Help calm cat that plays too rough

[nickijm]

Hi all I am hoping someone here might have some advice to help restore a little calm to our home.  In Dec last year I lost one of my babies to cancer  it was devastating but I always said I would rescue again in his honor.  I still have his twin sister who is now 13 and I have another little female who is 3 years old.  My older girl Leann never really cared for anyone else she is a grumpy one but she tolerates Allie and they pretty much live fine.   In April I met a rescue cat Max and he was added to our family.   I was told he played a little rough which I thought good cause Allie does and Leann never wanted to play with her like my boy Toby did.    Well little rough means over the top in this case.  He is relentless with the girls  85% of the time he's great  but he gets these energy spurts and goes nuts.  I will pet him and he will be rolling around cuddly then he bites and not play bites  breaks skin bites  ok well fine its me I'll deal with that.   I spray I walk away all the stuff I read to do.   With Allie he chases after her pounces on her, pins her down and just bites.  I will hear her yelling and have to go over and pull him off.  I usually take her out and sometimes leave him in that room and close the door or move him to a room and close the door so he calms down.  With Leann the poor thing he will chase her all over  then he traps her in a corner someplace.  She is spitting and hissing and he just will not let it go.   He chased he the other day and knocked her down I ended up taking her to the vet cause she was just miserable and think she might have smacked her teeth, she is doing much better now.   6am she wants to go get food or wander around and he makes chase.  I have to go find her  get her away from him and bring her in with me.  This morning he was at the bottom of the bed and with me right there cuddling her  lunged at her on the bed.   I don't know if he's just playing to rough or what.   He never seems nasty just "crazy"  I don't want to trap my girls in rooms to get away from him or have them be afraid to go anywhere in case he is in play mode.   He just turned 1  I got him in April at 7 months old.   Anyone deal with this kind of thing before and have suggestions?  He is part of the family I just want him to chill out.   Any help is appreciated.  

[nickijm]

Well I took some of the advice and we had a much better night.  I know we aren't magically fixed but at least I know progress is possible.  I found some old toys in a drawer that were a rattle ball on a stick with a feather and a little candy cane on a string.  I went in to bed early and him and I played for over a 1/2 hour with these things and the red dot.  Every time one of the girls moved I distracted him with play and with some pets and cuddles.  It was time to go to bed and we all curled up to sleep.  At different points in the night I heard the girls get up but he never went after them.  No chasing!   He came up at some time in the morning and crawled under all my blankets and curled up at the back of my knees and slept. In the morning I got up he came out and was in striking distance of leann but never did a thing.    Even now he is around and the girls are around and no crazies.   I'm going to try to get a few more of those little toys I can play with him with and see if I keep doing this it will help.   I know he was rescued as a stray maybe he just needs a little extra loving :)

[MYoungAtHeart]

The Feliway diffuser that you plug into the wall is an excellent choice.
Also regular exercise for a young cat is also very good.  Those little birds on fishing poles that you can buy at any pet store really do the trick.  My MewMew who is a Maine Coon goes off on tangents too and then I know that she is not getting the exercise she needs and out comes the birds on the poles.  If you do the little birds too much, they get bored easily so it takes a little experimenting to see what works for your cat.  Cats crave exercise and they will terrorize smaller animals just for the thrill alot of times.  I also added a birdy pole for Sophia who is totally tranquil and she loves it....

Good luck and let us know what is working for you

M

[opus88]

As much as I hate medicating cats, there are times when it's warranted...in this case for the safety of yr kitten. Talk to yr Vet there are options, hopefully at A very low dose and for asshort a time as possible...you don't want to over sedate him...but he does need something to calm him down

A natural remedy you could try is feliway diffuser, Avail. thru yr Vet or Amazon. But Im really unsure if this would be potent enough...worth a try

Good luck

[nickijm]

He is fixed I even took him into the vet a few weeks after I got him just to make sure that wasn't the problem.    He loves the little "red dot" so I try to use that to wear him out but he lasts longer with it then I do.  

[zodiacqueen]

I agree that he is much much too rough with your other cats. All of that biting and breaking skin can cause abscesses that might need a vet's attention and antibiotics.

If he's not neutered, then no doubt that is the answer to his roughness. If he is already fixed, then you need to wear him out by playing with him. Then he won't have the energy to go after the other cats.