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Old November 15th, 2007, 05:49 PM
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phoozles phoozles is offline
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Look Out Jake - Here She Comes Again!

I'm having a problem with my little furry friends. Jake, my nine year old guy, has always been a lap cat and a mommy's boy - loves gettin' lovin' and usually couldn't spend more than 10 minutes without being on someone's lap.

Of course all of that changed when we brought Alley into the picture - a remarkably spazzy 3 month old kitten. Of course Jake wasn't a fan when she arrived, but he tolerates her and doesn't attack her. The problem is that SHE attacks HIM! (In a playful way of course).

As time goes on, it's getting worse. Alley could be in a dead sleep on my lap, but the moment she senses Jake walking anywhere, she perks right up, races over to him (in that hilarious back arched sideways hop they do) and then grabs his face - kind of like a kitten headlock.

Poor Jake can't go anywhere without being mauled, which means he can't spend time with us. He hisses at her, but she keeps it up, and she ends up chasing him out of the room (if you've seen the size difference, it's comical, but still sad for Jake).

I'm at a loss on how to stop this. I've tried the water bottle, but she's too fast, and Jake sometimes gets sprayed, which makes him think he's done something wrong. Recently we've put Alley in a different room for an hour so we can give Jake one on one time, but I'd rather find a way to stop her from jumping on him all the time.

Any tips?
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Old November 15th, 2007, 05:54 PM
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What you need is another kitten . Seriously though, what's one more? This way, the two wee ones can then exhaust themselves with each other and leave poor Jake alone.
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Old November 16th, 2007, 05:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
What you need is another kitten . Seriously though, what's one more? This way, the two wee ones can then exhaust themselves with each other and leave poor Jake alone.
I mentioned that to my boyfriend, and he looked less than thrilled - although he was the one pushing for me to get Alley to begin with.

I think that after all the sickness and such that I've gone through with the two of them, I'm going to hold off on adding to the family for the time being - at least for a month or so!

Last night I came home to see Jake come and greet me at the door. He spent quite a bit of time out in the open with me, which made me wonder why there wasn't a kitten jumping on his head. Then I heard some little "mews" from upstairs, and realized that Alley had been locked in the closet all day! Luckily she didn't leave any messes, and didn't even go to the litter box when I let her out, so I of course put her right in there and she did her business. Then proceeded to, of course, jump on Jake's head.

At least the old boy had a few hours of peace and quiet!
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Old November 17th, 2007, 12:44 AM
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Awww, poor Jake. I would just make sure to allocate some extra cuddle time with him. If you pick him up and put him on your lap then it might be easier to fend off the kitten. Don't worry, the kitten stage will mellow before you know it and then you'll be missing all the antics .
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Old November 17th, 2007, 08:28 AM
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I would say the same as Teri,I would shoo away the kitten if I had Jake on my lap,the kitten will be fine,but Jake might develop some issues if he does not get his cuddletime.
Stress can cause all kinds of problems in a cat,inappropriate urination,agression etc..
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Old November 17th, 2007, 12:32 PM
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I've had a similar problem with Smoke, she rarely would even come out of hiding for the longest time since we added the boys to our little fur family. When ever I can I encourage her to be out, and I do try to sneak time alone with her by locking the others out of the bedroom while I play with her. It doesn't last for long because she get distracted by the meowing and fighting and knocking around on the other side of the door, but she does I think know that I am trying to spend special time with her.
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Old November 17th, 2007, 06:34 PM
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When my foster kittens were younger and bothering my senior resident who hates to be bothered by other cats, I would shoo the kittens away. They now know not to bother her. They need to learn to respect cats who don't want to play.

My other suggestion is the same as sugarcatmom's, get another kitten for Alley to play with.
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Old November 19th, 2007, 04:33 PM
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Those are some great suggestions - we've taken to trying to pick up Alley and saying "No" to her when she does it - it's hard though, because she's so fast and relentless! Plus when we say no, Jake looks at us as if we are saying it to him, and cowers for a while - poor guy!

I love her and her antics, and know she'll calm down - but it'll be about a year before she does, and I just want Jake to get some time. I do try to spend alone time with him - we do it as long as we can before Alley finds us and tries to get in on the action.

We've got them on separate feedings (because Jake's on a diet), so maybe during that time I can have Alley in a separate room for about an hour or so.
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Old November 21st, 2007, 12:34 PM
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phoozles phoozles is offline
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Just an update - I've been spending about 20 minutes of alone time with Jake for the past couple of days, and he's been playing and acting like the kitten that Alley is! I had him chase a ribbon and even I didn't know he could move that fast! I also found that after spending alone time with him, once I let Alley back into the room he'll actually play with her instead of hissing, and last night he even jumped up on my lap even though she was on the couch!

It's progress!
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Old November 21st, 2007, 10:31 PM
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Jake's got his confidence back - good way to sneak in some exercise for him too
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Old November 22nd, 2007, 08:08 AM
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That's good newsJake might be realising he can handle that little runt,soon he'll love her to bits
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Old November 22nd, 2007, 10:32 AM
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