Pets Discussions

My first question is, "What took him so long?"  He's been home since February and it's taken him 6 or 7 months to take over the higher ground?

Cats love to climb and can't stand the idea that there's something somewhere which they haven't investigated yet.  Pictures on a dresser?  Bat them around and see if they fight back or flee.  "Nope, just lie where they've fallen.  Time to try something else."  Spider/fly/dust mote halfway up a wall?  "Ohhhh.  Let's see if I can catch it."

I think it's wonderful that you adopted an "older" cat.  I never get kittens from the pound, but always get a cat which is older.  I also think it's great that you keep him strictly indoors.  They usually live a lot longer when they don't go outside. 

As for the perch/tree idea -- wonderful.  I bought a monster "cat condo" for my two lovelies (one is about 16 years old, the other around 5 years old).  It has 2 "rooms" they can hide in but they have openings to look out the big window I put it next to, as well as 6 perches at various levels.  It's over 7 feet high and takes up a huge amount of space.  But they love it.  They chase each other up and down or just sun themselves.  But note:  it has NOT stopped them from jumping from dresser to dresser or up on the shelf above the kitchen sink, or onto the top of the refrigerator.  They're cats.  They love to climb. 

Climbing is great exercise and satisfies their inquisitive minds.  In most cases, if they can get up some place they can get down again.  The only time I ever "rescue" one of my cats from the top of something is if they start whining piteously.  However, if they go there a second time it's because they want the attention so I just leave them there and they always get down on their own.

If he were just jumping on top of things and cowering, it would be because he was afraid of something or someone.  Morris sounds like he's just having a good old cat time. 

I wouldn't worry too much about the cat falling and hurting himself. Cats are very adept at landing on their feet from falls and they seldom get hurt from even surprisingly long falls. In fact, a fall like that can teach the cat what is good to climb and what's not good to climb. (I had a cat jump off my deck railing to the ground about 12 feet below. She never did that again!)

A perch or cat tree sounds like a good idea. Your cat obviously likes to climb, so give him something he can climb. That should take the pressure off the places you don't want him to climb. Likewise, give him things to scratch so that it takes the pressure off the things you don't want him to scratch. (The same cat that jumped off the deck loved to scratch a ratty piece of cardboard on the basement floor. We threw away the cardboard and she started clawing the sofa, beds and rugs, so we put a piece of cardboard back and never took it away.)

Good luck!

--Bob

Yep sounds like your kitty is ready to get some exercise and play!  A scratching post would be awesome or a kitty condo that has a little height to it.  They make wonderful toys/beds, etc.  Don't worry about him falling--they have a way of landing on all fours, as Bob mentioned above.  Enjoy Morris--he sounds like a trip!

A cat perch is great, but some cats just love to go up so high! My female cat Aspen is happy on top of the cat tree, but Boris like so be in windowsills and the top of the bureau and stuff. Our furniture had gouges in it from him not making it all the way on top, and climbing up the rest of the way.

With cats, I just change my lifestyle to suit them. Using a spray bottle kept Boris off the counters (so unsanitary :P), but Aspen refuses to claw anything other than furniture, so I bought a chair from a yard sale and she destroys that. It doesn't match my other furniture, but then again my other furniture doesn't match IT in the shredded area!

Enjoy Morris! Cats are fun.

Cats laugh at our idea of boundaries.... "no kitchen counter", "no table", etc.  I use a squirt bottle filled with water to train our foster cats that they are NOT allowed in/on certain areas. 

As Bob said, I wouldn't worry much about a cat falling and hurting itself.  They land on their feet almost every time and they are much sturdier than they look. 

If he just wants to climb for the sake of moving, definitely go with some kind of a cat condo or perch.  If it's becuase he's bored and wants to look outside, a window seat or anything that he can stand on should work.  Our big cat sits on our hamper under the bedroom window every morning to watch the horses in the back pasture.  Is the lid is open and he can't get up, he jumps on us until we do!

Squirt bottles worked for our big cat.  One of my friends uses a can of air duster (like you use to clean computer keyboards) because their cats hate the sound.  Our little cat likes water, so the squirt bottle was pointless.  With her, I just pick her up and move her to an alternative activity to distract her from whatever she's messing with, and that has seemed to work so far. 

Attaching shelves close to the ceiling or placing a tall bookshelf near a window might work. If you have a covered patio or porch, maybe screen it in so he can get fresh air and expand his territory.

Cats like to climb and most of them alot.I had a cat names Kitty for over three years and she liked to climb so we went out and bought her a scratching post and a little cat tree thing.It didnt work Kitty had a mind of her own and just kept on climbing just as usual.She never did get hurt but man could she climb.We just allowed her  to be herself.Cats are alot smarter than dogs and they tend  know pretty much what they can and cannot do and your cat is 2 so odds are he has been a climber for a long time and may not change or take to a cat tree but you can try.

Yeah,getting a cat tree would be good for him. Our cats love them. Plus cats love to look out the window at the birds.In the summer time we open up the windows and let the cats lay in the window siles to get fresh air they enjoy that very much . What kind of cat did you get.?

