Cat ADHD?

Can it be? Frederik is going absolutely crazy, bouncing off the windows, walls then running into the door then pulling it open as well as pushing the christmas tree over. He has so many different toys, scratching posts and boxes to try and entertain him. We have had to lock him in a room to calm down because we are worried he will hurt himself. Hopefully someone can help us.

How old is he? Have you tried to mellow him out with some catnip?

6 months old and its more crazier behaviour then normal kitten behaviour. We have tired it but its not fussed on it, we got cat nip, cat mint and cat grass.

If cats do react to catnip, they tend to have more effect after a year old. I wouldn't call it ADHD, but he does need an outlet for his energy. How often do you play with him? Cats may have plenty of toys lying around, but there's nothing quite like having a playmate, whether it's another cat or you on the other end of a wand to make it active and animated. Wand toys are popular because they build the association that you're an extension of that toy, and so they can bond with you through play (without being rough, like directly with hands), and they require minimal exertion from us whereas cats can go nuts bouncing off the walls to chase the toy on the end.

In addition to wand toys, you can try things like foil or paper balls, crinkle toys, and bells, or light and flouncy things that you can toss for him to chase. The more you can engage him, and especially at this age, the more often you can engage him to release all that energy, the less likely he is to cause himself harm tearing around to get all that energy out and the more relaxed he can be in his downtime. He'll know that he has a routine for when he's feeling excitable too - our cats know what toys to go for, play with, or sit in front of if they're in a particularly playful mood.

You can try automated toys too, or balls that are on tracks so his motions can make it seem like a toy is alive.

Has the vet has ruled out any medical explanation for this behavior? Each kitten is different I have had a few who have really tested my patience doing similar things and you ask yourself will it ever end? I haven't had a Christmas tree for years. You essentially need to stimulate your kitten like pinkdagger suggested, simply having the toys is not enough you need to play with him and tire them out. If your kitten keeps you up at night play with him especially before bed. Some kittens need more stimulation than others. He is just trying to entertain himself by himself at your cost. If you get involved in the entertainment hopefully he will quiet down and it will provide some bonding time with the family. With age he should mellow out.

When my cat was that age I literately had to play with him about 2 hours a day ... not swat, pause, swat ... nope full blown chase up and down the stairs - taking the wand toy outside on the grass for him to jump and run - toss toys in the air on the queen bed to get him to jump  and flip - then back up and down the stairs.

He is starting to settle down a touch .... only takes about 20-30 minutes to drain his energy now as long as he solo plays for the rest of the time during the day - he turns 8 years old in march. 

The way that saved me was fully leash training him and actually WALKING him ... not just out in the yard but actually around the neighbour for about 30-60 minutes a day.  This helped to exercise his body and mind.  Oh and don't forget the mental - tricks and puzzle feeders.  I used the slim cat ball from petsafe, just kept a small bag of a "Treat food" aka a different brand of dry food than normal and put 1/4 of a cup in there, would keep him busy for about 30 minutes to let me have a rest lol.

When Mr R was that age he hardly slept at all...but by 12 months he had really calmed down, he's a kid[emoji]128515[/emoji] they have more energy than they know what to do with.

hexiesfriend said:

Has the vet has ruled out any medical explanation for this behavior? Each kitten is different I have had a few who have really tested my patience doing similar things and you ask yourself will it ever end? I haven't had a Christmas tree for years. You essentially need to stimulate your kitten like pinkdagger suggested, simply having the toys is not enough you need to play with him and tire them out. If your kitten keeps you up at night play with him especially before bed. Some kittens need more stimulation than others. He is just trying to entertain himself by himself at your cost. If you get involved in the entertainment hopefully he will quiet down and it will provide some bonding time with the family. With age he should mellow out.

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We haven't asked the vet, yet. This morning was just really bad.

We do play with him with wand toys etc he has learnt to fetch a soft ball but he gets to the point where he will start attacking us.
Maybe he is just that a kitten.
thank you everyone.

At this age, I think I would be more worried about a cat who wasn't "ADHD"   They're supposed to be hyperactive, always playing, often quite aggressively with littermates, learning hunting skills and conditioning their muscles. The good news is that it's a phase. 

The only way to make things easier on you is by providing him with plenty of stimuli, toys and interactive games. A second cat his age may be a good solution too, but of course this would be a commitment for the next 20 years or so. 

I keep asking my boyfriend for another one [emoji]128541[/emoji] but our unit is small for two