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My 9 month old Tuxedo Bootsy is one nutty little fellow. For the most part he's ok and our routine is pretty well...routine. As soon as daylight hits he's like a bat out of hell and waking me up in the process w/ his bird like calls wanting to go outside. If he doesn't get his way he gets REALLY annoyed and somewhere in that tiny little brain of his, he takes a snort of methnip that's what I call it anyways (meth and catnip combined). LOL This will endure for a good 20 mins and he'll pike down eat and take his morning nap from 6-10 am. By noon he's on his little trip again and if it's not too hot I'll let out the little hell spawn in the covered patio for an hr. The entire time he's out there he's just chilling out and much ado about nothing. Once I bring him in he grabs a bite to eat, uses the litter box poop and shoot like they all do and then he goes bonkers again but this time it seems as though he's just excited that he got to go outside and doesn't know how to control his emotions or something. He'll take another nap around 2-5/6 and then I let him out for the evening on the patio. 10 or so I'll let him out in the yard so he can run and act all bonkers but yet again he's all chilled out w/ the occassional chase of the night frogs and bugs that fly which he LOVES to death. He'll get a 1/2 hr of this and then it's time to call it a night. He'll eat, liter box, Chase Pepa around the house and then the METHNIP trip happens again and this is a full hr. Only way to calm his butt down is to put a harness on him which he hates and gets the message but the boy acts like he has amnesia because the next day we're doing this ALL over again. Love the little guy as he kills anything that moves and he's very well behaved aside from the occassional walk on the glass stove...but he doesn't touch the leather couches or anything for that matter.
I'm figuring it's just his personality and being so young but good grief he's beginning to wear my wife out. The house is generally quiet w/ a TV or radio on during the day. I play w/ him as he likes to be chased or play hide and seek in hopes of wearing him out but he's like the energizer when he gets on that stuff.
Who elses little kitty does this? Thinking of trying some of that stuff in the bottle to calm him down but I don't want to kill his personality altogether just tone him down a tad. He even looks at me like he's just had one flown over the cuckoo's nest. LOL
I've only had 3 1/2 mos but I wish I would've had as a baby to build that bond more but he's only gotten bonkers in the last two months. Any ideas? Thanks!
Does he have lots of toys to play with - the kind that will keep him active and occupied such as ping pong balls or laser lights? The latter are great cause you can use those whilst never moving yourself.
Does he have lots of toys to play with - the kind that will keep him active and occupied such as ping pong balls or laser lights? The latter are great cause you can use those whilst never moving yourself.
When JJ was a kitten, he was a terror much like described. I've never had a cat so active, so daring, so INFURIATING in my life. We finally took him to the University of Pennsylvania for a behavioral consult- I honestly thought something was wrong with this cat.
They basically told us that JJ was very smart, and he needed much more stimulation. We were playing ball with him throughout the day, but it just wasn't enough. As chilaili suggests, they told us to get active toys to keep the little bugger moving.
* Try a panic mouse- it's a motorized wand with a toy at the end of that spins at different speeds
* Laser laser lights are great!
* Engage his mind- teach him simple tricks. Try clicker training- cats like this tend to learn very fast
* Hide bits of food in different places so he has to hunt for them
* Get a treat ball that he has to push around to get food from
* Try a kitty DVD with images of birds and things for him to watch
We did combinations of all of the above, and JJ became much more stable. He's five now, and I sometimes wish he was still as active as he was as a kitten (though he's plenty active enough), so enjoy this stage while you can!
He's has plenty of toys from mIce, to rope strings, paper balls, tape balls, laser light and he does have a playmate who is 14 (Pepa) but she's a retired cat at that age. I'd love to get his brother as we picked him up from a foster home but we just can't swing it...2 is enough. She tolerates him and that's as good as it's going to get. He wants to play w/ her so bad and when she doesn't go along with the program he just wines so terrribly...it's almost funny but it isn't because I feel for him.
As for the laser light, he digs it but he gets bored if he sees it too much. During the day I let him hunt dragon flies in the back yard but he'll tire of that too. It's like he's hyper vigilant and hyper hyper on any and everything. So getting his attention is rather hard as he's like scatter brains. He is a quick study and very intelligent. He clearly understands english commands but he'll only do them if he fells like it. Food is not his motivation other than tarter treats, he's got a thing for those for what ever reason.
