To think I'm not an evil cat murdering psycho

[shareacokewithnoone]

I love cats. Have two of them. We all used to live together in a pretty cottage in the country and enjoyed life.

Then, I moved. Hopefully this is temporary but for now I'm living in an equally pretty apartment that happens to be a) on the 3rd floor and b) on a main road. This means the cats don't go out.

I don't know whether it's living in such close quarters but they are driving me INSANE. They EAT - fucking hell, excuse my French, but they can get through 10 pouches of cat food a day, easily. It costs a fortune. They treat me like the title in my OP though - retreat in terror when I come in the kitchen and at night chase each other keeping me awake half the night. The other half the night I spend emptying litter trays.

Has ANYONE got any tips as seriously I do still love them but I can just feel my frustration rising as they keep wrecking stuff/pissing on stuff/ keeping me awake/ treating me like I'm a psycho - I am going mad!

For two cats you need two litter trays as an absolute minimum. This could be the cause of a lot of the stress. Some cats guard the litter tray to stop the other using it.

We were told one litter tray per cat plus one extra. Try a range of cat litters to see which they prefer, if you haven't already.

How long have they been inside for? Days or weeks?

They're bored. No doubt about it. Probably why they're eating so much. Cats like to be out and about, esp if that's all they've known and then to suddenly be cooped up well they're not going to be pleased.
Aww they do sound adorable though. What color are they. Just curious and nosey.

Also zooplus have some good value floor to ceiling cat trees. Saved our sanity when ours were locked in after moving house!

They've got a litter tray each. The girl has a pink one and the boy a blue of course

But they are true Mumsnet cats and use both colours randomly!

Cats in temporary accommodation this summer should be attached

YY to two litter trays and playing with them LOTS.

I temporarily had to move into a 2nd floor flat with my littlw guy (who was previously quite outdoorsy) and he woke me up every hour on the hour through the night for 7 weeks. Also he got a UTI from the stress and pee'd on the carpet. He was so miserable, it broke my heart and i was thrilled when we moved. Sorry to be a downer but if this is going to be anything other than v temporary you should defo consider fostering or even rehoming.

Aww they're gorgeous. I wanna cuddle them.

shareacoke - i agree with the stressed answers, if I read your posts correctly this is their third home in a very short space of time? cats are creatures of habit and do not do well with change.

feliway is fantastic and I would also speak to your vet and see if they cam prescribe some calming tablets for them.

make sure they have somewhere they can hide and use treats to coax them into trusting you again.

hope you get sorted soon and they settle down!

Ok litter tray rule is actually 1 tray per cat plus a spare so for 2 cats you need 3 trays, changed regularly. Your cats are definitely BORED! I assume you're feeding them cos they're yowling? They aren't yowling for food - they're yowling for something to do, cats boredom eat too

Activity is super-important - both physical and mental. It's important that you didn't time each actively engaging and playing with them, you can give them dry food from a puzzle feeder (plastic bottle with holes in it the have to bat around to get biscuits) play 'hunt'with a laser pen etc etc. this paper has some useful tips, catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AAFP-and-ISFM-Feline-Environmental-Needs-Guidelines-2013.pdf
good luck!

You can get special indoor dry food - my boys are better on it when they become practically house cats during winter; fewer hair balls

I've found,myself close to tears reading this. I might need to move back into my apartment to sell it but I couldn't have my little Angel. I didn't think of a foster home. That's an option I guess. If you could stand it op maybe a foster home?

Again though where do you find them? It's not as if it would be for a month - six months, maybe a bit longer. And it would freak the cats out!

It's been a difficult time for them but I've done my best.

Do they have a cat jungle gym?

Like this?

It doesn't need to be that elaborate, but somewhere they can climb and/or hide might help them adjust. Have you talked to a vet? They might have some good advice.

Move or rehome them. You can't bring outdoor cats indoors, you were mad to even consider it!

And where do you think a shelter keeps cats? I fostered for years, I often had to keep an outdoor cat in.

OP

You are obviously, in their eyes, evil. Try lots and lots of toys, feeding dry food in the day, pouches only as a meal.

