The Bad Boy/Girl Cat

When a bad boy or girl cat weaves its way into your heart, your life will never be the same. If you decide to keep this cat, you'll have to learn to live with upset trash baskets and spilled houseplant dirt. You may never be able to display bouquets of flowers safely into your home again

Our veterinarian knows about these Bad Boy/Girl types. “My first cat, before I knew anything, many, many years ago, was one of those. He liked to get up on furniture and counters and knock things over. I would chase him. When I could catch him. I'd give him a little smack on his behind. But the frequency of the undesirable behavior shot up immediately. This became his favorite game and it stayed that way until he died at 20,” our veterinarian says.
Often the cause behind this behavior is a high-energy cat lacking enough stimulation in its environment, it can also have something to do with asking for more attention.

“If I'm spending a lot of time at work and I'm not there with her, she torments the other cats, she jumps on things I don't want her up on and she gets things out of the garbage,” our veterinarian says.

“When I'm a good owner, I fill her treat ball for her and I set up play times each morning and evening for her. When I do that every day, she's just fine. The high-energy cat is not a bad cat, it's a cat that doesn't have enough cat-like things to do.