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A Few Questions for Cat People

HgaleK

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I'm a dog person- never had a cat with the exception of a feral cat that lived in the neighborhood. A couple months ago I adopted a cat. He's a ballin' motherfucker. That said, he's also neurotic as hell. I'm guessing that he's just being a cat, but I wanted to run a few things by yall to see if they're normal, or if I'm being an ignorant pet owner.

-Yowling at me several times a day for no reason. The patio door is open, his litter box is clean, food and water are provided for, and he doesn't want to play. He's been to the vet recently and is totally fine. There aren't any visible injuries either

-Deciding to eat me while we're playing. He'll roll over on back for me to pet him, and then grab me with both front paws, kick repeatedly (claws in) with his back paws, all the while biting/chewing/noming the ever loving hell out of the hand that he grabbed

-Clawing the **** out of everything. My couch is cheap and I sleep on a futon, so I'm not that worried about this one, but he never stops clawing at things. He's got a cardboard scratch pad, a hemp one, and a tower (he loves the first two and won't even acknowledge the third), but seems to prefer the carpet, couch, and bed.

-He won't eat the last several pieces of food or the last few sips of water. He straight up refuses, and will start harassing me for more food when he has about 1/8 of a bowl left.

-He hates women. I think this is just a good judgement call on his part, but the du takes ages to warm up to chicks while being fairly chill with guys.

-Waking me up by clawing me. He'll either hide at the edge of the bed, or at the edge of the covers off to my side and reach his paw under in order to scratch the daylights out of me once between 3 and 6 am depending on what time I went to bed.

-Super fuxxed sleep schedule. He gets active from 11:30PM till 1AM, 3-6AM, 10-11:45ishAm, and then sleep until 11:30 for the most part.

-He won't actually walk up close enough to be petted. He'll go within anywhere from 6-20" of my reach, lay down, and just wait until I go to him.

Thoughts and advice?
 

A Y

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That is sweetest love letter to a cat I have ever read.

--Andre
 

kwilkinson

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All pretty normal for cats. ESPECIALLY the last one, about walking towards you like he wants petted, and then laying down 6 inches out of your arm's reach. Usually with scratching pads though, they'll stop scratching everything in the house. You might want to nip that one in the bud.

and Lol @ saying you're a pet owner if you have a cat. You aren't. You just happen to live with an animal that you feed and clean up after.
 

otc

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Originally Posted by HgaleK
I'm a dog person- never had a cat with the exception of a feral cat that lived in the neighborhood. A couple months ago I adopted a cat. He's a ballin' motherfucker. That said, he's also neurotic as hell. I'm guessing that he's just being a cat, but I wanted to run a few things by yall to see if they're normal, or if I'm being an ignorant pet owner.

-Yowling at me several times a day for no reason. The patio door is open, his litter box is clean, food and water are provided for, and he doesn't want to play. He's been to the vet recently and is totally fine. There aren't any visible injuries either

Maybe he just wants some petting/attention?

-Deciding to eat me while we're playing. He'll roll over on back for me to pet him, and then grab me with both front paws, kick repeatedly (claws in) with his back paws, all the while biting/chewing/noming the ever loving hell out of the hand that he grabbed

Some cats do this...is he smart enough that he bites/grabs without actually hurting? I have a friend with a cat who bites but I can just give him my finger and he will lovingly gnaw on it without actually trying to bite into it. My cat also seems to be able to figure out that the claws should be retracted when going after me rather than a toy

-Clawing the **** out of everything. My couch is cheap and I sleep on a futon, so I'm not that worried about this one, but he never stops clawing at things. He's got a cardboard scratch pad, a hemp one, and a tower (he loves the first two and won't even acknowledge the third), but seems to prefer the carpet, couch, and bed.

This is training. You have to get it to realize that clawing **** is not ok...you can use the spray bottle or just lots of anger. Clipping the front nails can also help.

