Curious About Social Aspects of Siberian Kitten

catquestions232

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Hello All!

I currently have a Siberian Kitten and she is my first cat ever.  She is about 8 months now and getting huge.  I have a couple questions regarding traits I am curious about.

1.) Why is she so friendly and cuddly during the morning and at nighttime, but more aloof during the day?

Now, i know the general response will be because she is seeking warmth, or wants me to get her food in the morning but I dont think this is the case.  At first when I started letting her sleep in the bedroom, shed sleep at my feet and refuse to come up any farther.  Now, as soon as she sees me lay down she absolutely has to cuddle up right against my chest and put her head on the pillow like a person.  Shes does this cute little thing where she pushes against me as hard as she can then flops over so there is absolutely no space between us.  God forbid I pet her and stop, she stands up, does a little turn and flops down again to get even closer.  This repeats until i stop petting her for long enough and she goes through 4 or 5 cycles of this "flop" and decides I'm done petting her and need sleep, and just goes to sleep next to me.

As far as in the morning, my girlfriend will get up and put food out for her.  She'll take a bite or two then remember I'm still in the bedroom, and scream outside the door till I let her in, then do the whole flop routine again, all while purring like a maniac.  She wont go back to eat her food until I get up and leave the room with her. 

Throughout the rest of the day, she likes to get a pet once in a while, but is not very cuddly.  She will sit next to you, but is nowhere near as needy as in the night and morning.  What causes this difference in behavior do you think?  It feels like 2 completely different cats.  Also, she really only puurs at night, and in the morning.  She also purrs a little bit when I get home from work and pick her up, but otherwise is quiet for the most part. What do you think causes these very different behaviors at different points of the day.

2.) What causes affection behavior to change?

As stated above, she has gone from sleeping at my feet to acting like a stuffed animal at night.  She also used to always come and jump on my lap while I was at the computer, but has stopped doing this.  What do you think causes behavioral changes like this? 

3.) She will sometimes come to me while I'm working from the office and scream outside the door till I open it, and as soon as I do run away.  If I follow to where she is hiding (usually behind a chair) she will often purr and start playing.  The only thing I worry about is if this game of hide and seek encourages her to see me as prey, and if I should instead always have a toy when i approach her so she channels this instinct into the toy?  If I play the game too long, I notice when i walk away, she charges after me and jumps on my leg (without her claws out, so she doesnt hurt me).  Does this type of play encourage aggression, and should I stop it?

4.) Why does she scoop dry food out of her bowl or off a plate onto the floor to eat it?

She absolutely refuses to eat dry food out of a plate or cat bowl.  What she wall do is paw it off the plate onto the floor and eat it from there.  Its a bit strange and kinda of funny to watch.  Why do you think she does this?

5.) Lastly, why does she sometimes have accidents outside the littbox?  She has NEVER urinated on the floor, but I will sometimes see her pawing at the floor and wiping poop off her paws.  She also sometimes has remants of poop stuck to her fur and I then have to wash her off (I actually trimmed her fur on her butt and it helped, but it sometimes still happens).  Is her diet upsetting her stomach?  I use high protein grain free food (wet morning and night, dry during the day).  I think the brand is natural balance.   Could it be I have too little litter in the box?  I also noticed that the other day she actually full on defecated right next to the box.  When I looked in the box, the litter was a little low I think.  She is also a bit OCD and if the litter is not changed often enough (like if I do it every other day instead of every day) she is prone to scoop it out herself onto the floor.  Could it be the box is too small?  I have an extra large box with a cover, but she is already about 9lbs, and growing quick. 
 
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Kieka

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1) Cats tend to be more active at dawn and dusk, at least mine do. Some people say that cats are naturally nocturnal, others say diurnal. Their cats are adapted to allow for nighttime hunting but they also tend to be more active during the daytime when kept as pets. My theory, they have adapted to us. If we are home all day and sleep at night, they adapt to that. If we let them outside and they can hunt at night, they will. If we are most active with them before and after work, they become most active before and after work. She has learned she gets more cuddles in the morning and evening so she has adapted to demand more during the times she gets more. 

