an unhappy post

[lizzielou742]

Hi guys,

I know I haven't written much lately, so I won't be mad if no one responds to this. I can't expect people to respond to my posts if I don't have/make time to respond to theirs.

Tito is driving me insane. I've got him on a diet = 1/3 cup of weight management food a day. It's what the vet told me to put him on. He's been on this for about six weeks now - I've posted about it a couple times before. He acts absolutely miserable when he's on this restricted intake, and it's making me miserable. He wakes me up in the morning, every morning, about 4:30 AM, trying to get me to feed him. He climbs into the bedroom windowsill and puts his paws all over the blinds, pulling them and scratching them. This makes a horrible, loud noise which wakes me up (my boyfriend, unfortunately, is a heavy sleeper). I have to chase him away with a water bottle, and that usually only deters him for about 10 minutes. I guess I'll have to take down the blinds until we move out and replace them with a curtain (we rent and the blinds technically belong to the landlord). He will also lick my face to wake me up, claw at my hair, meow loudly and pitifully, scratch the carpet, etc. We tried locking him out of the bedroom, but that was worse - he took up the carpet under the bedroom door trying to get in. He made about a 4 inch tear in the carpet and exposed the floor underneath. No telling what the landlord will charge us for that. I'm going to take Tito the vet tomorrow and see what he tells me to do in terms of his diet. For me, it sounds awful, but it might be worth letting him be 1-2 pounds overweight if he'll let me sleep through a night for once. (By the way, Sophie is on this same diet, and she's totally fine with it.)



I wasn't planning on putting up a Christmas tree, because I knew the cats would demolish it. My mom didn't know this, and bought me a fake tree from WalMart. We put it up together and the cats are constantly destroying it. Both of them are constantly tearing into it. They've bent the branches, strewn ornaments all over the house, torn "needles" off, and removed strands of garland and lights. I can't seem to make them stay away from it. I was using the water bottle, but that practically has no effect on them anymore. They just sit there and let me soak them. It's like they know I'll give up eventually. Lately I've been resorting to pulling them out from under the tree by the scruff of their necks and shouting, "No!" but that just doesn't seem to work either. I may end up taking the whole thing down this weekend, which really makes me sad.

I'm so frustrated. I feel like a mother whose kids are out of control and don't listen to her. Now, I love Tito and Sophie with all of my heart. I just need to figure out a way to control them!!! If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it. I'm seriously at my wits' end. I didn't get to bed until 1:00 am last night - I have to wake up at 6:30 am - and at 4:45 am Tito started in on his usual antics. I grabbed maybe another 1/2 an hour of sleep in short spurts from between 4:30 am and 6:30 am. I can't take this!!!

[catcrazylady]

Ok LizzieLou you are obviously very very stressed right now. The holidays will do that to you anyway but lack of sleep intensifies everything. It will get better!:)
Now as for the constantly being woke up with the blinds and every other method Tito can think of, I went through that for years with Leroy and I still am! Mine are free fed dry food but they get a small taste of canned food in the morning and evening. He won't let me sleep past 5:00am. I have learned to just get up and in a half asleep state feed them and the outside kitties and crawl back into bed on the weekends. I really think your whole problem can be solved by free feeding dry food. He may pig out for awhile but then he will settle down once he realizes that it will always be there. I don't think we should let our cats become obese but a couple of extra pounds isn't that bad. Don't most of us have a few extra pounds we need to burn off? I have heavy cats and I have thin cats and I free feed and I always will. Feed the boy Lizzie and don't stress over it unless he really porks up. I really think he will quit pigging out once he knows your not going to take it away again. He's hungry!
Now for the Christmas tree...forget it and pack it up until they are older. If it is going to drive you crazy that they are constantly in it then you need to take it down. It is an adventure and fun for them so I doubt they are going to give it up.
Look at this way, it's a good way for Tito to burn off those extra calories!;) :D

Oh, nobody should be upset that you haven't posted in a while. We are all busy right now and very limited on time. Hang in there and learn how to laugh at the kitties in the tree. Some pictures would be nice too!:) We are all in the same delimna and it will be over soon. You should see my house right now!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Hang in there!:)

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by catcrazylady

Hang in there!:)


You have problems with your cats???:confused:

If it makes you feel better My neighbors (Brother and his Wife) have complained about a white cat in the house next door:rolleyes:

My place is a batchelor/studio pad....One large room that doubles as a frontroom bedroom.

I am forced to sleep with the front door open so the white cat can prowl the area......

The last three nights I have been awaken by a large BOOM as the white cat throws himself against the aluminum door to try and get to the stray that comes by to visit....

