Sweet and innocent to pure evil!!!

My kitten Nermal has always been the best cutest kitten and reasonably well behaved. He was on his best behavior when the inlaws came for thanksgiving, he was such an angel! A few days after the inlaws left, my husband and I got "No Stay" spray to keep Nermal off of certain pieces of furniture. I got that one because it mentioned that it was made from natural herbs and it didnt have the warning labels that the other cat repellants had. Anyhow, ever since Nermal caught the scent of that spray (or at least the timing works out this way) he has gone bonkers. He's climbing onto the counters whenever we're not looking, he's pulling the comforter off the bed, he's biting and being as mean as he can be! He's never acted like this before. Its like he's gone mental or something. I'm really worried that he will stay this way and I'll never see my cute sweet kitten again. Please Help!

How old is Nermal? It sounds like normal behavior for a kitten . Maybe hes just now gotten over being shy around his family. If he's not allowed on to certain places he could be getting frustrated. Provide lots of fun things for him to do. Many times they will act out of boredome.

How old is he? Maybe he is into "teenage" behavior.......atage that most kittens go through, well in my experience anyway........good luck and have patience

It's training time. Your Kitty is probably just trying to test the limits of what he can get away with, you have to be firm or else he'sll be walking all over you. For instance if you don't want him on the counter put him imediately on the ground and say no. Don't pet him for that sort of behaviour or he'll think oh, I get pet and put on the ground so I'll do it agin so I get petted. Neither of my Cats jump on the counter anymore, they jump onto a chair and I scratch them but they never get on tables on the counter. I think it's typical teenage behaviour

Luna is that way too (and she's a year old). She'll go from lovy-dovy to hissing and spatting at you. Luna is more a chemical imbalance, i think.

Probably he doesn't like the scent, even though its natural. Plus, he's probably reasserting his dominance over the furniture by finding new things to climb on. Just keep on him and he'll be back to normal.

Maybe the unfamiliar scent is making him feel like there's an invader in his home! That could exacerbate his "nermal" exuberance. :-)

By the way, he's cute as a button -- he looks a little bit like my Clyde!

He's about 5 months old right now. He thinks he's full grown though. I just wish it wasnt such a drastic change. My poor baby has gone bad. I guess I should get used to it... I guess human babies grow up to teenagers who cause trouble too.

Is there any real good way to train a cat not to go certain places? Is there a spray that works at all? I just want him to stay out of the kitchen but theres no doors or anything to block him out of there. And the biting is pretty rough too... he is a strong little guy!

Originally Posted by carolcat

How old is he? Maybe he is into "teenage" behavior.......atage that most kittens go through, well in my experience anyway........good luck and have patience

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Originally Posted by thedragonsmeow

He's about 5 months old right now. He thinks he's full grown though. I just wish it wasnt such a drastic change. My poor baby has gone bad.

I guess I should get used to it... I guess human babies grow up to teenagers who cause trouble too.

Is there any real good way to train a cat not to go certain places? Is there a spray that works at all? I just want him to stay out of the kitchen but theres no doors or anything to block him out of there. And the biting is pretty rough too... he is a strong little guy!

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You can train a cat to stay off of a counter (through a lot of work). But to train a cat to stay out of the kitchen with no door is going to be an unrealistic expectation. Cats are crafty adn will always find a way. At the same time they don't like closed doors either.

Kittens are a handful, like a toddler (getting into everything when your nto looking!). But over time they mellow out.

Edit: As a side thought you can teach up and down with clicker training. If you have some time you want to spend its a great way to bond with a cat. If you go into teh kitchen you can have a chair next to the kitchen and you can teach up (in a place hwere he can see you while you are there) and teach that is where he needs to stay while you are in there. This takes time and effort but cats are very trainable with teh clicker technique. Also cats like heights. They will naturally want to be on counters, shelves, sofas, everything.. The more levels the better. If you take away some of these surfaces they will look for others.

Where would I get more information on clicker training?

lol, there is a way to keep cats off counters ???? Since mine can now easily get up on them, he has decided he needs to watch my every single move in the kitchen while I am cooking and sits on the counter next to the cooker or on the sink. He never goes on them when I am not in there. I haven't even tried to stop him to be honest. He's quite fun to talk to. Maybe I will have the first cat which can cook dinner :-))

Just as a sidenote, he's probably teething, loseing his baby teeth and getting his adult teeth. Rowan's going through the same thing right now, and he's a little terror, biting his sister and I, and jumping stupid places to find other things to bite. I'm told that it will pass.

And he is absolutely adorable. He looks almost exactly like my kid brother's cat, Loki.

I use folded up, clear package tape on the surface.. After a few times of jumping up to only feel yucky tape, they will possibly get the point I also use it on chairs that the kitten tries to scratch!

couple of things....first you state he is a male....once he is neutered, which I suggest strongly for a male (to avoid territory marking) he will calm down, All males become a bit more docile when you take their mojo. All sounds normal for a little cat, but for the sudden biting. This could be teething, playing, or could be a sign of pain. It is hard to tell. I would be more concerned if he was biting as an adult cat. This would show that he may be very tempermental. But as a kitten I wouldnt be too concerned. As far as training him to stay off the counter, good luck, it will be hard. One thing I did to keep my cat out of a certain favorite room corner to pee in, was put a plate with a citrus tooth paste rubbed on it, in that corner. He hated the smell of the citrus, and the problem was solved. Good luck!!!

He could be having an adverse reaction to the spray. If I were you, just to be safe, I would neutralize your home with Feliway Spray. Although you do describe normal kitten behavior, they generally always act that way, until they are neutered or spayed and then they do calm down a bit. But just to be safe, i would get rid of the spray and try the Feliway

Originally Posted by sbw999

....once he is neutered, which I suggest strongly for a male (to avoid territory marking) he will calm down, All males become a bit more docile when you take their mojo.

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He was neutered over a month ago... He didnt really calm down after that except when he was on his pain meds.