Frankly, I’d put BAD CAT into a box and ship it to one of those people who think this behavior is adorable. Then I’d go to the humane society and get a cat four or five years old who when you spend time with it at the shelter it cuddles and purrs.
Your other option is to wait for him to grow up a bit. But medicating as you go (do talk to a vet, but my guess is that the benedryl route will be recommended, you need to get the dose from the vet). Its cheap, and I’ve had vet after vet recommend that for cats and dogs (and peditricians recommend it for toddlers when you are ill and they aren’t and you just need to SLEEP).
In the meantime, get a sturdy (can’t knock it over) trash can with a good lid that the cat can’t get into. Put a brick or two in the bottom if you need to to stabilize it - the use liners if you don’t. Go to Target and get a 4 pack of coffee mugs with lids - the adult version of the sippy cup. That will significantly reduce both your pain points - and if not much spills when he knocks over cups, he may get bored with that activity.
IMHO cats are either good or bad. I’ve had my share of bad ones. And its a crap shoot.
I had to get one of those heavy lidded pops-up-with-a-pedal trash cans, because where BAD CATS could not go, BAD DOG could. He figured out knocking over the trash can the first week we had him, despite being one of the dumbest dogs I have ever met.
Seriously, another cat does work. Dewey used to attack my feet at night until we got Edison. Then I cried for a week because I thought I had ruined Dewey’s life because Edison, despite being a little kitten half Dewey’s size, turned out to be a secret asskicker. A month later I caught them curled up together in a basket in a window.
I guess the cat wouldn’t like it. don’t know if it would work as the OP’s cat seems hardy and I haven’t tried it myself; I’ve always just used my own ability to exhale. Someone earlier said it wouldn’t be a good idea as it’s apparently not air but chemicals. Blowing strongly (like you would on a birthday cake with those candles that are a bitch to extinguish) works for all my cats. It’s free, chemical free and you always have it with you when the cat does something it’s not supposed to, unlike a can of compressed air. I think it’s important to make the punishment immediatly follow the undesired behavior since delayed punishment might not be associated with the behavior in the cat’s mind. The association between behavior and slightly delayed punishment is obvious to humans but may not be to a cat.
When they do something I really don’t like, I’ll put a cat under the bath faucet and pour water for a few seconds. It doesn’t stop it from breathing but it never appreciates the shower.
Also, one of my cats has a habit of waking people up by putting its clawed paw into people’s faces in the morning. It tried to do that with me once and I pushed it off the bed very forcefully. That was a decade ago and it hasn’t done it again with me.
Perpetrating this type of cruelty on a household pet is illegal under the laws of most states and Canadian provinces. As the linked cases show, significant damage and injury can indeed be inflicted on a cat by its being thrown against a wall.
You will receive a formal warning for spreading this dangerously ignorant notion. If you continue to promote activities that are not only illegal but downright evil, a Doper with posting privileges is what you will have used to be.
I was going to recommend Cat Drugs (i.e. 'nip), but since you’ve already mentioned BAD CAT just goes on a thing smashing bender, here’s some other suggestions:
Cat-proofing area where BAD CAT lives. Is there somewhere BAD CAT can be sequestered, preferably a porch? Give him more things to play with and areas to explore.
Give BAD CAT a living, non-human companion. Feline ones are preferable, but then you might end up with two BAD CATS on your hands. Has BAD CAT been introduced to dogs yet? Try socializing with dog-owning friends and neighbors and see if you can bring the apocalypse one step closer.
Seek expert opinion on BADCAT training. Cats can be motivated into doing what you want, as long as you know how to bribe it with lots of tuna.
Consider placing BADCAT in a new home. It may just be that BADCAT needs lots of room to run in, perhaps as a mouser. And given the reaction in this thread, I’m sure you’ll find a loving family for BADCAT to live in.
I’m hoping BAD CAT expends his testosterone soon, and becomes the lardy and sleepy neutered male he is. Alternately, he may become an indoor/outdoor cat in the spring so he can run and kill and eat delicious squirrels, not trash.
Blowing on BAD CAT worked, for like a day. We do not and will not throw or hurt BAD CAT. Hiney whapping does not seem to hurt, and has zero effect anyway. Can ‘o pennies, which used to scare the dickens out of my parents’ dog is ignored.
If things get REALLY Bad, BAD CAT will be mailed to Glenn Beck. Postage due, no backsies.
1] Locking stainless steel trash can (I have a BAD DOG and a cat who is energetic and a compulsive overeater, neutering made no difference). There aren’t many on the market and they tend to be expensive, but will last forever.
2] Stop letting this cat run amok and destroy things. Lock him in the bedroom when you’re eating/drinking. If he can destroy the bedroom too, lock him in the bathroom or other cat-proof room. He’ll probably get used to it and stop yowling after a few days.
3] Give him more structured play to wear him out, and ways to entertain himself. Perhaps stop putting kibble out for him and get something like this instead.
4] Operant conditioning. Learn to use it.
I don’t agree with the suggestion to get another cat. It doesn’t always help undesirable behaviors, it often just creates more chaos. My cats like each other well enough but they do more damage on their nightly crazed chase around my apartment than the first cat did before I got the other to try and wear her out.
