My boyfriend and I have had Poster, 11 month old, male Norwegian Forest cat, for the better part of a year. He is neutered, and gets a lot of attention and love, he has plenty of toys, and a scratch post. He’s a very good cat, very loving and friendly, but recently he’s just been really getting on last nerve. I want to say, maybe about a month ago, he suddenly learned how to jump on the counter, open our sliding closet doors, open cabinets, and taken a strange new fascination to all the wires behind our tv. We have a small side table/cabinet next to our couch, where we kept his treats and other various junk. I came home from the gym one day to discover not only that he’d somehow managed to open to the cabinet (which has small “U” shaped swinging handles on them, and magnets to keep them shut), but he’d ripped open his bag of treats, and strewn the contents of the ‘junk’ all over the living room. He’s been waking me up, like clock work, every morning at 4-4:15, trying to scratch his way into our closet (the doors are mirrors) so you can imagine how irritating this would be to wake up too every single morning. Once I shoo him away from the closet, he moves onto the side cabinet in the living room and works on that. Last night I found a bushel of bananas under the kitchen table that he’d knocked off the counter and dragged under there. I’m serious, I’ve had it. This started out of nowhere and no matter what we do, spraying him with water, yelling, ignoring him, giving him a light smack, he just continues to do it. I know it sounds ridiculous but I’m practically to the point of tears some nights because I’m so fed up with his behavior and keeping me awake at night, waking me up in the morning, actually losing sleep over a cat.
I even wasted $7.00 bucks on a bottle of ‘KEEP OFF’ cat spray, and after using half the can, he actually walked over and sniffed it like he liked it. I have just had it, and I don’t know what to do. My boyfriend can sleep through it, but I’m a light sleeper and am having a huge problem with it.
Is anyone else having this problem or know of ANYTHING that I can do. I’m getting desperate.
Thanks, J C, but let me make something perfectly clear. I do not ABUSE my cat, and I am very patient with him. I realize this is normal cat behavior, but after a month of being woken up over and over again, it’s becoming very irritating. Thank you for your opinion, but I don’t appreciate being made out to be some animal abusing freak who neglects our pet. If you have something negative to say about my question, keep it to yourself. I was looking for an honest answer with someone who may have a solution. Not a bashing.
Ok, let me rephrase my question, is there anything I can do to prevent my cat from doing these things. It’s not the climbing I am concerned with. I have done much research on the NFC, and I realize climbing is part of his nature. I throughly enjoy his company, and my boyfriend and I love him and play with him very much, but I am just tired of being woken up night after night because he does not understand that he shouldn’t be doing those things. We have no intentions of ‘getting rid’ of him because he is our pet, we love him. We actually do plan on getting another cat when we move out of our apartment and into a house next month. I have had many cats before, I understand their behavior, but none that have insisted countless nights on getting into anything and everything, so maybe I am just not used to it. Like I said, I wasn’t looking for a bashing. Just something that may deter him from making messes and getting into things he shouldn’t be.
8 Responses to “Why is my cat getting into everything, and he doesn’t react to discipline at all. Help.”
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Punishing him for things he’s done after the fact won’t do a thing. He won’t associate the punishment with what he does, as it happened long ago. Quite frankly it sounds to me like you have a very bored cat - at 11 months, he’s very active and still very much a kitten, and is really just amusing himself. He isn’t being “bad”. Smacking him and yelling at him is just going to make him resent you for doing what really is pretty normal cat stuff.
All you can do is have patience, as he’ll grow out of it eventually, or find him a new home where his normal behavior is a bit better tolerated.
This is the personality of Norwegian Forest Cats. They are very intelligent and they do not take well to people trying to discipline them, they will act out. Yelling at them or smacking them will make them get more upset, and they will begin to not enjoy your attention and can become aggressive towards you. They are not like cats who feel they need to be loyal, cats are independent and will not have large emotional conection to you. Also they like to climb on things and get into things, so you will not loose that trait. NFCs are not for everyone, they need a lot of patience, you have to except thet the climbing trait will not leave, because they are a FOREST cat so they have the need to climb in their genes.