2) No on knows. Seriously. My cats will rotate on who sleeps where. Rocket has times when she must be cuddled up right next to me and other times when she wants to sleep on the spare bed in a room by herself. Link seems to rotate with the seasons and will lay stretched out right next to a warm body in winter and will sleep who knows where in the summer. In your case, it may be more of just she got more comfortable sharing the bed with humans and decided it was safe to get away from feet. Or maybe you kicked her in your sleep so it is safer to sleep near your head. Or she is a cat and her motives are unknowable. 

3) She wants to play. She knows where the play place is though and is leading you to it. When you start to leave and she jumps on you she isn't done yet. Ideally you should get her to pant at the end of a play session that means she is fully exhausted. She is still a kitten and Siberians grow slowly so she will likely continue the behavior for many years. You aren't encouraging her to see you are prey, the lack of claws shows she sees you as equal and play buddy. Either extend the play sessions or get some wand, hanging toys, track toys, or other toys that don't need humans so she can keep going when you leave. At my house we start the ball track toy spinning when we are done and that can keep them going for up to an hour after we have left. But each cat is unique in their toy preference so it depends on her if that would work. I have a door hanging toy that one of mine finds fascinating in those moments that no one else wants to play but the others ignore it. 

4) Again, no one knows. I have one who does this too. We keep a lipped tray under the food bowl which limits the mess and contains it. You could try getting a wider bowl in case it is some sort of whiskers brushing the edge of the bowl and feeling uncomfortable type thing. But my girl does it even when the food is piled high in the bowl. She just seems to like batting food around to make it "alive" is my guess with mine. 

5) It likely is that she doesn't like pooping and peeing in the same box or her butt is slightly overhanging when she poops. But since she is a clean freak, and my boy is too, I would guess it is not liking the same box. My boy is a very leggy 13 pounder that doesn't fit well in covered boxes. What we do is set up two boxes side by side with raised sides (well three sides raised and no top). He will go back and forth between the two and end up peeing in one and pooping in the other (then demand immediate cleaning of both). I would try setting up a second box nearby and see if that does it. If not it could be the litter or the box itself (try maybe uncovered, with my boy he could get in covered but he couldn't move around as much as he wanted to poop comfortably so he ended up with his butt hanging out of the door half the time).  If neither of those solve the problem it could be something medical so you should check with your vet to make sure something else isn't going on. 
 
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catquestions232

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Thanks for the Response! 

For #1 that makes sense.  The only strange part is i try and cuddle her during the day, but she just wont have it.  For her its only a nighttime and morning thing.  I do work 3 days a week all day, but the other 2 I work from home and am home on the weekends.  Even so, cuddles are only for night and morning with her it seems.

As for #3, the only thing im concerned on is it becomes  a game of chase if i don't have a toy and chase her around then she chases me.  She seems to like it, but usually for the rest of the day shes a bit more aggressive.  My thought process is it might follow the same reasoning of why people say to never play with your hand with cats.

As for #5, I never considered they were that particular about separating the 2. 
 

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In the immortal words of Billy Currington, "God is great; beer is good, and kitties are crazy."

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Kieka

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For #3 she is treating you just like she would a cat. Two cats at play will typically play tag when they run around. So you are running after her and now it is her turn to run after you. She is a bit more aggressive trying to get you to play more. The logic is probably along the lines of "I was chased and we played, if I chase then we will play again". It is slightly different then the play with hands because the hands they use claws or can cause real damage. At my house we have some wand toys scattered randomly around and will drag them behind us for that purpose. Aggression goes towards the toy but the cat gets the instinctual chase and be chased play aspect. 
 
