PLEASE HELP....Worse Kitty Ever!!!

mrsjdv · Jan 15, 2005

Okay, this is my third kitty that I have had. Two are living with my parents, and one is with me. She is the Baby. She is 9months old. I have never had, or even seen a Kitty that stresses someone out so bad, like she does. My other two kitties, are nothing like her. She is constantly Jumping onto things that she is not supposed to. She has already broken about 3 Vases, a clock, and a lamp or two....all glass ones too...... She is constantly jumping up onto the dresser, the TV, the counter........then jumping down, then jumping up, and down, and climbs the blinds, and breaks the blinds, and claws her way up the curtain, and slides down it, ripping it as she goes along.....EVERY morning she wakes up at 5am, and comes into my room, Meows louder than ever, wakes me up.....goes into my roomates room, Meows loud as ever, wakes him up.....then goes back to bed. She will sleep, as long as you are awake and doing something. As soon as you try to lay down, and close your eyes, she is awake, Meowing at you to wake up, and jumping on the dressers, knocking down stuff, to get your attention. Every time I am trying to get ready to go somewhere, she is a terror. Runing around, jumping up on stuff, knocking stuff down.....making me so stressed and always late for everything. As soon as I leave, my roomate says that she just goes right to sleep. Wakes up as soon as I come home, just to start all over again.
Believe me, I have tried this Water Squirter trick, to try and discipline her.....Well It dont work at all....As you are squirting her, she is catching it in her mouth, like it is some kind of fun game.....she wil even duck and dodge the water, hiding behind things, like your trying to hit some kind of moving target.......Or she tries to eat the actual squirter itself.......She is so stressful.......What other ways is there to discipline her, that may make her STOP this ridiculous bad behavior? Someone please help....I dont know what to do no more. You all may think I am crazy to let a little Kitty stress me out so much, but believe me, If you met her and spent just one day with her, you would know exactly what I mean......PLEASE HELP MY HORRIBLE KITTY

hissy · Jan 15, 2005

She isn't horrible, she is discovering her kittenhood. She needs interactive play time, cat condos, cat ramps, cat shelves, scratching posts does she have any of these things?

ruthiesmom · Jan 15, 2005

I'm no expert, but this kitty sounds bored to me. Do you play with her? What kind of toys does she have? Does she spend a lot of time alone? Have you considered getting her a buddy? Have patience, and soon enough she will turn into a grownup kitty. Then you will wonder why she sleeps all day!!

stormy · Jan 15, 2005

Sounds like normal kitten energy to me! Yes, the are rambuctious for sure!
I agree with the recommendations already stated. Baby needs alot of play time at her age.
Just curious, how long have you had Baby?

scamperfarms · Jan 15, 2005

Sounds to me like normal kitty energy too. They need lots of toys, and things that they CAN play with instead of no no no no no. I have raised four of the stinkers. Discipline sadly does not usually work. But showing them what they can play with. I have found keeps them from some of the stuff they shouldnt play with.

mrsjdv · Jan 15, 2005

I got her when she was 8 weeks old.......And when it comes to toys, and stuff to play with....Believe me when I say that she has enough toys.......SHe has over 100 different kitty toys......cat nip toys, mouses, even a bra strap which seems to be her favorite.....bouncy balls.....rattle mouses.....one of those things that the mousey goes around everytime they hit it.......wobbly mousey that you pull his tail and he moves......bag handles which she loves, shoe strings......she has her organic Cat Scratcher, that she never uses......she is a spoiled brat.......When it comes to playing with her......If I even try to breathe without her permission, she goes crazy......When I am walking anywhere in the house, she is always in front of me.....always makings sure she looks behind her to make sure Im still right there.....which then turns into her running head first into a wall or something........not good......I can not get her another companion......I have taken her to my parents many times to play with my other two kitties.....and all she does is hiss and go hide in the closet the entire time.....I even stayed over there a whole weekend, and she never left the room.......She is just so stressful......and it seems that half the time she does things bad on purpose just to make me mad,,or when she knows that it is not the right time to be bad......Im about to get kicked out of my home as it is, and she is making that decision a whole lot easier on the owner of the house.........Im so frustrated

pinkdaisy226 · Jan 15, 2005

Have you tried Feliway Comfort Zone? It's a plug-in that I use because my kitten can be quite spastic and a bit prone to biting but now that I've got the plug-in, she's calmed down and is just playful and sweet.

