My cute blue eyed baby has in 7 days become a monster!

Earlier this week I posted in the "New Cats on the Block" Forum. I found a kitten that the vet guesses is about 4 to 6wks in age. We named him Snowman. I brought him home on Sunday, completely defying my husband by doing so. We live in a studio apartment, for those of you who don't know translate studio into tiny one room functions as the whole living space small. So my husband sees this cute, blue eyed baby and consents to allow him to stay as long as he behaves. "Behave meaning No scratching up the new furniture, no urinating/deficating out sided the damned litter box or the cat goes."

Its now Sat. at 4am my time and my cute blue eyed baby has in 7 days become a monster.

1. Starting around Wed. he has begun to use my love seat as a scratching post. This is dispite the fact that I have invested in two actualy scratching posts and one of the cardboard things with the ball trapped in it, and the vet assuring my that he would infact not scratch anything IF I kept his claws clipped once a week. Well She clipped his claws on Monday and less than four days latter my loveseat, curtains, and dust ruffle have all suffered.

2. At some point this week he went from all cuddly to all claws and fangs. On the advice of the new cat forum I only play with him with toy and not my hands, and I handle him as much as possible being that I am taking up the role of adopted mom. However, as of right now, everytime I attempt to play with him toy in hand, he attacks my hand. He completely ignores the toy. And if at that point I stop playing with him he will attack my feet, or my husbands feet. If we are actually anywhere within eye site of the cat we are being bitten, or scratched, and since we live in what could possibly be the smallest apartment in the world, that means constantly. He whines at me, I talk to him I pick him up and I might as well be attempting to cuddle my knife set, it is uncomfortable and discouraging.

3. But, this morning and the reason I am up at 4am my be the final straw if my husband finds out. Snowman climbed my bed and made LAKE PLACID. You would be amazed that an animal that only weighed 1.03 lbs on Monday (and was slightly dehydrated) could make a puddle of epic proportions, but he did. Now my husbands stipulations for keeping the cat require that He not urinate or deficate ANYWHERE outside that litterbox. Plus one of the only bad pet experiences I've ever had was a male cat that sprayed everywhere. The vets told me he could not be fixed until a specific month, and by that time it was too late, that cat had marked up the whole world and actually sat on me and peed on my chest. Snowman missed the peeing on me mark but since he peed at my feet so that everytime I moved I hit a wet spot until it registered in my sleep muddled brain with that actually was he might as well have actually peed on me.

I am currently at my wits end. In less than 7 days I have an almost uncontrolable kitten. I have done everything the vet recommended, and everything the forum recommened. I have spent over $250 in toys/accessories, and the like to make this cat happy, and less aggressive. If this behavior continues, this rescued cat will have worked its way out of a home. Becuase, Forget my husbands requirements I will NOT have a pet that urinates all over my home.

I have a vets appointment on Monday. I will have him checked out for Urinary Tract issues. But, At this Point if I can not get very real success in curbing some of this behavior and fast my husband will lose patience and I will not argue.

HELP

Oh come one. He is not a monster-it's a little kitten. That's what they do. They scratch things. Even if they have scratching posts, sometimes they have an inkling to scratch furniture or rugs. You could do thing like if you catch him in the act of scratching something you don't want to scratch, bring him to the post and put his little paws on it. Also, there are sprays sold in pet stores that are supposed to keep cats away from furniture, but I am not at all sure they work very well. The kitten doesn't have the toilet thing down yet, but he is very young. My cat has beeing peeing everywhere, he would pee on the bed right in front of me because he had FIC, and perhaps your kitten does have an UTI, but he is so young so it's possible he just hasn't figured out how to use a litter box all the time.
I seriously don't think any of it is your fault, as you rescued the kitten and didn't bring it home on purpose. But it's truly not realistic to expect him to behave as a perfect doll. Cats pee, poop, and do all kind of objectionable things (to humans, that is, cats think those things are perfectly normal). They like to climb, run, play, etc. I know you say you had another cat, but what you describe the kitten does sounds pretty normal to me, and nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it's the situation with the husband who isn't a pet lover that is making it so tense and upsetting to you? Perhaps your vet could help you if you decide to find him a new home?

There's bound to be problems when one spouse makes major decisions such as introducing a new pet into tight living quarters without the consent or agreement of the other, but I'll leave all of those issues to your marriage counselor...

Just in general terms, rescuing a homeless cat can be a tremendous challenge that requires patience and a willingness to meet additional challenges that other cat owners will never face.

Regardless, the situation is far from hopeless so here are my five best suggestions:

1. Re-adjust your expectations. Bringing a cat into your home will undoubtedly increase the amount of entropy in your life. You can expect fur on your couch and don't be surprised to come into the bathroom to find the cat standing at the sink with his backside three inches away from your toothbrush. No matter how good the cat litter might be, or how creative one can be about disguising smells, every now and then you will get a whiff of something unpleasant from the litterbox. This is the reality of having a cat in your home. If such things as stepping on the occasional hairball when getting out of bed or having to use a lint-removal device on your clothes before going off to work are completely unacceptable -- then perhaps you shouldn't be a cat owner.