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catquestions232

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Good idea. So you're saying the chase play is fine as long as I run with a toy behind me so it is channeled into the toy and not me? And does she enjoy getting chased? I know cats need their space and I don't want to inadvertently spook her (I'm a pretty big guy to be lumbering after her). Is her scratching at the door then running inviting it?

If you say she does like it, how do I know when to stop, or if she's enjoying it? Its hard to tell sometimes what they like and don't like
 
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Kieka

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Just following her for play time is good for your side of the chase.

You can try peek a boo first and see how she reacts. I usually duck around a doorway while they are watching and poke out with a boo before ducking again. It the cat is interested they will sneak closer and bat at you. Usually I will change heights that I stick out my head (you can use a toy instead if you want to make sure her play aggression stays on the toy).

I don't know how much I would try actual chase with her. My cats like leading me around the yard where they run and when I get to the spot they move. After a while I grab a stick or twig for them to chase. Then they will bolt off again and look back at me. So it is similar to tag they play but takes into account they have claws and I can't very well wrestle them.

But a lot of it depends on learning your cats cues. Mine are very good at telling me when they are done. Link thumps his tail, Rocket grooms her side. Link is a huge personality and easy to guess on everything. Rocket is more subtle in her signals. Body language, tail position, sounds, looks, all of it which are somewhat shared but also unique to each cat. It is good to think of it as a foreign language. How does she act when waiting for meals? That can give you a starting point. You know what she does when she wants play. How she is when antsy about her litter dish. Use them as the base to start figuring out other cues. It will likely take a while but you will get there. You will have in your favor that she is trying to make you understand her as much as you are trying to understand. Rocket has a patented "slow human" look when I don't figure out what she wants quickly. lol
 
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sargon

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1.) My cat (She's a traditional Siamese, so another old, highly social and domesticated breed) is a bit like yours in terms of having times she's more or less affectionate. She always wants to be around people (mostly me), but often in the day that means sunning herself across the room (or playing. she's always up for that
), verses at night when she generally curls up and sleeps on my feet.  

i work from home as well, so my cat is usually in my bedroom(where my computer is). And, I did a few hings to help make that work better. I have a scratching post with a pad on top for her to have vertical spaces and somewhere to scratch, as well as a space of her own to be close but not "on" me.  I also have a food bowl and water fountain for her, and, most importantly, I put a cat flap on my door so that she won't use her superpower and call on 100 generations of Siamese cat ancestors to lend strength to her voice in an attempt to destroy my bedroom door with a sonic attack!

2.) What causes affection behavior to change?

Kittens add and subtract behaviors a lot. mine used to always borrow into my arm when I'd use he computer and sleep, but as she got older, more confident, and more independent ( her idea of independent is being 5 feet away from me 
), she stopped that.

3.) As long as she's gentle, she's clearly playing with you like a parent or litter mate, and not like prey, so I wouldn't worry about playing along.

4.)     Either the bowl is too small or she just wants interactive play as she eats.   Whichever it is, an interactive feeder might be just the thing for your cat. You can either buy one, I suggest the Catit Digger, given your kittens' preference for digging food out of the bowl, or, you could try making your own, either by cutting paper towel tubes different heights and gluing them into a small box, or just taking a water bottle and out a few kibble sized holes it and see if she enjoys batting it around for food!

5.)  Natural Balance is a pretty good brand, as I recall, so your problem is likely not the food ( but 3even premium foods may not agree with a particular cat.)

Kittens sometimes have poop accidents (mine had a few when she was younger).  They grow out of it, although with a long haired breed like yours, you might need to trim paw hair and give a "butt shave.", just like you did before.  The litter throwing probably is because you don't clean it enough for your cat.  You might try an automatic litter box or pellet litter system ( both because of low maintenance and odor, but also because pellet litter won't stick to your cat's long fur). At a minimum, switch out the covered box for a high walled one.
 
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catquestions232

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Sargon,

Great response!  I think I will try the interactive feeder.  Also, as far as the poop thing, she pooped on the floor last night too.  But as soon as she did, I turned her around and looked at her butt and poop was hanging off.  Not to be gross, but it was very liquidy.  It looks like shes getting it stuck to her and its falling off as she leaves the box.  

