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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

My cat has turned into a right dick

67 replies

BigPawsBrown · 01/12/2013 18:29

I got a rescued ginger tom (8kg) in 2011. He is between four and six. I have posted about him before, eating cheesecakes and dining out at the neighbours.

Over the summer, he had a very hard time at the vet's. He wouldn't get in the box and then he reacted to the routine vaccination (diagnosed with feline hyperaesthesia) and had to have morphine. All fine within a week.

In the early autumn my neighbours texted me and told me he'd been spending lots of time there. He'd not been eating so much here but had been gaining weight. They wouldn't stop feeding him bloody Dreamies so we decided to keep him in. I am sure even if they would stop, he would find someone else to feed him.

His personality has totally changed since he met these neighbours (and napped with them in their bed Confused), or maybe since the vet's, and has got worse since he became a house cat.

He has always been very clingy, always in same room as me, has weird very loud howling episodes when we leave him to go to bed even though he sleeps with us!! Every night it's like he forgets where we've gone, thinks he's been abandoned, then finds us when we call Hmm

He's also got issues with food. He's like a dog - will eat whatever we put down and eats it all in under ten seconds then burps, sometimes voms, and eats that

He's also dominant, will sit higher than us and square up to us etc. When I get in from work he wants to be cuddles with his arms around my neck and he shakes and cries and purrs and kneads me. It's like bloody attachment cat parenting!

Now, though, he's a million times worse. He's on two pouches of whiskas a day as he is overweight (not as overweight as he sounds at 8kg - he is two feet long, massive paws etc). He shouts at us all evening on the coffee table. He attacks things all the time and chases bits of fluff round in manner of something from exorcist. My niece grabbed a packet of his food and he properly squared up to her til she dropped it.

He is obsessed with meals, gets on kitchen counters despite shouts, patrols his food cupboard, licks old plates on the side Hmm, comes running from downstairs if a fork chinks a plate, skidding into the room with food in, squares up to guests who go in his places and bites me when I put his food down.

He's driving us nuts. He meows constantly!! What can we do?

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BigPawsBrown · 01/12/2013 19:14

Gosh thanks so much for advice!!

I don't know how to discipline him because he isn't arsed about loud noises or water spray. If I bonk him on the nose he hits me back.

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BigPawsBrown · 01/12/2013 19:15

Oh, he goes in the box bum first but even when swaddled he was halfway in and he broke free and climbed up my body like a rabid crocodile or something. He's a horror show!! Grin

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SecretSantaFix · 01/12/2013 19:17

He sounds like a character.

I wish I had something constructive to volunteer but my cats are freaks and get into the baskets by themselves when it is Vet time

With the vets and getting him in the box, could you put some treats in it and just shove him in when he searches them out?

RandomMess · 01/12/2013 19:18

Get a kitten to terroise him Grin

BigPawsBrown · 01/12/2013 19:18

No - he's very long so gets to the back of the box with only his front legs in. If I push him he simply reverses/swipes at me. I thought treats would be the best motivator too but now he won't go anyway near the box!

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Fluffycloudland77 · 01/12/2013 19:22

You can leave the box out so he gets used to it.

I back my cat into a corner of the ensuite and scoop him into the box pushing his bum in with the door.

bundaberg · 01/12/2013 19:34

get a crate that opens at the top

TheCrumpetQueen · 01/12/2013 19:57

He's beautiful.

When I fed my cats whiskers they got very greedy and would want to eat all the time. I'm sure they put something in it.

I now feed them science plan which is dear but they are satisfied after a little bit.

Lonecatwithkitten · 01/12/2013 20:49

Having seen your comment about how long he is. I would get a dog crate rather than a cat box where he can travel in comfort.
I clap hands in my cats faces (don't touch them) when they are being bad. Even super aggressive posh arrogant boy responds to this and I have no doubt he would bop me if I bopped him.
I do think if you try everything I have suggested together a consistent and combine approach will work.

crazynanna · 01/12/2013 20:52

I think my girl has that feline hyperaesthesia thing.

She licks her back near her tail. her body sort of ripples, and then she fires off at 100mph.

Is it a dangerous thing?

SecretSantaFix · 01/12/2013 21:30

Maybe you need a dog crate for him?

BigPawsBrown · 01/12/2013 22:20

Thanks so much for all helpful advice. Will implement it all!

No feline hyperaesthesia just means they are over sensitive and will sometimes behave as if being attacked. They think it may come from trauma.

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ohfourfoxache · 02/12/2013 11:48

He is GORGEOUS! And huge! And I say that as the "owner" slave of a 6.5kg tabby boy.

