat! But I still love him.

mservant · Dec 28, 2014

Losna said:
So it seems like everyone agrees that his racing around is just him being happy. Now I am happy.

P1040680.JPG

mservant

Dec 28, 2014

losna · Dec 28, 2014

Cassthecatlover said:
It's sooty, playing around with catnip. I would send pictures of my other cats, but sooty's my only cat! But I still love him.

Oooh so cute! Here is a sort of similar one of Tempest playing like that:

1495425_585991348172386_1468053783318283200_o.jpg

losna
Dec 28, 2014

1658695_577554135682774_4401246213870208316_o.jpg

losna
Dec 13, 2014

Tempest is more grey like Mouse. I love grey kitties.

1493540_587900551314799_3116954034963766687_o.jpg

losna
Dec 28, 2014

Here's one that shows off her china plate eyes better:

10497109_539005079537680_737457637067326369_o.jpg

losna
Aug 25, 2014

cassthecatlover · Dec 28, 2014

D'awwwww, he is so cute!

One of the things I like most about sooty is his tail. It's really thick and soft! Earlier on today, I was reading, and sooty kept coming up to me meowing and looking at my lap as if to say ''I want to come on to her lap!''

I don't know why we keep talking about our cats. I guess we like cats a lot!

mservant · Dec 28, 2014

Two super cute cats @Losna

They have to get along well because they look so pretty together.

@Cassthecatlover Mouse has a beautiful long tail but it is shorthaired and tapered, not all soft and fluffy like my previous cats had. Sooty looks to have a black tail, I bet he looks great chasing about and doing his crazy runs about the house with that lovely black tail up straight and fluffed out . His whiskers look really long too, lovely kitty. I'll have to take a look on the rest of the site to see more photos.

Speed Racing

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