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How do I keep Beau from climbing the walls, literally?
I love my Beau, he's so smart and lively. Maybe a little tooooo lively.
Yesterday I was in the kitchen chopping ingredients for a bean avocado salad, and he was doing his racing from window to window, up and down stairs. He had his wild animal look going, and wrapped his arms around the wall between the hall & kitchen counter, strectched up his full length, trying to climb it, scratching the paint. I yelled, clapped my hands, & he took off.
Last night my roommate was downstairs & I heard her yelling: apparently Beau came flying down the stairs, climbed the wall in the same place, ran around the bar area, bounced off the wall, jumped for the window sill, snagged the curtains and bounced off that wall.
I posted a picture of the bubble wrap I put over the area where he scratched (sorry I didn't rotate the picture): anyone have any idea how to keep my jungle boy from totally trashing my roommate's house? She took it in stride when he started attacking her rugs, rolling them around him, kicking and scratching them. She's not to pleased about her paint job. Does that sticky paws stuff work on painted surfaces?
Last night he wanted to keep going all night. He went back and forth between our rooms, meowing for us to join him. I play with him, he amuses himself with his toys and cat tree, the stairs, etc, but he still has energy to burn. What happened to the "cats sleep 16 to 20 hours a day!"
Aw, he a good buddy, makes me laugh and smile, warms my heart. He let me trim some of his nails today, enjoys being brushed fairly often. Maybe he just has spring fever since we've been opening the windows a little with the better weather. He loves sniffing the outside air.
I've also posted a picture of the bag of books my roommate left in the hall after Beau took them all out and tried to decide which one he wanted to read, ha ha. He likes to carry his Da Bird up & down the stairs, drop it in a bag, and pull it out again, my big game hunter. :o)
Ideas for saving the walls, short of letting him out to climb real trees? My roommate suggested there should be cat parks (like dog parks) where people could take their cats to burn off excess energy.
Yesterday I was in the kitchen chopping ingredients for a bean avocado salad, and he was doing his racing from window to window, up and down stairs. He had his wild animal look going, and wrapped his arms around the wall between the hall & kitchen counter, strectched up his full length, trying to climb it, scratching the paint. I yelled, clapped my hands, & he took off.
Last night my roommate was downstairs & I heard her yelling: apparently Beau came flying down the stairs, climbed the wall in the same place, ran around the bar area, bounced off the wall, jumped for the window sill, snagged the curtains and bounced off that wall.
I posted a picture of the bubble wrap I put over the area where he scratched (sorry I didn't rotate the picture): anyone have any idea how to keep my jungle boy from totally trashing my roommate's house? She took it in stride when he started attacking her rugs, rolling them around him, kicking and scratching them. She's not to pleased about her paint job. Does that sticky paws stuff work on painted surfaces?
Last night he wanted to keep going all night. He went back and forth between our rooms, meowing for us to join him. I play with him, he amuses himself with his toys and cat tree, the stairs, etc, but he still has energy to burn. What happened to the "cats sleep 16 to 20 hours a day!"
Aw, he a good buddy, makes me laugh and smile, warms my heart. He let me trim some of his nails today, enjoys being brushed fairly often. Maybe he just has spring fever since we've been opening the windows a little with the better weather. He loves sniffing the outside air.
I've also posted a picture of the bag of books my roommate left in the hall after Beau took them all out and tried to decide which one he wanted to read, ha ha. He likes to carry his Da Bird up & down the stairs, drop it in a bag, and pull it out again, my big game hunter. :o)
Ideas for saving the walls, short of letting him out to climb real trees? My roommate suggested there should be cat parks (like dog parks) where people could take their cats to burn off excess energy.
I saw a program on Animal Planet where they were teaching a cat to prefer playing in a less destructive way; not sure how well it would work with a teeny bopper like Morris but you could try.
When he starts climbing the walls, take a toy that he likes. A laser toy makes a nice clicking noise that will get his attention. Run the light up the cat tree, see if you can get him more interested in attacking that tree. When he does, you can try giving him a treat to reinforce the proper behavior.
On the program that I saw they were training a cat to not get on the kitchen counters and trained it with a clicker. They put a cat tree not far from the counter, and when the cat got on the counter, they would click, tap the cat tree, and give the cat a treat when it got on the cat tree instead of the counter.
I'd think it was worth a try. Beau loves the laser toy so much I've had to hide it; he'll want to play with it all the time and gets excited when someone clicks a pen. He has continues to occasionally scratch the walls, luckily in only a couple places.
Good luck!
