Feisty kitten :-/

[Deleted User]

We have adopted two gorgeous kittens, 10 weeks old, fully weaned and litter trained. They love their scratching post, eat well and seem very healthy. Perhaps a little tooooo healthy, lol.

One is more gentle than the other, and knows to keep her claws in when she plays/jumps on us or the furniture etc.... not ALL the time (she is a kitten afterall!) but she's learning fast...

The other is much more troublesome. She (we think) has a bit of a nasty streak, and has drawn blood from me twice today already. She persistently climbs on the table (something the other has already learned not to do) and I have been lifting her on to the floor, over and over, in the hope that she gets the message. I'm gentle with her, no shouting or anything, but it obviously spoils her fun and i can tell that she's starting to resent it by lashing out at me. An hour ago I walked into the room and she launched herself off the floor, clawed her way up my leg and 'attacked' my hand :-/ Mouth wide open, teeth showing! I have a lovely scratch now and was lucky she didn't get chance to use her teeth .

This is just one of many incidents in the past few days. Any tips on how to calm an angry kitty? The two of them play fight a LOT, and it looks pretty vicious. We give them plenty of love though (when they let us!), and they have lots of toys and a warm bed...

Please reassure me that she'll calm down!!!! Thanks.

picklepick

Right, you need to be mum cat here!
The mother cat will tell off a naughty kitten by hissing at them when they do something they're not supposed to. Other litter mates are also good at letting a kitten know when their play fighting gets a little out of hand with the claws etc.

When she does something she's not supppsed to do, try hissing at her. If she's on the table when she's not supposed to be, hiss at her then pick her up and put her on the floor. If the hissing isnt working, try a really firm 'No' and again put on the floor.

Another method, is water! A water pistol from a distance is brilliant. It doesnt hurt the cat, they probably wont associate it with you and most importantly, they'll learn to associate the table with being wet and wont keep getting up there.

They do learn to play with no claws eventually. My two have anyway!

I also dont think she launched herself at you because you'd earlier told her off. I think she just wants to play fight with you as she does her sibling. Dont take it personally!

patchwork_cat

I don't agree with hissing at a kitten they will get scared of you and become even more agressive. It sounds like one is more playful. NEVER wiggle your fingers to get a kitten to play with them, get a toy of somesort, perhaps one of the wand with dangler type one. Play with her until she is tired and then make sure she gets plenty of cuddle time. There are a few books available the Perfect Kitten comes to mind, I haven't read the Cat whisperer, but might be worth a try. Try this link http://cats.about.com/od/faqsbehavior/f/scratchbitekit.htm or this link http://www.catsofaustralia.com/aggressive-kitten.htm

jenova_2

Hissing will confuse the kitten at first because they didn't know you could make that noise, so you might get a funny look and then they'll ignore you. I hiss at my cats when they're going near something I don't want them to - cup of tea, cables for the telly etc. It works. It shouldn't make them afraid of you.

If the kitten bites you, pinch her. That is the closest you can do to biting her back without getting a mouthful of fur. Her mother and her littermates would bite her back if she bit them, to teach her that she's gone too far. Obviously you do not want to pinch her hard, but a little nip with your fingers will shock her into realising she hurt you. Combine with hissing for effect.

Do you clip their claws? It's difficult at first to get them used to the idea so might take two of you and a lot of quick attempts at doing one or two claws rather than trying to hold them for one massive session...but it really does help when you've got a "leg-climber" (all mine are - it's just as "fun" when a 6kg adult does it)

I personally don't use the waterspray technique because I'm a terrible aim and could just visualise squirting my TV or laptop or something - but the other poster is correct, they soon associate being annoyed and wet with whatever they were doing in the first place. A loud clap does it too, although that's a bit scarier for a noise-sensitive kitten so should only really be done when you need to scare them away from something really dangerous. They will scatter and take your ornaments with them if you do this while they're on a shelf so use with caution

She should calm down with age - but having said that I've got adults now who are just as nutty as they were as kittens. I don't think from your description that she was being particularly aggressive when she climbed your leg to "play" with your hand, that just sounds like a boisterous kitten. She should grow out of it.

Also - If you don't like the leg climbing, take her off you and put her down and ignore her, don't encourage the behaviour by responding to her when she's sat on your hip - only interact with her when she's not hanging off you by her claws. I didn't discourage mine so they think it's fine - I don't notice it any more as I have tough legs now, but my guests don't appreciate it, so!