-He won't eat the last several pieces of food or the last few sips of water. He straight up refuses, and will start harassing me for more food when he has about 1/8 of a bowl left.

Water makes sense...its probably not so good by the time the bowl is almost empty. As for food, my cat leaves some dry food in the bowl sometimes and is still interested in "new" food...this doesn't really matter unless your cat has a weight issue or something.

-He hates women. I think this is just a good judgement call on his part, but the du takes ages to warm up to chicks while being fairly chill with guys.

Mine seems to dislike men and warms up to women reasonably well. I feed it and am around all the time so she warmed up to me but strange dudes scare her (She was at my parents house for a little bit before I could go home and pick her up and they noticed this...the people they got her from noticed this as well). She was a little under a year when I got her but it probably suggests some abuse from a man prior to her adoption.

-Waking me up by clawing me. He'll either hide at the edge of the bed, or at the edge of the covers off to my side and reach his paw under in order to scratch the daylights out of me once between 3 and 6 am depending on what time I went to bed.

That sucks...dunno what you should do about this. Trimming nails will help with the scratching...

-Super fuxxed sleep schedule. He gets active from 11:30PM till 1AM, 3-6AM, 10-11:45ishAm, and then sleep until 11:30 for the most part.

To some extent, you can shift their schedule around with feeding times and play. I try to tire mine out at night so that she isn't going crazy in the living room while I try to get to sleep.

-He won't actually walk up close enough to be petted. He'll go within anywhere from 6-20" of my reach, lay down, and just wait until I go to him.

Thoughts and advice?


^^
 

FLMountainMan

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I know a fake doctor & magician who can help you out. I'll ask him for deets.
 

Wackadoodle

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My cat does most of those things, if you can trim his claws that will help. Otherwise, its just normal cat stuff.
 

suited

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Cats are one of the only (if not the only) animals that domesticated themselves. For that very reason, they're a little high strung.

My cat will also occasionally wake us up in the middle of the night, or early in the a.m. He'll start by pawing lightly, then use his claws if we don't respond. He usually does this when he's out of food, or once in a while when he just wants attention.
 

Nosu3

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When it's yowling, the cat is excited to see you. Like barking, except cat barking. My cat barks at me too sometimes when I've been gone a while. She'll be laying on my bed and say mow mow mow when I walk in. Just wants a quick pet and attention to have you acknowledge them.
 

JohnGalt

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We had a cat - it came with the wife.....cat is gone but the wife is still here.

Anyway, get these to help with clawing: http://www.softpaws.com/

You can also use double-sided tape on areas you don't want the cat to go or claw. They hate it.

If you don't want the cat to wake you up, don't let it in your bedroom.
 

MrGimpy

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Originally Posted by HgaleK

-Deciding to eat me while we're playing. He'll roll over on back for me to pet him, and then grab me with both front paws, kick repeatedly (claws in) with his back paws, all the while biting/chewing/noming the ever loving hell out of the hand that he grabbed


This is very common when a cat becomes overstimulated. With experience, you'll get a better read on his behaviour and pick up on signs that this is coming. Once you reach this point, pull your hand away and give him a minute to calm down.

Originally Posted by HgaleK
-Clawing the **** out of everything. My couch is cheap and I sleep on a futon, so I'm not that worried about this one, but he never stops clawing at things. He's got a cardboard scratch pad, a hemp one, and a tower (he loves the first two and won't even acknowledge the third), but seems to prefer the carpet, couch, and bed.

Have you tried a spray bottle of water? If you keep one around and spray him immediately when he claws something, he may quickly learn to stop doing it. (Shouting doesn't work, and I assume you would know to never strike an animal.)

Originally Posted by HgaleK
-He won't actually walk up close enough to be petted. He'll go within anywhere from 6-20" of my reach, lay down, and just wait until I go to him.

Cats are manipulative motherfuckers. They'll test you to see how far you'll go to please them. Weirdly, they tend not to like people who dote over them but prefer it if you make them work at the relationship a little.

