Stop Jumping On My Shoulder! Stop Sleeping On My Shoulder! Stay Off My Desk!

[nunnc84]

So, I rescued a kitten. Ear mites, worms, fleas, "ecleasies" (phonix works for me) virus is what I'm dealing with.
This cat eats and eats and throws up in the litter box. And the cycle continues.
This cat jumps on my shoulder. Now to the point, I feel like my rotator cuff is going out. He sleeps on my neck and shoulder area. I put him off, again and again. Until, I'm wore out from fighting him about it; and I go to sleep.
I wake up with shoulder pain!
When I sit at my desk, I started to spray him with a water bottle when he lands on my shoulder. That seems to work. In bed, that's where he goes, straight to my pillow.
My other cat (6 year old female) has started to sleep on the bed also. She swats at him when he gets too close. Then he sits on me while we are all on the bed. What can I do to get him to be strong for himself? Grant it he is only 4 pounds and 3 months old. He cannot continue this as a big cat.
I don't mind that he jumps on my lap. Then he jumps on my desk, knocks things over.
Behaviors I want to stop:
Jumping on my shoulder
Sleeping on my shoulder
Unhealthy eating habits
Hunting for people food on counters, etc..
Jumping on my desk
The water bottle is what I've turned too.
How I feed them now, is the kitten in the bathroom; because I have to give him antibiotics and clean his ears. Then I find the other cat, and put her food in a bowl in front of her.

 

[MeganLLB]

Wow flashback to Luna the first few weeks as a kitten. She had worms really bad. I had to give her medicine everyday. I was cleaning up diarrhea everywhere. She would jump on my shoulder ALL the time. She was always after my food. I got really frustrated with her to the point where I regretted getting a kitten- the biggest annoyances being the constant jumping on me and going after my food.

With the food issue I just had to lock her in another room while I cooked or ate a meal and then I could let her out later. I would feed her at the same time I ate and locked her in another room so she at least was eating while waiting for me to cook and eat.

The jumping on my shoulder I never found a solution to. I would knock her off of me constantly, yell at her, squirt her, make noise. Eventually she got older and just stopped doing that. Like after several months she stopped jumping on me and started calming down a bit.

She was also jumping onto my electric stove which needless to say is dangerous. I put a cat tower in my kitchen which gave her an alternate place to jump and climb to get high and she stopped jumping on the stove. Can you put a cat bed or tower or window perch by your desk to make a more desirable place to go besides the desk?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Feed the kitten as much as he will consume. He needs all the food he can get to fuel the development of all of his systems.
Instead of water try a firm no, and a HISS. The only other thing is to lock him out of the bedroom although I'm sure that will result in crying for a while.

 

[ArchyCat]

Please don't squirt or spray your cat. It does not work. Cats don't associate punishment as a result of bad behavior. At worst, she will come to fear you.

Like fur mom says, hiss at him. It is exactly what another would do.

 

[nunnc84]

Please don't squirt or spray your cat. It does not work. Cats don't associate punishment as a result of bad behavior. At worst, she will come to fear you.

Like fur mom says, hiss at him. It is exactly what another would do.

I just hissed at him. That worked.

 

[Furballsmom]

Awesome!!

 

[nunnc84]

Hi! Feed the kitten as much as he will consume. He needs all the food he can get to fuel the development of all of his systems.
Instead of water try a firm no, and a HISS. The only other thing is to lock him out of the bedroom although I'm sure that will result in crying for a while.

You don't understand. He'll eat until he is about to burst, run around, then throw up everything in the litter box. How is letting him do that helpful?

 

[nunnc84]

Hi! Feed the kitten as much as he will consume. He needs all the food he can get to fuel the development of all of his systems.
Instead of water try a firm no, and a HISS. The only other thing is to lock him out of the bedroom although I'm sure that will result in crying for a while.

I tried that, when I lock him up; the other cat doesn't have access to water or litter box. He cried for a long time too.

 

[nunnc84]

Wow flashback to Luna the first few weeks as a kitten. She had worms really bad. I had to give her medicine everyday. I was cleaning up diarrhea everywhere. She would jump on my shoulder ALL the time. She was always after my food. I got really frustrated with her to the point where I regretted getting a kitten- the biggest annoyances being the constant jumping on me and going after my food.

With the food issue I just had to lock her in another room while I cooked or ate a meal and then I could let her out later. I would feed her at the same time I ate and locked her in another room so she at least was eating while waiting for me to cook and eat.

The jumping on my shoulder I never found a solution to. I would knock her off of me constantly, yell at her, squirt her, make noise. Eventually she got older and just stopped doing that. Like after several months she stopped jumping on me and started calming down a bit.

She was also jumping onto my electric stove which needless to say is dangerous. I put a cat tower in my kitchen which gave her an alternate place to jump and climb to get high and she stopped jumping on the stove. Can you put a cat bed or tower or window perch by your desk to make a more desirable place to go besides the desk?

I feel like I'm not able to give him all the attention he needs sometimes. I can't play with him ALL day. He doesn't know what to not scratch. He gets into my jewelry drawer for play things. I feel like his kitten "hood" is being robbed by coming to live with two old women. I don't regret taking him out of the horrid place and providing medical care for him. The Vet was a little peeved that I didn't come to him to get a second cat. He has so many. The 6 year old female tolerates him. There is a lot of hissing and swatting.
She hasn't ended her incessant calling at night. Is she looking for a lover? He chases her around. She hisses him away.
Am I the worst kitten mother?