925dancer

Water pistols are good, reduced some of the naughty behaviour in my big 2 year old.

If kitty does bite you, blow in her face quite hard and remove her, then ignore her. Cats don't like having their faces blown on and it will give you time to get her jaws off you! By ignoring her you are sending a clear signal that the behaviour is not on.

[Deleted User]

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice. I guess whatever technique works best depends on the kitten, how she responds, and how comfortable the owner is in carrying it out... I'm trying to to be firm and consistent, but obviously when I'm not there (out shopping etc) they are getting-away-with-it! I like the water pistol idea, perhaps just to keep them off the table. As for hissing, I have tried that a couple of times already and they just look at me like I'm crazy, lol. I don't waggle my finger, but have got into a habit of saying a firm 'no' while raising my index finger... it just felt like the right thing to do... and although it's taking some time, i can tell that they are both responding to it (slowly) and starting to think twice about climbing my leg or whatever I'm trying to discourage them from.

The feisty one (a girl, called Bob!) is needing much more attention though, and definitely goes into attack mode more easily. She's also the more needy of the two, and mews for cuddles a lot . She's so sweet when she wants to be, and so scary when she doesn't!!! I don't think she means to hurt us, I don't think that at all - i just think her 'off' switch takes longer to work and that I got in her line of sight this morning while her adrenaline was still pumping .

I guess it's going to take us a while to get used, but we are developing a good routine and hopefully that will help too.

picklepick - being a cat mum is new to me, although we had cats when I was much younger. I wasn't the one in charge at that time though! patchwork cat - thanks for the links. Our kitties have destroyed two of the dangly toys in just a few days! Much fun was had! jenova - we haven't had claws clipped yet. I'd be nervous about doing it myself so plan to ask the vet about it when they go for their vaccinations . I'm hoping it will help protect the furniture as much as anything! 925dancer - I hadn't thought of blowing.. but it makes sense and I will use it if needed and see how they react.

Sometimes they want a cuddle but use their claws to climb up me so I usually lift them down again and let them try again. It's starting to work, and they get lots of praise if they remember not to use claws. Hopefully our efforts will be rewarded . I just needed a bit of reassurance, that this particular feisty cat was no different to many others!


Bob, looking innocent

eamon

You've been fooled. That is the look of a kitten that knows a slave when it sees one. and is plotting its next humiliation game.

You had better get your gimp suit ready.

[Deleted User]

eamon wrote: »

You've been fooled.

Haha! So true

missmontana

Bless little Bob! She's black, obviously a witches cat, hence the evil streak. I've had 2, Harley, was and ankle grabber and Cilla is very unpredictable!
Next time you go near a fast food place, grab a load of the plastic straws, hours of fun and great for when they are teething, saves your fingers!!
I have even taught my NFC to play fetch with one!

Mercy

Hi

I loved my 2 little kittens when I got them at 12 weeks. So much fun!

However it was summertime and I was in shorts often. They would run up my leg! My bare leg! A good strong 'NO' plus my being aware and offering a 'lift' via hand, to my upper portions worked well I was only run up like that 3 times.

I too trimmed their tiny needle-like claws for a while. This really did help. There are special scissor type things for this. Just research it so you don't cut too much. Just the tips will do. Stopped around 12 months as they were well trained and sorting it out for themselves by then.

Your best friend is a STRONG DEEP VOICE. Brook no compromise and don't think 'Oh but it's only little, it'l grow out of it' You will become it's slave and will never be free!:):):) :eek: If SDV doesn't seem to work, take kit to a place which is away from the action, shut it in. Give it 10 mins and it will want to be friends. Keep it up, do not allow poor behaviour.

My cats have never bitten, scratched or been awful on purpose. Nip it in the bud. If you are Mummy cat they'll wanna be your friend and do as you show them.

My surviving kitten (his brother got kidney probs at 10) is 16 yrs old in April. Shouts a lot but we have learned our boundaries and are very good friends :rotfl:

Best of luck!
MX

juliebunny

Ah some lovely bits of advice on here, and from genuine cat lovers.

I agree with the person who said you have to be their mum cat, especially if they were separated from their mum before 12 weeks old as they didn't have enough time with her to learn cat boundaries.

As soon as the kitten does something inappropriate such as biting, immediately stop playing with him or her too. I had a resuce cat that would bite me (in play) and this worked for her.

Sometimes people unwittingly encourage bad behaviour (perhaps the people where you got the kitten?) because as a tiny kitten it's cute, but as they get bigger it becomes painful!