Maybe I'm just not a cat person... can anyone give me tips on these kittens?

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You must have posted the pics as I was hunt and pecking!
If one of them is a male calico, I understand they're worth big money!
You might check it out!
 
they are really cute, especially the one with the black mark on it's nose!
do these kitties ever sleep! lol good luck with their training, sounds like you really are trying!
 
Rick - nah, they're both females. I've never seen a male calico, apparently cause they're pretty hard to come by...

I think they're sleeping right now actually, cause I don't hear them (the desk is the worst place to see them cause it faces a wall)... but they're always awake all night! It seems they must sleep when I'm gone so they can be awake the entire time I'm here.... haha.
 
Cheap cat entertainment:
Cardboard boxes, any size.
Toilet paper and paper towel cores
Bottle Caps
Milk Jug lid rings
"Ouchless" pony tail holders
A piece of yarn
Ball of trash paper or aluminum foil
Empty spool of thread
Empty (washed) medication dosing cup
Plastic wind up toys (like the ones that come from Happy Meals, etc.)
Washed out pill bottle w/ safety lid and beans/buttons inside
 
Aw they are so cute!

Yes, it'd be hard to come by a calico male cat. Reason being, is the calico color comes from their genes. As you know, females are XX and males are XY. Within the X gene is the gene for the cat's color. In order to get the calico color, you need one X with the gene for orange, and another X for a non-orange, like black. So given that males are XY, they under normal circumstances can't have a calico color since they only have one X which would mean only orange or black not both. The only time you find a male calico, is when a genetic mutation occurs and the cat has 2 X genes, and you end up with a cat that has the genes of XXY. This cat looks like a male but cannot reproduce.
 
ball of aluminum foil...
Nala will freak if she sees one. She actually starts doing this cute grumble mumble sound.

I'd say Nala's top three toys are
-aluminum foil
-laser pointer
-cat wand (with string or a long thin piece of fleece, feather, etc.)

Nothing could be better.

Oh, but as far as spazzy goes... Nala would get under our couch, dig her claws into the bottom of the couch and pull herself along like a psycho for like 10 mins at a time.
 
Jeanette said:
Oh, but as far as spazzy goes... Nala would get under our couch, dig her claws into the bottom of the couch and pull herself along like a psycho for like 10 mins at a time.
Click to expand...
They do this under my bed! Hahaha!

Yeah, I knew the calico color had something to do with their genes, and something about the calico having to be on the X gene... or something... but anyway, thanks for explaining it! I understand now...

Thanks for the cheap toy suggestions everyone, I have most of that stuff here (obviously), so I'll be trying them all out in the next few days....
 
It's kind of a superstition about calicoes that they're more feisty than other colors. Of course, similar things are said about children with red hair, so I take it with a grain of salt. The Tortoiseshell Calico living with me now is nothing like that. You just can't dangle things around her. Like your hair. Or horizontal blind cords. Or string. Or the belt you're trying to put on in the morning. Or the plastic bag you're trying to use to clean the litter box. Or the phone cord. Or your purse strap...
 
The calico I had years back wasn't feisty she was very calm and gentle. My parents and I adopted her from a shelter when she was 12wks old. I think it just depends on the cats' personality.

Haha, My cousin has 2 red headed kids and they aren't any different than a normal 5 and 6year old.
 
Oh they are at the same stage my Artimis is she is a dark Tortie, but I think she is human with black fur. LOL. She steals my food off my plate, prefers human food to her kitten food and plays with anything. Yeah kittens are a alot of fun, sarcasm here.
 
Some other toy ideas:

- Craft pompoms (those little puff balls). One of my cats loved to bat them around and carry them around the house
- Jingle bells. Can get a bit noisy, especially if they figure out if they play with them in the bathtub.
- If you have those elastic string toys with the ball of feathers at the end, you can just tie them to door knobs, and they will have endless fun there, batting it around.
- Cardboard Boxes of any size. All cats are box-aholics. You can make a few holes in the boxes, so their little paws can stick out during roughhousing.
- I have a carpet covered cat tree that has a small lounging tunnel in it. It helps a bit with the clawing/scratching.
- Crumpled up balls of paper
- Paper bags
- I also had this cat tunnel I bought from somewhere. My two cats would have fun zooming in and out, play fighting through the tunnel walls, etc. It was collapsible, so it helped with space.
- Pretty much whatever you have at home is game. Even a piece of paper, folded in half, tented up from the ground could work.

It's been awhile since my cats were that young. My sister and I played with them a lot to wear them down. We also invited a lot of friends over to get them socialized with people. When they got a bit older, we also bought harnesses and leashes to let them outside a bit (both were indoor cats).
 
Try using the Sticky Paws tape. I think it works better than foil because it is clear and automatically sticks. I would invest in a laser pointer. They are WONDERFUL for tiring little kittens out!!! My Kahlua will chase a laser pointer until she is panting!

As far as spraying with water, it sounds like you're experiencing a very common issue. When cats see you spray them with water, they associate you with the water, so they won't do whatever they're not supposed to be doing when you're home, but when you're gone, it's fair game. The key is to spray them without them knowing your doing the spraying. Keep the bottle with you. When you see one doing something he's not supposed to be doing, give a little squirt without looking at him (time to practice your peripheral vision!). That way they have no idea where the water is coming from, so they associate the action with water.

Declawing can be very inhumane, but there are new methods available. We have two indoor cats and they both have all of their claws, but we decided that if declawing was ever necessary, we would use the tendon snip method. Instead of amputating the first knuckle, vets snip the tendons that unsheath the claws. You would still have to trim the claws, but they cannot unsheath them themselves. It's still not terribly humane, but it's better than amputation!