 

[Azazel]

These are all normal behaviors for a kitten, it’s great that you’re doing your best to take care of him because it does sound like he also has some medical issues, but it might also help to be a little more understanding that he’s a kitten and that he’s going to be rambunctious and need a lot of attention. As others said, please don’t spray with water. It will only create fear (which usually results in acting out behaviours from cats) and tarnish your relationship with him.

Kittens should be fed a lot, but maybe you want to give him smaller portions more frequently rather than large portions less frequently. If the puking continues you might also talk to a vet about it.

 

[nunnc84]

Yeah. It's been over 20 years since i had a kitten. I'm still trying to kitten proof. Electrical cords are a thing for him. He is rambunctious . Do you recommend any toys that may be helpful?

 

[nunnc84]

These are all normal behaviors for a kitten, it’s great that you’re doing your best to take care of him because it does sound like he also has some medical issues, but it might also help to be a little more understanding that he’s a kitten and that he’s going to be rambunctious and need a lot of attention. As others said, please don’t spray with water. It will only create fear (which usually results in acting out behaviours from cats) and tarnish your relationship with him.

Kittens should be fed a lot, but maybe you want to give him smaller portions more frequently rather than large portions less frequently. If the puking continues you might also talk to a vet about it.

I'll try this.

 

[nunnc84]

Yeah. It's been over 20 years since i had a kitten. I'm still trying to kitten proof. Electrical cords are a thing for him. He is rambunctious . Do you recommend any toys that may be helpful?

He has taken everything on the floor and turned it into a toy. A screw driver, a marker, office supplies from the desk..etc..
He hasn't opened cabinets yet.
Mostly he has stationary mice, a cat/feather wand, scratching post, cat tree, activity window (wind chimes, bird feeder, planter), scratching beds, shoes to climb through, and a ball of yarn.

Does he need anything else?

 

[catlover73]

Perhaps something like this would be helpful to keep your kitten occupied. I have something similar that is larger and one level. My cats continue to play with it as adults now.


Two of my adult cats were shoulder cats when they were kittens. They used to jump and sleep on shoulders like you describe. My kittens outgrew jumping on shoulders on their own.

How old is your kitten

 

[Jcatbird]

All of this is stressful but solvable. Kitten will calm down, both with age and if you get rid of the worms. I find that my cats want to go to my shoulder if a flea bites too. Fleas are invasive more than ever this year. Check for that. I found one thing I could pray on my shoulder that they don’t like. Orange spray, oil , extraccy or just plains rub an orange peel on my shoulder. I didn’t put it everywhere because I didn’t want the cat to totally avoid my, just the shoulder. It worked. Kitty would jump up at first but left immediately. Don’t spray the cat with anything. It won’t help. Hissing is great!

 

[nunnc84]

All of this is stressful but solvable. Kitten will calm down, both with age and if you get rid of the worms. I find that my cats want to go to my shoulder if a flea bites too. Fleas are invasive more than ever this year. Check for that. I found one thing I could pray on my shoulder that they don’t like. Orange spray, oil , extraccy or just plains rub an orange peel on my shoulder. I didn’t put it everywhere because I didn’t want the cat to totally avoid my, just the shoulder. It worked. Kitty would jump up at first but left immediately. Don’t spray the cat with anything. It won’t help. Hissing is great!

How about I sleep with a cucumber on top of my shoulder??
LOL!!!!

 

[nunnc84]

3 months. He does gulp his food though, he takes the older cat's food.
So I have to find a way to accommodate a fat cat, and a kitten who needs small frequent meals.
I've thought of a slow feeder, a food tree..
I have a ball he is not interested in:
Wanfei Automatic Self Rotating Ball Light Toy Electronic Auto Motion LED Ball Pet Toy Interactive Cat Toys

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

You don't understand. He'll eat until he is about to burst, run around, then throw up everything in the litter box. How is letting him do that helpful?

He may be throwing up from one of those health related issues you spoke of, ask your vet and see what he says.
Our cat was a half starved and frozen feral kitten, and she would eat too much at once. She was scared she would not have food the next day and gourge herself. Since this issue was with her canned food, I would split it up. She was small and needed three feedings a day. Then I would split each meal into thirds, and every five minutes or so give her another serving. That way, she had to slow down and it took fifteen minutes or so to eat each meal. I kept (and still do keep) dry food out all the time.
Hope you can figure out what’s best!

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Also, is your female spayed? You will want to be sure he is neutered as soon as possible, it will help calm him, avoid spraying urine and all the issues that come with intact males.

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Try these toys!
I can hear her playing right now, she would jump all over me at night before I bought these:

Cat Dancer Deluxe Cat Toy

SnugglyCat Ripple Rug Cat Activity Play Mat

Put some mice toys in the holes and try these too!
Ethical Pet Wide Durable Heavy Gauge Plastic Colorful Springs Cat Toy

Use this when you play with him, buy a child’s fishing pole and tie any cat toy to end (just be sure it’s heavy enough to cast). This will make him need a nap!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Shakespeare-Disney-Princess-Fishing-Kit/10298913

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