Why are my roomates cats INSANE?!?

Question

I just moved to NYC and thought living with a roomate with cats would be fine- though I don't enjoy them, I don't hate them. Well we live in a small apt with 3 ppl and she has two cats - we have our own rooms - but her cats have TAKEN OVER the gd apt. I am so annoyed - they go to the highest of places and knock over full wine bottles - roll the entire roll of toilet paper off of the thing - destroy any sort of napkin or papertowel left out in the kitchen - if I leave my bedroom door open they dart in and hide under my bed and I can't have them in there because they will scratch my comfortor apart. They are not declawed - they ruined our entire carpet - they scratch everything - they fight each other all night long - and always push their damn toys under my door into my room at night -w aking me up.

Why are they so insane? Is this normal? It's like I don't have an apt - they own it. I don't know what to do - suggestions? plz no - "love cats, they're awesome" real advice plz.

Answer 1

Your room mate's cats aren't insane - SHE IS! For allowing her cats to take over the apartment without any consideration for her human companions.

The cats should be neutered, if they aren't already, and the cats should be kept IN HER ROOM all night, so that they don't disturb the other people sharing the apartment.

This room mate needs to have the boundaries of all the other room mates defined to her - she obviously hasn't a clue, or doesn't care, about how her cats are affecting everyone.

Have you talked to your other room mates? To get their opinions about the cats' behavior? It sounds to me as though you should all get together and have a meeting - a meeting where everyone gets to express his/her objections concerning the cats, and you all should come up or at least discuss what the cats' boundaries in the apartment are.

For instance, I think the cats should stay in your room mate's room at night - starting at 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. or even earlier. That way, at least the rest of your room mates and you can get some peace and quiet while you are sleeping.

If there isn't a door on your kitchen, I suggest that all of you chip in and get a screen/gate from your local pet supply store that you can affix to the doorway of the kitchen - thus, keeping the cats out so that they don't jump up on the counters, knock over things, etc. It is not sanitary for the cats to be allowed to walk on the kitchen counters or table, if you have one - think of it - the cats use a litter box, and they will be tracking cat litter where ever they go. That includes the kitchen and the counters. Not sanitary.

I could go on and on, but those are my thoughts.

If the cat owner will not cooperate with her room mates in curtailing the cats' behavior, and will not discipline them or prevent them from destroying things in your shared areas of the apartment, I suggest you move. This situation will only get worse, if the cat owner does not stop the annoying and destructive behavior of the cats.

Good luck!

P.S. Does the cat owner keep the litter box in her room? Or is it kept in another shared room mate place like the bathroom? I think the litter box should be kept in HER room, not in a shared space the other room mates use.

Answer 2

Pound on her door until she opens it up. Tell her she has one week to neuter the cat and pay for food an litter, or you will take the cat to the shelter for neglect (which she is doing if she is not providing food and litter for it) Do this every day- count down. If she doesn't give in, the day before the deadline, can you call the landlord and tell them that her cat is destroying the house by spraying because she won't neuter it and that there is a noise complaint because it is in heat (or whatever male cats do) and so it is yowling. See if the landlord will make mandatory neuter part of the "pet agreement". If all else fails call the pound and tell them that she is neglecting her pet by not feeding it or watering it (maybe move the food and water into your room and keep your cat in there for a day or two so this is true), and if they think you should bring it in. I'd just leave the fact that you have a cat that you are taking care of out. *if she yells at you, just talk through it and walk away, or leave a note on her door- it's her problem if she ignores it. She's been warned. If she is that nuts I'd call the landlord and say she is causing problems for all the room mates and see if you can have the landlord talk to her of evict her.

