1 year old cat climbing the walls

spineshade

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So we have 2 cats. One was a stray left out of its liter at like a month old so we rescued it. This cat has great behavior and is a huge mush.
Our other cat, the one we are having the issue with , we have had asince like january. She belonged to a family friend of my girfriends who unfortunately passed away, so we took her in being animal lovers and felt bad the cat was being ignored.. This cat is about a year and a half old she according to the papers from her original vet is a calico/savannah. We moved in march and she has adapted well to the place and has taken up as the dominate animal in the house to the other cat as well as the almost 10 year old beagle/jack russel.

but this is where I am now getting to my wits end with her. I have had cats all my life and never had one that acted like this ( in my 30s) I understand cats are a creature of habit. Every day I feed them around 5am when im getting ready for work. They get a half a can of sheeba each. Thats what 1.5 ouces and a bowl of dry food. They get the same in the afternoon/ early evening. But the past few months she has started trying to get me up earlier and earlier. She starts at 4 am sitting o the edge of the bed jumping at the window and climbing the cutrains. Then falls off and goes to the otherside and clmbs up the hoodies hanging onthe closet, then climbs up the back of the door where things are hanging. Which in turn gets me up and out of bed a hour early, and gets my girlfriend up who has problems sleeping and staying asleep and being exhausted. So we have tried the water bottle spray. She just runs away and comes back and does it again. I have grabbed her by her scruff and told her no! And she runs away and just does it again. Nothing works. And we are now at a loss what to do. She didnt do this when we first got her. Im not sure if its a breed thing.
When it comes to the food, like I had said before they get 1.5 oz of food twice a day and some dry food. the offending cat is alot bigger for being the same age then our other cat. Im not sure if thats just her make up. My girlfriend is afraid of her getting fat.

Any advice to help this out so we are not getting angry at the cat, I know they sense it when we are. And so she is having a happy cat life and we are having a happy life?
 

shadowsrescue

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This is a common issue among cats.  One of my cats does something very similar.  We would try closing the door, but he would sit outside the door and yowl and scratch.  I then placed a baby gate against the door and that did help, but he will still sit and yowl. 

A few things that have helped me:

1.  Before bed really play with the cat.  Get him moving.  Try a da bird toy or similar wand toy or even a laser pointer.  Hopefully the play session will last 20 minutes or so.  You want him really tired.  The theory is to hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep.  So you play with the cat so he can hunt, catch, kill.  Next you offer a special treat or small meal for the "eat" portion.  The cat will then groom himself and take a nap.  Now if you are doing this at 10pm it may not last until 5 am.  But by offering a small meal or snack before bed it might help.

2.  Ignoring is oh so hard and cats are so persistent.  Yet, if you get up and feed them at 4 am, they will expect it every day and then push you for earlier and earlier.  The water squirt bottles rarely work.  I would put the cat in another room or try closing your door.

3.  Get a food timer.  You can get the kind that you place a small amount of food into it and set the timer each day.  We have had to do this as one of our cats bothers my DS so much during the night.  We place a few pieces of dry food into a food timer and it goes off 2x each night.  The cat is so happy.  He only gets 5 or so pieces of dry food, but it satisfies him and keeps him fron waking the entire house.
 
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spineshade

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I will definetly try those, locking her out of the bedroom never worked either she just started clmbing the bookcases and knocking stuff off. the thing that is getting me is that they both have dry food in there bowls sitting out and she will eat it. but when its 5am she wants that wet food. the dry food to her at that point is the most unappetizing thing. we will try the playing just before we go to bed thing. we play with them alot but this one ahs so much energy its unreal ( she is also very rough with our other cat) I was also thinking of making a 3rd feeding so if they are fed at 5 am and then around 3pm maybe around 8pm or so. I was thinking maybe because she is only just over a year old that that she is being like this cause she is growing still?


oh ps she is fixed as well I dont know if that makes a difference.

but thnk you for the response
 

shadowsrescue

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I will definetly try those, locking her out of the bedroom never worked either she just started clmbing the bookcases and knocking stuff off. the thing that is getting me is that they both have dry food in there bowls sitting out and she will eat it. but when its 5am she wants that wet food. the dry food to her at that point is the most unappetizing thing. we will try the playing just before we go to bed thing. we play with them alot but this one ahs so much energy its unreal ( she is also very rough with our other cat) I was also thinking of making a 3rd feeding so if they are fed at 5 am and then around 3pm maybe around 8pm or so. I was thinking maybe because she is only just over a year old that that she is being like this cause she is growing still?


oh ps she is fixed as well I dont know if that makes a difference.

but thnk you for the response
That is what my cats is after too; the wet food.  Yet, the dry does seem appease him.  I think splitting the meals to 3x a day might really help.  Yet, maybe move the last meal closer to your bed time. 

Is there a room (even a bathroom) that you could place the cat in when he is doing this at 5am?  We used to put our cat in a room that was mostly cat proofed.  It did help. 

Your cat is still young and being part Savannah has lots of energy.  Have you ever heard of Jackson Galaxy from the Animal Planet show "My Cat From Hell"?  He has some ideas for helping cats who are high energy.  He has lots of "Catification" ideas.  The idea is to build a cat super highway in your home.  The cats can climb from the ground to up high and around your home with shelving.  Also providing cat trees for climbing and looking outside.  Check out Jackson Galaxy and check out his ideas on high energy cats.
 
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spineshade

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That is what my cats is after too; the wet food.  Yet, the dry does seem appease him.  I think splitting the meals to 3x a day might really help.  Yet, maybe move the last meal closer to your bed time. 

Is there a room (even a bathroom) that you could place the cat in when he is doing this at 5am?  We used to put our cat in a room that was mostly cat proofed.  It did help. 

Your cat is still young and being part Savannah has lots of energy.  Have you ever heard of Jackson Galaxy from the Animal Planet show "My Cat From Hell"?  He has some ideas for helping cats who are high energy.  He has lots of "Catification" ideas.  The idea is to build a cat super highway in your home.  The cats can climb from the ground to up high and around your home with shelving.  Also providing cat trees for climbing and looking outside.  Check out Jackson Galaxy and check out his ideas on high energy cats.
Ill have to check that out ive watched tat show once or twice and it seemed interesting. Ill see what he has. She is a nut at times it seems like there is no off switch for her. We love her and we know she had a rough couple months when her owner passed. And we feel really guily getting mad at her when she acts up like that. Might have to invest in a large cat tower too to appease the climbing cause she climbs alot counters kitchen cabinets doors lol.
ill definetly try the 3rd feeding close to going to bed as well. she is a little piggie so that likes to beg for human food (as well as ourother cat) when we are eating, so hopefully that will help
thank you
 
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