Bunny kicks from hell

[saharahoshi]

My cat is 2 and neutered he gets a lot of playtime with a cool down session and treat reward. He has 2 cat towers and several foraging toys as well as cat kickers.

He will approach my arm when I'm reading in bed
I try to move it but sometimes he gets me. I relax the arm wait until I can extract it safely and go into another room or ignore him after the behavior. I've tried saying ow or making a sound to get him to let go no dice.

I'm thinking either a. Play aggression and probably separated from mom too young (rescue) or b. redirected aggression, we are still working on cat intros.
Hes on kitty prozac I have the diffusers and calming treats is there anything else I can do to help get him out of this habit
He clamps his paws down in my arm hard, sort of gashes on my arm and bunny kicks. No swishy tail, no airplane ears, or growling. I also wasn't making eye contact or petting him when this happened.

 

[di and bob]

Get a coup[le of Kickeroos on Amazon or a pet store. They are great for bunny kicks. Keep one by your side for a while, and toss it towards him when he attacks, cats love them. Keep the other in a plastic bag with catnip to keep it refreshed and interchange. Yell OW really loud or no, and take him by the loose skin on the back of the neck and hold him to the ground until he quiets. This has to be done every time to give him the point. It sounds like he doesn't know his limits and manners that are taught by siblings between the ages of 6-12 weeks, and is playing too rough. Mama cats carry their young by this skin and they instinctively quiet. They also pin them to the ground for discipline and dominance. The kickeroo sounds like it would be perfect because it is for bunny kicks, and is shaped like your forearm!

 

[susanm9006]

I would pick him up, set him outside your room and shut the door for the night or for at least a few hours. If you do this every single time he will figure out he will get banished if he kicks you and quit. Your bed should be sleeping and cuddling time only.

 

[vince]

On the cheap, you can make a kicker toy out of a couple sweat socks tied in knots (the older and stinkier, the better). You can also use it for a pursuit toy by tying it to a string and throwing it for kitty to catch. You can aso put some catnip in it, if you wish. I think the toy, combined with banishment for the night for kicking and biting should do the trick. You most likely will have complaints from kitty outside the bedroom, and you must not give in or your training may be lost.

The "OW!" or hiss doesn't always work. For my cats, a real loud Bronx cheer works the best. I've also had some success with jingling a big ring of keys. Others use a jar of coins, a hand clap or dropping a boot on the floor. You might need to experiment for a noise that stops the undesired activity.

That being said, I have always allowed my cats to play as rough as they want. I usually get bites and bloody scratches. It always seems to stop over time irrespective of what I do. I expect it will get better for you as well. Cats just seem to mellow out after time.

 

[vince]

I forgot another method of stopping undesirable behavior: Blow in kitty's face.

 

[saharahoshi]

Thank you for all the ideas!

 

[saharahoshi]

Get a coup[le of Kickeroos on Amazon or a pet store. They are great for bunny kicks. Keep one by your side for a while, and toss it towards him when he attacks, cats love them. Keep the other in a plastic bag with catnip to keep it refreshed and interchange. Yell OW really loud or no, and take him by the loose skin on the back of the neck and hold him to the ground until he quiets. This has to be done every time to give him the point. It sounds like he doesn't know his limits and manners that are taught by siblings between the ages of 6-12 weeks, and is playing too rough. Mama cats carry their young by this skin and they instinctively quiet. They also pin them to the ground for discipline and dominance. The kickeroo sounds like it would be perfect because it is for bunny kicks, and is shaped like your forearm!

Sorry for the late question but shpuld the grab by the scruff happen after hes playing with the kickeraoo or right when he does it? Also could I wear citrus lotion or something when I feel he's overstimulated to keep him away from my arms? Mostly happens when he is out of his room in the living room and can smell our other cat. We still have them separated, long long long story

 

[vince]

Scruff when he bites you, as soon as he does it, and voice your objection however you choose to do it. Don't scruff him when he goes after the kicker. After all, you want him to go to it instead of your arm.

Sounds like he has energy to burn. A laser pointer or a toy he can chase will help. Maybe you could tie some kind of cord to the kicker and he could chase that. Sometimes, a piece of paper tied to a length of string and tied to doorknob will work (watch to see he doesn't eat the string). A passive toy that seems to foster vigorous play is to throw a ping pong ball in the bathtub. The noise it makes rolling around seems to be irresistible to a cat. Of course, they get lost, but they're only about two bucks a half-dozen.

 

[di and bob]

He is exactly right. You scruff right when he attacks YOU and yell oww and hold him to the floor until he quiets. He won't like it but it shows your dominance in a way he will understand.

 

[saharahoshi]

Thank you so much!!! He and our other cat have been a little nuts after we went to a outdoor holiday lights show on Christmas We have used Zyklene, Rescue Remedy, Feliway, they are both on cat Prozac, and we have used melatonin treats. We play with him multiple times through the day for 40 mins.

I try to ignore him at night but he is sort of stuck in the large master bedroom with me (long story about ongoing introduction). We are moving to a more quiet, peaceful place in a month so I'm hoping to go back to step one of intros in a place where they both are not territorial (he has play aggression, she has high stress being a 9 year old princess). Otherwise I'll need to pray they invent kitty ambien.