16 week old kitten is a nightmare

kait27

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My husband and I adopted an kitten as soon as we returned from our honeymoon a few weeks ago at 11 weeks, he is now almost 16 weeks. He's a nightmare... He's an absolutely beautiful orange and white tabby, his name is Simon but we're considering changing it to "Jesus Christ!" because that seems to be all we say to him. Now, he hasn't clawed the furniture or climbed the drapes (thank you god!) but I don't know if he's an aggressive jerk or just a kitten. He's a huge biter. Sometimes they're little "love bites" but often times he's intent on drawing blood. If he's laying across the door way to a room, I'll avoid going in it because he'll attack my ankles. He'll gnaw on my fingers or hands. His nails are trimmed, but he still grabs your hands with his claws and bites. Is this normal? Is he teething? We have a 10lb dog too and I've seen him ambush her... she plays back just as rough, so they seem equally suited but I'm afraid he'll claw her in the face. Is this all normal kitten behavior and he'll settle down in time? I've never had a nice cat. I feel like I'm a magnet for jerk cats. I also don't have a ton of experience with young kittens- i had two cats growing up that I didn't experience the kitten stage of, and my parents current cat was 4-6 months old when I got him 10 years ago (and equally jerky.) I've often said growing up I always had cats so I assumed I was a cat person. Then I got a dog, and realized I was just a dog person who'd never had a dog. Please tell me he's going to grow out of this. He has toys- balls and mice and the fishing-pole kind, cat nip and no-cat-nip, scratching posts, high places to climb to (that he's allowed). Tonight I got  a laser pointer and had him chasing it and it seemed to make him wired, not tire him out. He chews like a puppy. Everything goes in his mouth... I've even seen him purring away while chewing a dog bone!

for what it's worth, for about five minutes twice a day, he's very lovey, purring, wanting to be held and pet and cuddled. then BOOM. jerk.

help?

 

franksmom

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Welcome to TCS! Super cute kitten!

Well first thing is he thinks that your hands and feet are toys and you have to break him of this. Never play with him using your hands or feet and only use toys. When he does try to play with your hand redirect him with a toy (wand toys are great for this). By redirecting him to the toy you will teach him appropriate things to bite. 

Kittens have a ton of energy and this behaviour is normal and he is not being a jerk. It sounds like Simon and the dog may become best of friends. Cat rarely use their full claws when they are play fighting and it is very unlikely that he will hurt the dog. My kitten play fights with both my dog and cat and no one gets hurt. You should keep his claws trimmed though so it will not be an issue.

If you want to make him less wild getting another kitten may actually be a good idea. Now I know you probably think I am crazy but two kittens really are better than one. They can chase each other around so you and the dog will not have to play with him as much. If you get another kitten around the same age this would be great for him and they can keep each other entertained during the day. Kittens really need a lot of play time and if you are at work all day this is why he has so much energy because he has been sleeping all day. He will need super long play sessions. Da bird is a good toy to tire out kittens and cat trees and tunnels are a lot of fun for them too. 

He sounds very sweet and should start to calm down soon. 

Good luck and keep us updated! 
 
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kait27

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But if he's using his full claws and teeth on me, I can only assume he's using them on the dog, too. I've found small pin-size scabs on her recently.

I'm going to try using the wand toy and laser for a good chunk of time and see if I can actually tire him out. He does sleep a lot during the day, even on weekends when we are home.

how long will it take for him to get tired out? like how long should i try to "exercise" him to use up some energy and make him more manageable?
 
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gwlaw99

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Have you tried a pheromone difuser like Feliway and/or a pheromone collar like Sentry Good Behavior?
 
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kait27

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The labels on those products say they are for scratching (like the furniture) and urine marking...  knock on wood, he's scratching on his post and peeing in the litterbox. I'll occasionally catch him trying to scratch on the carpet but deter him. that's not a huge issue, its how he interacts with other living beings in the house.
 

gwlaw99

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They are for anxiety and aggressiveness.  They contain pheromones that calm cats.  Anxiety can cause scratching and urine marking, but those are just symptoms.  It can't hurt to try them.
 

smitten4kittens

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Feliway mimics a mother cat's pheromones. It can help calm him because he feels like mom is still around. He is still just a baby.

