Help, my six month kitten is mean.

diann wilson

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From the time I rescued her and bottle fed her, she has bitten.  I have a house full of toys for her and a scratching post.  She jumps on the counter, rips my bedspread, shreads my curtins and bites me all the time.

When I play with the fishing pole she grabs me not the pole.  My friends and family are afraid to visit because she attacks them as soon as I let them in the house.

She didn't even calm down when I had her fixed.
 

magister

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How old was she when you rescued her? I imagine very young, since you bottle-fed her. It sounds like a classic case of her never having the chance properly to be socialised by mother and siblings. She never learnt basic kitten manners and boundaries: “if I bite or play too roughly, I'll be bitten back, swatted or ignored.”
 
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helsic

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How old was she when you rescued her? I imagine very young, since you bottle-fed her. It sounds like a classic case of her never having the chance properly to be socialised by mother and siblings. She never learnt basic kitten manners and boundaries: “if I bite or play too roughly, I'll be bitten back, swatted or ignored.”
I agree.

I rescued two kittens 2 weeks old and I had to feed them with a bottle too. They play really rough and hard when they were around 4 weeks to 12 weeks so I guess it help them to understand and communicate to each others and humans. I not longer have one of them, so I keep only one at my home, he sometimes attack my leg and bite my arm, when he does it, I hiss and growl at him and show him my teeth,  He knows he should stop. If he keep biting I stop playing or petting him.
 
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diann wilson

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The vet said she wasn't a month old yet.
 
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diann wilson

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She was about three weeks old when I got her.
 
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diann wilson

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I agree.

I rescued two kittens 2 weeks old and I had to feed them with a bottle too. They play really rough and hard when they were around 4 weeks to 12 weeks so I guess it help them to understand and communicate to each others and humans. I not longer have one of them, so I keep only one at my home, he sometimes attack my leg and bite my arm, when he does it, I hiss and growl at him and show him my teeth,  He knows he should stop. If he keep biting I stop playing or petting him.
 

mservant

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@Diann Wilson   How old is your kitten now?   Along with maybe not yet having learned biting is not OK for you or how hard she is biting she could also be teething.  Mouse would bite and chew anything and everything from 4 months to 10 or 12 months.  

To learn about the biting needs consistency and patience from you, and some learning how to communicate with each other.  Part of this is watching her to pick up her posture and expressions when she is about to bite, and partly about you finding a way to tell her she is hurting you - this is almost certainly not her intention!  Something as simple as saying Ouch can work - a word you don't use any other time.  You do not want to appear aggressive to her or like you want to play as this will confuse her.   Best staying still if you can, if you move move slowly and smoothly, and try to be calm.

Here are a couple of articles that might help you:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/playtime-aggression

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-aggression-toward-people

On a slightly different tack but looking at how you can try to show your kitten what you like her doing, and to add interest to her play sessions you might want to introduce something like clicker training or simple rewards like her favourite toy or morsel of food.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/clicker-training-for-cats
 

kittymomma1122

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I have a runt that got a lot of attention from me when he was a kittten. As an adult he is possessive of me. He is aggressive towards my adult daughter and towards my older lap cat, but only when I am involved. I first tried giving him extra attention when she was visiting so he knew I didn't abandon him, that only gave re-enforcement to his negative behavior. New tactic, when my daughter visits, she plays with his toys with him, not me and she feeds him his treats. I stopped letting him push my older cat off my lap so now he knows he has to lay next to me and wait his turn. 
 
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diann wilson

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Thank you, she is about six months old now.  I have started to yell ouch and put her in the bedroom when she draws blood.  The clicker idea sounds good, I will check it out.  The spray bottle only made her afraid of the spray bottle.  She knew when I didn't have it on me and then she would attack.
 

Anne

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Part of it is perfectly normal. She's still a kitten, albeit physically a large one by now. She will calm down in the future. Right now, she's full of energy and possibly stressed too, so she's looking for ways to let that stress and energy go and it ends up hurting you (and others). Avoid trying to punish her in any way (that includes the spray bottle). If you feel like you need time alone, it's ok to shut the door but there's no point in a "time out" as a punishment for her. She can't understand that.

Is she the only cat in your home? Would you consider adopting a second kitten? I know it sounds like you'd have double the trouble, but with a bit of luck, the two cats will play-fight with each other and keep each other company. If you do go this route, you have to remember that there's no guarantee this will work, and you will end up having another cat. Which means you need to be fully prepared, financially and mentally for a second cat. 

There's a good chance that she will remain somewhat aggressive in nature, as it could simply be her innate temperament. @MServant  gave you some useful links where you can find more tips and ideas on how to work on reducing her stress and lower her level of aggression. Sounds like you're already implementing some of them, but hopefully some of them might help. 

I would add these links too - 

How to Tell if Your Cat is Stressed Out

Six Surefire Strategies to Reduce Stress in Cats
 

frederikmumma

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Frederik is like his a lot, he started to calm down then he started getting his adult teeth, and now he is chewing on everything ( right now he is chewing the laptop). We say no loudly and move him away from us, he sometimes sleeps in the same room as us till about 2-4 when he thinks its okay to bite cause we aren't saying anything to him then he gets put into his room (yep the lounge room is his) then in the morning he is all lovey dovey towards us. I asked the vet and she has said its normal for them to be like that especially if they are rescue cats from a young age (We got Frederik at 3 months and he was a stray from the day he was born 


But she will get there
 

mservant

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6 months.  
      I think @Anne  is right in saying the behaviour you describe is normal for 6 months, and she should calm down in time.    Mouse was a coiled spring for ever ready to explode out in to the world with more energy than you could ever burn off.  He was a chewing, pouncing, bouncing, somersaulting, flying fur critter and I had to thank my lucky stars he slept at night -  after chewing at my feat, hands and face and bouncing about on the bed chasing toy mice for half an hour. Some kittens are like that.  I had to keep Mouse running and chasing, with lots of different toys to keep his interest, and no close contact between his teeth and holding a small toy or he'd get my fingers by mistake.    I left a lot of boxes around the place then too - so he could chew them, and he did.  Teething can not be fun for a kitten but box chewing seems to help. 


Feather wands, flicking ribbon toys, big stuff like the Kickeroo ones for when he wanted to play rough and only contact play would do, and then the running after humans then you running after him - hide and seek hunt the human.   If there's no other kitten in the home they usually want to play with the humans: kittens seem to want the company and interaction when they play and some will do anything to get human attention:  if biting and launching at you with a pretty full on attack is the first point you take notice then this is what they will see as effective.

If you can figure out how she sits or moves and the expression on her face earlier in this sequence you should be able to break this cycle and then show her she can get play or food for other things you prefer.   I have a sneaking suspicion you have an inteligent kitten that is needing her energy burned off and some challenging tasks set for her.  
  Be prepared, your play sessions may need to last for about 45 minutes at her age, and several times a day.  Make sure you get a couple of seriously active sessions in in the evening with one timed for before you want to get to bed which is rewarded with some food afterwards.

If she does get over excited and aggressive at times then take a few minutes out to calm and let her settle, and when she is ready you can play again but don't continue while she is over the top - this is what Mouse gets like every time I make a bed so I know I have to shut him out of the room. 

Good luck with her.   Try saying ouch firmly but not shouting - at the point she starts to hurt you but not drawing blood. That way you can stay very still and calm and see if she responds to the ouch and otherwise being ignored.   Then if she lets go and releases her bite you can wait maybe 20 or 30 seconds and if she is calm start to play.  
 
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