He is also coming up to 1 year old, they will become curious of just about everything. Another problem that may be arising is that NFC very much enjoy a companion and if they are left alone for periods of time during the day then they can start to act out because they are just as fed up as you are. Do you own any other animals. If not, you may want to get another cat or a dog as they will loose interest in acting out and will play with the other animal instead. If you do not beleive you can get another animal or that you will not have the patience for him anymore then I believe it may be a good idea to find a home for him that will be more suitable(someone who stays home alot, will allow him out of the house to rome, and has other animals).
Sounds like a cat being a cat really. Negative reinforcement is actually not a very effective way of correcting a cats behavior. It does not suit their nature very well and they will usually just become more alert to incoming discipline and flee. They form social networks, but do not bond as closely or have the desire to please that dogs do. Inquisitive healthy cats can be a real pain when they figure out they can do these things. You can modify his behavior though. I would start by essentially “child proofing” your home or blocking the closet doors with something when you are not home or sleeping. After a while of not being able to do these things he will be forced to find other ways to entertain himself. Get him some more toys that he enjoys or even better you could provide live entertainment. Attract birds outside of a window, get a simple fish aquarium (secure and large enough that he cannot move it). As for the counters, you can try deterrents like tape donuts placed lightly on the counters. These will stick to his feet when he jumps up and he won’t like it. If the night time noise is to much to bear, shut him out of the bedroom. You can also try to modify his sleep cycle by cutting his daytime naps down to shorter lengths. over time he will adapt to a more suitable schedule. Other than that, be patient and understand a cats nature.
My cat does the same thing so what i do is i take a clean spray bottle and fill it with water when she does something bad i spray her until she goes away when she goes away i give her a treat and love her and all that but you have to remember if the cat is locked inside the house all day your cat will figure out how to do this and that get a cat door and leave it open when you leave so she is going out side. If she still goes outside you can het some child protectors and put them on watever she grts into
Welcome to owning an intelligent animal who is bored. This is STANDARD behavior for all young cats. Give him something to do–put a box of toys and crumpled paper balls in the center of the room or hide pieces of dry cat food under furniture for him to hunt. He’ll outgrow most of this by the time he’s 2 years old (or maybe 3, if he’s like mine).
Stop with the water, if he didn’t react it will never work. Yelling isn’t going to do it either. Distraction techniques are the best at this stage, or just totally ignoring it and figuring it’ll be outgrown. This is good practice for when you get kids because believe me, this is super minor to what a kid can do.
Leave the tv on low and shut the bedroom door, to avoid the wake up. OR turn his waking of you into a behavior he doesn’t want (like grabbing him and pulling him under the covers to cuddle with like some great aunt you don’t want to kiss you). EVERY time, otherwise this isn’t a training technique. Keeping a fly swatter by the bed to smack his butt with (NOT his head) may work, but a smart cat learns to take it away from you when you sleep.
Get baby locks for the cabinets. Give him something to do when you’re not awake.
Yes we have a cat that jumps on EVERYTHING. and once he gets on it will knock everything down. I am a lifetime cat owner, and I know this comes with it, and I feel like I spray the crap out of him each day. This is the first cat my Fiance has lived with and he has much less patience with him than I do.
I frequently find him in the kitchen sink trying to find little crumbs that fall off dishes.
The thing that keeps him occupied are these little catnip mice. He goes CRAZY for those things, he throws them up in the air and gets tired out and sleeps. Unfortunately we also have a dog, so he cant have the mice all the time, because then the dog picks them up and eats them. I also got him this little octopus thing from Petsmart that he will play with for hours. and he has done the same thing with the treats.
But he’s also the only cat I have ever had that does not wake me up. I don’t know, there are certain motion alarms you can buy that go off when the cat jumps up and scares him off of whatever. maybe you could put one on when u go out.
BTW Norwegian Forest Cat, very cool. If you live in NY I’ll take him off your hands.
but seriously good luck. I’m hoping our cat calms down soon too.
First of all, yelling at a cat will not do anything. Your cat could be bored. Do you take time every day to play with your cat. Does your cat have ample toys, cat trees etc. to keep him busy. I would start by notifying your vet. Sometimes cats will exhibit strange behavior when they are ill. Once illness is ruled out, you can then work on the behavior issues. You may need to purchase a book that will give you proper training techniques. There are a few good ones out there. Please visit my blog for more information.
why dont you try putting him in a crate at night and when you go to the store and such. That way he cant get into things. We did that with our dog and she has learned well. Now she roams at her own will and doesnt get into trouble. i know dogs are different from cats but it should still work.