What do you do if your cat is a little terror who rips furniture & carpet, chews plants & smashes vases?

Question

She also starts fights with the other cats, runs up and down the stairs chasing her all night, harasses her for her food and loses all her toys?

She also tried shredding and knocking down the window screen when a male cat came up to her at night, curious. She nearly took his eye out twice.

Answer 1

lol i think u have my ozzy cat reincarnated.... he was the kitten that drove his first owners nuts... and sometimes his second... he loved to climb the door ways.....i put carpet up my one door way so it became his climbing one and scratching one.... however my door way is clawed up and has nails all in it i didn't care but u might so get or build a tall scratching post maybe with shelfs... to perch on ..(even if ya get a small one) evertime the cat scratchs something u don't want it to say NO and put it in front of it new post or hay spray bottles work for most unless your is as nuts as mine was and think its a great bath.....

the fighting need to stop..how long have u had this cat

Answer 2

Get your cat altered (Spayed if it's a female, neutered if it's a male). This usually puts a stop to a lot of hormonally-driven behaviors such as wanting to get out and otherwise being a 'terror'.

Then, once your cat is altered, purchase some nail caps for your cat to save your furniture and carpets from those claws. The nail caps are soft caps that go over the claw and prevent scratching without having to resort to something as severe as surgery (whereupon the cat will have an entire knuckle removed---not just the claw, as some people seem to think).

Next, purchase a spray bottle and fill it with water. Everytime your cat does something she shouldn't...spray her with a quick spray of water and tell her 'No'. That should dissuade her from engaging in that behavior. Of course it varies on how receptive some cats are to that manner of training.

Good luck.

Answer 3

ok the multiple cat issue is territorial especially around feeding time. try to keep their food bowls separated or if not possible, then feed at different times and keep separated until the victim cat has finish eating its initial session at his food bowl. As for socially training the two cats to live peacefully, I believe that cats can learn these animal instinctive cues from each other. It takes time for cats to cultivate successful live-in relationships, just like roommates!

If the terrorizor has singular behavioral issues you need to train her not to be so destructive and "wild", before something really bad happens to her, like a vase falling and breaking her neck. Be careful that you don't discipline the wrong cat though at night in the dark ;)...Buy a 99 cent plastic water gun for kids. When she does something bad like the climbing, jumping, out of control nonsense, you need to verbally let her know thats not cool by saying "hey" or "yo" or "no," firm but not screaming volume. if the cat doesn't comply then squirt the gun in the direction of the cat, never in the face, so the water arcs over top of the animal, not injuring it, also so it doesn't start becoming frightened of you. LESS IS MORE. One squirt should get the desired effect as cats hate the feeling of water on their backs. This has been successful for me with my cat who is five.

Last thing, don't forget to PRAISE THE CAT when it listens to you. This cements the trust between cat and human owner.

Answer 4

for the fighting and tom cat is she spayed yet? that might help there. as far as the plants, we can't have them at home here because our cat eats them. she destroyed my favorite spider plant. you can try planting her a little pot of ktty grass. the shredding we never had to deal with because where we lived when we got her the rule was spay/declaw at 6 months. sounds like your kitty full of energy and absolutely adorable. she must be a cutie. for some reason after reading the description i could just see this little cat getting into all this mischeif then looking up at you with those big loving eyes as if to say" who me?"

Answer 5

get her declawed...try teaching her what is good and bad. A cat will fight with other cats. Try getting a scratching pad or something for her to scratch. Maybe also a toy of her own so maybe she has something so she wont harass the other cats as much.

Answer 6

I would fill up a squirt bottle w/a mild dose of vinegar and water and zap her with it whenever you see her doing something bad. This is conditional learning. It sounds cruel...but it's better than a lot of more evasive alternatives...

Answer 7

o dear naughty kitty spray her with water and say no! sharply shut her downstairs at night and/or kp in seperate rooms with a litter tray, get her spayed if u havent done so and the others too!

Answer 8

Sounds like my cat...When you find out; short of breaking its neck let me know.