Crazy Kitten or the Kitten from HELL!!!

Hello,

I live in university teacher's housing in Harbin, China. Due to the recent death of my mother the school allowed me to get a cat. I searched for 3 months to find an adult rescue cat to give a loving home to, with no luck. The very harsh winters here pretty much ensure not much survives, so I ended up buying a kitten. It is either a Persian or an Exotic short hair, or a hybrid of the two. Anyway, he is destroying my apartment and it's contents. He can be the sweetest kitten and then other times he is out for blood. I have scratches and bite marks all over my legs, hands and arms from his behavior. I have gotten him  a ton of toys, a scratching post, etc. He has turned the curtains into a jungle gym, the bed into a trampoline and the couch into a scratching post. I am at my wits end. I only work about 20 hours a week, so I spend a lot of time with him, and now it is summer vacation so I am home all the time. I take him outside where he sits in my arms and watches the birds, bugs, and generally gets some fresh air. Today we were outside and a woman and her little girl came up to us, to say hello. The little girl wanted to pet Charlie but as soon as the mother saw the scratches all over me, she said something to the little girl in Chinese and turned and walked away. Honestly, my feelings were a bit hurt but clearly the mother realized that my cat could be potentially dangerous. I have yelled at him twice when he ran up the curtains 2X in less than 10 minutes, and then put him in the kitchen for a while. I have spent countless hours on the internet reading about kitten behavior, etc. I am doing everything right but yet Charlie is still exhibiting this bad behavior. I think it will only be a matter of time before the school tells me he has to go as he attacked the Dean of the University's nephew, during a  private lesson (he was only at my flat to look at my facebook page, as it is blocked in China). I love him dearly but am starting to not like him very much, he is about 4-5 months old, as I really don't know. I live in China, am paid to teach English and don't speak Chinese. He has not been to the vet's yet for shots and neutering, as when I got him the vet said to wait 4 weeks. Then summer vacation started, so as soon as the students come back in two weeks, I will arrange to have one go with me to take him for his shots and to get neutered. Well, enough said, I need advice, suggestions and of course a hug would be nice! Thank you for taking the time to read this very convoluted post!

Maggie

PS his note for a cat shaming website will be: I am the reason that HIU has a no pets policy!

I am wondering if not being neutered as something to do with the psycho behavior?

Neutering will certainly help, but will not suddenly turn him into a relaxed cat. However, if you do not neuter him, he may begin spraying and become even more aggressive as he enters sexual maturity. Therefore, neutering is highly advisable.

Your cat is in the middle of being a normal, rambunctious teen kitty. This is a developmental stage all kittens go through. The ones who stay with their moms and litter mates longer become much better socialized and have much better kitten manners.

He is lacking a playmate with whom to expend his energy, and a mom to discipline him.

In lieu of that, you might try hissing at him when he is using his claws and being particularly aggressive. He needs to learn soft paws.

You can purchase a Feliway diffuser, which emits calming pheromones, and see if that helps.

He will mellow some over time, but it could be awhile. Yelling at him and giving him time out will accomplish nothing.

You can also give him treat balls to play with. These are rolling toys that he chases until the treat you put inside falls out.

Do you play interactive games with him, such as with a Da Bird toy? This will help expel some energy.

It's important to praise him when he is good as well. And the calmer you are with him the calmer he will be.

Thanks for your suggestions, I already suspected time out was a waste of time. Yelling at him just scared him, and I don't want my cat to be afraid of me. I calmly told him no as he climbed the curtains as I was reading your post. He looked at me like I was crazy!! I do think it is just kitten antics and have always suspected he was taken from his mother too soon. I don't know as I bough him in a pet store. I have had kittens before but never a pet shop kitty as I don't believe in this and prefer rescues. As I said, I tried for months to find an older cat just to avoid this behavior, with no luck. Other than flying to Shanghai on vacation and getting a  rescue from " Best friends of China", I didn't really see an alternative. I will do my best to live with his nonsense and hope he grows out of it. As for feliway, I don't know if I can find it here in China, everything is made here but trying to find this is an exercise in itself. Thanks for your suggestios!