I think its important to note I feed her wet food twice a day (morning and night), and dry food out during the day.  Could it be she is not getting enough fiber?  Looking at the wet food, it is liquidy and mushy.  If i ate something like that, I think my poop would be wet too (sorry for being gross).  Should I maybe only feed her wet once a day, then dry for the rest?  Or go completely to dry?  Should I try another brand (not sure how that would help though as most brands have that mushy quality for the wet food)?
 

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Sargon,

Great response!  I think I will try the interactive feeder.  Also, as far as the poop thing, she pooped on the floor last night too.  But as soon as she did, I turned her around and looked at her butt and poop was hanging off.  Not to be gross, but it was very liquidy.  It looks like shes getting it stuck to her and its falling off as she leaves the box.  
How closely are you trimming her hair 'back there?"

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catquestions232

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Pretty darn close. Probably the equivalent of a 2 on a human hair trimmer. But when she puts her bushy tail down its another story. Also, the backs of her legs.
 

Kieka

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Try mixing in a tablespoon of pumpkin puree with her food. Homemade or canned as long as it is the plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie. You don't want any spices added to it.

Pumpkin can help with both diarrhea and constipation so it is a good thing to keep a can of around.
 
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catquestions232

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I have actually heard that before but wasnt sure if it was false.  Interesting.  What is it in the pumpkin that does that (in my head im thinking pumpkin is mushy so it seems counterintuitive even though I trust your knowledge).  Also, do they like the taste?
 

Kieka

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I have heard of cats who will happily eat an entire can of pumpkin if you let them. I would think it depends on the cat themselves. 

It has a lot of soluble fiber which absorbs excess water; how it helps with diarrhea. The combination of the fiber plus the high water content can stimulate bowel movements for the constipated. I may have given you the wrong amount because the stuff I am seeing now says that on a regular basis though you want to do 1/2 to 1 teaspoon a day. It is that weird type of thing where a little helps with diarrhea, a little more helps with constipation, too much leads to constipation, so start small and go back down when you see it helping. It also can act as a weight control method because it makes the cat feel fuller and some people think it can help with hairballs. Nutritionally it contains Vitamin A, C, E, calcium, iron, and lutein and the antioxidant alpha carotene. Almost makes me wish I liked the taste of pumpkin. 

You can feed 100% canned pumpkin with no fillers, fresh pumpkin that is baked to soft with no seeds or stem, or roast the seed at 350F for an hour and grind them into a fine powder. Depending on your preference, personally for the amount of pumpkin needed a canned is easiest. 
 
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Thank you so much! I am going to try this!
 

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I'm late to the party, but want to share my experience with litter boxes and my Siberian. I now have the largest litter box I could find online. She just wasn't comfortable in anything smaller. She's three now and I'm thinking I may have to go to a Sterilite storage box to size up again. Also make sure the litter is deep enough. I keep it four to five inches. Never a cover. Just too confining.
 
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catquestions232

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I'm late to the party, but want to share my experience with litter boxes and my Siberian. I now have the largest litter box I could find online. She just wasn't comfortable in anything smaller. She's three now and I'm thinking I may have to go to a Sterilite storage box to size up again. Also make sure the litter is deep enough. I keep it four to five inches. Never a cover. Just too confining.
Haha, no worries. I bought a HUGE one from Walmart. It has a cover and seems to work well. She is way too rough with her scooping to not have a cover. Also, she like to wipe her paws off on the side of the cover when she is done (you'll hear her paws clicking for about 5 minutes when shes done as she cleans her paws on the side lol). Also, a fix I ended up doing was just shaving down the fur between her toes so it wouldn't get litter or poo stuck to it. Her reaction to the vibration on the buzzer was hilarious haha. It must have tickled because she had her toes spread out so far :).
 
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