DVD nope, I've already tried the animal planet, he'd rather have the real thing and be outside. As for enjoying him in his crazy stage, something tells me he'll be like this his whole life. He thinks EVERYTHING is a game. LOL Thanks for the suggestions!
He's not psychotic and he is not "hell spawn", he is a normal nine month old kitten.
Play interactive games with him several times a day. Yes I know you said he gets bored of things, so come up with something else next time around. Rotate toys and change up the interactive Games.
Get him a card board box for a Box Fort. Give him a Paper Bag Fort (cut any handles). Play Catch The Bump Under The Rug or Newspaper. (using the stick part of a wand or string on a stick toy) Make the newspaper into tents. One of my cats loves Newspaper Tents, because they are Portable Tents. he can go all over the apartment under his tent.
Play baseball with him by tossing crumpled paper balls for him to leap after and catch or bat.
Does he have a cat tree?
Since you got him from a rescue, I'm assuming he is already neutered.
Time will take care of the kitten behaviors, but the more attention you give to him the nicer adult cat he will be.
When he is sitting still it's either on the tanning bed or the 5th floor of the cat condo. I mix it up as best I can w/ all the things mentioned but he doesn't care for a card board box but haven't tried the newspaper. I'll give it a shot.
My ~3 year-old tuxedo cat is a little terror too! So maybe it's just a tuxedo thing, LOL. All of the above suggestions are great, but I hate to agree with you in saying "he might be like this forever" - as my cat hasn't calmed down, in fact she's gotten even MORE hyper over the last 2 years. I do let mine go outside an hour or two at night, since it's pretty safe around here, and she was a feral/street cat before I rescued her. She usually spends the time climbing trees around our complex, and always comes running back when I whistle for her. But if that's not an option, I guess you'll have to keep trying your best to wear him out. Cat trees/condos are great too, and I've even seen people build full-on jungle gyms around the house. And maybe when the older cat passes on, you can get a young playmate to keep him busy (as I'll probably do when my 14 year-old passes). Good luck!
P.S. Those kitty videos are better than Animal Planet, since they cater specifically to the cats (versus humans)... I used to have one called "Video Catnip," and my old cat Gizmo absolutely loved it! They had birds fluttering around, squirrels, mice, and all sorts of other interesting stuff for her to watch. She'd stare at it quite intently, and go behind the TV every few minutes to see if the animals were hiding back there - LMAO.
My ~3 year-old tuxedo cat is a little terror too! So maybe it's just a tuxedo thing, LOL. All of the above suggestions are great, but I hate to agree with you in saying "he might be like this forever" - as my cat hasn't calmed down, in fact she's gotten even MORE hyper over the last 2 years. I do let mine go outside an hour or two at night, since it's pretty safe around here, and she was a feral/street cat before I rescued her. She usually spends the time climbing trees around our complex, and always comes running back when I whistle for her. But if that's not an option, I guess you'll have to keep trying your best to wear him out. Cat trees/condos are great too, and I've even seen people build full-on jungle gyms around the house. And maybe when the older cat passes on, you can get a young playmate to keep him busy (as I'll probably do when my 14 year-old passes). Good luck!
P.S. Those kitty videos are better than Animal Planet, since they cater specifically to the cats (versus humans)... I used to have one called "Video Catnip," and my old cat Gizmo absolutely loved it! They had birds fluttering around, squirrels, mice, and all sorts of other interesting stuff for her to watch. She'd stare at it quite intently, and go behind the TV every few minutes to see if the animals were hiding back there - LMAO.
Oh boy. LOL! I'd love nothing more than to let him loose but rabies is an epidemic in this part of FL and can't risk it. Not to mention all the wild foxes, coons, possums, gators and whatever else is out there for him to encounter. When Pepa passes, I'll definitely try to get his brother Ziggy if they stil have him.
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He is a quick study and very intelligent. He clearly understands english commands but he'll only do them if he fells like it. Food is not his motivation other than tarter treats, he's got a thing for those for what ever reason.