I agree with Franksmom.The best thing I ever did to calm down my crazy kitten was bringing home another kitten. He played with the kitten all day and when he came to me only wanted snuggles. That was literally the last time he attacked my ankles or used his teeth on me.

Play with him until he is visably tired if you can. Tired cats are well behaved
(which is exactly why two kittens can be easier than one).
 

mservant

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Welcome to the site Kait27. I too have had the 'joy' of a hyper kitten that NEVER tired, and chewed everything in sight. Your little treasure will quieten down but it might take a bit of time and a lot of running off his energy from you in the mean time. It's just as well he looks cute:) There are quite a few threads in the behaviour forum with this topic included and they are worth a read as lots of tips. I don;t have a multi pet household but you might also find useful information in some of the threads on this topic, esp. in relation to your worries for your dog.

Feliway might help if some of the running about and being hyper is stress related. It helps cats feel safe by mimicking the pheromones of a mother cat.  

Franksmom's right, try to play and divert his attention to toys if he does go for your hands and feat, though that can be easier said than done if he's laying in wait and pouncing on you in the doorways. Sounds like he enjoys a bit of hunting.  You say he's chewing all the time and ask about teething: it is quite likely that he's started  teething and the chewing behaviour will be more pronounced at this time.

Do you have any toys that he will play with without human interaction - or pestering your tolerant dog?  My boy likes the ball circuit toys for this and can spend ages pouncing about speeding the ball round and round. I also found that some larger toys like the Kickeroo worked well so that you can engage in the contact play without letting him bite or scratch your hands or feat.  The feather wands like you have, and things like Da Bird are good for getting the cat to run about like crazy for 5 or so minutes at a time - let them have a short rest so they don't get TOO hyper or start panting then start over again. (Good because you can stay on the spot / sit down for a bit while they go crazy).  A few sessions of 1/2 hour 3 or 4 times a day should help burn off some of the excess energy.  I used to have sessions when I got up, before I went to work, when I got in from work, mid evening, and then before bed..... I only need to to it a couple of times a day now. Are they your stairs in the picture? Have you tried playing fetch throwing his toy mice/birds up the stairs to get him running up for them?  Have a pile with you at the bottom in case he doesn't bring them back for you!!!  The other thing that might be worth trying is looking at some cat training videos and tips and see if he takes to learning tricks, it may be he's needing a few more challenges and it might also be a good way of bonding and building your relationship with him through rewards. If he is like Mouse he won't be patient enough but it's worth a go!

If your little darling does bite it's really important not to pull away as he will think you are responding with play and it will encourage him.  It is better to give an initial slight push in towards him and at the same time firmly and quite loudly say 'NO' or 'OUCH', then freeze until he lets go. Repeat the 'NO' if you need to.  If he does it again -repeat the process.  He should learn pretty quickly from this that biting is not an acceptable way to play and that you don't like it. If he doesn't experience any reward he is unlikely to continue to do it.  If he's really hyper and  jumping up at you then I would go for the 'timeout' method of lifting him up and removing him to another room, shutting the door so he can't get back to you. You then only let him back out for company when he has calmed down - usually a few minutes (not longer than 15 but I've never had to wait that long).  I have always avoided any use of water sprays or tapping noses/fingers in mouth or shaking tins as they can leave the cat frightened and then possibly start to develop other anxiety behaviours or loose trust in you.

Best wishes for building a happier relationship with your new family member. 


Ooh, and I forgot to say, congratulations on your recent wedding! 
 
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mservant

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 .......................

He chews like a puppy. Everything goes in his mouth... I've even seen him purring away while chewing a dog bone!

