Female kitten displaying male behavior...?

[PeeWee111]

Our Tinky, who just turned 6 months old this week, has started exhibiting what appears to be male mating behavior. We recently bought her a new donut bed that's extremely cushy, thinking it would be a nice "mama belly" feel for her... sure enough, when she gets in it, she starts kneading, but instead of burying her nose in the rim of the bed, she grabs it with her teeth and arches her back like a mounting male. She has also become very aggressive - chasing us, wrapping her legs around our legs and biting us when we're walking through the house.

Her spay appointment is 10 days away, and I'm concerned that she's going into heat (or is experiencing some kind of hormonal surge that's making her go bonkers), but she hasn't displayed any classic female estrus behavior. Anyone else have experience with this sort of thing?

 

[ArtNJ]

Sounds like normal kitten stuff to me. They can decide that grabbing at your legs is a fun game at any time, and once they do, you have to train them not to do it. I recommend a loud "no!" which should work (on the eventually if you are patient time scale).

 

[PeeWee111]

I've had many cats over my lifetime, and not one of them has ever displayed this kind of behavior (either the odd things in her cat bed or the aggression). Trust me, I've had to use the loud "no!" more times than I can count, and it doesn't faze her in the least - in fact, it spurs her on. She gets positively demonic with this stuff.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Even if it isn't what you have seen in the past, it would seem to be related to going into heat, especially given her age. Hang in there until you can get her spayed - you're only 10 days away!!! You might carry a string toy of some kind around with you and see if you can distract her when she attacks you. Or, you can buy one of those kicker toys and toss it at her to distract her if the string toy doesn't work.

 

[Kieka]

Rocket sometimes does that with toys or beds. She is now 5 years old and was spayed at 6-9 months. I've never had my males act like that with toys or beds. I've chalked it up to being a very possessive personality and worried about it being stolen. She will knead, bite and jerk the blanket, toy or bed for a little and only gets aggressive towards us, or out other cats, if we try to take the item away or she feels threatened by us in that moment. It usually happens when she has something new or she is super sleepy. I call it her "mine trance".

The aggressive in other contexts might just be play aggression which is common with kittens in single cat homes around this age. Kittens don't realize they are stronger and bigger. Humans allowing more aggressive play with them when younger and it being too aggressive when bigger. Every now and then one of my guys gets super rambunctious and will jump at us or go after legs. That's the time to grab a toy and redirect their energy on a more appropriate target.