When he starts climbing the walls, take a toy that he likes. A laser toy makes a nice clicking noise that will get his attention. Run the light up the cat tree, see if you can get him more interested in attacking that tree. When he does, you can try giving him a treat to reinforce the proper behavior.
On the program that I saw they were training a cat to not get on the kitchen counters and trained it with a clicker. They put a cat tree not far from the counter, and when the cat got on the counter, they would click, tap the cat tree, and give the cat a treat when it got on the cat tree instead of the counter.
I'd think it was worth a try. Beau loves the laser toy so much I've had to hide it; he'll want to play with it all the time and gets excited when someone clicks a pen. He has continues to occasionally scratch the walls, luckily in only a couple places.
Good luck!
I don't know about Beau, but my cats name is Morris and he'll be 4 months in a few days. He's driving me insane. We repainted the dining room about two months ago and Morris has them completely messed up. He climbs and gouges my walls. I've tried that ScratchNot spray and it does absolutely nothing. He's got a playmate which is his little sister. Needless to say she doesn't do what he does. They've got a kitty tower that I was told to put catnip on so that they would be more interested in the tower than my walls. Baby enjoys the tower but Morris is driving me nuts. Someone help, PLEASE!!!!!
I wondered about using painter's tape too.
An allergist recently advised me to work my way toward eventually just having a virtual pet- tested a 2 allergy on a 0-3 scale. But my co-cat adopter, my sister, mentioned the idea of a certain type of cat that likes water- so maybe it could be bathed a lot. I don't know if we'll ever get another cat, but if we do, I hope they like baths. It sounds like the place you went was better with care than the local humane society. They had an isolation section at that place, but our cat wasn't in it.
You did a little rhyme there= "He'll hop on the bed & circle my head" :0)
Was looking at a number of your pics- looked like Fluffy was/is? a very precious, very bonded pet. Hope your Beau will settle down. I wanted a lap cat myself (after my sister convinced me of a cat instead of a dog) and we got a fairly sedentary cat who you could barely hear meow when we got her. But now, she has moments of play and can be VERY noisy at times from downstairs- so different from when we first got her. We enjoy her A LOT as a soft furry companion and friend. ( )~~~~( )
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An allergist recently advised me to work my way toward eventually just having a virtual pet- tested a 2 allergy on a 0-3 scale. But my co-cat adopter, my sister, mentioned the idea of a certain type of cat that likes water- so maybe it could be bathed a lot. I don't know if we'll ever get another cat, but if we do, I hope they like baths. It sounds like the place you went was better with care than the local humane society. They had an isolation section at that place, but our cat wasn't in it.
You did a little rhyme there= "He'll hop on the bed & circle my head" :0)
Was looking at a number of your pics- looked like Fluffy was/is? a very precious, very bonded pet. Hope your Beau will settle down. I wanted a lap cat myself (after my sister convinced me of a cat instead of a dog) and we got a fairly sedentary cat who you could barely hear meow when we got her. But now, she has moments of play and can be VERY noisy at times from downstairs- so different from when we first got her. We enjoy her A LOT as a soft furry companion and friend. ( )~~~~( )
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I adopted Beau from Cat Adoption Team, a no-kill shelter with it's own attached animal hospital including great vets on staff as well as plenty of volunteer aids, most of whom hope to become vets themselves. He was first picked up by a county animal shelter, then transferred to CAT. He caught a cold, was brought back to health and received a thorough check-up.
This place is great; worth googling if you have the time & interest.
That being said, I still know I have to get his fuzzy butt to a vet, just to make sure everything's still ok.
This morning he started trying to wake me & my roommate around 3:30. He used to have a little squeak of a meow; now he could be on Glee! He'll hop on the bed & circle my head, stand on the far side of my bed & meow, go meow in my roommate's room, etc. I will make it to the store today to buy a Feliway dispenser!
I think I have some painters tape that I can try putting up foil with. It has to look better than the bubble wrap, lol. He thinks the bubble wrap looks interesting, stands up on his hind legs to check it out.
This place is great; worth googling if you have the time & interest.
That being said, I still know I have to get his fuzzy butt to a vet, just to make sure everything's still ok.
This morning he started trying to wake me & my roommate around 3:30. He used to have a little squeak of a meow; now he could be on Glee! He'll hop on the bed & circle my head, stand on the far side of my bed & meow, go meow in my roommate's room, etc. I will make it to the store today to buy a Feliway dispenser!
I think I have some painters tape that I can try putting up foil with. It has to look better than the bubble wrap, lol. He thinks the bubble wrap looks interesting, stands up on his hind legs to check it out.
