Naughty and Noisy Cat

My cat sounds very similar and it makes me crazy! For the crying for food I would put him in time out just like my kids. I would either put him in his cat carrier or downstairs. Seemed to work just fine but took some time. For the counters, just put some tape sticky side up around the countertop--works like a charm!!!

She most likely has a thryoid conditon this happens all the time and that is whyshe is so hungry also how much are you feeding her of the can?
J.

A spray bottle full of water may help, but be warned he will retaliate! As for keeping him off the counters when you are away, there is really only one way to do that. Get a pet carrier for night time and away time. After I had kids all the pets had to go. I know it sounds insensitive to the pet lovers out there but it just got to be too much!

K.,
I so totally sympathize with you! We have a cat who meows constantly and wakes us up several times EVERY night! I can't tell you how many times I have thrown up my arms in disgust and vowed never to own another cat. And I am a devout animal lover.

The only thing I have found that somewhat combats the bad behavior is the spray bottle with water. Now, when I simply pick up the bottle, our cat retreats because he knows what is coming. At first I thought this was mean, but the constant meowing was making me so very crazy that I had to do something. This worked, and fast. As for the counters, try double sided tape or aluminum foil on the countertop. But, really, when you are not around they will get up there. They know what they can get away with!

Best of luck. I feel your pain...
T.

I agree with the water bottle thing - though, i can't say this will cure him 100%. Our cat would jump on top of the fridge from the counter - lotta fun getting him down from there!

I wouldn't necessarily go by what the bag says.. after all some cats are 4 lbs, my fatty was near 20. he needed more food than a 4 lb cat. he had a little pouch, but he was just a big cat.. not necessarily a fat one.

If you're concerned about weight, don't feed wet food at all. It's also really bad for their teeth. crunching a dry diet helps to keep plaque from getting out of hand. I would suggest the Iams brand. I managed a pet store for a while, and this was our food of choice. They have an 'Indoor Weight & hairball care' variety now.

Good luck to you.

check out Iams website - they have lots of info there on diet and other things too.

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=DHP

~J.~

I used to have a cat (he stays at my mom's now because our dog got too mean to the cat), and there are a few ways of keeping them off the counter: you can get a spray bottle and put it to stream (not spritz) and when he jumps onto the counters you can spray him - he'll associate the water with being on the counter and will want to stay off (the same can be done with putting some rocks in an emptied out can from veggies - shake it & make the loud noise each time he gets on the counters), if that doesn't work you can put tin foil around the counters - cat's cannot get a grip on it & they don't like the noise it makes (and you can put some water drops on the foil as well).
As far as eating - we ALWAYS had enough dry food and fresh water out for the cat & then only once a day we gave our cat wet food (this helped with preventing hairballs). You can also talk to your vet about how he's always crying because he's always hungry - they may be able to recommend different food or another route to go.

Ok... I know this is going to sound awful but my sister and a friend of mine have done this for several different reasons. Both have large dogs who can get up on the counters and they both have cats who do the same. My sisters cat actually ended up with minor burns on her paws from stepping on one of those flat electric stoves. The one cat and all the dogs go in the garbage and tear everything out looking for goodies and the one cat also gets into the dirty diaper can pulling out poopy diapers! Ewwwwwwwww!

They both used mouse traps!!!! Now I thought this was cruel until I saw how much paper towel they wrapped around the metal piece that would smoosh a mouse. I still said that has got to hurt if they get caught in it- she did a demonstration with her fingers and not even a flinch- I did flinch from the noise though! I still did not believe her until her 10 year old daughter showed me- she was just like me and thought Mommy was killing the animals with it! lol She did it and showed me not a single bit of pain! None of their total of 7 animals have gotten caught in them but it has kept them out of the garbage and off the counters and out of a diaper pail as well! It took a little patience and about 10 popped mouse traps but the noise is what scares them. My sister still leaves them on the counter not set just as a GO AHEAD AND TRY IT! type thing! They mostly has this problem when they were in the other room or when they were out.

As for the meowing- No clue! I hope you find the trick that works for you on both things! I can only imagine how frustrating it has got to be!
Many blessings!

Hi, K.. I had an overweight cat who also liked to wake people up early to get fed. Not by meowing, but by actually waking people up by walking on them, licking them, etc. She lived with my mom for a while, and I think since my mom woke up early to go to work, she was just used to getting fed early. When I bought my house and was able to take the cat, she learned really fast that I wake up when I want to (I worked evenings and my daughter was in PM kindergarten). She eventually got used to it and stopped trying to wake me up. Do you keep a spray bottle nearby? I would keep the bedroom door open so he's not rattling the door (my kittens do that whenever the door is closed and that drives me insane), and if he starts meowing for food, spray him with water. He'll go away and start learning not to meow while you're sleeping.

