Feline bad behavior

8 years ago

We became the parents of five kittens born under our shed. The feral momma, when we showed a tad too much interest in her brood, looked at me and said, "You got this Jack, my work here is done. I'm outta here...." and left, not to return.

The kittens were overtly friendly from the very start, with none of their mother's fear/distrust of humans. They are now well socialized and aggressively affectionate. All males, they have recently been 'snipped'.

They have been bell-trained to come when called, and with the exception of one (or more) occasionally crapping onto the drain in the bathtub - and twice in the toilet! (now if I could only train him to flush...) - there have been no 'mistakes'.

But one bit of toilet behavior needs to be extinguished. One (or more) shreds toilet paper. If left on the roll, he will unroll the whole roll. If left on a shelf, he will fetch and shred. We didn't decorate for Christmas, so he fetched a entire roll and shredded it as fine as snow in the middle of the living room floor. Our very own "white Christmas...."

Now I have been able to eliminate some bad behaviors, but am at a loss as to how to 'discourage' the theft of toilet paper. There are several scratching posts and lots of play toys about.

Cheers

Featured Answer

glaserberl

8 years ago

No advice other than they will outgrow it.

Here is one of our office cats caught in the act.

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Comments (8)

cooper8828
8 years ago
I had a kitten like that too. Luckily for me, he just grew out of it. I even bought him a toy that mimicked a toilet paper roll and spun. He never played with that. I'm sorry I don't have any advice, but hopefully it will end on its own.
veggiegardnr
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
This isn't bad behavior, it's normal behavior. :) You aren't going to get him to stop wanting to play with the toilet paper. The only solution is to put it where he can't get it. Either move your toilet paper holder up high, where he can't reach, or keep the toilet paper in a drawer or cabinet by the toilet. Or, shut the bathroom doors. Maybe he'll grow out of it, maybe not. I have a 9 yr old cat who still occasionally shreds a roll of toilet paper. It could be worse. Be glad he hasn't learned to do anything like play in the toilet or flush the toilet. I had a cat who liked to flush the toilet, repeatedly, for fun. I have a cat who will play in the toilet water if a lid gets left up.
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madismom5
8 years ago
Don't let it worry you. Toilet paper is a fun toy! Can't be ignored by a healthy kitten. Move the roll for now (they do grow out of it) Thank you for saving them!
nannygoat18
8 years ago
Put the toilet paper out of claw's reach.

You can't train cats, they train you:)
sephia_wa
8 years ago
It's typically normal behavior for a cat that they eventually outgrow. Every cat I've had has done it. I just keep it out of their reach. Both of my youngest cats are now two, and havent done it for quite awhile now. Not bad behavior, just normal behavior.
Debbie Downer
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
How old are these kittens? Five can be a lot of cats, and they can exhibit some territoriality as they grow into adulthood, even if theyve been snipped (though generally not so intense as if they werent) Make sure that there are PLENTY of litter boxes - there should be at least one for each cat, plus one, so that no one gets territorial about them and that everybody has access to one when they need to go. That can be one cause of cats peeing or pooping outside the box and the fact that its a bathtub (similar to a litterbox in some respects) makes me think there may be some territoriality issues going on.

If you are new to cats.... or even if you arent... there are some really good books out now about feline behavior that I found really helpful - generally what they do makes more sense when you see things from the cat's point of view. Pam Johnson has a few on managing a multi-cat household and intercat aggression (which can be very subtle)and the one by John Bradshaw is good.

Agree with above that preventing toilet paper play is a lost cause! An empty cardboard toilet paper spool or wadded up tin foil batted around in a bathtub is loads of fun for cats and humans alike!
pamghatten
8 years ago
My 13.5 year old cat still shreds TP and then puts it I the toilet! I have to put it in a drawer to keep it away from him. All guests know to look for TP in the drawer. LOL!

Thank you for taking care of these kittens!