Kitten question
Discussion
My girlfriend and I got a kitten in October. Adorable little thing. She's just over 4 months old now. However, recently she's started attacking my girlfriend's hands and arms. Particularly when my girlfriend's sat on the sofa. She can be quite persistant, and doesn't react to my girlfriend telling her to stop. If you put her down on the floor, she sometimes just jumps back up and carries on. She doesn't do it all of the time, and half an hour later she'll some and cuddle back up to my girlfriend. She doesn't seem to do it with me, unless she's playing, and if I tell her to stop she does. She sometimes does it when you pick her up, but that's understandable really - she doesn't want to be picked up! The rest of the time she's great - funny, loving, curious.
Has anyone else found the same thing? Is it a phase that she's going through? Is she just playing and getting a bit carried away? She can be quite vicious when she's doing it, and really digs her claws in and bites. I don't think it can be a lack of things to play with, she's got tons of toys and a scratching pole which she likes to use.
Is this something she will grow out of? Or is there a way that we can train her out of doing it? I don't want her to grow up thinking that it's an acceptable way of behaving, and just do it all the time, so if I can curb it sooner rather than later then I'd like to.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. We've been told that using a water pistol when she misbehaves can help (a small squirt gun, not a whopping super soaker!). Our kitten loves water, so I don't think it would be much of a deterrent.
Has anyone else found the same thing? Is it a phase that she's going through? Is she just playing and getting a bit carried away? She can be quite vicious when she's doing it, and really digs her claws in and bites. I don't think it can be a lack of things to play with, she's got tons of toys and a scratching pole which she likes to use.
Is this something she will grow out of? Or is there a way that we can train her out of doing it? I don't want her to grow up thinking that it's an acceptable way of behaving, and just do it all the time, so if I can curb it sooner rather than later then I'd like to.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. We've been told that using a water pistol when she misbehaves can help (a small squirt gun, not a whopping super soaker!). Our kitten loves water, so I don't think it would be much of a deterrent.
They should grow out of it, our kitten used to run about non stop, now spends 20 hours on the sofa asleep, hes not even 2!
She might like water, but in spray form its different, just give it ago. When she attacks just get up and move her far away, don't make a fuss.
Our cat is trained quite well, he knows he's bad if I say no (sternly) or click at him. The girlfriend lets him get away with more, usually stops when I see him.
She might like water, but in spray form its different, just give it ago. When she attacks just get up and move her far away, don't make a fuss.
Our cat is trained quite well, he knows he's bad if I say no (sternly) or click at him. The girlfriend lets him get away with more, usually stops when I see him.
rlw said:
illmonkey said:
Our cat is CLEVER NOW AND DOESN'T GET CAUGHT, he knows he's bad if I say no (sternly) or click at him. The girlfriend lets him get away with more, usually stops when I see him.
You're probably right. But what I don't see...Edited by illmonkey on Wednesday 20th January 09:37
As far as kitten is concerned, you two are big cats and it is play time, not for fun but part of its growing up and learning to kill and survive. OK, today its a house and the missis. We tended to to get cats in pairs or multiples thereof. They would play fight each other, no other cats and the big less furry ones will do.
Seems like a majority vote for the water pistol - I'll see how it goes.
I've found her sat in the kitchen sink before now, and as a way of trying to teach her not to do that I turned the tap on. She just stuck her head under the water and pawed at it! I wondered if she was mimicking us washing our faces as she sometimes likes to sit in the bathroom and will have seen us doing that. Hopefully the water pistol will work!
Thanks for your help.
I've found her sat in the kitchen sink before now, and as a way of trying to teach her not to do that I turned the tap on. She just stuck her head under the water and pawed at it! I wondered if she was mimicking us washing our faces as she sometimes likes to sit in the bathroom and will have seen us doing that. Hopefully the water pistol will work!
Thanks for your help.
Matt Evans said:
Seems like a majority vote for the water pistol - I'll see how it goes.
I've found her sat in the kitchen sink before now, and as a way of trying to teach her not to do that I turned the tap on. She just stuck her head under the water and pawed at it! I wondered if she was mimicking us washing our faces as she sometimes likes to sit in the bathroom and will have seen us doing that. Hopefully the water pistol will work!
Thanks for your help.
Nigel gets the bath tap run, he sits next to in, puts his paw under it and drinks it. Never in the kitchen sink though.I've found her sat in the kitchen sink before now, and as a way of trying to teach her not to do that I turned the tap on. She just stuck her head under the water and pawed at it! I wondered if she was mimicking us washing our faces as she sometimes likes to sit in the bathroom and will have seen us doing that. Hopefully the water pistol will work!
Thanks for your help.
My kitten Horatio went through the same period, grew out of it once he realised he would get banished from the front room whenever he bit to hard.
As for the water pistol, Hora loves water but as much as water pistols don't scare him, when i caught him s
tting in the bath and i turned the shower on that did teach him a lesson. He hasn't done it since.
As for the water pistol, Hora loves water but as much as water pistols don't scare him, when i caught him s
tting in the bath and i turned the shower on that did teach him a lesson. He hasn't done it since.Similar story here. We got a kitten in Decemeber and he loves play fighting with me. I'd read (ok wife read) online that if you play fight with your hands then thar's bad, as they will grow up to do what yours is doing now.
