4 Month Old Spayed Kitten Behavior

[BeccaT]

My kitten is currently around 4 months old and seems to be going through some... behavioral changes. The thing is, she was already spayed when we adopted her at 2 months old (all animals at the shelter we adopted from were spayed before being adopted out, not our choice to spay that early) and a lot of the research I've done on 4 month old kitten behavior seems to mention the fact that they're not spayed yet and are experiencing hormonal changes. I'm wondering if this is a determining factor in my kitten's behavior or not?

For some background, she has always been full of energy. We adopted her in late October and she was around 2 months old then, currently at 4 months. Over the past month we've been trying our best to correct her biting behavior that she seems to enjoy so much when receiving pets and playing with us, but the past week or so has been worse. She bites a lot, clings onto your arm and scratches you while trying to bite your fingers and any other body part she can get at. She runs around the tops of our desks and knocks things over, tries to climb on top of the T.V etc. Basically, she's been a lot more misbehaved this past week and I'm wondering if it's anything to do with her age and hoping that it's a phase, but I wanted to ask here as I'm conflicted about the spaying situation and if it has anything to do with her behavior.

Thankfully she's not 100% bitey and nasty all the time, she'll sometimes be very affectionate (she's never really been incredibly affectionate, but she's still sweet and clearly enjoys our company) but her misbehavior is more frequent recently. We do our best to move away from her when she bites, or try to distract her with a toy. We give her plenty of attention but giving her attention is becoming difficult when she always wants to bite. Is there anything I can do to help this behavior, or is she simply going through a phase? Thank you.

 

[flcat]

She is being a kitten, that is what they do, lol. Has nothing to do with her being spayed.

When they are teething, they bite more to massage their gums. At four months old, if accurate, she is on the tail end of her teething.

Nevertheless, typical kitten behavior, that is what they do.

 

[danteshuman]

Sounds like normal bratty 4-8 month old kitten behavior. You do need to start training her to not bite any humans. Do hold a family meeting if need be, but everyone has to agree to some simple rules to train her.

Toys not hands (or feet!)

Make a high pitch noise (like owwwwww) at the slightest hint of fang or claw, then blatantly ignore her for 5-15 minutes. Refuse to even look at her. The high pitch tells her in cat speak that it hurts. The ignoring her is how cats tell each other they are upset.

Try carrying small toys in your pockets. If you see her hunting or stalking you, throw the toy away from you before she attacks you.

Play sessions at least twice a day should help tire her out. Get her to climb up and down furniture or cat trees, jump and run around the house as she chase after wand toys. It will help tire her out.

Try giving her a large kickeroo or kicker toy to bite/bunny kick instead of people.

 

[BeccaT]

She is being a kitten, that is what they do, lol. Has nothing to do with her being spayed.

When they are teething, they bite more to massage their gums. At four months old, if accurate, she is on the tail end of her teething.

Nevertheless, typical kitten behavior, that is what they do.

Thank you, this is actually reassuring. I was more concerned that her being spayed might mean she's misbehaving due to another reason and not hormones, but I was hoping it was just typical kitten behavior! Thank you.

Sounds like normal bratty 4-8 month old kitten behavior. You do need to start training her to not bite any humans. Do hold a family meeting if need be, but everyone has to agree to some simple rules to train her.

Toys not hands (or feet!)

Make a high pitch noise (like owwwwww) at the slightest hint of fang or claw, then blatantly ignore her for 5-15 minutes. Refuse to even look at her. The high pitch tells her in cat speak that it hurts. The ignoring her is how cats tell each other they are upset.

Try carrying small toys in your pockets. If you see her hunting or stalking you, throw the toy away from you before she attacks you.

Play sessions at least twice a day should help tire her out. Get her to climb up and down furniture or cat trees, jump and run around the house as she chase after wand toys. It will help tire her out.

Try giving her a large kickeroo or kicker toy to bite/bunny kick instead of people.

Thank you for telling me this! Yeah, we try our best to remove our hands from her if she starts to bite them, make "ow" noises (although I sometimes feel like we don't get the pitch right, lol). She has many many toys but always favours our hands even if we're actively playing with her like with a feather toy for example. We often have several short play sessions a day as well rather than one or two long ones as it can sometimes be hard to keep her interest, and she's quite good at keeping herself entertained by playing with toys alone.

I just searched the kickeroo/kicker toys and I think this is exactly what she needs! Thank you again.

 

[danteshuman]

Cat play looks like fighting or chasing. So if she was playing with other cats, their fur would protect them (& she would learn to moderate her bites to not hurt the other cats.) At that age the boys were play fighting if they were not eating, sleeping, being played with or bugging their sister!

So she needs to learn that humans are furless wusses! I do the loud wailing oooooooooowwwwwwww because it helps startle them out of the bad behavior. Now for claws you can use a little less dramatic ow. Until she is older, all toys must be thrown from you or on long wand toys. Thesoft fabric balls with feather tails (I call them fur misiles) rabbit fur mice or a rabbit fur weasel or a fishing pole toy that you can attach different cat toys to all work great for tossing, her playing by herself & playing with her.
The cats love the petfit4life toy off chewy with a variety pack. I had to duct tape the pole together so the 2 pieces that form the pole would stay together. It has stood up well for 3 years & all 3 “kittens” still love it.

I got that rabbit fur toys off amazon, no idea why cats go crazy for rabbit fur toys but they do. In face they like the weasel over the mice but the mice are handy to throw away from you. The weasel looks like a piece of belt covered in fur, with a little weasel head on one side.

Here is a picture of my cat with his first Christmas weasel. Here is a picture of the boys play fighting. They really love each other & don’t hurt each other

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

Your kitten is like a middle school kid. It does get better, but you still have to get through high school (8 to 14 months). Lots of play time with a wand, and a kicker or stuffed animal for her to bite and claws can help. Neko-chan goes crazy for her little teddy bear, and she's almost 3. I could never get the oww right, nor the hiss. We resorted to a drawn out, semi loud SSSSSSS to get her to stop biting our toes in bed.

 

[di and bob]

The behavior doesn't stem so much from the spaying as it does from her being separated from her mama and siblings before the age of twelve weeks. It is between the ages of 6-12 weeks that they learn manners and self-control from playing with siblings and being disciplined by mama. Now YOU'LL have to teach her limits. If yelling OWWW really loud doesn't seem to help, get that kickeroo and throw it towards her anytime she is getting ready to attack. Keep another and some toys in a bag filled with catnip to keep them interesting and interchange them. As a last resort, if she continues to bite, take her by the loose skin on the back of the neck and hold her to the ground until she stops struggling. This should only take a few seconds. if she struggles really bad, you can lift her front feet off the ground until she stops. NEVER lift a cat this way, it can tear their skin when they are older and heavier. When you are doing this, say NO firmly or hiss, this is how a mama cat disciplines her young, and older cats bite and hold the neck area to show dominance with another cat, which is what you are doing. Do this EVERY time for it to be effective. Liek with toddlers you have to be consistent. For now, put up anything you don't want broke, a kitten is way too energetic to NOT bump into things. Know that when she gets older she WILL settle down and become MUCH more graceful. My cats weave around a narrow ledge with porcelain figurines and don't touch a one!

 

[danteshuman]

How I taped the pet fit 4 life fishing pole, super glue would work to. I got a couple of these poles 2 years ago and it still works. Toys like that help wear hyper cats down. I got a DS bird rip off cat toy off Chewy for under $4. The V shape feather toys really are a cat favorite.