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I adopted a new cat from the local animal shelter 1 week ago, and we're having a rough start. I'm seriously considering bringing her back to the shelter, which I can do in the first 30 days. I really would like to be her forever home, but at this point neither of us are happy. She bites and scratches all the time. She seems to be doing it playfully, and usually doesn't break the skin, but sometimes does, and it hurts and I don't want to play like that. She tries to climb me with her claws. She claws and bites every time I pet her. She walks up to me out of the blue and bites me. She wakes me up at 3 in the morning wanting to play, which to her is clawing my hands. I shout "No" and shove her off the bed, and she thinks it's part of the game and pounces on me and bites and claws my hands more. I hide my hands under the blanket and try to ignore her and she scratches up my comforter. I put her outside my bedroom and she yowls and claws my door. I am in an apartment and would like my deposit back. She scratches my furniture sometimes too. She meows for food a lot, even though I'm feeding her more than I should according to weight. She likes to pretend to be the prince of Persia and run around jumping from furniture to furniture which I understand is pretty normal for cats, but is not helping her case when she's constantly knocking poo poo down. I bought her a cat tree scratcher thing with dangly fun things in both the bedroom and the living room, and bought her one of those turbo scratcher things with the ball in the track. I've tried to play around with her using a stuffed animal toy, but she reaches around the toy and gets my hands instead. I've dangled a string for her to play with, which she likes but is way more aggressive with it than my cat I had growing up was. At this point I'm frightened of touching her and resentful. I thought it would get better but it seems to be getting worse. Also, I'm loving sleepy. Plz halp.
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Apr 1, 2015 15:27
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 05:47 |
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Sounds like you have a kitten. Kittens are like that until about age 2. Have you tried a laser?
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Apr 1, 2015 16:27
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Mushinronsha posted:I'm seriously considering bringing her back to the shelter, which I can do in the first 30 days. I really would like to be her forever home, but at this point neither of us are happy. Want to trade cats? For 2 years I've had a rescue cat who won't come within 2 feet of me, hates being touched, but is otherwise a calm cat who does nothing but hide or lie around all day. EDIT: OK, I do have some advice. Get kitty used to having her claws clipped. Play with dangly toys on a stick to get some of her energy out and protect your hands. Buy some motion toys like the TurboScratcher. Get another kitty so she'll chew on it instead of you (worked for me). Do not buy valuable furniture or throw rugs anymore. Come to terms with your lost deposit. Ema Nymton fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Apr 1, 2015 |
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Apr 1, 2015 16:34
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When I adopted Nico at 5.5 years old, he had similar behaviors. Well, after he came out from hiding under my bed for 2 days. His nails are WAY bigger than my previous cat's nails too. He'd bite my feet when I'd walk by him, try to climb up my pant legs when I was doing dishes, wake me up countless times in the middle of the night either by pouncing me, scratching me, or biting my head. 90% of these behaviors stopped after a few months. I think a lot of it had to do with me playing with him more (toys on sticks are your friend so you don't have to get too close to their weapons) and him overall calming down to his new home. Now, the most he does is chew on my or my boyfriend's hair and scratch us when we mess with him on purpose. He also lets me do this frequently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Lmt347gws without a care in the world. Before, he would have bit my face right off my face. Please don't give up. As others have said, kittens will be kittens, cats will be cats. There's a good possibility these behaviors will mellow with time like mine did or, if kitten, in another 5 years. :P
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Apr 1, 2015 18:15
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The shelter told me she was 2 years old and used to playing nicely with kids. Hopefully she mellows out soon. Would those kitty pheromone things help? Would the petco grooming center glue those plastic caps on her nails? Edit: Oh, and the shelter says she hates other cats so I can't get her a buddy Mushinronsha fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Apr 1, 2015 |
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Apr 1, 2015 20:02
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Was she recently fixed? Takes time for hormones to die down. My newest cat was a bit of a terror for the first few weeks. He was not well socialized before that, but what really happened was he had to be in a single room for 3 weeks due to illness and had to be in isolation from the other cat. He had WAY too much energy from being cooped up. The introduction went rough but then we had a break through and it was 90% better over night. I realized it was just the energy, not that he was truly aggressive. As soon as I got him out of that room for 24 continuous hours and he had regular stimulation he calmed down. I find the Go Cat Mouse Catcher toy is truly great for burning off energy. You can get them to jump up and down on various things and run in circles. have a variety of self play toys too - I have one that loves crinkle balls where the other one loves pipe cleaners. Some cat nip can help actually calm some cats after they have a good kick session with the cat nip toy (others get a bit more crazy). I find the feliway diffusers do help, there's also some calming treats and sprays that can't hurt to try. Do you free feed or do set meals? If set meals, do at least 2, if not 3. Often it's a hard transition