Two months ago, I adopted an adolescent cat, who is now eight months old. And kind of driving me a little nuts.
He wants attention *constantly* -- follows me everywhere winding around my feet, constantly trying to jump on my lap whenever I'm sitting (I've started locking him in the bathroom when I need to actually get work done on anything), and meows his head off if there's a closed door between us.
It's not just me he's like this with -- if I have a guest over he's never met before he's all over them, when we go to the vet he's all over her... he just wants attention sooooo bad it seems like all the other "normal" rules of cat behavior (like being scared/shy with strangers) don't apply.
In some ways it's sweet and endearing, but his constant demands for attention can get annoying after a while... and a cat that sociable can't be happy spending time alone while I'm at work. As a short-term solution, I've taken in a foster cat. I'll be making the intro in a few days once the foster has had time to acclimate, and hopefully having another kitty around will help him to be a little less desperate for attention...
But in the long term... there are going to be times in the future when it is not possible for me to have two cats. And I kind of feel like I owe it to him to start evaluating now (while he's still young and easier to rehome) whether or not he'll be able to handle the kind of life I live (alone, work long hours, and probably won't always be able to have two cats) or whether I need to find him someplace where he can have more people and/or cats around to spend time with.
So... is this kind of frantic-for-attention-can't-stand-to-be-alone behavior possibly a normal phase of his development that he might outgrow, or is this likely to be a permanent personality trait? Can he learn to be more independent, or should I be looking into finding him a home where he won't have to be?
He wants attention *constantly* -- follows me everywhere winding around my feet, constantly trying to jump on my lap whenever I'm sitting (I've started locking him in the bathroom when I need to actually get work done on anything), and meows his head off if there's a closed door between us.
It's not just me he's like this with -- if I have a guest over he's never met before he's all over them, when we go to the vet he's all over her... he just wants attention sooooo bad it seems like all the other "normal" rules of cat behavior (like being scared/shy with strangers) don't apply.
In some ways it's sweet and endearing, but his constant demands for attention can get annoying after a while... and a cat that sociable can't be happy spending time alone while I'm at work. As a short-term solution, I've taken in a foster cat. I'll be making the intro in a few days once the foster has had time to acclimate, and hopefully having another kitty around will help him to be a little less desperate for attention...
But in the long term... there are going to be times in the future when it is not possible for me to have two cats. And I kind of feel like I owe it to him to start evaluating now (while he's still young and easier to rehome) whether or not he'll be able to handle the kind of life I live (alone, work long hours, and probably won't always be able to have two cats) or whether I need to find him someplace where he can have more people and/or cats around to spend time with.
So... is this kind of frantic-for-attention-can't-stand-to-be-alone behavior possibly a normal phase of his development that he might outgrow, or is this likely to be a permanent personality trait? Can he learn to be more independent, or should I be looking into finding him a home where he won't have to be?