Aggressive

[lilsleepxx]

My kitten plays a lot which I know is normal but most of the time she is very aggressive, scratching and biting as hard as she can without reason. I can be sitting on my bed not moving at all and she will bite and scratch my hands and arms. Any idea why she behaves this way?

 

[Azazel]

Because she is a kitten learning to be a ferocious predator.

Whenever she starts biting your hand and arms give her a toy to bite instead. Re-direct her attention to toys and never play with her with your hands so she doesn't associate them with playtime.

 

[susanm9006]

Normal kitten behavior. If your kitten had a sibling they would be constantly biting, wrestling and attacking one another so at this point she doesn’t know that it isn’t okay to play the same way with you. And she doesn’t know how to retract her claws and not scratch you yet. Get her a big toy, like a stuffed animal near her size to wrestle with. Make sure she has lots and lots of toys, especially ones she can chase and bat. Use a wandtype toy or a laser and play with her every day until she tires out. And gently redirect her attention when she tries to bite. Also make sure her claws are kept short so you get fewer scratches.

 

[She's a witch]

The easiest way to deal with it would be to get her another kitten, so that she has someone to play with and also learn the biting boundaries.

 

[susanm9006]

And I forgot to mention the Hiss. When she gets bitey with you give her a good loud hiss. That is what her mama or siblings would do and it signals her she is being too rough.

 

[lucicat]

Yep. normal kitten stuff. They are still learning and need to play fierce as part of that, also if they don't have a kitten companion they may A) not be getting enough play from you and B) not be learning from another cat what's too hard/too much.

we adopted a kitten in August and were pretty overwhelmed with how much energy she had and how she'd bite us. . .we adopted a second kitten in October and it was amazing!!! They now run and wrestle and bite each other and play so hard and fierce. . .in a way we never could. . .but they also snuggle and groom each other. It's really wonderful!

If you can't get another kitten then you'll just have to be commited to being her play partner! And teaching her what to bite and what's too much etc

 

[Texaskitty]

When my youngest kitty gets kind of excited and wants to wrestle/bite my hand or arm, I give him one of his stuffed animals and he starts on that instead. Works great!

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I hiss at my cats a lot, even thought they're adults. It works sometimes but I don't hiss good. But I do agree with the hissing.

 

[vyger]

Besides being the normal kitten thing it is also likely she was taken from her mom and siblings too early. They learn manners from their first family. You bite your fellow kitten to hard and play time is over and you could even get bit back. So they learn to wrestel and play nice through trial and lots of error. They learn to be "social". A kitten who hasen't learned that scratching hurts doesn't understand. It is much more difficult for them to gauge what is play and what is hurtful. Besides hissing you can also verbalize it, a loud OUCH followed by a brief break from play will let them know they did something wrong. Also brush them aside (not a swat, but a push away) or even pick them up by the scruff and place them a foot or 2 away helps send the message when they get to rough.