Getting through the kitten phase is the hardest part if you've got a difficult kitten. It sounds to me like you are trying your best, and that is all that can be asked of you. You know where your limits are, you can judge when enough is enough. My cats hate being locked in/out of rooms; we get the same crying and scratching. Spend as much time with them as you can!

Hang in there! I had two litters of kittens totaling 9, and I went gray during part of that! Just keep trying and asking questions. A good book is called Kittens for Dummies - no offense meant! My husband and I have TONS of "Dummy" books!! :)
 
3CsMommy said:
It's kind of a superstition about calicoes that they're more feisty than other colors. Of course, similar things are said about children with red hair, so I take it with a grain of salt. The Tortoiseshell Calico living with me now is nothing like that. You just can't dangle things around her. Like your hair. Or horizontal blind cords. Or string. Or the belt you're trying to put on in the morning. Or the plastic bag you're trying to use to clean the litter box. Or the phone cord. Or your purse strap...
Click to expand...

Have you ever heard this one: calico's are usually mean and not friendly.. i hate when people say that. The only types of cats I ever got were Calico's.. None of them were ever mean.. All affectionate. And i've had 6 in the past, and I have 2 now, well one is still a kitten so I can't really say what'll she be like...lol..

And come on you people who don't like kittens :impatient: :rofl: [send them all to me, and when they get bigger you can have them back], I never had a major problem with any of them. Did I just get lucky with all of them.... Well one of them was great at scratching the **** out of the wood work, but I mean more on the mischievous side..

Oh and Allie, you did a great job saying why there weren't male calicos. I always knew that but didn't know why..Thanks.
 
i agree u dont seem to be willing and its like my chin wont let me pic him up why? or my chinchilla is sleeping all day! i think hes sick
 
Ok, I just got back from a long weekend with a friend cat-sitting the kittens.... she left this morning and I got here a few hours later, the house was tore up. Anything that was once on a counter was on the floor, a pair of jeans were moved from my bedroom closet to my living room (and I know you guys don't know what the place looks like, but it's not 3 steps...)... they knocked over one of the large houseplants... knocked it OFF the table... dunno how they did that exactly, cause like I said, HEAVY, but since the pot pretty much shattered, now I have this huge mess of wet soil to pickup and carpet to clean...

They are little devils...

And then for the OTHER houseplant, they tore all the foil off of it (I did what someone suggested and put the foil on top of the dirt so just the stems of the plant were sticking through)... they tore all the foil off, and I had little foil pieces throughout the apartment. So... does anyone have other suggestions as to how to keep them from digging in the plant? I'll try the tape if no one has any other ideas, but I thought I'd ask...

Will be trying the suggestions people have posted for toys in the next few days.....I didn't know I was leaving for the weekend until last minute I was told I had to go, so I havent' really had a chance to do anything yet... I did find a lazer pointer and so I'm going to try that out in a bit... once I get off of here...
 
Put the plants in a room with the door closed and don't let the kitties in. Keep them there until the kitties grow up some. I think time is your best answer. Enjoy the good stuff that makes you smile, and eliminate the bad stuff that makes you angry. That's what I do around here, including with my family. If a toy causes a problem it simply goes away, and your plants are toys right now.
 
I'd personally get rid of the plants and replace them with fake plants or no plants at all. I've grown up with cats and I foster 2-3 litters a year.

First off...kittens can be walking nightmares! My youngest is 6 months right now and she has no problem tearing through the house and ripping into anyone or anything that comes close to her. I clip her nails on a regular basis which cuts down on her ripping things apart or hurting people. I also have a scratch post/cat tree and several of the cardboard scratchers around here. The more things they have designated for them to scratch on...the less they scratch on your belongings.

As for the spraying training. Cats are smarter than dogs...they know that if you are there they will get sprayed but if you aren't there they can do whatever they want.
A good way to do this is called "God" training. ;) If you see them doing something they aren't supposed to and you haven't been seen. Don't yell, just get the spray bottle, hide behind a wall and quirt them. To them it'll be like a random act of God and eventually they'll be too weary to get into things they aren't supposed to whether or not you're there.

I would go with a bunch of the cheap toys mentioned here. There are a lot of great ones. The ouchless hair ties work miracles with my cats and they'll be entertained for hours at a time. Also...there are those cat toys that have a ball trapped inside that runs in a circle(hope that makes sense). I have not found a cat to date that has turned it's nose up at that thing. They pounce and chase around the circle like crazy and is usually good for entertainment throughout the day.

Good luck with the kittens...hopefully you can put some of the advice from this post to use. They will eventually outgrow their craziness but not all kittens are as bad as your two there. It might have something to do with them being littermates because usually if they come in together they encourage each other to bad behavior unless previously trained out of it.
 
My dad rigged peiced of screen over the soil in the plants at my parents house to keep the cat out.

My parents cat still climbs on the counter while we are not looking and he is 15. He knows it is wrong because he gets this Oh S&*$ face when someone catches him. The last time he did it when anyone was looking he was swatted off the table into the wall by my dad and he stopped doing it when people were around.

I don't know if you figured out the litter box thing but did you think of maybe wearing shower shoes untill the kittens are cleared by the vet. They you would only need to bleach when you clean the bathroom.
 
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Haven't read the whole thread, but FWIW

My older cat likes the taste of Bitter Apple. She likes to knock foil to the ground and play with it. She very
 
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