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Luigi

My 7-month-old kitty seems to have panic attacks?

Luigi has lived with us since he was 8 weeks old. He is not declawed. He was neutered at 5 months and, like a switch had been turned off, he stopped scratching the walls...UNTIL NOW. The last two weeks, he has been having "panic attacks." He starts by suddenly meowing a loud, low, throaty meow. Then he jumps very high onto the vertical edge of a wall, and sinks his claws into the drywall and pulls all the way back down. We've tried the loud no which does not work. We tried the spray bottle, at which he'd just run away and hide, then do it again. We're now trying "time out" where we put him in the bathroom and shut the door for a few minutes. I noticed that during these "time outs" he always poops in his litter box. What is going on?? We're worried about the wall damage because we rent our apartment.


Asked by Luigi on Jun 11th 2011 Tagged panic, attack, scratch, timeout in Scratching
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Allie

Any sudden change in behavior like that may be a sign of some sort of health issue so I would call the vet. But do you have cat trees for him? He needs an appropriate place to scratch and climb. Then when you catch him about to have one of his "attacks" redirect him to the cat tree. And reward him when he uses the right place to scratch. Snuggles or treats. The time out will help at that moment but it is rarely a good method to stop a behavior. Cats don't remember the punishment and will just do the bad thing again. Especially if he is pooping each time. He just thinks it's time to go potty, he's not considering it a punishment.


Allie answered on 6/12/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Mailey

First of all, STOP YELLING AT HIM!!! That will make it worse. Don't lock him in the bathroom because cats don't like small areas. Try asking a vet about the problems he is having. Another thing, cats hate spray bottles and my cats always jump on the walls and use their claws to come down. It's an instinct. I'm not very sure about the loud meowing though.


Mailey answered on 6/13/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Una

Uh... I hate to ask this, but do you possibly have mice or rats? About half a year ago, my cat was doing the same thing. She'd suddenly run and jump at the wall, clawing and mewing. I thought my sweet little kitty had gone insane. That is, until I discovered mouse droppings behind the kitchen counter. The next time she jumped at the wall, I put my ear against it and listened. Sure enough, I could hear her 'prey' scrabbling around! GAH! We set traps, and between the traps and the cats (we caught two in traps, Pasha caught one, and Una caught two.) and voila, no more jumping at the walls!
As a side-note, Una killed her mouse then brought it to me to "fix", like her toy roller-mouse. Uh... sorry, it doesn't work that way, kiddo!


Una answered on 6/14/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Little Hollers

try the low tack double sided tape on the wall where he likes to scratch: www.drsfostersmith.com will not hurt or stain the wall.
this sounds like kitten frenzies, they do out grow it...
Also, maybe play with him with a toy like a toy on a wand when he gets jacked up, to give him something to focus on.
Another thing you can do is get a great scratch post and rub with catnip... but in the space kitteh likes to scratch too... and turn him ointo catnio: punishing does not work:www.humanesociety.org


Little Hollers answered on 6/20/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


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