for cats going from free feeding to meals and even vice versa. More frequent small meals which you condense over time might help. 3 am or 4 am demands for attention are a normal problem. Do a long play session right before you go to bed, every day. Oh and he was terrible about being handled. I couldn't pick him up, so I didn't. To get him in the carrier I would just lure him close to it and walk him in. But over the past year I've worked with him and now I CAN pick him up and carry him. I still can't clip his nails myself, so I take him to a groomer or vet every month to clip his nails for me. Costs like $10-15. I highly recommend trying this first over the nail caps, as nail caps really only last 1-2 months before needing to be replaced. Each cat is different, and handle stress and transitions differently. Kitty needs routine, security, and patience. Sounds like kitty needs outlets for the energy that she knows are safe. Sounds like she might be food insecure, perhaps from the change of feeding routine. Just design a good routine to address her needs she's expressing and keep to it. If you can't pet her the way you want to right now, try finding what her limits are. Can you do one ear scratch as you pass by? what about just putting your hand out for a smell and letting her choose to scent mark you? Eventually you'll understand her limits and you'll make progress as the trust between you guys build. pandaid fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Apr 2, 2015 |
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Apr 2, 2015 01:40
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Her paperwork says she was spayed in December. I just ordered her more toys and a new carrier to take her for nail trimming, and a calming diffuser and spray. Thank you guys for giving me hope! I really don't want to get rid of her, I'm just frustrated. She's adorable when she sleeps though 
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Apr 2, 2015 06:42
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It's going to work out, I can tell from the blissed out sleep picture. Just try to stop comparing to your childhood pets. The joy of this pet is building that relatioship, discovering her likes and dislikes, figuring out what makes her tick. If she gets bitey when being pet she's probably over stimulated. Just take her cues and stop the petting for a bit until her body language tells you she's relaxed again. Use toys where she can't accidentally tag you, and see how she likes to play and enjoy giving her the attention. Work on that routine to tire her out before bed, figure out the best feeding routine, etc. When's she more tired, she'll seek out cuddle time, just you see.
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Apr 3, 2015 03:22
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My girl cat acted pretty similarly to yours the first year or so I had her, and I adopted her when she was about a year old. She would wake us up in the middle of the night divebombing our feet from the dresser, her idea of playtime was hiding behind corners and attacking our legs (with claws out sometimes), things like that. She's about 4 now and aside from the occasional sassy nips and swats she gives when she doesn't want to be touched (which happens extremely rarely these days), she's become really laid back and hasn't broken skin on either me or my fiancee in ages. She also wants nothing more than to cuddle on us for hours a day. We did get another young cat about a year in to having her so your mileage may vary, but I get the feeling she will just grew out of this phase with age. It sounds like you're going in the right direction with getting her toys, and since she seems to like playing with a string I'd consider getting a ribbon toy. My ex-bitey cat loves this because she can grab it and viciously bite it to her heart's content. I think she gets some of her aggression out play-fighting with our boy cat too but that doesn't sound like an option for you, so you may need to go out of your way to play with her even more. I think it does a lot to interact with her directly with toys like this so she learns that she can play with you without attacking your hands. I also use a Feliway diffuser occasionally during stressful times (moves, vet stays, going on vacation and having someone else come and take care of them for a few days) and they really do seem to be much calmer when I use that. It's only been a week, and cats really need to get used to a routine before they can relax. I'd give it a bit more time and try to have some patience and put some work into working out her anxious energy in an appropriate way - the fact that she is interacting with you at all is a good sign.
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Apr 7, 2015 19:49
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Yeah, she sounds a lot like one of our cats (male, adopted at a bit over 2 years old, neutered two months before we adopted him) during his first year or so at home. It took him a bit to settle down, burn off the last of the kitten energy, and learn how to play with humans, and he's mellowed into a really sweet cat while not losing the outgoing, affectionate parts of his personality. Just continue to work on modifying her behavior (I hear making more of a pain noise vs. just saying "no" will help cats realize they're doing something wrong when they've hurt you, because it ties in more to kittenhood instinct for how they learn to play with their littermates), getting her playing with toys and working out energy that way, and giving her time to adjust to the new environment.
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Apr 8, 2015 05:31
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 05:47 |
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One of my cats is the same, bitey and scratchy but she's mellowing out with age- she's nearly 2 now. Trimming claws helps a bunch, play with her paws whenever she's asleep and then slowly get her used to trims. I do it when mine are snoozing. Also we bought a bunch of toys- her favourites are a kickaroo and a quacking plush duck that we give her whenever shes being bitey.
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Apr 8, 2015 22:46
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