I hope that it all works out.It didnt for my lovley Kitty and she has passed on now so I let my besutiful girl do whatever she wanted to as long as she was ok and she was.She was such a wonderful girl and I miss her so much and wish we still had the time in aday to play together.I know my girls playing in Kitty heaven now.It has been 7 years.

I also have a rescue cat, LiLi, she's a sweetheart for sure. Climbing is her job, I find her in the oddest places, one of her favorites is on my husbands dresser, yes she knocks down everything that's on it and has herself a good look-see from above while she's sitting on his wallet and other various items that might be there.

Cats simply love to be up high, they need that proverbial 'birds-eye view' to take it all in. Right now LiLi's sitting on my feet while I'm typing, she's purring away in happy slipper bliss  lol.

Best of luck with your cat, just enjoy the company and all will be fine.

So true.I dony think you can stop them because there climbers in nature.

I am so sorry you lost Kitty. I know how hard it must be. I can't imagine Morris not being around. Like I said, Morris is my first cat and it is the best thing. I never thought I would have loved another animal like I did my dog, Megan, who I had to put down several years ago, but I totally fell in love again! I am not even sure what drew me to him, but what ever it was I am so glad it did! Take care and thanks for sharing with me.

Thanks LDRWeber.Yeah she has been gne a long time and it is so sad but she has all the yarn and climbing trees she needs and is in a far better place.

Window nappers or perches work well.   We chose to adfix to the window sill in an alternate manner than printed directions to screw it into the sill.  Our clamp method really makes for easy access for laundering the fleecy cover.  Our cats so much enjoy watching the activity outside the window.  In gentle weather, one can raise the window--allowing the cats to enjoy fresh air through the locked screen, and better listening to the sounds of birds, etc.   Our 2 meowers are indoor gals.  Even though 1 was adopted from a little country farmette; the other from the local shelter.

I can't help but think our Inkspot has made friends with your Miss Kitty.  It has been 4 years since her move to cat heaven.  She was 15 yrs of age & had a medical crisis (a stroke).   We will remember them forever, indeed.

We have had nice weather so I have been leaving the sliding glass doors open and the kitchen window open above the sink. Morris will sit in that kitchen window all day! He loves it. He is quite the meower too. I had no idea they did that! Thanks for your information and same goes for everyone else too! It has been so helpful and greatly appreciated! Ya'll are helping me give Morris the best home for him that I can! Take care everyone!.

My cat is 15 and I too adopted her when she was about a year old. To this day she (Jewel) loves to climb on just about everything and often runs and jumps on the wall and runs again. I have chalked it up to her playing with friendl ghosts! :) They are just curious creatures, no foul no harm. By the way, I love the name...Morris, too cute.

Oh I so know the feeling you are going through.  Three years ago I became a first time cat parent and now a pet parent of two cats and I baby them...some might say my cats are a tad spoiled...OK, OK, they are big time spoiled :).

My little one will climb my treadmill and I alway worry about her falling, but she has fallen a few times, what hurts them is if someone sees them doing that or me running up, picking her up and asking if she got any boo boo's. 

They love to climb so look into a nice cat condo. We are looking into  a new higher one for the girls to play one and where they don't fight over the one tallest spot (sisters sheeesh).  Play toys are a must and I change them out every couple of months so they don't get bored with them...yes they are like little kids...play with something for awhile and ehhhh, lets go climb the screen to get mom's attention. 

Congrats on your new baby and becoming a kitty pet parent!

Thanks but I can't take credit for the name Morris. That's what the shelter said he name was and since he was already 2 or 3 yrs old I didn't want to change it. Besides, it really seems to fit him! :) Thanks for your help! Take care!

I understand the spoiled thing all too well! I thought I had spoiled my dog, Megan, (who I had to put down years ago) but she was not near as spoiled as Morris! I just don't know what happened! :) lol  You would think already being 2 or 3 when I got him this past Feb, it wouldn't have gotten so bad so quick and that he would have already been pretty set in his ways. But oh has it ever gotten bad! He is just beyond, absolutely, totally and no doubt about it, rotten to the core! And I am loving every minute of it! :) Thanks for the information! Take care!

Cats are quite curious and quite limber.  It's not likely they'll hurt themselves jumping up or off anything.  I think a tree would be great.  Cats like to perch and see watch things, especially if yours is an indoor only cat.  My cats bounce off the walls and tear over the dresser, book cases and glance of the windows when they're running around and never hurt themselves.  Don't worry, they're very agile.  Just get him lots of toys to play with and dangly things on the perch is a plus.

Yes, Morris is an indoor cat. I will be sure to get the dangly things! :)Thank you for the information! I really appreciate it. Take care!

I just adopted a cat he plays in the kitty liter and then gets liter in the tub so disturbing but he jumps on my kitchen bar and scatches up the couches. My fiance suggests its because he is still a kitten so its natural for him to be so playful. I dont have any scratching post for him so thats a reason why he scratches up everything. I was also told if I put something on the bar like a cookie sheet or something that he will jump up on it and itll flip a little and  give him a little scare and teach him thats not a place to play. so hopefully thats a help I know how you feel. Is he a young cat?

I have two cats and honestly they do some weird stuff too. Have you ever heard that cats always land on their feet??? Well its true. So if your worried that Morris will get hurt, don't worry about it. My cats climb trees all the time...