Then the crying and scratching starts.....I had to get up to check
if he was caught in the screen on the door....NOPE just being a jerk....so I just yell at him to "GO TO SLEEP" and hope the neighbors understand the situation....

SOOOOOO, if it makes you fell any better, I am losing sleep too!!!!:rolleyes:

[christa]

Hey Liz . . . glad to hear from you! I was wondering if you were all right . . .

Anyway, concerning the "destruction" of your apartment . . . did you pay a "pet deposit" when you signed your lease? Usually the pet deposit is non-refundable & is supposed to be used to repair damages left by pets. Ours was like 100 bucks . . . which is the reason I could care less about my cats destroying anything ;) And believe me, Josie has just about torn the carpet completely up around the door in her room! We even had to put a plastic mat down under the door so she wouldn't make it any worse!

As far as your crazy cats go, LOL . . . do you have an extra bedroom that you could keep them in at night? Josie & Brodie have taken over our 2nd and only other bedroom in our apartment. That's where their cat tree, toys, beds, litterbox, food & water are. Josie has even learned when to start scratching the door to be let out. 7 a.m. and not a second later!

The Christmas tree . . . I was having the same problem. I started spraying around the base of the tree with an orange/citrus scented room spray. (Cats HATE that smell!) Spray it when they're not around though, so they don't breathe it in directly. Works for me. They hardly go near it at all now . . . I haven't even sprayed it in a few days!

[christa]

Originally posted by catcrazylady
I really think your whole problem can be solved by free feeding dry food. He may pig out for awhile but then he will settle down once he realizes that it will always be there. I don't think we should let our cats become obese but a couple of extra pounds isn't that bad.

I TOTALLY AGREE!!! I know that Josie is considered overweight, but she doesn't eat that much! House cats normally weigh more. Unless it's becoming a problem to his health (is it?) then I would defintiely try to free feed him.

What kind of food does he eat? I know for a fact that "Good" food is more filling & when they're eating good food, they don't eat as much.

Good luck! Let us know how things go!

[catcrazylady]

Hey Lizzie, check out the thread titled "A helping paw at Christmas time". You are not alone!;) :D

[Laura's Babies]

I would try some of that feline calming spray if you can get any.... If it don't calm them down, maybe it'll calm you down... :D (I don't mean to be funny but I had to say that...) Seriously, that might help calm him down some so you can get some sleep and spray it around you tree and they may just sleep under it all day if you over use it.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Don't feel bad...I dealt with some major issues when I first brought Spook home. She would take up to Yowling at all hours and Remus would go nuts trying to shut her up!!

Hang in there :D It gets better from here.

[catlover4ever]

First I would try the Feliway Plug In...it is a calming agent for the cats. I ordered mine from here..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

Second I would also recommend free feeding them the dry cat food. This way Tito would always have something to nibble on when he is hungry and would probally stop pestering you.

The last thing I would recommend is to kennel Tito at night. It is not inhumane to do this. Put a small litter box, some water and something soft for him to sleep on.

Keep us posted.

[catmandu]

I wish,that I could help,but the only thong,that I could suggest,would be to try,and tire them out,before thier bedtime.And I was concerned that the Found Cats,wre lethargic.,I guess I dont know,when I am well off.

[Jods]

What about the food thats for indoor cats only. Maybe he'll like it better if he can free feed on it and it has less fat in it. About the tree you could get some of that spray at the pet shop that cats hate. I forget the name, but someone on here will know it. Sorry your having such a hard time.

Tito and Sophie- Behave you have your meowmie pulling her hair out!

[Barbara]

Filou and Tigris are free fed all the time and they do the same things- they just want attention.

They usually get it from their dad. When he is not here I usually spend the first night by trying to ignore them- and to my opinion it's the only thing that works. They have to see they are getting nowhere. (Of course it also means to hide my glasses, not to have any water on the bedside table, to hide books- because they FIND out what really bothers you.)

This problem is common in PT kitties. Because their purrents are so well trained (just read about Jupiter in Sara luvs her Tinky's post);)

Regarding the Christmas tree: Don't forget they are still kittens. they will get a little more quiet with the years, even Abys do:D

I also hear a lot of stress in your voice and that sounds like the quiet pre-Christmas time we all are having. It could be so nice.........

Best wishes to you and the sweeties

[NoahsMommy]

(((hugs))) :)

We all feel your pain. While we love our little fuzzbutts to death, they can get under our skin. My bratty cat is Basie, he's going to be the death of me with his antics!! (carpet is torn up in the bathroom and closet - CAN'T wait to see how much that'll cost!)

As far as the tree thing, we had the same problem last year. Its amazing how the tearing down of the tree by the cats ruined my Christmas spirit. I was so upset they didn't ever learn, like your cats.