Is your cat an outdoor cat? I learned this the hard way with my overweight cat, but he may have worms. My cat was an indoor cat. One morning I woke up to her vomiting a couple worms. She was always so hungry, but I controlled what she ate. I couldn't understand why she was still so fat when she was already treated for worms 3 times the year before and was finally given a clean bill of health. I would have him checked for that, because worms can come in on your shoe or, if you have a dog, on your dog. And they eat all your cat's food, so it will make him hungry again in a short time. I hope that's not the case, though.

About jumping on the counter, I heard that cats don't like aluminum foil. So if you tape a sheet down so it's loose enough to crinkle when he jumps up, that might start keeping him away. One of my aunts also told me to take a shallow pan (like a cookie sheet that has sides on it), put some water in it, and set it on the counter. The cat will jump into the pan (if you put it where he usually jumps up there) of water. This will begin to deter him because he can't see if that pan is on the counter or not. So it becomes "risky" for him to jump up there once he's gotten a taste of jumping into the water. I tend to just spray my kittens whenever they do something I don't want them doing. They got to the point now where if I see them looking like they're going to climb onto my kitchen table (they like the window it's up against), they get down when they either see me coming or when I tell them to get down.

Boy is your letter right up my alley. Behavioral problems with cats are not easy to solve. But an old vet of mine gave me the perfect solution for one of our cat's who was acting very much like yours. This is painless to your cat, I assure you, and it is effective.
My dear old vet told me to buy a water pistol. Not one of those super shooters, just a small one that will squirt a good, gentle stream. When "Bubba" yowled loudly, I would give him one squirt without saying a word. (That is very important, not to say anything or make any sound). When he jumped on the counter, one little squirt would go his way. He learned quickly that loud noise and counter jumping led to a wet nose. The benifit to being quiet is that your cat doesn't know that when you aren't home, there is no squirt so, once he's associated water with noise and counter jumping, he tends not to do it when you aren't home. Since the price of a water pistol is little and the effect of having a better relationship with your kitty is so great, it's worth a try. Hope things work out for you two.

I have had many cats and I think that it could be 1 of 2 problems... 1- the food you give it doesn't have enough "food" to satisfy or 2- it has a medical problem like worms or diabetes and isn't able to feel full. In any case, I would take it to the vet and find out for sure.

Ifound the only way to stop my cat from meowing was to ignore her. It took a few days but it did stop. I would not even move or the meowing would start again. She also liked nipping at my eyes to try to get me to wake up. I just would lay there and she would stop. My cat is very large!!! I cannot restrict the food because my other cat is 23 years old and under weight. I make sure I put food in her bowl right before I go to bed. We only use dry food. As for jumping neither of my cats can jump very high.One is too old the other one can not see well. I have used water in the past and it works some of time. I tried the foil before but one of the cats thought it would be good to eat. Needless to say he ended up sick.

I agree with the several people ho said take kitty to the vet. I had a cat that was doing the same thing and he had some kind of metabloic disorder. If that's not it, you could consider using a lower calorie food so you can give kitty food to munch all day. Cats like to nibble so the 3 meals thing could be making him upset. If you need a good cat only vet I strongly recommend Capricorn Clinic for Cats in Lockport. I had been to other vets concerning the cat we have now---he was getting aggressive, biting, would sometimes act like touching him hurt, pacing...EVERY other vet said the cat was just upset and aggitated because of the kids. Dr. Sheila recognized and agreed with us that the cat had some "issues"...he is now on medicine and is the sweetest cat there is. Good luck!!

just remember that u only pay the bills, the cat owns the house! ;P
seriously, a squirt gun filled with a 50/50 mix of lemon juice and water is an effective tool in training a cat. use the gun whenever the cat is acting in a way that u don't like. (wonder if it would work for the kids...)

I thought I was the only one out there with this problem. All of my friends who have cats, have normal cats. NOT MINE! When I took my cat to the vet for his annual check-up, I mentioned his constant begging for food and she suggested changing his diet to a food (sorry, can't remember the brand, but it was expensive, the kind you can only buy at the vet's) that would 'fill him up'. Yeah, right. Didn't work. I feed my guy 4 times a day. It's a pain, yes, but he'll let me sleep until 6am, which is fine with me b/c that's pretty much when my daughter wakes. I space it out so he rarely meows for food during the day anymore. His last feeding is around 10pm. I've learned that sometimes when he's meowing, it's not for food. He wants me to sit down and pet him. If my daughter is napping and it's not his set time to eat, I have to stop what I'm doing, sit down and let him crawl up on my lap. He gets tons of love and attention so I think this is considered our alone time. LOL As far as the counter problem, I have no ideas. I just wipe off the counter before I cook. The spray bottle does work a bit. He now runs when he sees me grab it. However, 5 minutes later he's back meowing.

