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OK, I'll try posting it here first:

Max is my roomate's cat that she got this summer from a shelter. He is abot 8 -10 months in age, but looks fully grown and is kinda fat as well. :giggle:

Anyway, I got the basic nuances of his behavior earlier on: Not so good with strangers, bonded really well with Katie, tolerates me and my other roomates, but isn't overly affectionate with us as he is with Katie. Very playful and inquisitive, has to look at everything thoroughly. Really hyper too.

However lately - he's been changing. Yowls all night when we're all asleep, yowls during the day if he is left alone for a bit and scratches or pushes against closed doors when he knows someone is on the other side. Not as hyper as he used to be either. Katie says he is probably settling down into his new environment more but somehow I think it's more than that. I don't know what it is, but... its strange seeing these changes in him.
 
Is he eating and drinking normally first off. Is he using the litterbox normally, peeing ok? No diarrhea or anything? Those are the first questions, if any of those behaviours have changed then there could be something medically wrong. If all that is still normal then maybe he isnt getting enough attention? You could leave some toys out for him when you're not home. Play with him at night a lot before you go to bed so that he gets tired and sleeps instead of yowls.
 
He sounds like our Max. When we got him, he was a shy kitten. He was found outside, then taken (with his brother) to the county shelter, then passed on to the lab for PALS, and then I adopted him. He seemed normal - he was good weight, healthy, playful, friendly, and curious. I adopted him with Phil because his friend wanted a cat for their house. After a few days, he just changed. He howled all the time, tried to get out doors and windows, climbed screens, etc. Phil's friend was never around so the cat was bored. When he got diahrrea, I took him back because Phil's friend was not paying him enough attention. We thought that all he needed was more attention and toys. BOY were we ever WRONG!!! Max is now two years old and to this day, he's just full of energy, ALWAYS howling or talking (he walks around the house going "brrrrrrr brrrrrrrrr"), WAY to curious for his own good. Basically, he's a naughty cat, it's just his nature. He has a very loud cry/howl and anytime he wants something he will howl incessantly. At first we thought maybe the lab had made a mistake and didn't neuter him, since he would mostly howl to get outside (where he's not allowed anyway). After a few years, we've come to realize he's just a strange cat. He loves going on walks (he'll actually go along the sidewalk), he loves riding in the car, no matter how little kids torture him he's NEVER bit or scratched anyone. We all came to love him for his weirdness, and I still miss him.

Like Sicy said, some things that helped were more engaging toys. Also, I tried to get him going with the cat dancer for a while each night before bed. Sometimes when he's just pacing around howling, I'd take him for a little ride in the car and that would give him something to do for a while. I don't know if this is possible or if it would work for you guys, but maybe he needs a playmate? Max is still crazy and he has THREE other cats, but I don't even want to think about how he would act as an only-cat. He was with other cats at the lab and at Phil's house, was always howling at cats outside. He's always been great around the other cats and they all loved Max.

Here are some of the toys he really likes:

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Couple of thoughts:

1. Siamese are known for thier strong vocal abilities. Most I have come in contact with have had that signature "siamese" yowl thing going on. We have one kitty at home who isn't a purebred or anything but clearly has some Siamese heritage and what a set of lungs he has. He'll go down into our front hallway where the echo effect is strongest and just sing away.

2. I agree with Lies. He needs a friend. The adoption center where I volunteer rarely if ever places young males alone because they really need a lot of interaction, stimulation, etc. Some of the behavior you're describing (vocalizing when left alone, doing whatever it takes to "be with" the people in the house, etc.) are classic signs of a lonely kitty. I'd definitely reccomend getting him a friend if you can.

Hope this helps... :)
 
Here are my cats!! The black/white is Daytona and he is 13 years old and the grey/white is Eli and he is 9 years old. The vet says Daytona has siamese in him because of how vocal he is. Eli just yowls! I love them SO much!

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aawww!! I love tuxedo cats! The black tux looks exactly like my aunt's old cat Boots, who I tortured (by playing dress-up with) as a child.
 
Nuala said:
Here is my neighbors cat Doc.. he likes to scare the hell out of me by jumping on the window screen when I am on the computer! Our screen is ruined now!!!
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:lmao::lmao::lmao:

Awwww i love all the kittie pics. :cute::heart: Makes me miss my Dog and Cats.

When i'm older and more settled i can't wait to get cats, dogs and i'd love to get a ferret or two. Animals are so loving. They love you unconditionally. :heart:
 
Good advice so far, Siamese cats are quite social and usually do better having a buddy - he's young enough that it would be easier to get a friend now rather than when he is older. It sounds like he may need more interactive play (people playing with him) with things like Cat Dancer, laser light pens. Just having toys out doesn't always stimulate them to play on their own. One mental stimulation tool is a food cube, where they have to 'work' for their food but is a fun process, this is an example:
http://www.vetsnab.com/play-n-treat-food-treat-dispenser-2-pk.html

Another fun toy is a cat jungle gym, I got this one from Target, not too hard to put together:
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I don't know of a good way to make him less vocal, as that is the nature of Siamese cats to be very talkative. If you do more activities with him during the day though, the more likely he will be tuckered out and sleep through the night.
 