By the way, congratulations on your adoption. Kwilk is right--you don't own the cat, you're just living in his house.
 

otc

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is your cat perchance black?
 

Dakota rube

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Originally Posted by HgaleK
Yowling at me several times a day for no reason. The patio door is open, his litter box is clean, food and water are provided for, and he doesn't want to play. He's been to the vet recently and is totally fine. There aren't any visible injuries either
He's just talking. Cats, once in awhile "” and only on their own terms "” are sociable. My tom does the same thing.

-Deciding to eat me while we're playing. He'll roll over on back for me to pet him, and then grab me with both front paws, kick repeatedly (claws in) with his back paws, all the while biting/chewing/noming the ever loving hell out of the hand that he grabbed
This is just play. Both my cats do this to me. This is just cats eviscerating their prey. As long as you are conscious, this shouldn't be a problem.

-Clawing the **** out of everything. My couch is cheap and I sleep on a futon, so I'm not that worried about this one, but he never stops clawing at things. He's got a cardboard scratch pad, a hemp one, and a tower (he loves the first two and won't even acknowledge the third), but seems to prefer the carpet, couch, and bed.
This is a problem. Both my cats are (front-only) declawed, so they don't do any damage. But a cat will rip the **** out of stuff in a helluva hurry if you don't break this habit quickly.

-He won't eat the last several pieces of food or the last few sips of water. He straight up refuses, and will start harassing me for more food when he has about 1/8 of a bowl left.
Mine are odd: they each have two bowls (one for dry food and one for wet). They each eat the wet food out of their own bowls, but switch when it comes to the dry stuff. I feed mine only once a day; I'd recommend you do the same. If your's gets really hungry, he'll eat those last few morsels.

-He hates women. I think this is just a good judgement call on his part, but the du takes ages to warm up to chicks while being fairly chill with guys.
My tom loves my dates. I have to push him out of the way when I want to get a little ***** (human) when he's around. My female just flat out hates people; she hides whenever anyone is over for a visit.

-Waking me up by clawing me. He'll either hide at the edge of the bed, or at the edge of the covers off to my side and reach his paw under in order to scratch the daylights out of me once between 3 and 6 am depending on what time I went to bed.
Another argument for declawing. Mine just sit on my chest until I get up in the morning. It is only inconvenient when I've been boaning until 3 a.m. and they want to get fed at 6!

-Super fuxxed sleep schedule. He gets active from 11:30PM till 1AM, 3-6AM, 10-11:45ishAm, and then sleep until 11:30 for the most part.
Mine sleep all the ******* time. But in the living room during the evening. If I am not turned in by 10:30 or 11, the tom gets all fucked up and starts racing around the place, obviously wanting me to get ****** to bed. When I turn in, both cats jump up on my bed within a few minutes. I don't wake during the night, so I'm not sure what they do while I am sleeping, but I presume the female is up and about. Cats are nocturnal by nature.

-He won't actually walk up close enough to be petted. He'll go within anywhere from 6-20" of my reach, lay down, and just wait until I go to him.
Both mine will do something similar: they sort of arch their backs and get close, like they are going to rub themselves up against my leg, but never touch me. I presume they were both punished by whoever owned them before I got them. The only time my female ever really acts affectionate is when I am sitting on the porcelain throne, dropping the kids off at the pool.


Very nice of you to rescue a cat. I hope you will come to be a cat-lover; some people just aren't cut out for the job. You sound like you have the makings to be a very good kept-man, though.
 

rnoldh

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Try this.

Perhaps he needs an adjustment to his new living arrangements.
 

Rambo

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Originally Posted by JohnGalt
Anyway, get these to help with clawing: http://www.softpaws.com/
These things seem exceptionally creepy. Hag - get the cat a scratch/play tower. Cat's love those ******* things.
 

Kent Wang

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Do you know how old your cat is?
 

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