........................
Didn't say in my rather long post - Mouse makes a loud purr-like noise when he's chewing things he really likes!  He makes the cutest, funniest face at the same time - like a little demon. 
 

betsygee

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My husband and I adopted an kitten as soon as we returned from our honeymoon a few weeks ago at 11 weeks, he is now almost 16 weeks. He's a nightmare... He's an absolutely beautiful orange and white tabby, his name is Simon but we're considering changing it to "Jesus Christ!" because that seems to be all we say to him.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm laughing out loud right now.  Your description of the situation was very humorous--I especially love the idea for the name change!  
  For what it's worth, our first kitten didn't bite or attack like yours, but her behavior seemed so bizarre (literally bouncing off the walls, etc.) we truly thought she was mentally retarded. At the time, we didn't know anything about cats or kittens and didn't know there were things we could do to channel the energy so we sort of just let her go nuts. Fortunately, over time she grew out of her crazy kitten phase and turned into the best cat ever.   
 

my-boy-jasper

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What a cutie! My kitten Jasper is about 6 months now, have had him for nearly 4 months. Your boy sounds a bit more hyper than mine, but I can still relate to your story. Jasper went through a phase of biting me and everything in sight but has all but stopped now. I think it had a lot to with teething, because since he lost his baby canines it doesn't happen much. Well he bites but not hard and he doesn't chew on me anymore. So yeah it's normal and sounds like play, not aggression. If it was aggression you would see other signs like his ears pinned back and hissing. I agree with the posters above, try to redirect him to a toy when you can. I found that going completely still works for both biting and claws. I guess they don't the reaction they are after. I agree time-out is effective if they are in a frenzy. A firm 'NO' works well for me too but I think I'm quite lucky in that Jasper is placid as kittens go. Not sure what you can do when he is lying in the door way, it's winter here and I just let Jasper jump at my feet with slippers on. Maybe you could try tossing a ball or waving a toy to distract him while you sneak past. Sounds like he's working his cattish ways and is already dictating those around him


I think with patience and not encouraging bad behaviour (i.e. using hands for play) they eventually learn how to interact with their people. Jasper doesn't extend his claws when he grabs me with his paws (even when he ambushes my feet) now but several months ago I was pretty scratched up. Not sure I have much to offer, just wanted to reassure you that Simon isn't being a jerk and will almost certainly grow out of it. In which case, you'll probably have another annoying behaviour to work on - in my case, jumping up on the kitchen benches is the latest craze. Yay.
 

tammyp

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Hi Kait27

Everything that people have said here is spot on...I'm also owned by an energetic cat, and after devoting so much time to wearing him out, we decided to try the wisdom of getting him a playmate.  Welcome Ava.  She is now 6months, and Kato almost 3years.  Our life has CHANGED!!  They love each other, chase each other, wrestle each other, stalk each other and do kowapunga lauches at the other's head...We now have the challenge of getting Kato to play with US!  (and our story was remarkably like yours, to the point that I couldn't use timeout on him, as he would attack my reaching hands...I had to put ME in timeout.)

It sounds very likely that your kitten is also teething.  We have just gone through this too.  Give him lots of chewing opportunities; a soft toy about his size that he can 'kill' will also help expend his 'kill' drive.  For chewing, we also provide raw meat with the bones in it - a rabbit carcass cut into pieces, or chicken neck cut into pieces, or chicken ribs.  It's also a good way to boost calcium at this stage.  My cats are weird and both love to chew on metal - so I have given them some millinery wire which they love.  They also shred cardboard.  And because our phone charger cords were 'just right' for young Ava, I got some rubber tubing about the same width as a substitute.  She also really likes fabrics to chew on, so she has an assortment of off-cuts that are hers, and that I fix to the end of 'Da Bird' wand as a 'new' interactive toy.

In terms of 'how much' play you need to give you kitten, it is cat dependant.  The benchmark is a flop.  Literally.  Play until they flop on their side.  And short amount of panting is fine(Kato even pants with his tongue hanging out).  With just Kato, we needed 3 flops in each play session; the amount of time between flops gets smaller!

