Ragdoll Cat Forums

So, George is my first male cat that I've raised since kittenhood in my adult life.

Are they ALWAYS this difficult?

He's been getting worse and worse with his crappy attitude lately. He KNOWS the rules: No cats on the table, stay out of the kitchen when we're in there, ABSOLUTELY NO GARBAGE-PICKING, and NO scratching the furniture, and all cats MUST use the litter box (illness gets a free-pass out of this last rule).

I'd say that my rules are pretty easy to follow and are relatively standard as far as rules of the house go.

Its hard to ignore, and George's punishment for any of the above digressions is immediate separation (which is very hard for him by the way) aka "bathroom time". He's been deliberately and obviously defying all of these easy-to-follow rules.

Just this morning, he tipped over the garbage, ripped into it, and flung it all over the house. Its him, and not the other cats because we've caught him red-handed in the garbage many times. He is constantly jumping on the table and will even do it right in front of us, and not even try to get off of it until much we take him off. He decided that he is above using the scratch-post and cat trees, and its a MUCH better idea to scratch the furniture, he will steal food right off the fork as its on its way to one's mouth and he will even go so far as to swipe and hiss at anyone who chases him out of the kitchen when they're in there.

The other cats have no problem listening and abiding by the rules, and I really dont think they're unreasonable or unfair either. My cats are spoiled beyond all reason, they get the best food that we can afford, they drink only filtered water (brats lol), and they get treats and "new" toys daily (new toys being toys that they have forgotten about lol). They're loved beyond reason and yet George is driving me bonkers!! lol

Any ideas as to how to curb this? I suspect the reason WHY this is happening is because he's sexually mature now and is pumped full of testosterone and is doing everything in his power to try to dominate us and show that he is KING George.

*sigh*
Thanks for listening to my rant lol

My guess is that it is an alpha cat thing. My Aidan is similar. He is always really good about the litter pan (thank God!), but he is such a pig! He steals food from the girls' dishes, gets into the garbage, on and on.

He does not care how often I scold, etc. he simply does as he wants!

I can only guess that it is both a boy thing and more than likely an alpha thing...

You cannot treat a whole male like "one of the cats." They will mark and they will breed any whole females - long before you figure out the girl is receptive. You have to segregate whole males and females and you have to keep the male in spaces that are easily cleaned or under close supervision watching to avoid marking. You also need to be very careful about any corrections for "misbehavior," because he is full of hormones and you can kick off an event of "roid rage."

The thing about separating him from the girls is that you dont understand WHO I live with.

I personally dont have an issue with locking up the cats for their own good. Jeff on the other hand does. He hears them whine a little bit about being separated and he goes running to them and lets them out of the room. It is a job that is completely impossible. The best I can do is diaper George. He has not sprayed, but the second that he does, he will be separated immediately.

I dont have a cattery and dont have the space for such a thing. I live in a townhouse/condo. Besides, I only have the two breeding females, and neither of them let George anywhere near them when they're in heat (they just dont like him) and no, there have not been any breedings behind my back as I'm always home since being put on bed rest. I watch them all day, every day, and at night, because we thought that it was possibly the girls knocking over the garbage bin, we brought the girls to bed with us.

I'm only planning to have two more litters ever, and all of my cats will be speutered because I dont have the time to care for new kittens, the adult ragdolls, the basket-case cat, the dinosaur-cat, a new baby, a toddler, and a husband at the same time. Angel and George, and hopefully one of the kittens from one of the two litters will stay with me. Stella is being retired and given to my mother in law to live her life as the first ragdoll of that household (I wouldnt put it past her to become obsessed like the rest of us did lol).

If you do not have the space, time or family to manage breeding, then definitely speuter the cats - and the sooner the better. That a female has rejected a male in the past means nothing.

I dont have the space to keep cages in my house. I do have spare rooms for it... and who are you to tell me to speuter my cats asap? I've been managing fine so far, its just recently that George has been giving us problems.

