Expert: Dear Tabbi - 7/18/2009

Question
Hi Tabbi,

I have a 3 1/2 month old Tabby male kitten named Calydor. I have had him since the age of 3 weeks old. He has acquired the most obnoxious of behaviors and I don't know what to do to maintain him. When ever there is some one home he tends to get into a lot of trouble. He jumps on table tops to eat food scraps (if any), eats plants and flowers(that are potted or in a vase), constantly knocks stuff over, and is constantly terrorizing our newest member of the family - Pierre a 4 month old Chinchilla.
Here is a little information about our household... I am an animal lover and so I have many other small pets. I have a family of guinea pigs(7 in all- Step Father, Mother and her four kids), one indian ringneck parakeet, a holland lop bunny, Calydor and the chinchilla. Calydor grew up with all my other pets except for the chinchilla. My guineas have a C&C cage which is completey open from the top and Calydor will occasionally sleep with them... hes a very sweet cat and never had any aggression issues and the guineas actually don't mind his presence. When my bunny has play time, Calydor will also play with him - no issues as well. Both bunny and guineas cages are on the floor. Now Calydor doesnt act aggressively towards the chinchilla how ever he can be very overbearing and will go to any distance just to get to his cage to lay on and stick his paw in. What can I do to stop him from being so persistant in interacting with the chinchilla? It is ok that he wants to be in the chinchilla presence but I would like the persistence to stop.I don't want the chinchilla to be fearful or stressed.

Now regarding the destructive behavior...
He's knocked over many things, not because his tail is clumsy its because hes very into getting into things which cause a lot of issues. He only gets into trouble when we are home. We have never came home to a mess ever. He knows that he is doing something or has done something wrong because every time I hear a boom of something being knocked over I stand up and walk towards the area and him and he runs away and hides. He is a smart kitty but as much as we scold him he still does the same thing over and over again. We have tried verbally scolding him, placing him in "timeout", pointing at his mess and scolding, and squirting him with the water bottle. Nothing works. When he has these destructive behaviors, he is not in a hyper mood what so ever.
Now alittle more about Calydor....

He has not been neutered yet( I will be getting him neutered soon. He is not declawed(I feel that it is inhumane to do - that's my opinion). He does not interact with children just myself, my husband and occasionally guests. He is very clingy to us -  he is always in the same room as us and will cry for up to 10 minutes if we leave him home or lock him out of a room we are in. He is strictly indoor due to coyote threats and because he is not fixed. He is very very very spoiled... he has over 40 toys anything from bell balls to battery activated toys that we use for him when we leave him home alone. Alongside with his evening wet food and dry food which he can feast on all day he is given occasional boiled chicken liver.

I would like input on what to do with his constant obsession with the chinchilla and effective training methods to help him with his destructiveness. I don't know whether the issues lie in us spoiling him or the fact that we have taken care of him since 3 weeks old - maybe both. But overall we are strict with him he just doesn't listen to us half of the time. Please help.

Answer
Nicole,

One thing is see missing from your animal family is another kitten for Calydor to play with. Kittens need other kittens to play kitty games with like wrestling and chasing that humans can't do, to snuggle with, and for companionship.

Your other pets are OK for amusement but they are still prey to a cat. That is instinct and inherited. Since the cat grew up with them it may be OK, but even then cats have been known to attack them.

As for his destructive behavior he is probably doing it for attention. He may also be a 'kitten of mass destruction' *smile*. I have had a few of those and they will drive you crazy with their energy and destructive actions! They are just hyper and energized kittens and that is their personality. The good news is that they outgrow it when they are about 2 years old! It shows Calydor is happy and healthy though if that's any consolation.

You can use a rolled up newspaper handy for training but usually nothing works that good on them. You need to kitten-proof your home and move or get rid of anything breakable or moveable.

I would try a kitten friend first and see if that helps.

Tabbi