Yo made a very good point up thread - it may well be that he has a thyroid imbalance. Our old cat had this for many years (remained undiagnosed Hmm ) and she absolutely ballooned - she had a very small frame but she was mahoosive. She just would not stop eating, and the neighbours told us that she would visit them and scare their cat away whilst she tucked into the other cat's food.

That said, although he is obviously a very big cat, he also seems to be very muscly and probably has lots of energy to burn. Lovely's laser pen idea is really good - minimal human effort, maximum cat enjoyment Grin

HellonHeels · 02/12/2013 12:01

A few practical tips:

leave his carrier out; put a few treats in it every day, praise him and give him a treat if he goes near it or gets in it - positive vibes needed for the carrier.

If he's been an outdoor cat and is now an indoor cat, he will feel a bit mental. Give him a good 5 - 10 minute play session twice a day to stop him being bored.

I second the suggestion to have a treat ball / food ball - put his dry food in it so he has to make an effort to get the food (just like those wildlife parks hiding meat in trees for their big cats - it's an enrichment activity!)

I had a lot of success with my clingy, neurotic boy cat by giving him a Zylkene supplement www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/p-1431-zylkene.aspx

HellonHeels · 02/12/2013 12:06

oh just saw Fluffycloudland already suggested Zylkene, sorry! Do give it a go though.

Has he got some high up spaces he can jump up to and nice comfy spots near a window? I have two indoor cats and they love to lounge on a cardboard box, comfortably located next to a radiator and by a window. They run to the window any time there's any activity outside. Nosy!

Indoor cats (especially clever ones and it sounds like he is a clever boy) need a lot of mental stimulation. They also need good hiding and observing points and like a high up spot to sit in.

boofted · 02/12/2013 12:50

He is gorgeous!!! Your post made me laugh a lot. Grin He looks like 2 of my cats who are also very similar in nature to yours and have recently been put on a diet by their vet, who never gave them treats when they were there!!! Angry Her stand in vet does. They like her better.

HellonHeels · 02/12/2013 13:32

I have to say though, that two pouches of whiskas a day does NOT sound a lot. He must be starving poor thing Sad

VenusDeWillendorf · 02/12/2013 14:00

Whiskas has caffeine in it.

Try and wean him onto raw meat - ground up rabbit with bones in is excellent, and a complete diet. Worldsway food is perfect, and economical too as they only eat as much as they need of raw food.

You should see his behaviour calm down too.

Whiskas is like crack to them, and it's also full of shite cereal and preservatives that he may have an allergy to.

BigPawsBrown · 02/12/2013 16:05

I bought him a laser pen on my lunch hour. V excited to see what he makes of it. He also has a wind up mouse to chase and a wooden cube with balls inside to put treats in but they're for Christmas

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Fluffycloudland77 · 02/12/2013 16:10

My cats getting sod all for Christmas. Careful with the laser pointer, mine figured it out after a week and started looking into the laser.

Then you have to fret that you've burnt the cats retinas out or whatever laser pointers do to eyes.

patienceisvirtuous · 02/12/2013 16:18

Has he got a big cat tree to go wild on? My indoor cat is like tarzan swinging on hers :D

Someone has already suggested my proposed solution - get a kitten to keep him company double trouble

He's gorgeous btw!

piratecat · 02/12/2013 16:20

he sounds like my friend's cat, i'm looing after him at the moment at mine!

he's 9kg, but 15yrs old now.

Try Hills science diet food, and stick to the portions. Don't give in. Let him out, as my friend's cat has slowly got bigger and bigger from lack of exercise in his old age.

Tell the neighbour to NOT feed him.

If he get's too much, shove him in the kitchen. Ignore. They are masters of trickery and heat string pulling. I often find myself on auto piot going to the cupboard to give him some biscuits with my boy when he is yowling, he is a greedy git

out2lunch · 02/12/2013 16:34

we have a huge great ginger crazy bully.he has been the same since he was tiny but was v v ill a few years ago on drip at vets - never been the same since.
I agree with your vets diagnosis op.

BigPawsBrown · 03/12/2013 15:02

Today he's pulled the bin over. Or pushed it.I am unclear. He got some roast chicken bones out of the bin and hissed at me when I took them off him (while purring).

photo of incriminating evidence

Last night he got so wound up about the laser toy that he shat himself (in litter) and spent the rest of the night quivering in my arms, too scared to walk across the living room floor.

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Fluffycloudland77 · 03/12/2013 15:36

I don't take too much notice of hissing, if you watch cat fights a lot (which courtesy of our cat I do) it's a fairly low grade threat, like growling.

He was probably thinking "ffs that's the nearest I've got to a treat all day and they take it off me".

Have you spoken to the neighbours recently? Are they asking where he went?