2. Stop emphasizing your needs so much right now. I can almost sense how much tension must exist in your home. Give the little guy a break. Let him relax and get comfortably established in this new routine. This boy might've never interacted with a human before -- or worse, maybe his previous encounters have all been very unpleasant.

3. Create a small "sanctuary" in the corner of the apartment where he can have 10 square feet to himself. Put some "walls" up where he can feel safe and have reasonable privacy. (I built them out of boxes and pushing together old filing cabinets.) Leave his food, water, litterbox and other amenities in there. (Yes, most people advise to separate food/water very far from litterbox but in my opinion that's not always the best idea in certain cases.) Allow him 22 hours a day to himself.

4. Review if his needs are being met. You might need to feed him some KMR or consider buying him a Snugglepet to overcome separation from his mother/littermates. A lot of stuff naturally happens when a mother cat raises her kittens, but this boy won't have that exposure and you might have to do some stuff yourself. I'm not an expert with kittens so hopefully other people will have details -- but the goal is that this boy keeps up with normal age development without the benefit of being around other cats.

5. Learn the signs. Get very good at reading a cat's body language, particularly understanding their sounds and watching their tail. Such as:
http://home.att.net/~kittycatfurballssounds/cats.html
http://198.60.22.4/~emailbox/tailtalk.htm
Lots of attacks and bites happen because people are oblivious to all of the "back off!" signals the cat has been sending.

This cat has been on the streets separated from him mother, taken inside to a vet for various unpleasant/unfamiliar procedures and now lives in closed quarters with strange humans -- who want immediate love and obedience from him. It can all work out over time but a significant amount of patience will be needed.

Zanyzounds..I am fostering a mom and her 2 kittens and I had them in my bathroom. They are definately all claws and mouths. They run around like there is no tomorrow chasing each other and climbing anything in sight. Just like you....I was at my wits end because they were using my tub as a litterbox and they were climbing behind my toilet. One thing that did help tremendously was getting them one of those stratching posts that has multiple layers....a place to relax at the bottom and a seat on the top. They really enjoyed playing on that. I also started crating them in a large dog wire crate when I'm not home. They still climb it like it's a jungle gym but I haven't had a single litterbox issue since the litterbox is right there in the cage. I definately think a crate would help. You can give this kitten time outside the crate when you are home and can monitor the kitten. Make sure you also provide toys like mice, balls etc. for the kitten to play with. Good Luck

Katie

Hello impatient one

Welcome to Kitty Komikazee Kamp. Your kitty is not misbehaving, he is being a kitty. Let me guess, you have him an adult sized litter pan? Probably only one? How is he going to get over the sides of this thing with a full bladder - and a "oh my god, I gotta go" look in his eyes? Much easier for him to let loose wherever he happens to be, and dog beds, and people beds are a prime choice for little kitties. He is a little young for a UTI but I suppose you can get him examined.

I have 6 babies right now, 5 just turned 5 weeks old, and the other is about 2 months old. They go potty in cake pans. I buy the disposable foil ones at the grocery store, they are very inexpensive and put regular clay litter in it- little kitties and clumping litter is a definite no no- and they use these pans after they eat. They are motherless, so I am it- and they have a small chair in the room, they can scratch. Cats/kittens prefer chairs and sofas over cat scratching posts for one reason- furniture rarely moves! Some of these scratching posts are quite flimsy, and cats are fickle, if they can scoot it across the floor, or if it wobbles, they will stay away from it.

You want your kitten to behave as if he is a full-grown adult cat. By all rights, this kitten should still be with mom learning how to be a full-grown adult cat. You need to cut this kitten some slack and give him some growing room. Allow for mistakes- if not, then find this kitten a loving home, and go to the shelter and look for an adult cat that is already declawed and bring that cat home.

It's wonderful that you decided to take a kitten home but I believe you have great expectations of this little guy and your vet may have misrepresented how hard it actually is to raise a 4-6week old kitten.

I can't evev imagine how tough it is to raise a kitten this small, they should not leave their mother or littermates until they are 3-4 month old. Follow advice of everyone here (it's great, btw) and give it time. good luck

I agree totally with the advice to confine him to something - a bathroom is ideal, or some kind of large crate or cage built with something that he can't get out of. Get him used to using the litter pan in there (and as said, no clumping litter - kittens hate it and it smells more htan the other kind), and then gradually increase his space by opening the door to the bathroom or cage but so he can always find his way back to 'his' space. He sounds really sweet - I hope you get over the initial problems. And don't forget to use a good enzyme cleaner on the places/bedding he has soiled as he will always go back there if he can smell pee. Normal washing, even boiling, is not enough.

Hi, Well once I got some sleep and calmed down a bit I realized that I might have over reacted. I called by best friend and the following were her suggestions.

1) for the bitting: Some kitten biting is normal and to be expected. However when he gets to rough pick him up in put him I kitty time out. No he wont stay there but it will definatly signal play time is over. So I put a towel in a small open mouthed box and that "time out".