You should really get your cats blood and urine checked to rule out illness/ disease. Constant hunger and/ or thirst can be a symptom of a lot of things... so I would get that checked right away. You definitely don't want to over-feed.

For counters... double-sided sticky tape, tin foil, and/ or loud rattling cans or some other type of noisy but harmless "booby trap" will break the cycle after awhile. Cats don't like the feel of tape or foil at all, so those are supposed to be good deterants.

I tend not to agree with the water bottle idea. If the cats a really hunger they are hungry. You need to find out why they are hungry.
We have 2 cats who tend to beg. We found out the it was the kind of food we were feeding them was not meat based but corn based. (First ingredient of the list) Corn based food does not stay with an animal as long and also can make a house cat gain weight faster. You can also consider giving them a little treat before your bed time. Again a meat based treat. That may help hold them over a little longer.
We do use the spray bottle at Christmas when Tess tries to climb the tree but never because they are hungry. I think cats can be just like people. When we eat junk food we get tired and want to sleep but when we eat good healthy food we have energy and tend not to be hungry an hour later. Corn is a junk food for a cat (it is a cheap filler). Cat need meat just like their brothers the tiger/lions.

Best of Luck

Two things. One, get some of those keyboard cleaner things. They are pressurized air and some kind of gas, anyway my cat, at least, is scared to death of it. We have a problem with him climbing on us in our sleep and that has really worked, so far at keeping him submissive in our bed. Don't spray it right in his face, I think the gas in there is bad for them, just spray it in his direction. Also, my vet is really a huge advocate for wet cat food. He claims, and I trust him, that cats often get fat because the nutrition in the dry cat food is not sufficient for a cat's metabolism. They are carnivores and require very little, if any carbohydrates and vegatables. He says that they will feel hungry all the time if they are not getting what they need, like a human I guess! He told me to read the ingredients and choose a food that has no grains of any kind or soy, anything that's not meat. I use 9 Lives, it is really inexpensive and they have several flavors that are meat only, and vitamins of course. Fancy Feast makes one flavor, salmon I think that is only meat, and Friskies has pouches that are fish dinners. I would probably agree that a vet should see him. If you need a good vet, mine is phenomenal! Let me know. Good Luck with your kitty!

I really wouldn't do the mousetrap thing as someone on here suggested. I am sure if the cat got his paw caught in there it would be painful, and yes, mean! Though I have heard of placing the mousetrap UPSIDE DOWN, so that it sets off and scares them. Not catches their paw!

To keep the cat off the counter you can buy what is called a Scat Mat. It's a mat that you set on anything you want your pet to stay off of. It delivers a small electrical shock. You can adjust the level of the shock to low medium and high. I have touched it myself on high and it doesn't hurt. For a cat I'd put it on low. After a while, you can leave the mat on the counter without the shock turned on, and then once the cat realizes the counter equals a little shock, he/she won't jump up there anymore.

We have used the spray bottle and the mat. The spray bottle didn't work. My one cat would just look at me with an annoyed look on her face and meow. But try both!

As for the meowing, I am not sure what you can do. Maybe you can buy her a nice comfy bed to sleep in and put her in a laundry room at night.

Good luck!

Hi K.- I too have an adorable yet totally annoying cat. I doubt that your cat is hungry. Cats love routine and if it notices that it can get you to "respond" when it meows or does something naughty, you can be sure that it will keep doing this (and most likely at exactly the same time everyday). We find that ignoring the meowing and the bad behavior is the only thing that's worked for us- eventually the cat will learn that bad behavior isn't what gets your response. The water thing never worked for us.

I love my cat but this will be my last one. Good luck!!

I had the same issue and it turned out my cat needed Methamizole for a hyperthyroid condition (his body told him he was hungry all the time.) It was liquid we squirted in his mouth (easily) twice a day. It made a huge difference but was pretty expensive ($60/month!) In addition to sticky tape on the counters or foil we had a beeper that "saw" the cat on the counter and scared him every time. Didn't take long to learn to stay off!

Best of luck.