I was thinking the same thing about the foil but wasn't sure if it would work on the walls either.
Bob got worse and spent the night @ the vet w/pneumonia but is responding to his meds and was on his kitty nebulizer when I called to check on him this am and he's sch. to come home tonight-I sure miss that little guy!!
It sounds like Beau enjoyed his piggy toy-i can just picture it! I love his name, by the way!
Bob got worse and spent the night @ the vet w/pneumonia but is responding to his meds and was on his kitty nebulizer when I called to check on him this am and he's sch. to come home tonight-I sure miss that little guy!!
It sounds like Beau enjoyed his piggy toy-i can just picture it! I love his name, by the way!
Aluminum foil is supposed to be a deterrant to cats getting on the wrong things- I hadn't heard of it being used on walls, but I wonder if you could put some up with masking tape on the wall in the areas your cat's been scratching up?
Regarding the thorough check up by the animal shelter vet- if it's anything like the Humane society vet check up where I live, I'd definitely recommend an independent vet check up. Of course, the Humane society wanted us to get our adopted cat checked out by one within a few days of adoption, even thought they had previously had their own vet check her. Our Catalina, according to the vet we took her to within the set time frame, had ear mites- a very bad case, a worm egg in her feces sample, and sores we later learned were likely self inflicted.
Regarding the thorough check up by the animal shelter vet- if it's anything like the Humane society vet check up where I live, I'd definitely recommend an independent vet check up. Of course, the Humane society wanted us to get our adopted cat checked out by one within a few days of adoption, even thought they had previously had their own vet check her. Our Catalina, according to the vet we took her to within the set time frame, had ear mites- a very bad case, a worm egg in her feces sample, and sores we later learned were likely self inflicted.
Ok, after another night of broken sleep, I think I'll go buy a Feliway dispenser for my bedroom, Jade, see if that helps any. When I adopted Beau, I signed an agreement to keep him indoors. I can imagine what joy he'd have in racing up trees & seeing if he could catch a mouse in the field where local cats wait patiently to pounce.
Spirit, I wish I could take a good video of Beau & send it to you, see how much like Bob he is. I'm so sorry your Bob's sick.
Nancy, I'll make an appointment for Beau with a vet soon. I do want to make sure he's in tip-top shape.
Linda, I would love to get him a playmate, but I don't think I could talk my roommate into it. She'd probably be more concerned about twice the feline energy zooming through her house, twice the litter deposits, etc. She has commented how she wished she could have a snuggly lap cat... hmm.
When I was at CAT yesterday I won a little toy shaped like a pig with a pocket on his tummy. I had fun this afternoon hiding Wellness Pure Delights turkey & salmon jerky treats in the piggy pocket & watching Beau bite & shake the pig until he got his treat out. :o)
Spirit, I wish I could take a good video of Beau & send it to you, see how much like Bob he is. I'm so sorry your Bob's sick.
Nancy, I'll make an appointment for Beau with a vet soon. I do want to make sure he's in tip-top shape.
Linda, I would love to get him a playmate, but I don't think I could talk my roommate into it. She'd probably be more concerned about twice the feline energy zooming through her house, twice the litter deposits, etc. She has commented how she wished she could have a snuggly lap cat... hmm.
When I was at CAT yesterday I won a little toy shaped like a pig with a pocket on his tummy. I had fun this afternoon hiding Wellness Pure Delights turkey & salmon jerky treats in the piggy pocket & watching Beau bite & shake the pig until he got his treat out. :o)
When you mentioned Palooza, at first I thought you went to look at a kitten named Palooza, ha-ha. Have you considered getting a friend, or playmate for Beau? Some kitties are just more social than others. My Tommy is like that >^.^<
Bob was the same!! He still gets his exercise sometimes by running down the hall as fast as he can and defying gravity like a skateboarder banking off the walls for several paces-with that same wild-eyed look on his face like "WHAT!! AND I'LL DO IT AGAIN!!" then jumps remarkable heights at nothing on the walls. Happily he wasn't too destructive after he got through the chewing everything in sight stage, but be patient-he sounds like a bundle of pure joy!! i have to agree w/Jade-I was laughing at your descriptions; my Bob is sick and I needed a laugh! enjoy Beau, he sounds wonderful! :)
Beau was thoroughly checked out at the shelter hospital about four months ago, has no sign of fleas or stuff like that. I suppose he could have someissue that they didn't test for. I will be taking him in for a checkup before long.
He seems so healthy; I have him on the right food, he drinks plenty & has no urinary problems that I know of. His potty trips are all business. He just came racing down the hall from his potty now.