2)for the scratching: She said spray the places I want him to stop scratching with Orange oil essence.

But for the Urinating she had not suggestion, and its 525 my time and I'm up again because the cat has peed on the bed again. Only this time he peed on my husband, who took it much better than I thought he would. He actually had something constructive to add. He said that the cat is climbing the bed in the middle of the night to be near us. But, he's not sure Snowman can get down. So, if he can't get down then he can't reach the litter box. Where he goes all the rest of the time.

He did say that I need to find a way to fix it and fast. But, he didn't go through with his orignal threat either...

Originally Posted by jennyranson

And don't forget to use a good enzyme cleaner on the places/bedding he has soiled as he will always go back there if he can smell pee. Normal washing, even boiling, is not enough.

Click to expand...

What kind of Enzyme Cleaner is best?

Try Nature's Miracle. I think you can get that in Texas. I bring it back from the States whenever I come over the pond. I am sure other US dwelers will have some other ideas/brands

Originally Posted by Zanyzounds

He said that the cat is climbing the bed in the middle of the night to be near us. But, he's not sure Snowman can get down. So, if he can't get down then he can't reach the litter box. Where he goes all the rest of the time.

Click to expand...

Here's what we did to keep our kittens from clawing the bedclothes to get on the bed with us. I took a board (I'm guessing a 1 x 8 about four feet long) and wrapped it in an old blanket, then set it up as a ramp onto the bed. If you do that, your little guy should be able to get up and down easily.

Oh, one more thing: if your blue-eyed cat is completely white (no smudges), it's quite likely that he could be deaf. I'm not sure what would be involved in raising a deaf cat, but obviously if he's deaf he won't be able to hear you tell him no, call his name, etc. Of course, you'll want to check with a vet if you suspect your little guy can't hear you.

I'm sure you'll get all this stuff figured out, as it falls within the range of normal kitten behavior; a lot of it he'll grow out of with a little help. Cats can be wonderful companions (and kittens are so much fun) as long as you know what to expect.

I have always confined young kittens to a small area during times I am unable to supervise. Usually a large wire dog crate so that they don't feel isolated.
Mainly because it takes some time before they can reliably use a literbox 24/7.
Just like housetraining a child, the strength in those muscles needs to be built up, and they need to get used to knowing when they should go.

You have been given some good advice so far. I would like to add to it. You know the song, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"? Well when it comes to cats, it is boys just want to have fun.
My girl Festus will play with a toy on the end of a string. My boy Garfield is more likely to attack my hand. And yes, hands and feet are interchangeable, so if the hand leaves, he goes for the foot.
Gar is over a year old now, and still has his moments of excessive activity. It is like he is a crazy person sometimes. Often I can pet him and play with him. But like this morning, he burrowed under the clean sheets in the laundry basket for fun, knocking them onto the floor. Then he was diving under the sheet, attacking ghosts. So I poked at him from outside the sheet. Rather than playing along, he came out and wanted to fight with my hand, including his claws and teeth! He was not "hurting" me, but it still hurts some! The end of his tail was twitching in that "I'm a fierce tiger hunting" signal, and I quit! End of game! I cannot play with him when he gets like that!
So be prepared for your young boy to be somewhat of a crazy man at times for the next 1-1/2 to 2 years. But as a boy, he will also be more loving and affectionate towards you.
And I recommend asking the vet how soon he can be neutered. Gar was neutered very young, and has never sprayed on anything in his life!
Good luck with this little white boy.

Unless your baby is Siamese, he could well BE deaf with those blue eyes. Have a vet check that. And I agree your expectations are too high.

My 7 month old Siamese kitten - who is fastidious and a diva, when she was about 3 months peed the bed with me in it. It was certainly NOT her fault, it was all mine. She had meowed and I thought she was playing and I misread the signs. I got up, put all the bed clothes in the washer and then comforted my poor baby for her meomy's complete lacl of communication. Punishment makes no sense with kittens - they only learn to fear you! After that, if she got caught under the bed clothes and was meowing, you may be sure I acted very quickly.

She has managed to break a few things - a teapot that was an heirloom but again that was my stpidity - I left it out. There is a reason they call it kitten proofing. Uriniating inapproriately usually means the kitten or cat is trying to tell you soemthing. Your expectations are WAY too high and it is not about you but about him. When you adopt a creature - human, feline - whatever - you need to think about their needs, especially when they aer babies. It is like having a toddler.

This does not mean you allow her to tear up your house. Get her used to her scratching post. Mine loved my computer chair but has learned to love her posts - located in strategic locations.

I bet he also senses the fact your husband is not thrilled with him - cats know these things! They are very sensitive.

Your kitten and you need time!! And some alternate behaviours and lower expectations.

www.urine-off.com best product on the market to breakdown urine.

In terms of a white cat, if he's not siamese, he could be deaf. My marsh is not siamese, but he's an all-white (no black or even gray spots anywhere) has yellow eyes -- not deaf. You really have to be careful about it... has your vet checked the cat for deafness? There are a few simple tests you can do.

good luck!