You're welcome! And I think it was very gracious of the Dean to allow you to have a cat. I wish you all the best .

I agree when I first asked and gave them a list of what I was willing to do to keep him, be responsible, sign a 2 year renewal contract, no pay raise, put up a non refundable pet deposit, etc. The university said no, then my mom died and they changed their mind. Their are a few other teachers who have asked and were told no, so they give me a hard time. I politely remind them that my mom died so cut me some slack. Well, now I understand why they said no, and I feel that Baby Charlie should be the poster cat for a well behaved pet, as his behavior will determine if other teachers in the future will be allowed to have pets. I know that he will grow out of his bad phase and I do live in China, so I may just go ahead and buy some really cheap curtains now and take the good ones down. I really don't want to be the future sad story as to why there is a no pets clause in our contracts.

For those that are reading this and wondering why a university teacher cannot spell or write a grammatically complete sentence, it is because I am trying to get back on a sleep schedule. I have been off for 4 weeks and staying up all night watching crap TV on the internet. Well, school starts next week and I need to be up bright and early!

I think getting cheap curtains so your cat does not destroy the existing ones is a terrific idea, because it sounds like you are responsible for your apartment.

I also think that you presenting having a cat as working well for you will help pave the way for future pet decisions. You were granted an exception, and it's your place to set the tone.

Kittens are not easy for anyone anywhere, so how you deal with it will probably be a marker for others, though I'm sure the no pet policy exists there for the same reasons it does anywhere else in the world.

Pets tend to rip things, chew things, claw things, and spray things, and it is a testament to the owner as to how that is controlled and handled.

I took in a pregnant stray this past spring, who birthed four kittens. I have kept them all, and mama kitty has socialized them well, but the kittens are 5 months old, and very energetic and busy. I've had to kitten-proof my home and I supervise constantly to make sure they are not into things they shouldn't be. It's a chore I accepted when I decided to keep them. It's work, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm sorry you lost your mom, but you are to be commended for teaching English in a foreign country. Your kitty may turn out to be your best friend before long! Try to go with the flow.

My cat was 4-5 months old when he was neutered. It calmed him a lot.

I agree with the cheap curtains, but you also need to trim his claws. The best way I've found is to get the kitten used to the feel of having their feet touched. This is best done when they are sleepy. They sell claw clippers on line, but I have used regular nail clippers. I was able to trim my cats claws better when he is out cold sleeping.

As for going outside, I suspect this is overstimulating your kitten....

I know your teachers salary isn't probably very good, but can you buy a cat condo?? As for toys, I'd go for some kind of battery powered cat toy...the one my sister bought Robin at this age was a ball with a long plastic wand with feathers. When it was turned on, it spun and spun. My cat went nuts for it.

As for biting, you need to show your cajons here lol. Lots of male kittens have "aunties" who put them in their place in the wild. One way they do this is to literally hold them down...I have done this with Robin at the age your kitten is. I'd just hold him down. Not enough to hurt obviously, just enough to show him who's boss. I also put him in the bathroom for a few minutes if he kept bad behavior up. He knew, trust me, that it was for misbehaving!!

As for visitors, you need to put him in a crate or closed room, this is again overstimulating to him. He is a male cat even at 5 months... he might be seeing visitors as threats to his territory.

All in all though, what you've described is pretty much typical kitten behavior. Will you be able to take the kitten home once your contract is done, or do you expect to be there for quite awhile? My condolences on your loss, by the way. (((Hugs)))

Yes, "scruffing" is a very good way to show who is boss. This is when you get your cat by the scruff of the neck and hold them immobile for a few seconds. Mama cats do this repeatedly with their young to teach manners. It can be effective if not over-used.

A kitty condo or perch would give your kitten something acceptable to climb and perch on. It is definitely worth consideration, but they are not cheap.