caprice · Jan 15, 2005

Originally Posted by MrsJDV

I got her when she was 8 weeks old.......And when it comes to toys, and stuff to play with....Believe me when I say that she has enough toys.......SHe has over 100 different kitty toys......cat nip toys, mouses, even a bra strap which seems to be her favorite.....bouncy balls.....rattle mouses.....one of those things that the mousey goes around everytime they hit it.......wobbly mousey that you pull his tail and he moves......bag handles which she loves, shoe strings......she has her organic Cat Scratcher, that she never uses......she is a spoiled brat.......When it comes to playing with her......If I even try to breathe without her permission, she goes crazy......When I am walking anywhere in the house, she is always in front of me.....always makings sure she looks behind her to make sure Im still right there.....which then turns into her running head first into a wall or something........not good......I can not get her another companion......I have taken her to my parents many times to play with my other two kitties.....and all she does is hiss and go hide in the closet the entire time.....I even stayed over there a whole weekend, and she never left the room.......She is just so stressful......and it seems that half the time she does things bad on purpose just to make me mad,,or when she knows that it is not the right time to be bad......Im about to get kicked out of my home as it is, and she is making that decision a whole lot easier on the owner of the house.........Im so frustrated

Bringing the cat to your parents home may be too much for her to handle. That takes time when cats are introduced. Be patient and she will calm down. There isn't anything wrong with her...she's just a playful kitty! Also, do try the Feliway Comfort Zone--it's wonderful for stressful kitties!

hissy · Jan 15, 2005

First off, she is not being "bad" she is being a normal kitten. They have insurmountable energy,and toys that lay on the floor doing nothing, do just that for a bored kitten, they do nothing but perhaps involve them in playing with them ten minutes max. She needs stimulation as her body grows and her mind is expanding. I have one here that every time I walk across the room in my pj's Prowler attacks my legs. Do I get mad at her? No, because if it moves it must be "prey." But I will stop her behavior quickly with firmness in my tone.

If your cat is a spoiled brat, guess who spoiled her? Sounds like you allow her to be alpha over you, and that is always a no win situation for both of you. She needs structured playtime, structured meal times, and you need to set your boundaries with her.

One way to help a kitten or a cat burn off energy is to go to an appliance store and get a big empty cardboard box. Bring it home and cut some holes in it off the floor, big enough for the cat to jump through, and off the floor level. Cut the flaps off one end, set the box up and toss some ping pong balls inside. They play for hours in there, run themselves down and sleep afterwards. The balls stay inside the box, giving the kitty a play room where you really don't have to worry about them. Cutting multiple holes in the side of the box, gives the kitten an incentive to jump in and out and further expend the energy.

It almost sounds to me that you have given up on the cat, and are stressed at her behavior. She will feed off your stress and frustration, it will add to her own and so you need to figure out how to level your emotional state down a few notches.

Everything you describe is normal reactions for an active, energetic kitten. Climbing drapes, ripping chewing blinds, they are nocturnal (most cats are) and so her prey drive is in high gear when the lights go out and you want to sleep. Again- perfectly normal-

marge · Jan 15, 2005

You know the more I am around cats the more I realize they are a lot like humans. Kittens are like little kids, let them get the upper hand and it leads to trouble.

Can you put your kitten in the bathroom at night so you get a good nights sleep at least? And be SuRE you aren't rewarding her behavior by feeding her when she acts up, common mistake.

Panic mouse is good i use one with my young cat, he is distracted for hours. Do you know what that is? It's the mechnical arm that moves a toy around mimicing a persons movement.

mikonu · Jan 15, 2005

Sounds like typical kitten behavior. Kionu is the same way, except he doesn't jump around and break things. Have you tried mylar balls? Kionu can spend HOURS playing with those things. He also loves watching his kitty DVD and playing on the cat tree. Maybe she needs new toys, possibly interactive ones?

jennyr · Jan 16, 2005

I agree -it sounds normal, and cats simply don't do bad things to punish you - it is not in their nature. They may try to catch you attention by doing something they know you will notice, but that is as far as it goes. I only wish my poor Persil would go back to doing some 'naughty' things as she recovers from surgery - I feel she is missing her kittenhood!

You may not have noticed it with your others if they were together and kept each other occupied, whereas this one is having to find objects to play with or tries to make you play.

cessena · Jan 16, 2005

Your kitty sounds just like mine. My Kitty drove me crazy for the first month or three, but now she knows what she can and cannot get away with. You're not going to be able to go from super energized demon kitty to perfect playful friend in a week or two. You have to set up rules for her. And the closer you stay to a schedule the better. This is some of the stuf we've tried with Shinobi that has worked over the past couple months.

The waking in the middle of the night thing is rough. (God I wish my cat came with a snooze button) We try to ignore her as long as we can, and when we can't we gently remove her from the room and close the door. Which doesn't really help the noise, but then we're not rewarding her behavior by chasing her out of the room or playing with her.