I read your responses hoping to find a "cure" for our meowing cat too! But I don't see any miracles here. We have tried to lavish our cat with attention and that is probably what has worked best but there are still many mornings when he comes in at 4 am and wants us to get up with him. I think he might be hungry but when I get to the kitchen I see that there is still food in his bowl! Seriously, I lose way more sleep to my cat than my baby! My son is 2 and we now have him in on the act. He gives our kitty 2 treats every night. It is a way to make kitty feel loved. I think it has helped a little but he still wakes us sometimes. Oh one more thing, you said he rattles your door to handle. Is that because the door is closed? Maybe if you leave it open, and he can come and go as he pleases he won't be so anxious to see you. Just a thought, Good luck!

Perhaps your cat has a thyroid disorder. That what it sounds like from the little bit I read. I'd take him to the vet for a check. A thyroid test is a simple blood test.

Your cat and mine must be related!! They have the exact same behavior and it makes me nutty! We started closing the french doors to our bedroom of a night and she still gets her naughty little paws under the door and jiggles it in hopes of getting into our room and walking all over us while meowing at the top of her lungs so that we'll wake up and feed her at 3 a.m.

I took her to the vet and voiced my concerns and wasn't surprised when her blood work came back telling us that she has an overactive thyroid. We now give her a gel medication in her ear daily and continue to give her a can of wet food in the morning while leaving out dry food all day. She still begs for food while we're eating our meals and she STILL gets up on the counter, but the night stalking has calmed down a little bit. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take her to your vet and see if he has the same condition. Good luck and I'll try some of these counter tricks that others have posted.

Have you tried using removable two sided tape on your counters? Our cat can't stand the feel of it on his paws and generally stays off of things it is on once he figures out it is there.
As far as the meowing, our cat acted starved for attention the first few months the baby was home. We simply tried to adjust ourselves to make sure we were giving him attention several times a day and, for us, especially at night at "bed time" where he loves to snuggle- perhaps schedule a couple of 5 min "kitty time" during the day with each of you and the cat may feel more like a part of the family and may calm down.

When was the last time he was at the vet? Our cat behaved similarly, but was always vocal and affectionate, especially after our baby was born it seemed to escalate. We dismissed it as her being needy and not getting as much attention. Several months later her she was diagnosed w/ renal failure and possible hyperthyroid. Good luck!

Hello,
My Cat was doing that also and we found out too late that she was actual ill. You should take your cat to the vet and ask them to check her kidney function. They have to do a blood test to check it. I took my cat in several times and was told it was just her personality and then they did a urinalist test two different times and found nothing. But then she got very ill and by then her kidneys were failing. This may not be what is going on with your cat, but mine started acting like that months and months earlier and it was not discovered in time to fix it. I am in no way trying to upset you, I just want you to be informed.
Sincerely,
S. T

K.,

You didn't mention if your kitty gets to go outdoors or if he's a housecat. this time of year they have an instinct to 'hunt'. If he's strictly a housecat, you might try creating a little space just for him next to an open, screened window - a kind of window seat..he might be content sitting there looking out at the sights and getting the smells. He'll really like it when you let him know it's just for him. You could also try getting him a new cat toy with catnip in it - wrestling around with it will help him use up the extra energy that his hunting instinct is giving him.

I was a cat person for many years (before becoming a dog person). It's going to sound very un-PC, but I always swatted my cats for jumping on countertops and tables - If you snap your fingers and then swat just once with an open hand, and then later let him know you still love him it will likely work. Eventually you will only have to snap your fingers to let him know you're not happy with him.

best of luck to you.

Hi K.,

Do you feed your cat wet food? If so, try phasing it out little by little. Cats really don't need it, they can get too fat and it's not the best for their teeth. Try giving him dry food (whichever one seems best to you)and just keep the bowl filled. He will eat when hungry and have it when he needs it. Change over slowly so he can adjust. Plus, if he's anything like our cats, he's probably used to being the baby of the family and just needs some extra love (and another cat for a playmate)! Hope I could help!

I feel your pain. One of my cats lays on my stove where it is warm. I hate it. I have to disinfect my stove everytime I cook. Cats are hard. I free feed my cats. If I don't they are talking and under my feet all the time. Have you tried free feeding with a light or weight controled food? Or maybe just try feeding a different food altogether. My dogs are that way with certain foods. They beg and get in my garbage, so I had to find a food that was better and more filling. So I guess I sugest trying a different food before anything. Hope this helps.

Check with your vet it could be a thyroid problem. Our cat was doing the same thing like she couldn't get enought to eat. It turned out her thyroid was off.

I would talk to your vet and try to get some ideas from them. Likely your kitty, who probably used to be the center of attention in the house, is feeling a little jealous of the baby and just wants more attention like the good old days. Good luck!