have I asked you this before?

[RolandsMom]

My bf wanted me to ask you all about this annoying habit Roland has of scratching the balcony sliding door. Now sometimes its because he wants to go out onto the balcony but sometimes I really think its just to be a brat. He does the same from the outside too. I will let him out, close the door and within about a minute he is back scratching. I go to let him in and he just sits there, looks up at me and walks away. Brat. Is this attention seeking or just plain teen bratishness? I realise that he has always been exceptionally full of mischief, but it came to a point where we had to take off the glass fronts of our T.V cabinet cause he would go up to it and scratch incessantly. The water bottle worked for about three days then became a big game so we just took off the doors. He went to look for them immidiately and gave us 'the look' when he found they werent there anymore. I swear he does it just to annoy us. Vic (my bf) gets up and chases him eventually. They have a game of chase, Roland goes and hides under the bed until the bf sits back down then comes running out and straight to the door.
Any tips on stopping this or do I just have to deal with the bratty behaviour cause its just who he is? Im hoping he wont teach the new kitty his tricks.

[sugarcatmom]

Sounds to me like attention seeking. And it works, cause he gets your attention! The best way to try stopping the behaviour is to ignore him 100% when he does it. Don't even look at him, don't say his name, don't get up from what you're doing, nothing. 100% of the time, both you and your bf. Even one slip-up will just reinforce the behaviour that much more, so it has to be an all-or-nothing endeavor.

Other than that, he'll likely grow out of it eventually (if you have the patience to endure). Just make sure he has lots of other outlets for his excess energy and mischievousness. Hiding treats or using those treat-dispensing balls can be one method of distraction. I also suspect when the new kitty arrives, he'll be less inclined to be a pest.

[Scuba]

Sounds like you have quite an intelligent boy on your hand. From what you have said, I would say it is a game to him. He has got you and your BF reacting in a way that he finds entertaining to him. His action might seem like he is being a "brat", to him he is just playing a game. Only us humans find the way he goes about it "bratty" or annoying.

Especially when your BF gets up to chase him. Roland hides and then comes out to start all over. That definitely sounds like he is playing. Much better to redirect his attention to something else. Roland is a husky right? (I don't remember - too many people and too many pets to keep track off on here.)

He probably could do with a bit more mental stimulation. Some dogs need to be mentally challenged on top of lots of physical activities. The smarter a dog, the more so.

Good luck!

[hazelrunpack]

Roland is a handsome kitty, Scuba!

Our Cass does something similar at night when she doesn't get the place of honor, curled up at Daddy's chest, for sleeping. She'll jump off the bed, find a door that's ajar, and bang it into the wall with her nose. hubby always gets up, lifts her back onto the bed and gives her the prime position against his chest.

Yes, she has him beautifully trained, doesn't she?

Roland's behavior sounds similar. And the only way to stop it is to ignore it. (Which ain't gonna happen around here...I hope you have better luck! )

[Scuba]

My bad, thanks for the correction Hazel.

Rolandsmom - You can pretty much disregard what I said in my previous post then.

Still sounds like he is making a game of it though. I used to have a roommate whose cat would scratch at the corner of a chest in the living room until someone either went to chase her or pick her up. If you chased her, she would run around for a bit and then hide under the coffee table. Then once everything was calm, she would start the cycle again.

If you managed to wrangle her, only cuddling with her would make her stop. Otherwise she would just go back to scratching the chest.

In the end, I either ignored her (wasn't my chest) or redirected her attention to one of her toys (best was this mouse on a string). Otherwise I don't really know that much about cats.