Will A Second Cat Help With Behavior Issues?

[kc1223]

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I adopted a sweet little black cat named Avi back in January. He's a bit under 1.5 years at the moment, and for the most part seems like a happy little guy in our 1 bedroom apartment. However, we have been dealing with some behavior issues and aren't quite sure how to resolve it having tried most of the suggestions we've read online. He LOVES to bite us... sometimes it's a gentle nip as he's walking by to let us know he's there, or a warning to let us know he's done being touched, and sometimes it's quite aggressive. Usually the latter occurs after we do something he doesn't like.

As an example, he's constantly jumping up on the kitchen counter to try and eat food out of the sink. If we pick him up and put down away from the counter, his temper often flares and he will snap at us (pupils dilated and all). Another frequent example is when we are trying to leave in the morning. He seems to really hate when we leave, and will (at first playfully) jump at us and bite our thighs to try and get us to give him attention. The longer this goes on, though, the more aggressive he seems to get. He is also in the habit of biting (and sometimes clawing) us while we are in bed through our blankets. This usually occurs in the middle of the night or early in the morning, oftentimes just trying to get our attention and telling us he wants to play. I have plenty more examples if you want them. Some of the time it's clearly out of aggression, others it's either a warning or an attention grabbing bite.

We are both first time cat owners so it's been a learning process. We've tried many routes (ignoring him, giving him a stern "NO", timeouts, positive reinforcement etc.) while avoiding the ones that would make him fearful of us such as use of a spray bottle, but the problem seems to have only gotten worse since we've adopted him. We are worried that we've done something wrong as he didn't once bite us in the shelter and the place we adopted him from claimed he had no history of biting. He also seems less affectionate and cuddly than at first. We are both fairly busy (I am a graduate student and my girlfriend has a full-time job with extra obligations after work), so we are wondering if loneliness plays a part. He is ridiculously rambunctious and explorative and we've given him plenty of toys (he's probably gone through 40 mice already), scratching posts, a cat tree, a window kitty cot, and pretty much everything we think he should need. In addition, we give him quite a bit of attention and play with him multiple times daily. Even with all of this, he seems bored, and we are thinking that his bad behavior partly stems from this boredom.

Anyways, we are wondering if getting a second cat could possibly help? We've read that oftentimes, cats learn boundaries through play with other cats, and that biting can sometimes be resolved if they have a playmate. We also feel guilty leaving him alone for 8 hours a day, especially since he is such a sociable cat. He hates when we leave to the point that he screams at us nonstop at the door when we are on our way out, and excitedly greets us with nuzzles when we come back. At the same time, we feel we can hardly give the cat we do have all of the attention he requires, so getting a second cat seems foolish. Money is tight, but if it would make Avi happy then we are willing to get him a friend.

And just to mention it... we had a very traumatic experience where Avi escaped outside of our apartment and broke his leg a few weeks after we first got him. He's 100% now but I thought I would mention it in case it is somehow related. He is a very, very clingy cat, and will follow us around the apartment nonstop while we are home, to the point that he doesn't let us close any doors without him throwing a fit. We can't even use the bathroom with the door closed without him scratching and tearing up the bottom of the door. It's hard to say since we had only had him for a few weeks, but the clinginess may have developed after breaking his leg.

This post is already getting quite long so I'll stop before it gets out of hand. But let me know if you need any more information! Thanks!

 

[daisyd]

Hi Avi looks so cute btw ! I feel your pain as we have one kitten (9 months now ) and we both work full time . Gracie used to bite us a lot and still does which we thought was agression however now know it's attention . We've bought Everything for Her too and she jumps up at the window to see us leave and is always there at the door when we come home. People will say having 2 kittens/ cats is better so they have attention however I like you worry introducing another cat now will create jealousy and worse behaviour from Her ! Sounds like you are doing everything right . We tend to be very firm and shout no when she bites and walk away and ignore her for a bit. Maybe breaking his leg has made him a little more anxious. Have you had him neutered ? This usually calms them down

 

[susanm9006]

I don't think another cat will help his behavior and might make it worse. Most young cats will play bite, but some haven't learned from mom or littermates what is an unacceptably hard bite. The best way for you to deal with it is when playing with him stop Immediately and walk away from him.

When it comes to bedtime behavior be it biting or jumping, it's going to take persistence and a little loss of sleep. Never, ever, ever play with him or even acknowledge him in bed except to tell him in a loud firm voice when he is getting too wild. My word for the cats has been "enough!". When he doesn't listen, which he won't at first, pick him up and put him on the floor. When he comes back up and starts in again, repeat. After you have had to do this a half dozen or so times in a row, you put him outside your room and shut the door. He will most likely scratch and cry to get him. You wait ten, fifteen minutes, let him back in and start over again. The second or third time you need to shut him out of the room you leave him out for the rest of the night and restart the training the next night. Eventually he will understand that the only way he gets to be in your bed is to sneak onto the bed and remain quiet enough so you don't know he is there. I allow a cat to play quietly with a toy but getting wild or using me as a toy will get them banished from the room in short order.

I would not put up with a kitten or a cat attacking me when they get angry. Stomp your foot, use a horn, clap your hands or even snap your fingers and use a loud voice to startle them into stopping and to let them know that behavior isn't going to be allowed. Some do need to be reminded that you not they run the show. I use the finger snap and after a while you don't need to say anything, just snap which is discrete enough that you can tell the cat to knock it off when they are acting up while you have guests.

 

[Animal Freak]

Truthfully, I wouldn't have just one cat. I know they can do fine by themselves with the proper amount of attention and play, but I feel bad leaving them home alone. However, I'm not sure if that would help the behavior. Perhaps since he'd have another cat to play with and they can communicate with each other easier than humans and cats, but perhaps not. But if money is already tight, I don't think I'd do it. You need to be able to spend the money on helping him rather then getting another cat and that may or may not help who will end up costing you even more money.

I think you've gotten some pretty good advice. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him, but I think it would be all right to startle him sometimes. Of course positive reinforcement is the best thing to use, but if you do something and get something you don't like in return, then you're going to be less likely to do it again. I'm sorry to say I don't have much advice, but I felt like I should point out that it sounds like your cat has very bad separation anxiety. I would focus on that because I think it could help if you could help him get past his anxiety. I don't think he'll stop biting entirely, but at least when you leave he should be calmer. Unfortunately, I don't know what to do for a cat with separation anxiety. I've dealt with it in a dog, but that's it. And with the dog, you're supposed to play with them before you leave and try to leave for short periods of time to let them know you'll be coming back. That might not be possible in your situation since he's actually inflicting pain. You can try Feliway diffusers though they're expensive. You might want to give some cheaper options a try before spending that money. But I think you should start looking into how to relieve separation anxiety. If nothing works, you can talk to a vet about putting him on medication, but that should be a last resort.

If you think he's bored while you're away - or even when you're there - then you can try some automated toys and treat dispensers. You can make you're own treat dispenser by slitting some holes into a plastic bottle big enough for treats to fall out of. With my dog who has separation anxiety, playing with her beforehand and giving her something to do while we were gone helped a ton. I don't think her anxiety is nearly as bad as his though.