It depends on the behaviors as to whether another cat would help, IMHO - Dewey’s foot attacking behavior was really “wrestle with my brothers” misdirected. So when we got Edison, he became less human-centered (sad) but happier (glad). So now they groom each other and wrestle in equal measure. Other behaviors and other cats may differ.
Some cats just have a need to be BADCATS. It feeds their sense of autonomy or something. One way to deal with this: upgrade certain behaviours that are actually just mildly naughty to BAD. Convince the cat that he is breaking the rules when he is only rattling them and both of you will be much happier. My Vespa was sure he was being very very bad when he attacked my indestrucible potentilla bush out in the garden. He thought it was quite naughty to jump up on the computer table demanding a fuss. Perhaps you should buy some new toys and tell BADCAT he is not allowed to play with them…
This just made my jaw drop. With awe. He sounds like the greatest kitten ever!
I had a cat that performed many shenanigans when a kitten. Things we still talk about. His kittenhood also seemed to last a really long time. But he never got into the ceiling panels.
This cat had to be an indoor/outdoor cat, as he insisted on tearing through screens if we would not let him out. This continued until he was a very old cat. Also, as an indoor/outdoor cat, he cost a small fortune at the vet’s, including the time we thought he was actually going to lose most of his tail because he caught a squirrel (squirrel not happy).
You know how some dogs chase cars? This cat chased kids on bicycles.
He got a lot calmer (but not completely calm) at about 2 years. He was also really good with little kids. Very gentle, allowed himself to be a pillow, etc.
Your bad cat sounds like my adorable kitty. He’s forced me to become a better housekeeper: I don’t leave food out on the table, spend a lot of time wiping liquids, and garbage goes from a container in closed cupboards with kiddy locks. I’ve cleared surfaces. My books are getting a bit of damage,too.
Oh yeah, he HATES kids. He doesn’t run away from them like my previous cat who preferred to avoid them. He attacks! He used to bite and scratch like mad, would not tolerate being held or petted, not even by me.
When he reached the age of 7 months, I started asking nearby shelters for an active, spunky young female. I got Ziva, a bossy calico who is so active that she tires him out! Her faults: they haven’t invited a water bowl or water distribution system that she won’t outwit in order to get said water to the floor. She doesn’t bury her faeces, but as one of Loki’s qualities is fastidiousness, he rushes to her litterbox to bury whatever she’s left there.
BTW, Loki, my male cat, is also very sweet. When it suits him.
My cat Boris is mostly miserable. he gets pissed off easy. I feed him on my computer desk because the beagles will eat his food if they can reach it. But if the bowl has the wrong food or not enough, he will shove it on the floor. Then he will shove everything on the floor. Then I have to clean up . He is a big cat and and purrs like a baby when he gets petted. He will let you know when it is petting time. If at 4am he will jump on top of me in bed and wait til i start petting. He will not take no . He lays in the middle of the front room floor and smacks it when a dog comes by. Lucky he is declawed.
Cats are strange animals.
For the garbage problem you need to 1) get a latchable garbage can or a latchable cabinet and 2) quit letting him climb all over your kitchen.
For the spilling problem you need to stop letting him get near your drinks.
The way to stop him is to scruff him when he climbs all over the kitchen/gets near your drinks. Every time. Carry him elsewhere and put him down. Do not yell, do not get angry. A cat does not give a shit if you are angry, it just thinks you are a jerk. For level 10 violations you need to scruff him and tap him on the nose, then remove him to elsewhere. Do not strike him on the nose, tap him. With two fingers on the bridge of his nose.
It will take a long time to convince him that you mean it.
In the mean time, stop your kids from hauling him around and otherwise abusing him. What he does to you is no worse than what they do to him. He won’t appreciate it, cats don’t appreciate being protected as dogs and people do; but he will be happier and will be able to relax a bit.
And get three toys: a ball that you can put kibble in that he can get out by batting it around (or a paper towel roll with kibble in it that you stop up the ends with tape, leaving a small hole so he has to work to get it out); a laser to chase; and a kitty hunter/fishing rod with feathers on the end. Play with him with the last two every day and leave the first one when you are not there. Rotate his toys and never let him have two at a time.
Also, you might want to reflect on the ways in which you are encouraging your cat to act like this – cats read mixed emotions better than you might imagine and respond to them also.
Get a copy of “The New Natural Cat” and also read it. It will give you some insight into how to deal with your cat.
Hah! Quit letting him climb all over your kitchen. That’s a good one! Seriously, I tried sssscat mats (which are actually pretty dang effective), aluminum foil, sticky tape, and all other sorts of deterents but when the cats want to be on top of the stove they will find a way to get up there no matter what.
I would say for climbing issues the sssscat mat or the sssscat air can is probably the most effective way to keep them down but it isn’t a 100% thing. For the drinks I have a kitty who did this same thing and still does on very rare occasions. The way we solved the problem was for about a year we drank out of water bottles with caps. After he realized that knocking stuff over never let the liquid inside run wild and free he started leaving them alone.
Seriously. I have had cats and bred cats and worked for the Humane Society and therefore had foster cats living with me for various reasons. And they can all be taught not to climb all over your kitchen. Cats are smart. You can teach them damn near anything.
Only, you have to treat them like cats. Not like dogs and not like people.
Never used a scat mat though, nor an air can. Double sided sticky tape on occasion for a stud cat with territory issues.
Meow