Playtime is key though-we play with Shinobi for about an hour total per day. (Which is NOT enough, let me tell you) If you set up structured playtimes that might. Now that we've expended some of Shinobi's energy we can train her. When she's places she shouldn't be we say NO, DOwn and point at the floor and try to get her down (and then take her down off whatever she's on, slowly, without chasing). We try to use the same words and hand motions every time. She's slowly picking up on them we're hoping if we're consistant she might learn that NO Down means get off the counter. (Or she might not)

Also, I think that when we're mad we're probably pretty entertaining. That's great fun. It took me a month to figure out that Shinobi scratched things on purpose so I would come chase her away from them. She knows what to do to get Attention from you. So try to bug her so much she wants you to go away and maybe she'll chill out.

Sorry if this is stuff you've already tried. I had some rough times here as well, but now that I'm finally sleeping through the night we're getting Shinobi a friend this week! She has to live in the bathroom for the first month while they get used to eachother, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

rosiemac · Jan 16, 2005

Before i got Sophie i always made sure that i set some time aside on an evening to play with Rosie.

I'd throw her balls up the stairs for her to chase after just to keep her from getting bored. But then i got Sophie and the two of them now play chase after each other.

I always make sure Sophie has a runaround with either Rosie or with me throwing balls or letting her jump after her "cat dancer" about an hour before bedtime so that she will sleep right through because she's only 10 months and if i didn't she would have me awake at 5 a.m.

As for the breaking of vases etc... i've lost count at the amount that i've had broken, so now i just buy some cheap ones and i've put the good ones out of site until she's a little older because after all thats what you would do with a young child and kittens are no different.

catlover7731 · Jan 16, 2005

Ok she has alot of toys,does she have a cat tree to climb on? You should take time out and play with her for a while Do you have a Dabird? Those tire my cats out quickly. Get a bird feeder and put it outside the window where she can sit and watch. Also I am not sure , but get her fixed and maybe she needs another cat to play with?

portdevoix · Jan 16, 2005

I echo what the others have said here about this being normal kittenhood. She sounds bored and lonely, and you have left way too many opportunities for her to get in trouble. Instead of getting mad because she is breaking your delicate ornaments, have you considered simply removing them from her reach? The best approach to cat "discipline" is removing temptations. When my kittens took to hanging out on the dining table, instead of squirting them, yelling, or getting angry, I simply removed from the table anything that I'd be upset if it broke. Instead of getting angry when they play with my shoelaces, I don't wear laced shoes when I'm in the house, and I keep the shoes in the closet behind a closed door. I have removed the delicate candle holders from my tables, and replaced them with heavyweight cast iron ones. I believe harmony with young felines begins with a safe environment for them to play in. I figure that if they got into somethign they shouldn't have, it's my faut because I shouldn't have left it out in the first place.

When my boys get too rowdy at night, when I'm trying to sleep, I lock them up in their "safe" room, which attaches to the bathroom. They like to play in the bathtub (nothing in there to break), they have a cat tree, toys, a bed, food and water, and they have their litterbox in the bathroom. They still can play with each other, but they are safe from hurting anything and anything hurting them.

My boys are generally very calm, but, they DO have EACH other to play. Have you considered getting another kitten for your girl to play with?

ghostuser · Jan 16, 2005

This is one of the reasons why we always ask people to adopt kittens in groups of two or more at my shelter. They are bundles of pure energy, and they get bored very fast. I know you said that you can't get her a companion, but it would help if she had a playmate. Interactive toys will also settle her down, but with how much energy she seems to have, three half-hour play sessions would be needed to get her to calm down. Kittens are a lot like dogs in that they need to be stimulated in order to behave the way we'd like them to. Almost all behavoural problems with dogs can be cured if they're walked as much as they need to be. Cats "bad behaviour" can be corrected with interactive play as much as they need it.

Aside from that, she will eventually grow out of it. Structure is a great idea to get her to settle down a bit. Another piece of advice, though it may not be feasible for you, is to ignore her completely at night. It took my cats a little over a week to figure out that I was not going to get out of bed, or move, or acknowledge their presence in any way until it was my normal wake-up time. Of course, that was one week where I was a walking zombie all day long, but it's really paid off in the long run. They haven't tried once since then to wake me up before 10:30 in the morning. They've also adjusted their sleeping schedule so that they're awake when I am, and they pass out cold when it's my normal bedtime.