Answer 3

First, the cats are behaving like cats. Second, their unwelcomed behaviors have been allowed to go without being either modified or prevented by their owner and since it's up to her to do so all you can do is take preventive measures....keep wine bottles where they can't be knocked over....keep paper products in cabinets....get a tension baby gate and place it infront of your close door at night preventing their close access to it, and be extra carefull when opening and closing your bedroom door. Keep your valuables in your room , do not go 'in' on furnishing any common rooms thus saving your money from being wasted on cat damage items. if you can't then think about another room mate or another apartment....remember tho, any damage to the apartment is their owner's responsibility and should be delt with accordingly when it comes time to leave the apartment-within the confines of the lease/law. There is no excuse for a pet owner to let their furry companions run amuck.Good Luck

Answer 4

It is normal cat stuff. Sounds like your roomie has let it go too far. Try to keep your door shut all the time and express to their human that you think they are being destructive. This sounds like the cats have not been spayed or neutered. I would bring this up to your friend as a behavioural solution. A lot of people think that declawing is inhumane so she probably won't be open to that. Other than that, all you really can do is keep your space "yours." Sometimes that's tough when you live with devout pet owners who see their pets as a person. If it's that bad you may want to consider other living arrangements for the future. The best you can do for now is get a t.p. holder and keep the counters and cabinets and tables.... clear of anything of yours you would like to keep from harm. Anything fabric of yours keep in your closed up room. Good luck, I can totally sympathize.

Answer 5

I didn’t read anything abnormal. The one thing I see is that your home is in need of several scratching posts. There is never a need to declaw a cat to save furniture, just teach them to use the posts.

Cats are nocturnal.
Cats are natural hunters. Putting a toy under your door is a game because then they have to reach under to get it. Mine are forever kocking things under furniture.
Cats make their own toys. If these like paper, keep the bathroom door closed and don’t leave napkins out.
Lastly, cats can be @--holes. I think that some of them know when there’s someone around that really hates them, and they’re probably getting some kind of pleasure out of torturing you.

Answer 6

Sounds like normal cats to me! Cats are just insane - some people like some people don't. You could get a scratching post that is of the same or similar material that they seem to like to scratch, or you could offer to pay for half or all of their front declaw-al. Also, if they are not neutered, that could help them to relax a bit. To prevent the toys under the door - try getting one of those "snake" looking things that go at the bottem of a door to prevent drafts. That should keep them from being able to push the toys out. ALso, I think online I have seen systems that you can set up to keep animals off of the couch. It works with sound I think. Perhaps you could get one to set up to keep them out of your room. For the Toilet paper take a piece of yard and tie it perpindicular to the roll, Paper can still be pulled out for human use, but not for cat fun.
As for the wine bottles - get a wine rack either one that goes on top of the fridge or a stand up one, and don't leave open wine bottles on the counter.

HTH
Sarah

Answer 7

They're only doing half the stuff a ferret would. Be very grateful the room mate doesn't have ferrets!!!!

A squirt bottle will get them out of your room easily, even when they're under the bed. They key onto certain words so if you say 'out out' as you're doing it, they'll run and leave the room just at the words fairly quickly. Get yourself a 'draft dodger' for the bottom of the door, put it there when you close the door to sleep, and no toys will be shoved under it.

They sound like young cats, very high energy. No, they're not insane.

Answer 8

There are caps you can put on cats claws now if the person is against declawing them... The cats don't even notice them once they get used to the change.

They sound like kittens or young cats if they are that active since most cats sleep about 18-20 hours of the day. In which case they would grow out of it...

You could also use certain sprays on your door that are not detectable by humans but that cats tend to dislike, to keep them away from your room at least...

Answer 9

These are normal cats, normal behaviour for cats and there is nothing your roommate can do about it. Cats are not trainable like dogs and nothing is going to make it better.

You really only have two choices - accept them for what they are and leave your bedroom closed or find yourself another apartment and another roommate and learn from the experience. You will never be a cat lover and there is nothing wrong with that.

Good luck with a difficult decision.

Answer 10

Well yes it is normal for the fact that cats are hunters and they get the extra energy stored and they need to get it out somehow. but what i can help you with is not to calm them down but to keep them away from things you dont want them to be near like counter tops, the top part where you said they brake wine bottles, and this can be done with just spraying anything that smells like orange. Cats hate that smell, dont know why but they do and it works for me i keep them away from the kitchen. LOL. but yea this works when your not home and use a spray bottle with water to wet them when they do things you dont want them to and they will learn. hope this helps..