My kitten attacks my feet and hands

I have a 12 week old kitten who, often when I'm walking, jumps onto my leg like it's a tree and hangs onto it. When I'm sitting on the couch, she attacks my feet like crazy and bites them!! I try to redirect her with her toys but then she gets bored and goes back to my feet. She's not a mean cat, I think she's just attacking my hands and feet for fun, but how do I stop her?? 

My kitten used to do this, especially around this age and she wasn't being mean but it was very painful and none the less a bad habit. I had tried to redirect her behavior but it never got me anywhere, I ended up resorting to a squirt bottle for feet attacks and blowing on her for closer range attacks. Some people are really against the squirt bottle, and I hated doing it, but she was extremely stubborn and it was the only thing that worked for me. I only have to do the blowing now, it gets the message across and she instantly quits.
I hope things work out, and although you have to work through it this is normal kitten behavior and it isn't a sign of aggression. It's something she would be doing with her litter mates at this age, and they would bite her back (something we can't really do lol). Things will get easier with age and best wishes!

thank you so much! I'll take into consideration what you said, and I've tried blowing lightly on her face when she bites on my arms but it only seems that she doesn't let go, and one of my friends has a male cat who is possibly in adulthood and when you try to pet him he bites you, but I'm not sure if that's because of his gender or just who he is

It could be over stimulation, often times (especially in males) if a cat has pent up energy from not being played with, or exercised enough they redirect that energy on the hand that pets them. Its usually easy to fix by planned play time sessions three-four times a day. Of course it could just be who he is, I have encountered generally untouchable cats and theres no real reason behind it. If this a new thing with his aging though I would definitely lean towards over stimulation. 

Normal kitten behavior. Your kitten will grow out of it, but it's best not to scold her or use a spray bottle.  You just have to deal with it.

Put it this way...if you do yell at her or squirt her, you will be damaging your relationship with her. She's still a baby. She wants to play. She wants to play with YOU since you're her new parent.

My cat was an absolute lunatic when he was a kitten, especially at night. But they do calm down, and before you know it they're all grown so enjoy it

I'm just paranoid I might get cat scratch fever from all the scratching and biting, and considering that she had tapeworm and fleas I'm really paranoid haha but I guess I should enjoy her craziness before she turns 10 years old.

katnissthekitty said:

 
I have a 12 week old kitten who, often when I'm walking, jumps onto my leg like it's a tree and hangs onto it. When I'm sitting on the couch, she attacks my feet like crazy and bites them!! I try to redirect her with her toys but then she gets bored and goes back to my feet. She's not a mean cat, I think she's just attacking my hands and feet for fun, but how do I stop her?? 

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It is a young cat/kitten thing.  They do grow out of it and your cat is just playing the only way it know how too.

It is why having a little brother or sister to keep company is so nice as they can bite and play with each other!

It didn't hurt or damage the bond between my cat and I. It was just a matter of setting boundaries, in fact my girl is especially a one person cat and is always with me. She was extremely rough with me because the lady I got her from allowed her to play with their hands and feet from a very early age. In certain situations discipline is necessary to curve the behavior, and my girl has no negative complexes because I had to scold her once in awhile.

Casey used to do this to me when he was a baby.  He is now two years old and the behavior has stopped.  He still gets over-stimulated sometimes from petting and can get a little nippy but there are things I know to watch for before he gets to this point.  It only happens now if I don't catch his signals fast enough. 

When you are playing with him make sure you are not using your hands or feet as toys because that will encourage the behavior.  We recently had company that loves cats.  This person grew up with cats but has been living in a household with only dogs for a while.  I know he was playing with Casey using his hands because he was really nippy again right after our company left. Also our company mentioned how cute Casey's love nips were when he was getting ready to leave.  It has been a while since anyone that has visited mentioning Casey giving them love nips.  He is not a kitten anymore though.  When he would nip me I would put him down on the floor and walk away from him. It took a few days but the nipping stopped.  Our friend is eventually wanting to get a cat again.  When he mentions he is ready to adopt one hubby and I will mention the not using hands as toys with kittens to him.

Here are some articles that may be helpful to you.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/beating-boredom-what-indoor-cat-owners-need-to-know

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-stop-playtime-aggression-in-cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/playing-with-your-cat-10-things-you-need-to-know