Over-Hyper Kittens!

[Smowball]

Have two, sisters, aged 5 months next week, and they are nuts! I’ve had cats almost all my life but never like this. It sounds funny, but hours and hours of it every day……. They are cute, funny, sleep well, eat well, have had their vaccines but not been spayed until next month as vet won’t do before 6 months.
But they are exhausting! They are obsessed with getting on worktops in kitchen, table in lounge, any shelf…….. cannot cook anything without fishing them off worktop every 2 mins. If they’re not on worktop they’re in the actual sink. Lock them out of kitchen and they just get on table in lounge, sideboard, leaping on and off, across to sofa, knocking everything over in their way. They have wrecked every single house plant, knocked over and broken glasses, they get in the bath(empty obviously), cannot eat an evening meal without them leaping up onto the back of chair and trying to get on actual plate. If I shut them in the kitchen then they just wreak havoc in there. I’ve spoken to vet, local pet shop etc and they all say exactly the same - ‘oh they’ll grow out of it’, but I’ve honestly never known kittens this bad.
Is there anything I can try??

[Hopkirk]

Don't worry, they will calm down in a few years.

[pastafreak]

They're happy!!

[choux]

Smow, I have been there. I rescued 2 kittens under 7 weeks old. They were more than a handful. On their first night in my home the little boy climbed up my leg whilst I was dining at the table. He made his way up my back until he was sitting on my head. I looked like Davy Crockett as he let his tail hang down my face. I was trying to get him off my head when he took a ski jump slope off my face and landed in my dinner. The peas went one way, the potatoes another and the chicken was just in his mouth (he actually left the carrots untouched). To add insult to injury he paddled in the gravy and then walked over a pastel pink table cloth. I kid you not. I knew I would love them both after that, and I did.

[Patsy33]

Separate them for a while. They egg each other on!.. :-))

[albaqwerty]

House plants can be litter trays in disguise :-)

Patsy, I wonder in separating them will make their howls unbearable tho :)

Choux, I'm in love with your cats.

Ours fell off the arm of the sofa last night, straight down, landed with a thud. Very hurt pride

[calmck]

Can you make one room a kitten room, toys and climbing nest. Put them in there while you are cooking and eating. They will calm down. Plug in a feliway as well. Some cat grass and litter box. Are they allowed outdoors. If so be careful as they could get pregnant!

[jennyjoan]

I genuinely couldn't cope. They sound really OTT. I have had dogs OTT but within some weeks - they calmed down.

I think you are allowing too much freedom - you need to use "tones".

[tonyav]

Cats aren't like dogs though, jj. Cats don't listen.

[Redhelen72]

That is what kittens do they need stimulation!
The cat room is a good idea also when lifting them off the counter a firm no! Just 1 word repeating it again every time you lift them down.
Make play time fun with them with Pom poms etc

[Buenchico]

They're perfectly normal kittens, Smow!

However if you want to try calming them down a bit, Pet Remedy might be worth a try. It's not cheap but it seems to help my stressed-out cat. (The other two are so laid back these days that there's no need to calm them anyway!). I use the diffusers:
https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pet-remedy

[Smowball]

Morning guys. Thanks for all the comments. They have loads of toys, they have a ‘tunnel’ which they adore, they have balls, ‘mice’, you name it……..Have tried separating them even just for half hour and they both cry!! They definitely egg each other on though, but when they do sleep they curl up together like babies(well they ARE babies), and they wash each other. One is smaller than the other and I still think of them as mum/daughter even though they are sisters.
And we have the sitting on the head thing daily - we can be watching tv, anything and up our backs they will climb and plonk themselves on top of head!!

[Smowball]

Choux - I can just imagine your poor tablecloth!!

And yes I didn’t really think about the houseplants as litter trays - they just rip every single leaf off!!

[rowanwitch]

Try having four! I did it once, had to stop them running up curtains, and the textured wallpaper, wrecking the houseplants, as fast as you catch one, the others are back into mischief, it's fun but the do quieten down around two years old.

[Smowball]

Rowan, I’ll be absolutely cursing them and then they turn and look at me with their huge eyes!! Lol.
This morning I’ve lifted both out of the sink I don’t know how many times, both licking the tap and the plug hole. And they already have a bowl of fresh water on the floor.

[Smowball]

And 4 of them?? Omg!

[mjwman]

Ours are 14 years old and still the same!
Spray catnip on their toys and they go ballistic!

[Smowball]

Think I’ll avoid that! Lol!

[Redhelen72]

Cats prefer water out of the sink than still water - they like moving water thats why they keep going for the sink

[pastafreak]

I was just about to say the same as red ^^^
I've also heard that tap/toilet water is fresher than anything in their bowl.
I learned that when I had sammi...my unfortunate greyhound. He drank out of the toilet.

[lankeela]

Could be the more hyper you allow them to be the worse they are - I would invest in a puppy crate, put a bed and litter tray in, feed them in there and then give them 'time out' so they have to rest - it works with puppies.