Get some of the toys that you hide cat treats in, or even an old plastic drink bottle with a few holes in so they have to work to get treats.

If you can stand it wrap some pouch food up in grease proof paper and hide it.

Create places for them to roam, so drawers near a wardrobe so they can jump from one to the other. Cardboard boxes with a bit of catnip in, ping pong balls. Are you renting? Swap curtains for some 1970s style ones with the sort of knitted material so they can climb curtains.

felliway diffuser might help.

I have four cats that won't go outside (one of them occasionally jumps out the window to sit in a bush but comes back quickly!).

I have one large cat tree, and two smaller ones. You can get huge floor to ceiling cat trees from eBay for around £50. It gives them space to get away from each other and places to climb. Their beds are also spaced out all over the house so they can have their own space.

They also have a lot of toys, and I give them a good long play every day. Laser pens, strings, feathers, balls, etc.

I would also say you need three litter trays. Another thing to look into is changing the litter? One of my cats will wee and poo on the floor unless I get one specific brand of litter (World's Best Oko Plus)! It covers smells and is flushable.

Feliway is also a good call.

On the food front, that is definitely way too much. If it's a lower quality food they need to eat more of it, so is that the case? I feed mine with high quality dry food (they are not keen on wet food), I leave it out all day and they feed themselves and are all a healthy weight.

Give some of these things a try, I hope they (and you) are happy soon!

They are unhappy obviously. Didn't that occur to you when you moved them from a house to a flat?

They are just adjusting to moving home. I have indoor only cats, too valuable to be allowed to roam. First off pouches cost a fortune, not sure what they are as I don't feed them but at about 50p per sachet that is about 100g, when a 400g tin is under a quid for supermarket brand catfood, feeding pouches gets expensive quickly.

With regards to the litter, try a brand called OKO plus. It is absolutely bloody amazing at odor control. You could also looking at switching to a grain free cat food, cats do not digest grain so it causes bigger, smellier poo.

You could try leaving dry food down, but I don't feed it as cats don't drink enough to compensate for the dry food. Naturally cats should got most of the moisture from their food, and cats fed dry food have higher incidences of urinary tract infections (which you really don't want as it can lead to soiling outside of the tray).

If they soil outside the tray, clean using an enzyme cleaner, standard cleaning stuff doesn't remove everything and if the cat can still smell it they might start to go there again.

Ehric, yes, but I didn't care and I decided not to move to the 4 bedroomed detached house with a big garden I could, obviously, have moved to, just to make the cats miserable.

That was the ONLY reason I moved to the flat.

Thanks, overslept :)

It's just a period of adjustment shareacoke I would feed them less though - for your sanity more than anything else. Or give them a brand they don't like as much so they won't ask for as much, do they eat dry food?

A cat island would be nice so they can climb, gumtree and freecycle often have ones on offer. I bought this play tunnel for mine (I foster and they have to stay indoors for several reasons) www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001Q8MIJ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's a large size, and you can fold it flat when you want your floorspace back!

For a foster home OP, if you were considering that, you could ask your local branch of Cats Protection. They might be able to put you in contact with a former fosterer who would be interested.

OP, my two young, energetic indoor cats love their tall cat tree and love these: www.east2eden.co.uk/shop/product/2862/foldable-pop-up-mesh-laundry-basket-bag-kids-room-toy-tidy-storage-in-4-designs

'Da Bird' is also a godsend - you can get it from amazon.

I have plenty of toy mice around too - I usually wake to about 5 at the foot of the bed :)

They eat loads and litter-changing is a constant job! And they tear around after each other during the early hours - they sound like a herd of elephants! But they're worth it :o

Just keep thinking: 'this is only temporary'!

:)

feliway the flat to pieces it will get better i had indoor cats after one had been outside he was hellish for a month then settled down when we moved he didn't want to go back outside! i had toys in every room dangly things on the kitchen cupboards and all sorts even had a dog style treat ball for them to chase when he refused to settle my older cat (who hated the outdoors with a passion) smacked him a few times it seemed to work

several cardboard boxes, on their sides, might help. Then at least they can get away from each other and feel secure. You need slightly more boxes than cats.

Some cats like a cat-tree, and you can try tying danglers to it.