I appreciate all the responses! I cannot imagine my life without him, and he is already my best friend. He was very sweet and loving up until about 2 weeks ago. I don't know what happened but he turned into psycho kitty. He really doesn't want to be held as much, he stopped sleeping in bed with me and starting getting aggressive in his play. As for  cat condo he has his cat cave which is the bedroom windowsill, he hides behind the curtains and sleeps there. I leave him be when he is back there. It is in the living room window that he goes crazy. As for yelling at him, I cried for 3 hours after that I felt so bad. I also thought taking him outside for a few minutes of fresh air was a good thing. When I first got him, we would sit outside for a while and students would come by and pet him, hold him and take a ton of pictures with him. He has a fan club at the university! I have no plans on returning to the states any time soon as there are no jobs for folks in their 50's, and I have a good job in China. I am responsible for my flat and rightly so, it is our home! He sits in the window and students come by and talk to him, take pictures, make strange sounds. The other teachers who walk by will comment on how big he is getting, and how lucky I am to be able to have him. I know I am lucky to have him but I don't want to have to make the painful decision of him or  my job. Thankfully, they do not inspect our flats, so no real damage has been done yet but if his behavior continues to be out of control it will happen. I live on the first floor and he already knocked the screen out of the window and a brick is holding it in place. I am terrified he will get out and run away or worse yet get hit by a car, as a major highway runs behind our side of the campus. I am going to see if I can find nail clippers but I don't think he will let me do it but when he is vetted, I will ask them to do it. I really do love him and want the best for him! I will post pictures in my profile so others can see his life. When I leave in 3-5 years, I will be taking him with me as that was part of my sell! He would be vetted, well taken care of, stay indoors and would not be abandoned!

There are suppose to be Walmarts in China, any chance you've got one in your area? The ones here sell some cat trees, no they are not high quality, but for the price they really aren't half bad.

I agree that trimming his claws is your best bet, just take it slow, build up. Bless you for trying so hard to make things work!

Oops, I am really slow at typing and posting. I missed that last post. When do you plan on the vetting? Soon I hope, for you and your apartment! Will you be doing the neuter then? See if the vet can teach you techniques for clipping those claws.

Yes, there is a walmart in Harbin, and I actually need to go and get some spaghetti sauce. The small pet store that I got him from, would gladly order me a cat tree for him! Every time I walk by there I stop in give the lady a hug and show her new pictures of Charlie. I will google them and take a picture and ask her to get one for me. Anyway, as for clipping his nails, I am afraid but will have the vet show me how!! I uploaded a bunch of pictures if anyone is interested in seeing the 2 months he has been my cat!

Your pictures are not showing in our system. Please try again .

It is  the community album/kittens/Bad Baby Charlie! at least I hope so!

Hmmm...people come by and take pictures...in the same window he's been "going crazy" in??

If he doesn't feel safe, he will act out. 4-5 months is also about the same age my cats testosterone came in. Nicely put, he had the cutest little balls I ever saw. [emoji]128513[/emoji]. Seems like a bad mix, to put a cat with teeming hormones in a window with a lot of visitors. Cats consider what they see outside as their territory. Any chance you can put up window film ? Something with just enough he can see out, yet limiting the curious eyes of visitors? They do make static film that doesn't require it have adhesive.

I also recommend a cat tree...something tall, they be can look out from a height, to give him a sense of control over the people looking in.

I just returned from the pet store and bough Charlie a small house that is for dogs. He has already been in and out and scratched a few places, so he is marking it. As for the windows because I am on the ground floor, they do have a film on the bottom 1/2, to allow light in. Since it is summer and rather hot, I keep the window open and he sits there, sleeps there etc. Since we are on break, there are only a few folks on campus, but when the students come back in 2 weeks, the window will not be open as much. The other 1/2 of the building I live in is student dorms so it gets really loud and a lot of traffic! The noise bothers me so the window will stay closed as much as possible. I will also get him a cat tree! next time I am in university city! Thanks for all the guidance and suggestions, he is asleep in the window right now!