Conference misery::feline_v1

    8 months old, huh?

    IMHO, 8 months for cats is the equivalent of the terrible twos in
    human babies.  Last year winter Portia and Oscar were in their Terrible
    8's,  This winter, Elmo has been in his Terrible 8's.  It makes
    me real glad that Mouth is definitelly older - meaning I won't have
    to go through this with him - that is if Mouth ever decided to stay
    in the house longer than 5 minutes.
    
    Elmo will be having a Birthday soon - he will be 1.  He has been
    getting progressively better over the last 4 months, but still spends
    many a night in JAIL - either thrown outside or locked in the bathroom.
    It's to the point that Elmo knows when it's JAIL time - he either
    runs to the front door or runs into the bathroom.
    
    We were amazed last May when Portia and Oscar turned 1.  It's almost
    as if they got better overnight.
    
    
    
    All I can tell you is to hang in there for a couple more months.
    He should eventually outgrow it.  At 8 months, he's still a kitten.
    
    
    One final note - altering did NOT calm any of my cats.  I swear
    it made them worse! (Elmo was done at 6 months, Oscar at 7 months).
    
    

re .0:
	I know exactly how you feel!  Tsunami went through the same thing,
	including biting.
	She is getting better(she turns 1 next week). 
	Even during her worst fits the squirt bottle(with firm NO) and 
	bathroom "jail" worked wonders!

    If he's acting as he is and terrorizing your female cat, part of
    the problem may be that he needs a good "fix".  He may also be 
    really hyperactive--not unlike some little humans.  So, the water bottle
    will help too.  Try the neutering first (if that's what you want
    for him).  Good luck!
    

    Tristan has always been "playful".  We "solved" a lot of it by learning
    what was cat proof, unbreakable, etc, and only leaving those out.  We
    quickly learned that cut flowers, small, delicate carvings, etc, should
    be put away.  
    
    What we did was give him freedom of the house, but keep one room which
    was off limits to cats.  This room got all our plants, small
    collectibles, etc.
    
    He's still a silly cat, but over the years we've been able to put out
    more things without him breaking them.  Look at it this way, it forces
    you to keep a neat, tidy house.  ;-)
    
    I also second the neutering idea.  It calmed Tristan down a little,
    mostly in his relationship with Tenzing.
    
    Good luck,
    Karen, Tristan, Tenzing and Max.

    What memories!  I remember when we got Mao at 5 months she was
    a holy terror!  Everyday I'd come home and she would have trashed
    a few more plants or some more ceramics!  She's the best jumper
    of the crew too so she'd get into EVERYTHING!  She drove me absolutely
    crazy and no amount of discipline seemed to help.
      But take heart - the do grow out of it.  As they get older they
    calm down a bit.  I also refer to age 5 mos - 1 yr as the cat
    terrible twos.
    
      By contrast, Dundee has alway been a little doll!  I can't believe
    what a good kitten he is.  We didn't have him neutered until he
    was 9 months old (per vet's advice).  Must be something about
    those scottish folds!
      Nancy DC
    

    NEUTERING helped curb Panther's energy level a great deal, but he is
    still hyperactive. So, I make a point of tuckering him out each night
    to use up some of that excess energy. He does some real great
    somersaults with when we play with the kitty tease.

    Deb