From: stan@etgn05.rtp.dg.com (Stan Yen)
Subject: Re: Hyperactive cat (Warning: LONG, and lots of digressions!)
Summary: things to do for a hyper cat
Cc: car%access.digex.com@dg-rtp 
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 20:41:33 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Data General Corporation, Westboro, MA.

Chris,

This my not be that helpful, being a serious cat-lover, who IMHO
is both patient and tolerant.  (I could be wrong.)  As I mention in the
subject, this is pretty long.  Sorry about that.

Also, the numbering *is* kinda funny, the numbers are what I consider to
be the order in which you might want to consider them.  Then again, I'm
all for number 2...(and yet again, that's just me.)

In article <1992Aug12.223416.9416@access.digex.com> you write:
>Hello, I got a kitten about a month ago and frankly, Im not sure
>it is going to work out. She is about 3 months old and is VERY VERY
>active in the way of jumping about, pouncing, jabbing, just randomly
>running through the apartment like a flash for no apparent reason, etc.
>
>She also does not like to sit on my lap a whole lot and I cant even
>move onthe couch that she doesnt jab at the covers...
[...]
>Is this normal?? I just want a lap cat that doesnt get too hyper. Do kittens
>calm down after a certain time? How best should I react to her incessant
>running, streaking through the place, pouncing on everything in sight, etc.
>
>Or is this bred into her? Im looking for a mellow cat, and perhaps
>getting a kitten was a mistake. Im concerend that this cat will never
>settle down. Im finding myself getting irritated by her and dont know
>what to do about it..Any suggestions are immensely appreciated.

Well, in answer to your question(s), I think it's pretty standard for
kittens to be hyper.  It's a *kitten* thing.  And yes, they do calm
down eventually, some more than others, depending on the cat in question,
of course.  My fiance felt the same way when we first got pixel and
wished she would settle down, not attack our faces at 3am, race around the
apartment, pounce on *everything*, but she found pixel too adorable, so
that she didn't mind too much.

I do have 3 suggestions/comments.

3.  You may be right, and you shouldn't have gotten a kitten.  I would
    then think that your best bet would be to return the kitten and head
    on down to the local animal shelter and check out the adult cats.
    (Damn, this reminds me of a beautiful 7yo female long hair we saw
     at the MSPCA when we got our second cat... >sigh< hope she was
     adopted.  Really friendly, mellow...owner was sick and couldn't
     keep her :( ...but I digress.)  One thing though, is you never know
    what kind of habits such a cat may have developed, both good and
    bad.  For example, our new cat, Stimpson "Don't call me Larry" is
    an adorable tiger colored DSH.  They figured he was around 5-6 months
    old.  (OK, so he's still a kitten)  Friendly, mellow.  Great cat.
    However, if you've seen some of my previous posts...when he gets
    comfortable on you, he likes to suck on your shirt.  Cute, but often
    annoying, especially since he likes to wake me up right before the
    alarm goes off.  So that's something you have to consider, too.
    Still, I would consider this (adopting an adult cat) definitely
    a GoodThing(tm).

2.  This may sound crazy, but double your troubles- Get another kitten!
    This is essential what we did.  We were actually more concerned that
    pixel was getting bored during the day, and was missing the days
    back in her old home where they pretty much let her run free to play
    with the other cats around the apartment building.  She was a bit
    hyper, too.  Stimpson was a good balance for her.  Since they were
    both fairly young (pixel is not yet 5 months old), it took very
    little time for the two to become best buddies, maybe 3 days, tops.
    The first days went something like:
	Stimpson: howdy, nice place.
        pixel:    let's play! *lunge* *bite*
        Stimpson: HEY!  OW!  quit-it-quit-it!!!
    they'd tussle, maybe meow and hiss a bit, then chill...or we'd make
    them chill.  Even then, their tussles were only minor insurrections,
    and now it really is playing.  They get along *really* well.  Again,
    I have to say this is just my experience, but I was told by the people
    at the shelter that when they're young, it's easier for them to adjust
    to "new family members."
    The idea here is to let the two tire each other out.  Nowadays, we
    get greeted at the door by two very friendly kitties.  They follow me
    around a lot.  If I sit down to sort mail or work at the computer,
    one or both fight for my lap (Stimpson, to suck on my shirt...sigh),
    maybe they'll wait for me to scoop the litter.  Obviously, this is
    not going to stop them from being kittens.  They *do* chase each other
    around every so often, and the play-fight.  But I think it's been a
    few weeks since I was speed bumped, or had my face bitten at night.
    Then again, pixel's older now, but not that much older...maybe that
    might be encouragement enough for you.

1.  OK, you don't want to deal.  Last suggestion.  Be patient.  Most of
    the cats I've met tend to mellow out after the first year.  Maybe you
    don't want to wait that long.  If you don't want the kitten zipping
    all over your place, try giving her "high intensity aerobic workouts"
    i.e. play with her to exhaustion.  Maybe once in the morning before
    work and the once at night before bed.  Before we got Stimpson, we
    got tired of waking up with pixel biting my face in the middle of the
    night, or using us as speed-bumps on her rounds around the apartment.
    So I played with her.  Got a piece of twine and one of those plastic
    practice golf balls with all the wholes tied on one end, and then
    played the "make the kitten chase the ball/string around me as fast
    as she can go" game.  Fun all around.

My $0.02, OK, so maybe it's more like a buck-fifty...

Anyway, good luck, and have fun.

-Stan, mind like a tape on infinite loop-around
  Marti, cat-person in training
    pixel, psycho-cat-from-hell, but getting better...
      and Stimson, pixel valium

 ------------------------------------------------------ "Brrrrrrddoooooooo!!!"
|  Stan Yen                  |  stan@fs03.webo.dg.com  |                -pixel
|  Hardware Engineer, HESD   |  w: 508 - 870 - 9593    |"slurp-slurp-slurp..."
|  Data General Corp.        |  h: 617 - 969 - 2860    |                -Stimpy
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