This year, we got a fresh table top tree and put it on a five foot book case. So far, they've totally left it alone. :)

As far as the food goes, I agree with the others. it sounds like he needs to be free fed something that's "light" and for indoor cats. I've always fed my cats freely and none of them is food obsessed or overweight. They eat Royal Canin's "Indoor" mixed with "Special" (for the ones with sensitive tummies) and they do really well on it. I think there are other brands that make indoor food as well.

I hope it gets better soon. Our little furballs can be frustrating sometimes. ;)

[lizzielou742]

Thanks guys for all your advice. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one who feels like this sometimes. I was feeling all guilty for feeling frustrated - only to read you all go through the same things!!! :) Thanks.

So, here is my plan of action:

1. Take down blinds in bedroom and replace with curtains. I've been wanting to do that anyway.

2. Try the citrus-scented room spray around tree. If that doesn't work - take down Christmas tree (I can try it again next year - Tito will be two then, and Sophie will be a year and a half). Besides it's nearly Christmas anyway!

3. Exercise kitties before bedtime. We always play - Sophie loves to chase her ball down the hallway - but it's usually after we get off work. Maybe adding more playtime right before bed will help tire them out.

4. Get Feliway Plug-In for bedroom. Hopefully this will calm them down a bit at night.

5. Talk to vet about free-feeding. I'm nervous because the last time I tried free-feeding them was when they turned into furry footballs - but if you all do it with your furkids, it can't be impossible to do with Tito and Sophie.


Barbara - I learned my lesson the hard way about leaving water on the bedside table a couple of months ago! :eek: :rolleyes: :D

CCL - That "helping paw at Christmas time" is exactly what I feel like!

I'm going to start a picture thread here in a few minutes. I've been meaning to do so for quite a while - I got my camera fixed!!! :D

Thanks again everyone. :)

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by christa
I haven't even sprayed it in a few days!

You are the first person on PT that has admitted to this....;) :eek: :D

[mina'smomma]

Hey Lizzie,

We've been able to keep Mina out of the Christmas tree by getting a citrus scented air freshner and spraying the tree and the carpet around it with it. You do need to do this every three days, but you keep your tree pretty.

[dukedogsmom]

How is he about being in a kitty kennel with enough room? Would he sleep in that at night? He could be in another room and you could get some sleep. For that matter, is there another room you can put him in while you're sleeping? I free feed Doogie and I think he's actually lost some weight. He'll always be big, though. He's just a long, big kitty. As someone else pointed out, a lot of us here are a bit "fluffy". I really wouldn't worry about the food thing so much. I've got Doogie on Eukanuba lite for adults. He doesn't seem to mind it at all. Of course, there's the Pounce and Whiskas treats that he gets every time Duke comes back from a potty. Duke always gets treats and most of the time he's already waiting by the time we bring Duke back inside.

[carole]

Lizzielou you have my utmost sympathy, sleep deprivation is the worst thing ever, being a skin kid mother I sure know all about that, but those days are well behind me now, so I thought until furbaby Lexie entered my life, recently she was waking me up as well, and when I put her out of the room, she destroyed my wall paper as if in retailiation.

Luckily for me she seems to have stopped now and back to normal, but it could and probably will start up again at any time.

You have been given some great advice, and I really hope it works for you, good luck Dear, thinking of you and hoping for a good outcome.

[lizzielou742]

Thanks, guys. :)

As for sleeping in a crate - Tito would throw a fit if I tried to keep him off my bed at night. I don't think that's going to happen. ;) Sophie might be OK with it, but not Tito. :rolleyes:

We have decided to take down the Christmas tree before we leave to go visit relatives Friday night. We'll keep it up until then. I find fixing it just stresses me out more than it's worth. They figured out how to climb it and also how to make it spin around 360 degrees inside its base. That made a nice knot of my lights and garland. *sigh* I think the more I fix it, though, the more interested they are in it. So I've kind of left it alone, looking rather ragged, and so have they.

Through some conversations with NoahsMommy (thank you!) I have decided to try the free feeding again. I really hope they don't bulk up too much. Tito is scheduled to go back to the vet in April, so we'll see how much he weighs then. I just know if you all can do it, and your cats look fine, there should be no reason why I can't. They're on diet food anyway! :D I gave them a bit extra at breakfast this morning - they ate it all. I filled up their bowls at lunch today - they inhaled almost all of it (a whole cup)! :eek: Hopefully they get used to it soon!!! :D :D :D Wish me luck! :)

Oh and as for the blinds - we're switching to curtains as soon as I can get some extra $$ (after the holidays)!!! :D

[rosethecopycat]

Best price for Feliway is from:

omahavaccine.com

I think you are on the right track. Best of Luck.