So instead we have a playfighting toy. It's basically a stuffed cat (about 3.5 inches long) and I hold that and play with our kitten. He bites and claws at the toy, but not my hands. Also by saying 'No' sternly (accompanied by the spray bottle and/or followed by being shut out of the lounge for a bit) seems to be doing the trick when he misbehaves. He's now really gentle with my hands and if he paws at me then it's 'claws in' not 'claws out'.
Like training a child I think the key is consistency of message and not losing your temper.
So instead we have a playfighting toy. It's basically a stuffed cat (about 3.5 inches long) and I hold that and play with our kitten. He bites and claws at the toy, but not my hands. Also by saying 'No' sternly (accompanied by the spray bottle and/or followed by being shut out of the lounge for a bit) seems to be doing the trick when he misbehaves. He's now really gentle with my hands and if he paws at me then it's 'claws in' not 'claws out'.
Like training a child I think the key is consistency of message and not losing your temper.
The kitten is trying to teach itself how to attack ready for when it's older, it's an instinct. (This would be the case if needing to living wild) Your girlfriend happens to be an easy target.
Water pistol will help but question why kitty is doing it.
Do you guys work all day?
How much do you actually play with the kitten each day (They have a lot of energy at that age, and also sleep a lot) Having lots of stuff for her to play with is not the same as actually playing with her.
If there was another kitten in the house there would be a lot of rough play going on between them at this age.
Get a laser light, it'll chase this but make sure before it gets bored to land the light on a treat for it's reward, else the cat will get fed up of chasing it. (Not like dogs!)
If it even attempts to attack your girlfriend use pistol or tap on nose shout no and put on floor. Must act immediatley, do not allow it to play attack for a couple of mins then get cross when it starts to hurt. After a few mins play with it on your terms (move away from settee, stand up if needs be)
Water pistol will help but question why kitty is doing it.
Do you guys work all day?
How much do you actually play with the kitten each day (They have a lot of energy at that age, and also sleep a lot) Having lots of stuff for her to play with is not the same as actually playing with her.
If there was another kitten in the house there would be a lot of rough play going on between them at this age.
Get a laser light, it'll chase this but make sure before it gets bored to land the light on a treat for it's reward, else the cat will get fed up of chasing it. (Not like dogs!)
If it even attempts to attack your girlfriend use pistol or tap on nose shout no and put on floor. Must act immediatley, do not allow it to play attack for a couple of mins then get cross when it starts to hurt. After a few mins play with it on your terms (move away from settee, stand up if needs be)
Edited by becksW on Wednesday 20th January 11:29
bga said:
Kit80 said:
The water piston is your only real option.
A water pistol worked wonders with one of my cats. The other one would just end up soaking wet and carrying on what he was doing. A tap on the nose eventually fixed that one though.becksW said:
The kitten is trying to teach itself how to attack ready for when it's older, it's an instinct. (This would be the case if needing to living wild) Your girlfriend happens to be an easy target.
Water pistol will help but question why kitty is doing it.
Do you guys work all day?
How much do you actually play with the kitten each day (They have a lot of energy at that age, and also sleep a lot) Having lots of stuff for her to play with is not the same as actually playing with her.
If there was another kitten in the house there would be a lot of rough play going on between them at this age.
Get a laser light, it'll chase this but make sure before it gets bored to land the light on a treat for it's reward, else the cat will get fed up of chasing it. (Not like dogs!)
If it even attempts to attack your girlfriend use pistol or tap on nose shout no and put on floor. Must act immediatley, do not allow it to play attack for a couple of mins then get cross when it starts to hurt. After a few mins play with it on your terms (move away from settee, stand up if needs be)
Yeah, we both work all day but we make sure that in the morning, and as soon as we get home that we give her plenty of attention. We both play with her a lot. It seems to be at random when she attacks her. Like you say (and as have others) it seems like it's a bit of rougher playing. I'll try the water pistol idea I think, see how she reacts after a couple of weeks.Water pistol will help but question why kitty is doing it.
Do you guys work all day?
How much do you actually play with the kitten each day (They have a lot of energy at that age, and also sleep a lot) Having lots of stuff for her to play with is not the same as actually playing with her.
If there was another kitten in the house there would be a lot of rough play going on between them at this age.
Get a laser light, it'll chase this but make sure before it gets bored to land the light on a treat for it's reward, else the cat will get fed up of chasing it. (Not like dogs!)
If it even attempts to attack your girlfriend use pistol or tap on nose shout no and put on floor. Must act immediatley, do not allow it to play attack for a couple of mins then get cross when it starts to hurt. After a few mins play with it on your terms (move away from settee, stand up if needs be)
Thanks for the help.
Matt Evans said:
Yeah, we both work all day but we make sure that in the morning, and as soon as we get home that we give her plenty of attention. We both play with her a lot. It seems to be at random when she attacks her. Like you say (and as have others) it seems like it's a bit of rougher playing. I'll try the water pistol idea I think, see how she reacts after a couple of weeks.
Thanks for the help.
Ah, missed this bit. Cat is bored. Long time spent on its own etc. Will it be allowed out at a later date or another cat to keep it company?Thanks for the help.
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