You also mentioned your kitten being more wired than tired after a laser play.  This is normal - they are amped to get that thing.  And they can't.  It can also lead to frustration.  The solution is a good laser session, followed immediately by a wand toy session where than have something that is possible to catch.  They need that.

I think it is great that you already have a playmate in  the form of your dog...they will be great friends.  The thing with being too rough is something that another kitten/cat would help with as they let each other know if it's too much.  They do this with a hiss or a yowl, and then shunning.  As humans we can also employ the same tactics.  And NEVER allow any part of your body to be used as a toy (as has been said).  Keep the message consistent...'hands are for loving, toys are for playing'.  This is actually harder than it sounds as males typically want to play with a cat like it is a dog. So they rough-house.  My hubby was such a pain, as the temptation was always too much.  But it was ME that paid for it later.  Sometimes it just works like that, so it is important that everyone who has contact with your kitten is playing by the same rules and not confusing him as to what is acceptable.

Wishing you all the best!  I was also helped by understanding how to give cats love in the 'right' way and being able to see how they are giving me love.  This was really important in the teenage years, which are coming up for us both...so I'll also leave you my fave cat blogger (and she also has a high energy cat in her mix).  I picked out an early adolescence post, but do browse loads - she is an amazing way to understand cats and navigate issues!  http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/early-adolescence/233
 

mservant

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Hi Kait27

...................

In terms of 'how much' play you need to give you kitten, it is cat dependant.  The benchmark is a flop.  Literally.  Play until they flop on their side.  And short amount of panting is fine(Kato even pants with his tongue hanging out).  With just Kato, we needed 3 flops in each play session; the amount of time between flops gets smaller!

Yes, do get to the panting stage, have a short rest and then go again!  I do the same thing tho' made it sound like I stopped earlier in my original post. 

You also mentioned your kitten being more wired than tired after a laser play.  This is normal - they are amped to get that thing.  And they can't.  It can also lead to frustration.  The solution is a good laser session, followed immediately by a wand toy session where than have something that is possible to catch.  They need that.

Really important information. 
   You could also reward by throwing a cat treat at the end of the laser play, or as an interlude in a longer session.

.................

Good luck to both of you in those teenage years.  You WILL survive, and enjoy the play times for as long as they last for we miss them when they subside.  
 

stephanietx

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You've gotten some really good advice.  I have to say that although he is a bit more energetic than most, all of his behavior is very normal.  Kittens have enormous energy and everything is a toy.  Tumbles was a lot like your guy, wired all the time!!  I used to call him my demon cat because he acted so possessed at times!  He's now 3 and still gets wired from time to time.  If you can afford it and have the space,  something to consider would be to adopt another kitty of similar age.  That way, they can play together and teach each other good manners.  He's also probably teething, so you need to be sure to have lots of toys for him to chew on.  Have them ready when you're petting him so that if he tries to bite you or grab you, you can redirect him to a toy.
 

desjarlaisbaker

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I also have a 16 week old kitten who sounds just like yours!  I have two 1 1/2 year old brother and sister cats, who are constantly being chased, and stalked by Snickers, the kitten. Snickers was born to a feral mom, and he was the lone survivor of a litter of 5. I wasn't really sure if his actions had something to do with possibly seeing how his mom interacted with other feral cats, but from what everyone is saying it seems quite normal! lol My other two were pretty mellow and very sweet, so even though I've had cats my entire adult life, I had never seen a kitten so feisty! Im hoping after mine is neutered next month, he will start to chill a little. Best of luck to you! Its nice to know you're not in it alone!
 

freyaandzelda

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Freya wasn't even a hyper kitty, but rescuing Zelda was the best thing I could have done for her. She now has company when I'm gone, and someone who will play with her properly. Not that I don't play with her, but I suspect I'm not a good substitute for a playmate who would wrestle with her and zoom around the house. Before Zelda she would also try to engage the dog in play, which he didn't like. Now she just comes to him for cuddles. (Which he still doesn't like)
 
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