Update on Barkley (Behavior Issues)

[barkleysjester]

For the past two nights Barkley has allowed me to sleep through the night for the most part, basically this means that instead of waking me up hours before my normal waking time he is starting his usual nonsense about 10-15 mins before the alarm goes off. I dont know if any of these things have anything to do with the slight change in his behavior but on Monday I made a trip to Petsmart. On the advice from a fellow cat owner, I looked into a product called Sticky Paws which are designed to keep cats/pets off certain areas. Mainly with Barkley it's the computer desk in my bedroom which gives him all access to tons of things to knock over during the night. I placed a few of the SPs on the desk itself and it only took one time for Barkley to get up on the desk and get stuck. He hasnt been up there since as far as I know. Also during my trip to Petsmart I spoke to a man who worked with a petfood company called Blue Buffalo who as he stated is attempting to introduce consumers to feeding more holistic (natural) foods to their pets. I wondered awhile back if the food I was giving Barkley was healthy/nourishing and maybe a possible culprit in reference to his rambunctious behavior. On a hunch I purchased a bag of the Blue Buffalo and said I would try it out. So far, Barkley will eat the new product (mixed with a little of his old stuff so as not to completely throw him off) and he loves it. Plus he doesnt eat the whole thing in one sitting as he did with the Purina food. It appears to me that the newer food fills him up to the point of where he isnt whining and begging for food as much as he was on the Purina.

 

[larke]

I would take the pack of new food to your vet and ask him to be sure it's a good idea to use it - it could be full of fat, or high in urine-crystal causing ingredients, etc. Often manufacturer's (even the 'home cooking' kind) will put something in their food to make it popular, whether or not it's good for the animals.

 

[barkleysjester]

Originally Posted by Larke

I would take the pack of new food to your vet and ask him to be sure it's a good idea to use it - it could be full of fat, or high in urine-crystal causing ingredients, etc. Often manufacturer's (even the 'home cooking' kind) will put something in their food to make it popular, whether or not it's good for the animals.

Urine crystal causing ingredients, that doesnt sound good at all. I need to learn more about that. That doesnt sound good. I will inform the vet about it and see what he says. So far my kids are loving it.

Barkley has now taken the approach that he will walk on the sticky paws and deal with getting stuck as long as he is up on the desk, I caught him up on the computer desk quite a few times last evening. Now I dont know what to do about that

Nothing seems to be working for him. A friend of mine loaned me a dog crate and he didnt like the idea of being placed in there for even a minute so he ran and hid somewhere and didnt come out until sometime early this morning. Barkley hates being confined in anything and although I adopted him from the Humane Society I often wonder if he was a house cat originally or an outdoor cat.

 

[pushylady]

It's a shame those sticky paws didn't work out. My cats are like that too. I put double sided tape everywhere and they still climbed where they wanted. So then I had to clean a whole lot of sticky tape with tufts of cat fur.

I haven't heard of that food either. Maybe to a search on the nutrition forum for the ingredients? It sounds promising if it's filling him up so he feels content.

 

[katachtig]

You may want to try this product. It has a motion detector and spurts some air when triggered. We had good luck in keeping the cats off of the counters with it. I tried Sticky Paws a couple of times on a couch and Lucy was quite entertained with pulling them off.

 

[kittenkiya]

Yeah, I used duct tape to tape the telephone line from the box on the opposite wall across the floor to the computer. Tanny-Timmy had the time of her life pulliing up that stuff, rolling it into a ball and playing hockey with the thing.

BarkleysJester, you've got me stumped. Aside from putting your cat in the bathroom and shutting the door (make sure he has litter box,, food, water, toys) and because you say that you are limited in space, you've got me.

Where did the cat hide when you wanted to put him in the crate?

 

[barkleysjester]

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

Yeah, I used duct tape to tape the telephone line from the box on the opposite wall across the floor to the computer. Tanny-Timmy had the time of her life pulliing up that stuff, rolling it into a ball and playing hockey with the thing.

BarkleysJester, you've got me stumped. Aside from putting your cat in the bathroom and shutting the door (make sure he has litter box,, food, water, toys) and because you say that you are limited in space, you've got me.

Where did the cat hide when you wanted to put him in the crate?

He ran under the bed and as soon as I moved the bed to try and coax him out he started wailing that horrible wail when cats get nervous/scared so I gave up and moved the bed back where it was originally and left him alone. That is the best word to describe me with the whole Barkley situation, Im STUMPED and running out of options.

 

[kittenkiya]

Oh boy, I'm going to stick my neck out. (again).

Would you consider putting him in the bathroom with a light on, litter box, food, water and some toys and just shutting the door and letting him howl his head off?

Again, I don't know Barkley's situation, where he came from, what happened to him, but I have the feeling the he has you wrapped around his little finger....oppps paw.

For example, Tammy-Timmy, when she wants in my room, will literally run across the living room and throw herself at the door. She managed to open it all the times that I had the rag in the door. (The latch locks and to keep me from breaking my hands and arms everytime I want in the bedroom, I put a rag in the door to shut it, but not tightly. She figured that out in 30 seconds flat.) So.....I decided to take the rag out. Sure enough, she ran across the living room and bounced up against the door and sat there with a stupid look on her face, like, "Why didn't the door open?" She doesn't throw herself against the door very much anymore. It was a "knock yourself out, honey" deal.

That's why I am suggesting that Barkley be put in "time out". Hopefully that will give him some time to think (yeah, right. Plan his revenge is more like it.) and perhaps have a better disposition when he comes out. There will be nothing there to hurt him, and he will have, as I said, food, water, litter box, toys and a light. Don't leave anything there that he can knock over or play with. No toothpaste, no mouthwash, no deoderant....if you have a cabinet in there, put everything in the cabinet, including the toilet paper.

I'm sure you probably thought of this before, but do you think it might work?

 

[barkleysjester]

When it comes to Barkley I have thought of everything under the sun in order to curb his behavior and give him something to "think" about (as you said yeah right, plan his revenge is more like it). He figured out the sticky paw routine and walks around them now, almost teetering on the edge. The dog crate didnt work. My only concern with putting him in a room and letting him cry his tail off is that I live in an apartment building with thin walls and do not wish to disturb the neighbors anymore than some of his behavior might already at this point (ex. dropping heavy things on the floor, loudly whining at the front door, etc).

I will try this approach and see what comes out of it. I do appreciate all the suggestions that have been offered here, Barkley is just a "different" cat

 

[kittenkiya]

Viva la difference!!!

(please don't kill me....I have kitties to take care of)