All this advice really helped a lot! There has been a definite improvement over the past couple days as I have been following this advice. He still does meow a lot but its a lot less whiny than it used to be. He also tends to sleep during the day a lot and is active at night still.... still don't know what to do about his schedule.

Sicy - yes he does eat well and his health seems to be normal. His eyes are really bright too, :cute: I want to take pics of him to post here but he never sits still long enough! :lol:
 
Most cats schedules are exactly like that. Sleep in the day play at night LOL .. cats are nocturnal. That's why you have to try to play with him a lot before you go to bed so that he will hopefully be tired. :)
 
Sicy said:
Most cats schedules are exactly like that. Sleep in the day play at night LOL .. cats are nocturnal.

My cats do that. In the wee hours of the morning they all (and there are ten of them) decide to play and go thundering around in the attic (the cats' playroom) directly above me. How cats can make soooo much noise is beyond me. :rolleyes:
 
LivLuv - so your cat does the "brrrrrr brrrrrrr" thing too huh? Max does that a lot. He'll walk over to one of us, tail pointed straight up in the hair and "brrrrrrr" away till he gets some attention. Once we fondle him and all, he lies still - as close to us as possible - for about 10 minutes then he'll be up and running. He's very hyper. Unitl he tired of his own company and comes back with that brrrr sound. It's probably a sound members of the cat family use in the wild to "round up" thier family or somesuch. I was wondering about that sound until you mentioned it.
 
Babydoll said:
LivLuv - so your cat does the "brrrrrr brrrrrrr" thing too huh? Max does that a lot. He'll walk over to one of us, tail pointed straight up in the hair and "brrrrrrr" away till he gets some attention. Once we fondle him and all, he lies still - as close to us as possible - for about 10 minutes then he'll be up and running. He's very hyper. Unitl he tired of his own company and comes back with that brrrr sound.

YESSSS! That's exactly it! And our cat is named Max too. Well, his name is Maximus, but he goes by Max. He wanders around going "brrrrr brrrrr brrrr" and he does that funny thing where he holds his tail WAY up high. It's almost like he enjoys the sound of his own voice or something, he just paces around doing that. Beckham used to do this, but not really anymore, unless he's trying to get Posh to chase him. Posh has never done the "brrrr" or held her tail like that. She has a very whining high-pitched meow so she just plain cries when she wants attention.
 
Not the greatest quality picture, but here's one of our cats, Lucia, in her ambush spot, which is where she lies in wait to trip the dog (who's blind, deaf, and very, very old) as he passes by on the way to his water bowl. :shame:


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I'm thinking about getting a 2nd cat. I have a 2 year old female who is very used to being spoiled. I am away for work for a pretty long time each day and at school as well. When I leave for work in the morning, she runs to the door and plops down in front of it as if to say "don't leave again!" I know she has to be lonely. She is pretty comfortable around other cats but I know introducing a new cat will take some adjusting.

My question is, do you think I should get a cat closer to her age vs. a kitten and do females and females get along better than males and females or doesn't it make a difference?

Thanks!!
 
I think if they're spayed and neutered, it doesn't matter as much. I had Beckham and as he grew up, I wanted to add a cat and the ladies at the cat rescue said to get a female kitten. It took a few weeks before I was comfortable leaving them out together while I was gone, but they did play a LOT and still do, despite the age and gender difference.
 
If it were me I'd get a very young male. (That's what I did ).
The resident cat will feel less threatened if you bring in a kitten vs. an adult cat.
 
I promised myself I'll attempt to take pics of Max sometime soon... trouble is, he doesn't sit still long enough! :D

:hmm: What's the best way to get a kitty to pose and sit quiet for a bit?
 
Babydoll said:
:hmm: What's the best way to get a kitty to pose and sit quiet for a bit?

Our cats know "treat!" so if we get the camera ready and say "treat!" they stop and look for a second. They also know "spider" so if I say "spider" they'll stop what they're doing and look up.
 
Liesje said:


Our cats know "treat!" so if we get the camera ready and say "treat!" they stop and look for a second. They also know "spider" so if I say "spider" they'll stop what they're doing and look up.

My cat knows "treat" too. I get to see her this weekend since I'm going home for my birthday :hyper:
 
cruzila said:
I'm thinking about getting a 2nd cat. I have a 2 year old female who is very used to being spoiled. I am away for work for a pretty long time each day and at school as well. When I leave for work in the morning, she runs to the door and plops down in front of it as if to say "don't leave again!" I know she has to be lonely. She is pretty comfortable around other cats but I know introducing a new cat will take some adjusting.

My question is, do you think I should get a cat closer to her age vs. a kitten and do females and females get along better than males and females or doesn't it make a difference?

Thanks!!


I don't know how to copy and paste the actual page but if you go to this address (it is a pdf):

http://www.aafponline.org/resources/guidelines/Feline_Behavior_Guidelines.pdf

Punch in page 37 at the bottom for ideas on introducing a new cat. I don't think the sex/ages matter as much as really going slow with the introduction.
 
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