This morning I went potty at 1:30 & Beau thought it was a good time to get up. I bribed him with a bit of his breakfast & got some more sleep. 5:30 he did his best to wake both me and my roommate. Another bribe, a few more dreams, and Beau was ready to go again at 7:30. Mind you, I woke in between, needing to pee but not wanting to get up & get him started. Another trick I tried was opening the bedrom window so he could hear, see, & maybe smell the birds greeting the morning. He loves that.
I didn't make it to my 8:15 yoga class. I did go to the CAT shelter to check out their Kitten Palooza; it was amazing how many kittens were available, how many litters had been fostered by our volunteers.
23 kittens were pre-adopted, 34 kittens went home today, 6 adults and 1 senior were adopted. 3 more adults were put on hold. What an amazing day!
:o)
He seems so healthy; I have him on the right food, he drinks plenty & has no urinary problems that I know of. His potty trips are all business. He just came racing down the hall from his potty now.
This morning I went potty at 1:30 & Beau thought it was a good time to get up. I bribed him with a bit of his breakfast & got some more sleep. 5:30 he did his best to wake both me and my roommate. Another bribe, a few more dreams, and Beau was ready to go again at 7:30. Mind you, I woke in between, needing to pee but not wanting to get up & get him started. Another trick I tried was opening the bedrom window so he could hear, see, & maybe smell the birds greeting the morning. He loves that.
I didn't make it to my 8:15 yoga class. I did go to the CAT shelter to check out their Kitten Palooza; it was amazing how many kittens were available, how many litters had been fostered by our volunteers.
23 kittens were pre-adopted, 34 kittens went home today, 6 adults and 1 senior were adopted. 3 more adults were put on hold. What an amazing day!
:o)
Have you taken him to a vet? While some of this is typical kitten behavior, what I call the "terrible twos" stage typically occurs at about 3-4 months old and starts to level out a bit at 6-8 months, certainly by 15 months. His constant dashing and other high energy could be from something that is akin to having an itch he can't scratch, literally and figuratively. If he is allergic to fleas for example, that could be causing such behavior in frustration because the irritation won't stop or as a means of distracting himself from the irritation. It could also be some other internal medical issue that is affecting his metabolism.
Beau's about 15 months old, at the shelter vet's estimate. He was supposedly full grown when I brought him home, but he's gotten larger (not fat, bigger, stronger) in the 3 months since I adopted him.
I hope he's just going through a phase!
I hope he's just going through a phase!
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Ohmygosh, I'm sorry to laugh, but...ohmygosh! I'm not only laughing at your description of Beau's antics, but the apology for the unrotated picture, lol. Wow, he has some energy, alright! This is why I've never had an indoor cat, K. I wouldn't begin to know how to handle it, but hopefully someone else will. Your roommate is very patient about her rugs and all, but I'm sure her patience will go only so far. The sticky paws is a good idea, but I'm not sure if good for painted surfaces.
I'm sure much of Beau's energy is due to being so young, however, he does sound especially wound up. Our last cat pulled those stunts, too, but I could let her out. She was a Tabby, also. I wonder if those calming plug in things that I forget the name of, would help at all. It also might be the time of season like you said since just 2nights ago was when Jade stopped coming in for the night and wants to stay out and up.
Aren't I a huge help today? Really just wanted you to know I sympathize and tell you Beau is looking beautiful in your photos. At least he's letting you trim those nails so as not to make too deep of gouges. And he has just the Longest tail!
Best of luck and wishing you quiet, peaceful late nights.
I'm sure much of Beau's energy is due to being so young, however, he does sound especially wound up. Our last cat pulled those stunts, too, but I could let her out. She was a Tabby, also. I wonder if those calming plug in things that I forget the name of, would help at all. It also might be the time of season like you said since just 2nights ago was when Jade stopped coming in for the night and wants to stay out and up.
Aren't I a huge help today? Really just wanted you to know I sympathize and tell you Beau is looking beautiful in your photos. At least he's letting you trim those nails so as not to make too deep of gouges. And he has just the Longest tail!
Best of luck and wishing you quiet, peaceful late nights.
He sounds like a really adorable kitty. Isn't he around 5-6 mo. old? I think he's just going through this phase. My Tommy was absolutely the sweetest and cudliest kitty until he turned 5-6 mo old. He became a little holy terror. He wouldn't stop for a minute. Well, he must have peaked around the 7-8 mo. mark because he has reverted back to the sweetest, most loveable kitty ever....and now actually he does seem to sleep a lot more. I think he's just matured and managing his behavior quite well. Trimming his nails might be a short-term option.
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