# Restless Cat Syndrome **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957 "2010-10-22T00:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/1 "2010-10-22T00:03:09Z")
I’ve got myself a restless cat named [Becket](http://picasaweb.google.com/colinemcbride/July2010#5495448832378247458). He’s a generally well-behaved, not-quite-two-years-old tabby that I adopted with his littermate sister ([Ellie](http://picasaweb.google.com/colinemcbride/July2010#5495448858117891650)). He’s always been an active little guy, which is fine by me as it keeps him in shape and can be fun. Lately, though, I’ve had some issues with him and need a little advice. The last couple of weeks, when I get home from work (roughly 5:45 pm), he’ll be fine for a while but eventually will start to act restless. He’ll walk near the entryway of my apartment, put his front legs up on the wall like he wants to climb it, and meow. Repeatedly. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s wrong - I’m assuming it’s primarily boredom and a need for attention as I usually grab the laptop and head for the couch when I get home. So the answer’s simple, right? Pay attention to him. Well, I try to give him affection - not working. Not interested. So I try to play with him, like tossing his toy mice around, or working the wand. He’s half-interested, sometimes plays along, sometimes doesn’t. He loses interest pretty quickly but still will follow me around and rub against my legs as I walk around. I suppose I could get new batteries for the laser pointer, which he has always loved. I might try that. But yeah, aside from that idea, I don’t know what to do. I can tell that he wants something but I just can’t figure out what it is or how to meet that need. Maybe he’s bored with the toys he has? I’m guessing the problem isn’t medical as he’s fine most of the time, he just has patches of this behavior. I moved into a new apartment over Labor Day weekend and he (and his sister) have actually seemed happier here than at the old place. I took him to the vet this summer for a check-up and he was in perfect health at the time. No food changes, no changes in litterbox habits, same feeding schedule as usual. Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do to take care of it? And for good measure, [here](http://picasaweb.google.com/colinemcbride/July2010#5495448850025612562) is another picture of him. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/2 "2010-10-22T00:22:18Z")
He wants you to open the magic door in the wall that leads to Neverwhere. You can interface that, can’t you? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/3 "2010-10-22T00:28:20Z")
I think your place is haunted. It’s okay, my house seems to be too, at least judging by how [Sheamus](http://threateningloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/08/random-photos.html) behaves in the screenhouse sometimes: he goes over to the corner, stares fixedly through the kitchen window and howls like he’s being tortured. This makes me get up to see if someone is in the kitchen, but there never is. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/4 "2010-10-22T01:30:45Z")
He’s doing his job as the master of the house. He’s claiming his territory and keeping intruders away. Without his yowling, anyone could just walk in and take over, and you and your loved ones would be out on the street. So show some gratitude. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/5 "2010-10-22T01:35:15Z")
He wants to visit the great outdoors. He knows there are things out there because he can see and hear them and smell them. He wants to touch them. You can bring him outside on a leash or in your arms and gradually introduce him to the outside world. My cats adore going out on my deck in hopes that they will catch a bird. It’s never happened in 8 years though. Two have jumped to the ground but they learned right quickly that it is not a good idea so now I can trust them out there on their own. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/6 "2010-10-22T01:50:12Z")
My cats act like that when another cat is outside the door, like under the carport or whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/7 "2010-10-22T02:31:44Z")
This is a pretty good piece. I’d only add that in addition to rotating his toys, buy new ones periodically. Santa has brought my cat about a gobzillion toys over the years, so that she only sees a particular toy once in a good while. [How to Play With Your Cat](http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/play_with_cat.htm) ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/8 "2010-10-22T02:33:20Z")
Maybe he saw a spider crawl up the wall and keeps going back to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/9 "2010-10-22T02:58:38Z")
The standard answers: 1. Ghosts 2. rodents in the walls 3. cats is weird. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/10 "2010-10-22T03:10:52Z")
Give them two or three cardboard boxes, with a few cut-out holes in the larger ones. A decent-sized box with two or three cutouts on its sides becomes a fort, with territories (the top, the interior) to be seized and guarded… and a large shoebox is as precious in its square inches as prime Manhattan real estate. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/11 "2010-10-22T04:00:07Z")
I also think he wants to go out. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/12 "2010-10-22T08:52:26Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > Give them two or three cardboard boxes, with a few cut-out holes in the larger ones. A decent-sized box with two or three cutouts on its sides becomes a fort, with territories (the top, the interior) to be seized and guarded… and a large shoebox is as precious in its square inches as prime Manhattan real estate. Or put a paper bag on its side, if you don’t have any boxes handy. I’ve had cats attempt to crawl into an 8" X 5" paper bag, and then panic when their flat furry heads get stuck in the bag. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/13 "2010-10-22T09:57:41Z")
IMHO he wants to go out. Some/many cats need more then a indoor environment. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/14 "2010-10-22T13:53:10Z")
We have an orange tabby that does this, and nowhere near the door. It’s an attention-getting ploy. Additionally,orange tabbies, from other owner’s comments, appear to be rather high energy, a bit aggressive about attention, and have some strange ways of communicating. Every time he does this he gets attention from you, right? So it works! We don’t, of course, let any of our cats outside. We want our beloved kitties around a long time, not a few days. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/15 "2010-10-22T22:31:18Z")
I may have to pick up some new toys, move those in, and move the current ones into temp storage to see if that works. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/16 "2010-10-22T23:16:43Z")
Yes, you don’t want your cat to become [complacent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Je1CEPkUM). Pretty fuzzers! ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/17 "2010-10-23T00:54:16Z")
He’s excited that you’re home after being alone all day. You may also notice that after he goes to the litterbox he calms right down. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/18 "2010-10-23T01:20:26Z")
I vote for resurrecting the laser pointer. If he’s always been really active with it, he probably misses it and needs the exercise. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/19 "2010-10-23T04:01:13Z")
I got a new laser pointer tonight that he played with for a while, but then got bored again. I’ll keep trying. In the meantime, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDZZNICS4dI) is what happens when he gets bored. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-cat-syndrome/557957/20 "2010-10-23T05:36:47Z")
Becket needs a kitten to play with. Or possibly a puppy. Or get a hamster, in a cage, and Becket can watch the hamster. The hamster won’t mind or feel threatened, hamsters are DUMB.