mrsjdv · Jan 22, 2005

Everyone keeps telling me that maybe she acts this way because she is bored, and that I need to play with her........Do you think that I ignore her all day and just not play with her? You got to be kidding......I play with her more than I eat, sleep or do anything else......She is completely annoying.....EVERYWHERE I go, no matter what I do, there she is.....She HAS toys.....She Has things she climbs on......She does watch out the window a lot and talk to the kitties outside, or the birdies, or even the bunnies in the backyard........This is not my house I live in right now......I can't just move around someone else's furniture as I please, just to accomodate the kitty.....She should not be jumping up on things, that she has been told not to about 500 times already.....She don't listen.....Like I said before, the water squirter technique.......She thinks it is some kind of fun game.....She catches the water in her mouth.....As soon as I tell her no, when she does something wrong.....she pretends to walk away, then quickly goes and does the same thing that she just got yelled at for doing......
As for the early morning wake-ups.....You guys say that I need to try ignoring her when she gets up early, then maybe she will stop......Let me ask you this......How can i possibly ignore her when, at 5am everyday, she gets up....comes and sits on my chest or sits right next to me (I mean right next to me....about an inch away from my face) and begins her morining meows....and her talking, and the whining....right in my ear.....then she begins the rubbing, and let's not forget how she will find my hands, and begin to bite at my fingers until I wake up.......How can I possible ignore her when she is doing all this?
As for her not having another companion...I wish more than anything to be able to get her another kitty.....but it is really not something that I can do.....As for my other kitties (the ones at my parents) they didn't have each other to play with growing up......When I got the second kitty, my first one was already over 1 year old.......so they were alone as kittens, and yet were not even close to being as bad as this kitty......Who knows? Maybe I just got a bad seed in the bunch!!! No matter what, I Love her to death!!!
She is fixed too....someone did mention that earlier.....

I forgot to tell you guys all about ALL of my kitties that I have. SO I decided to make a post in the NEW CATS ON THE BLOCK section. Go and check it out. Just look for my name MrsJDV.....

caprice · Jan 22, 2005

Originally Posted by MrsJDV

Everyone keeps telling me that maybe she acts this way because she is bored, and that I need to play with her........Do you think that I ignore her all day and just not play with her? You got to be kidding......I play with her more than I eat, sleep or do anything else......She is completely annoying.....EVERYWHERE I go, no matter what I do, there she is.....She HAS toys.....She Has things she climbs on......She does watch out the window a lot and talk to the kitties outside, or the birdies, or even the bunnies in the backyard........This is not my house I live in right now......I can't just move around someone else's furniture as I please, just to accomodate the kitty.....She should not be jumping up on things, that she has been told not to about 500 times already.....She don't listen.....Like I said before, the water squirter technique.......She thinks it is some kind of fun game.....She catches the water in her mouth.....As soon as I tell her no, when she does something wrong.....she pretends to walk away, then quickly goes and does the same thing that she just got yelled at for doing......
As for the early morning wake-ups.....You guys say that I need to try ignoring her when she gets up early, then maybe she will stop......Let me ask you this......How can i possibly ignore her when, at 5am everyday, she gets up....comes and sits on my chest or sits right next to me (I mean right next to me....about an inch away from my face) and begins her morining meows....and her talking, and the whining....right in my ear.....then she begins the rubbing, and let's not forget how she will find my hands, and begin to bite at my fingers until I wake up.......How can I possible ignore her when she is doing all this?
As for her not having another companion...I wish more than anything to be able to get her another kitty.....but it is really not something that I can do.....As for my other kitties (the ones at my parents) they didn't have each other to play with growing up......When I got the second kitty, my first one was already over 1 year old.......so they were alone as kittens, and yet were not even close to being as bad as this kitty......Who knows? Maybe I just got a bad seed in the bunch!!! No matter what, I Love her to death!!!
She is fixed too....someone did mention that earlier.....

I forgot to tell you guys all about ALL of my kitties that I have. SO I decided to make a post in the NEW CATS ON THE BLOCK section. Go and check it out. Just look for my name MrsJDV.....

About her being as wild as you say, she is a kitten!! Some are just more active than others. About her waking you up, all cats do that. How do I handle that? I lock Mittens out of the bedroom and put a box fan on to drown out his meows...works wonders all the time. He eventually goes away and goes to sleep. You don't have a terror kitty, she is just growing up. ALL KITTENS ARE DIFFERENT~you can't compare your kitten to the other cats you had~they are all different. I believe that you play with her all day, and trust me she will eventually settle down after awhile and your "bad seed" will never cross your mind again! Be patient and enjoy these fun times!

misskitty4088 · Jan 22, 2005

I know exactly what you are going though. My kitten is nearly 6 months old. She is constantly on the go. She also wakes me up early in the morning. I couldn't stand it because she would bite and claw at me. Its very hard to ignore!! I push her off when she does this. It usually takes a few times for her to understand that 4am is not play time and I am not going to get up. She eventually gives up and lays down in her chair and goes back to sleep When things get really bad I lock her out of my bedroom all together. My kitten was strictly an outdoor kitty before I got her so I think that contributed to the problem. She also came from a family of 3. It has been a little bit difficult for her to adjust to life without her sister and brother,but I can't get another kitten right now. It's just not possible. I play with her as much as I can. She is the most entergetic kitten I have ever had. People have reassured me that she will calm down. Until then, I just deal with it the best way I know how. Play Play Play.

PLEASE HELP....Worse Kitty Ever!!!

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