You do not need to cage, particularly with one whole male. You need ONE room with a door in your home to manage one male. If you cannot keep the whole males from the whole females, then you need to speuter them - and the sooner the better. If your husband will not cooperate in what is necessary to breed responsibly, then don't breed. It is not for every family.

We do not have any cages in our home. Our boy(s), either stay in our bedroom, or they can stay in one of the other bedrooms if I have kittens being born. The kittens are born in a nest beside our bed.
I do have a room that is fully tiled, and we used non-toxic washable paint, if I did get a boy that sprayed. It is a nce room, with lots of cat condos and toys, but it rarely gets used.
In my opinion it is too dangerous to leave the males and females together past a certain age. I have seen males become sexually mature at 4-5 months, and have heard of it happening more. The boys do have to be separated from the girls to avoid any accidental litters. In reality, if they are together and left to stay together, I am not sure I would call the breeding accidental.

I understand having rules of the house, that the cats are expected to follow, but it sounds like he may be acting out. You mention going on bedrest, I know you are busy with the baby on the way and Aiden, so it could be that George isn't getting the interactive energy out, the same way he was. Can you get Jeff to play with him on a daily basis to help curb his mischief ways? I would get a trash can that is not only cat proof, but baby proof. It will be needed in the future anyway, so why not save some stress by stopping the trash digging. Make sure to put all food away, and off counters, this gives him a reason to want to be up there. You may even place tin foil on the counters, he may dislike the noise and texture and stop going up there on his own. It may not work, but a suggestion.
I know that many families have rules about the cats not being on tables or counters, but also realize it is a cats nature to want to be higher. Do you have larger cat condos or areas where he is able to get higher up?
I don't think Jan was trying to be mean, he was just meaning if Jeff isn't willing to understand the reasons why whole male and females should be separated, and things are stresful at home, why put yourself or the cats through the stress of 2 more litters. Why not go ahead and speuter all, and be able to focus on your growing family, still enjoying your Ragdolls as pets.
I know you mentioned thinking of retiring to focus more on the rescue aspect of Ragdolls, this is a grreat way to give back and stay apart of the Ragdoll breed. I realize that at this time, you can't focus on that now, but after the baby is born, you may find the time. If not, I am sure you can find some way to volunteer or just come to the forum to give advise.
The main issue right now is George, and to help with his current behavior problems, and knowing that you are now on bedrest with a toddler...(been there, done that), I realize that it may just be that George is needing to release more of his energy.
He also sounds smart, try teaching him some tricks, he is certainly food driven. Just my sincere opinions, wishing you the best!!

Purrs,
Stormi

I let my cats do whatever they want because they are cats... not humans. I buy cheap couches for a reason.. I do not believe in declawing. This however is my life style and I have no children. I've worked with about 12 male dogs in the last year that were still "whole" and marking happened every time. I have never owned a cat that was not altered so I can't relate but I say clip, clip..snip,snip! You're the human and the provider. You can always breed at another time. I wish I could! Not for money just for having kittens around.
If hormones are destroying your house then I vote destroy the hormones. Espically if you have a baby on the way girl! I don't think he'll miss his parts all that much anyways.. LOL Not with kids and loving adults to give him attention.

I don't have children but I'm sure your family would take priority over breeding. Why separate your furkids? That will make you miserable and them.

Best of luck and purr wishes... and hope you pray for a quick resolution (and your sofa..lol)

Not sure what to tell you. George sounds like a hand full! Ragdolls do not do well with separation and I have found with our three that they do not understand no very well either. They don't seem to respond well to stern discipline which we don't do well with anyway. They do seem to respond to gentle coaxing which is what we have always used. We have large scratching posts which they all now use. They will go to a chair if we are talking and they realize they are not the "center of attention" but this is just a stunt!

We have two females and a baby male. He was the dominate one even at 10 weeks but is also an absolute sweet heart with us. Loves laps and lots of lovins! He does jump on the girls backs for some play which they now don't object to.

Good luck!