Kittens with HORRIBLE chewing and behavior

Please help, my boyfriend and I are getting desperate. We have two six-month old kittens and they've gotten horrible over the last month and worse this last week.

They've destroyed phone cords, laptop cords headphones, the charcoal filters over the litter boxes, everything cardboard and more. They bite our fingers and hair while we sleep and we haven't slept in days because of it. We got NaturVet Bitter YUCK! And it doesn't seem to do anything.

Our vet had them moved to two feedings a day and they get half a cup each time for each of them. Are they still hungry?

We can't keep them off of surfaces, we've tried everything to keep them off the counters, redirection, a spray bottle and Whicker City No Stay! But they just rolled around of the towel that was coated in it.

They have play alone toys, dangling toys to play with, places to hide and play, we don't know what else to do...

They chew on the remotes for our TVs while we use them and when they're just on the bed, they chewed through the cord on our $180 heating blanket. They figured out how to open the bathroom cabinet so they keep trying to get into the chemicals which is terrifying because we just spent $130 for one of them throwing up because of ingesting something.

Do you play with them enough to expend their kitty energy?  That's one thing that I'm doing with my 4 month old that I just adopted.  It seems to help, but it takes playing with her as soon as I start seeing her getting into things.  She seems to do that when she's tired and it's nap time believe it or not.  So when I'm home I play with her when she's not sleeping, then again make sure there's some play time before I go to bed.  Right now I believe she's young enough that she sleeps mostly when I'm at work.  Of course my other cat is 14 years old and definitely sleeps, so there's not 2 little ones egging each other on.

I've actually had to move all plastic plants to my closet until hopefully when she gets older I can take them back out again.  She chews on them and I'm worried she'll get that plastic in her tummy and I don't want to pay for surgery! 

My problem still is my fake trees I have in my living room, I really don't want to have to put them in the garage, and am hoping she only bats at them and bites on them when I'm around and is needing attention.  Not sure what would happen if that material was ingested....anyone know?

One of them has also started peeing on laundry and towels, clean or dirty. Another behavior we have no idea what to do with. We have them restrained to our master bedroom and bathroom because of a roommate dispute so we don't have the option of a "kitten room" or locking them out when we're sleeping.

KayZee49 said:

Please help, my boyfriend and I are getting desperate. We have two six-month old kittens and they've gotten horrible over the last month and worse this last week.

They've destroyed phone cords, laptop cords headphones, the charcoal filters over the litter boxes, everything cardboard and more. They bite our fingers and hair while we sleep and we haven't slept in days because of it. We got NaturVet Bitter YUCK! And it doesn't seem to do anything.

Our vet had them moved to two feedings a day and they get half a cup each time for each of them. Are they still hungry?

We can't keep them off of surfaces, we've tried everything to keep them off the counters, redirection, a spray bottle and Whicker City No Stay! But they just rolled around of the towel that was coated in it.

They have play alone toys, dangling toys to play with, places to hide and play, we don't know what else to do...

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if i gave my 2 6 month old kittens 1/2 cup of food twice a day they would think they were starving to death. IMO, that's not enough food. they need plenty of wet food, growing kittens will eat much more than an adult cat. i let my little ones eat as much as they want. they burn off the calories playing. my guess is they are still very hungry..

you can buy cord covers for pets that chew cords. check at amazon. that can be dangerous! you can buy baby locks for your cabinets. cabinet opening is very easy for cats, lol..

firstly, i would try adding at least 2 more feedings a day of wet kitten food and see if that helps.. most kittens love fancy feast kitten but go sparingly on the fish flavors..

this is a great site for cat nutrition: www.catinfo.org

It does sound like they don't have an outlet for their energy.  Try playing with them more vigorously several times a day until they are actually tired.  Do they have things to climb and play on?

It is possible that they are hungry.  You could try feeding them smaller meals more often or leaving high quality dry food out for them.

How many litter boxes do you have?  Most people recommend one per cat and plus one.  Kitten attract litter can help guide them to the box.  How often do you clean them?  Have they been to the vet to rule out a uti?  

Are they fixed?  Do you clip their nails?

We do play with them but we will try playing with them more, like suggested every time they get into something. They share a litter box due to the small space but it's cleaned many times a day, they take turns. They never pee outside of it unless there's a laundry basket out. They are both fixed and we do clip their nails.

We want to get a cat condo bit we're currently saving up for one and looking for a used one to buy cheaper.

Ok, so it sounds very clear that they are confined to a space that's too small with not enough to do.  That's probably the main reason for their behavior.  This doesn't sound like an ideal situation for any of you.

They may need more than one litterbox so they stop going outside it.  Some cats don't like to share and some don't like to pee and poop in the same box, etc.  Try adding another, even if the space is tight.

Are they fixed?

Yes, they're fixed. Unfortunately, we're stuck with this space until May 1.