8 week old kitten uses me as his climbing post! Help?

[amandalynnxo92]

My little dude is new to my boyfriend and I. We just rescued him about a week ago. He’s 8 weeks now and I know it’s just something baby cats do. He’s a single cat currently, I do want to get him a friend but apprehensive as he’s only had his first vaccine so far. (We get our second round October 2nd)

What are some good teaching tools I can instill in him? How can I get him to stop climbing up our legs to get our attention? I mean, even bare legged climbing is going on here lol! I love him to death but my legs are not so happy!

 

[maggie101]

Can you give him something else to climb like a tower? He is curious and wants to watch. If you throw a toy will he chase after it. Trixie puzzles to keep him buy.

 

[klunick]

A small cat tree is great. Only one level so it isn't so high for the little guy.

 

[susanm9006]

It’s great that you recognize this as unacceptable behavior. Some people think it’s cute now but not when it is a five or six pound cat trying to climb you. Walk away from him when he seems ready to climb and take him off immediately when he starts. If you do this consistently and give him things like the cat tree to climb he will stop. But also recognize that he may be doing this because he needs attention and soothing so give him a few minutes and then pick him to see if he wants some cuddles or is getting sleepy.

 

[klunick]

Boone and Gracie used to climb my legs when I wasn't fast enough with getting them their wet food. A couple screams from me and them realizing that they were indeed going to get fed and climbing on my legs just slowed down the process seemed to cure them of that pretty quickly.

 

[ArtNJ]

Wow I remember this. I would bend over to pet, and the next thing you know the kitten would be on my back. I don't even remember which kitten. Painful and really hard to get them off if you are alone! Since you "only" have the legs going on, bit easier. I used some combination of the approaches of susanm9006 and klunick -- take them off, and make a loud "no!" so they know that isn't allowed. If the claws are really in, you can hold them firmly in place until he wants to get down, as being forced to be still is another way to make it not fun to a hyper kitten.

 

[Caspers Human]

Just lay down on the floor. If the cat wants “up” but you go ”down” then it isn’t fun anymore.

My first cat, “K.C.” used to climb my leg. I didn’t care when he was small but I didn’t like it when he got too big. When I wanted to make him stop, I laid down and held still. After a few times, he stopped doing it.

As with many cat behaviors, denying the cat his ”fun,” saying “Ouch!” and ignoring him until he stops is often the best way to teach him how to behave the way you want him to.

You can also redirect him by tossing him a toy or playing with him another way but you still have to “break” him of the ”bad” behavior or else he might learn that doing a “bad” thing gets him a “fun” thing.

I also agree that giving him some “approved” places to climb is a good thing to do.

My former cat, “Spike” used to like to climb but we didn’t have enough “good” places for him to go. The apartment that I lived in had a big support post built into the room. (It was a loft style apartment.). I went to a carpet store and got a piece of carpet remnant for cheap then used zip ties to wrap the post in carpet.

It didn’t take spike very long to figure out that he could climb the pole then hop onto the adjacent bookcase. That became one of Spike’s favorite hangouts.