Thread: HELP! MY MAINE COON IS BULLYING ME! I am at the end of my rope.

First, I am so sorry this is really long. and I thank anyone who actually reads this! I am really at the end of my rope here with my cat. My Maine Coon, Finn just turned 1 years old last month. Since the day we got him, he's been very mischievous. The breeder who sold him to us didn't run a very good cattery. When I saw him as a new born I felt a connection to him. It probably wasn't the best idea to get a cat from a bad breeder but I felt like I needed to "rescue' him. But to get on with my issues, when we took him home, he was very energetic, always playing and had a big personally. Everything you would expect from a Maine Coon. But in addition to that stuff he began biting us while we were asleep and running on to the bed and trampling us at full speed at 4am, mainly he did this stuff to me. We tried everything from playing with him before bed, feeding him before bed, even closing the bedroom door at night for a while. He meowed and scratched at the door, even head butted the door or threw a fit and began to knock stuff over in the apartment. Finally , we let him back in and tried our best to just ignore him. Then the temper tantrums grew. In the morning before work, he would purposely wreak havoc on our apartment causing us to be late for work. He would literally take his large paws and push the water out from his fountain and splash it all over the floor, then tip it. He also will go in to his litter box and kick out the litter. We took this all as a sign that he may be board and he just may require more attention. So we made the decision to bring home another kitten. I thought his aggression would calm down once he was neutered at about 5 months old but it seems to only get worse. After he was neutered we got Dexter, in December. He is a ragdoll and only 3 months younger than Finn. For the first month, I thought we were going to have to rehome one of the kittens because Finn would literally attack Dexter, pounce on his back and bite the back of his neck and rip his hair out. He was obsessed with mounting Dex and biting him. After about a month, he finally got board with the constant attacks and eased up. They began to cuddle and become best friends. The morning fits to delay us from leaving calmed down But Finns bad habits still persist. He doesn't attack me at night as often, but hes also stopped sleeping with us this past month. We had a nice point in time where both kitties would come and sleep with us all night. Now Dexter usually sleeps by our feet and Finn sleeps in different places around the house. I feel like I have a disobedient dog! Its gotten to the point where we had to buy a plastic doggie travel bowl and get rid of the fountain. Now Finn has chin acne. He doesn't respect our space. If we are trying to cook, Dexter will sit on the floor nicely in the kitchen and watch us. Finn will jump on the counter. We put him down and tell him no, hes right back up. There is no stopping with him. Eventually, he gets mad and attacks my feet or gets on his back legs and latches on to my clothes. I have ripped shirts, ripped socks. ripped pants and even holey underwear from the constant interactions with Finn latching on to me. Yes, I trim his claws bi-weekly. I have spent so much time and money looking in to behavior deterrents. He likes water, so if we use a spray bottle, he is un-phased. We purchased the SSSCAT, it worked for a day. We put it on the kitchen counter while we were at work only to find that he walks right up to it and paws it over. I have 6 different forms of scratching devices. He uses them all but he also uses us too! He's been locked out of our bathroom because he will use all of our towel as a scratching post and I've seen him even pee in the sink! Eating has become a task as well. I cant sit down at a table and eat and I cant cook with him either. I finally broke down tonight and went on here to write this because I was attempting to eat my dinner at the kitchen counter huddled over my plate. I went two steps to the refrigerator to get a drink and he jumped on to my plate to knock my food on to the floor so he can eat it. When I hurried to clean it up he fought me to try and gobble the food down. My work shirt has a fresh rip and my new socks are snagged. Hes very strong and almost 20 lbs. He pushes his weight on me well. If I try to pick him up while hes in his attack mode, he will bite my hands hard. I don't feed him table food. Somehow he wants my food so badly, you would think I had kitty crack on my plate. I leave dry out for him all day. Its not like hes starving. I also feed raw but he only eats it sometimes. He doesn't like really many toys. I think Ive bought just about every toy in the pet store, He plays with a kickeroo but insists on drowning it in his waterbowl. They get ruined very quickly. His favorite toys are the cheap little mousers that rattle. It takes him about 2 hours to completely skin it and chew the plastic until its flat. I bought "da bird" and I am unable to use it with them. He gets very aggressive. He doesn't want Dexter to ever have it. He latches on to the feathers, locks his jaw and growls like a dog if Dexter or anyone comes near him. He literally destroys the brand new refills within minutes by ripping the feathers right out of the base. I feel horrible. Ive tried everything to discipline and calm this cat. Hes so aggressive, I even resorted to grabbing him by the scruff and hissing at him. He is un-phased by everything!!!! I feel bad for Dexter. Finn thinks Dexter is his toy. Dexter will play with Finn but when Finn is in one of his moods, he will jump on Dexters back and bite his scruff or take Dexters favorite toys and rip them apart. I didn't realize a cat could be this spiteful and intelligent. He knows how to frazzle us and push us around. Lately, Ive noticed him trying to have sex with Dexter. I didn't think this was possible for a neutered male, especially since Dex is male too.... until I witnessed him walk up to Dexter and lick the top of his head then latch on to the back of his neck and thrust. I pulled Finn off and saw his penis was out. Dexter meows for help. This happens almost every night for the past 2 months. I don't know what else to do with Finn. I feel like I am losing affection for him. He used to come and sit on my lap and purr everyday. He only does it once in a while now. More often than not, hes walking up to me to latch on and bite, then run away like its a game. He doesn't even respond if I yell "NO" or "OUCH". I feel like I am bullied around my house. I feel guilty for feeling this way about an innocent animal. Is this my fault? Am I a bad owner? I look at him now and hes cuddled on the couch like a little angel. Ive been around cats all my life, none have ever acted like Finn. Any advice, please would be much help. I would be heart broken if I have to rehome him. I know there is a good boy inside of him...I just don't know where we are going wrong in trying to train him to understand that hes hurting me and upsetting me and doing things that I don't want him to do. I don't have any peace unless he's sleeping!