Do cats have the “terrible twos” phase as well?
The weird howls at almost the same time every day are very normal. One of our cats has “crazy kitty” time at the same time every day…tearing across the apartment and meowing out loud. He’s over 2 years old now. The flip side is that at a different same time every day he’s super cuddly and purry. The rest of the stuff is standard kitten stuff. Playing with anything that moves (including tails) begging for food etc. And cats lick themselves…including the same spots…again and again and again. As for begging at the table…if ignoring them after a few months doesn’t make them realize it doesn’t work, then it’s time to start using the water bottle. Everything else is normal quirky cat behavior that you’re going to have to learn to accept like you will the cat hair.
Hm. I’m really not sure these are behavioral *problems*. Seems like its cats being cats – with time on their hands, boredom setting in, energy to spare and no where to exert it safely. You might want to consider getting them a game that is interactive with you such as cat toy fishing rod – buy or build them a cat condo they can leisurely scratch at, climb up and hide in, or get them some of these – to have them bat around the house. Warning – they do have a tendency to dissapear under fridges and beds. The idea is to make available to them *safe* play and giving them an outlet for all that energy. The best suggestion I can think of is praising them and telling them what great guys they are when they do something that’s good rather than squirting them with water guns. Also getting them some good organic catnip and giving them that as a
The Drinkwell might solve some water problems, if indeed the cats are knocking and splashing to gauge the water. Make sure no one has ear mites, as they live in the ear (duh) and can be on the tip of the tail. Think of when kitties are all shrimped up and their tails are right near their ears. It is not the most likely cause, but something easy to check. I never did the water bottle for any of the 5 kitties. I did and do make use of the scruff, and I mimic hissing myself. That is what their mom would do, and since house cats are behaviorally kittens for life, I have adopted these myself. Make sure you don’t do any lifting by the scruff when they get older, though. Just a good, gentle shimmy to remind them of who boss really is. Everything else is such standard kitten behavior that in reading it I got a little teary, remembering my own little Melon as a wee
A key to modifying cat behavior is consistency. If you are trying to get them not to do something, come up with a standard phrase for telling them, like “Bad cat!” or “Mittens, NO.” in a stern voice — and then always use that phrase and tone when correcting them. Be very careful not to inadvertently reward annoying behavior, but cuddling them or feeding them immediately after they’ve done something annoying, because that’s how they train you to always cuddle them, or feed them, when they howl at 4 am or whatever it is they’re doing. Begging for food usually means someone has been giving them human food scraps. If not you, make sure you’re roommate isn’t either (assuming you don’t want them to beg). It may take them a while (i.e. months) to get over expecting scraps when they beg, once they’ve had a taste of the glorious wonder that is human meat and dairy. The sucking on the tail (or any other sucking behavior, like your earlobes or fingertips) is often a sign the cat was weaned too e
