- Joined
- Jan 10, 2022
- Messages
- 14
- Purraise
- 8
Hey All! Some of you may recognize me from my anxiety post (which by the way, thank you very much for the helpful and kind encouraging comments on it)- I decided to start a new thread to discuss a different topic than continue from that one. The anxiety about everything has mostly left though now I have it for other reasons (which I'll mention soon haha)
For recontext: This is my first time adopting a kitten! I adopted my lil cat back in early January at 4 months and now she's about 6! I named her noodle, she's a domestic medium hair kitten. She's spayed. She's not shy at all- she loves to play and is super energetic and very smart! And is the cutest little thing haha. She isn't very touchy but she likes some scritches here and there when she's all tired and sleepy.
Now I'll get to the issue at hand. She's been super naughty recently haha- which I saw coming since 6 months is kinda when their teenage hormones kick in iirc? The issue therein lies in...the scratching. And she does bite but never hard enough to break skin so that one isn't much of an issue- I think those are love bites. It's mostly the scratching haha.
We've been cutting her nails every month (and giving her treats so she likes it), she's in a routine mostly, we try to feed her at regular intervals, play with her when she gets super hyper (usually dawn or dusk ofc, after she poops haha) and keep playing with her until she gets super tired (like she's panting). She actually likes baths so we give her one every sunday. I haven't seen her use her scratching post as often as I used to but she hasn't been scratching the furniture or anything (maybe she does it when we're all asleep).
Her nails are reaaally sharp as one would guess. Easily gets us to bleed when she swipes. We aren't doing anything to cause it I dont think, I tell my parents not to play with our hands- but my mom usually wears a ponytail and noodle thinks that's a tail or toy to bat at so my mom's back/neck has been scratched a bit which made me feel awful about. Also any tassels on clothing noodle likes to swipe at as well for the same reasons, and if I try to remove it or hide it, I get a pretty nasty cut on my hands and arms.
I am aware of Jackson Galaxy's methods, especially the PLAY EAT GROOM SLEEP cycle and the GIVE A YES TO EVERY NO which is something i've been trying to do. We have plenty of treats for her but she has this kind of weird treat aggression where she hisses and bats at us whenever we try and reward her behavior. And it's exclusively for that because she never does that when we give her her actual meals (she's actually quite nice about that, she tends to purr and head bonk our legs when we give her her food so haha). I'm guessing this is because she thinks we're taking food away from her instead of giving her. So I'm actually...not quite sure how to go about that either.
She's the only kitten in the household. I know numerous people will recommend having a second kitten to have her learn properly since that's the most effective way but that just isn't doable in my current household unfortunately. Our place is too small for that. If I had maybe the foresight before adopting maybe I wouldn't have done it at all but I want to see this through, I really like noodle and I love her to bits and want to be a good momma for her. I was always planning to get a cat ever since I moved out in September. Aside from her hyper bursts she's very docile and nice. I know this is just normal kitten behavior and I just gotta teach her what is ok and not ok to do. Is hissing at her an appropriate tactic? It's hard to see what's ok or not ok since the internet tends to scrutinize everything that a pet owner does so I often find myself second guessing because of course I don't want to be cruel to noodle.
But I feel god awful when I hear my parents yelp in pain from her scratches (let alone my own when she hurts me) and I dont want to have to make my mom cut her hair just so she would stop hurting her, and it feels like the household is starting to feel a little exasperated from it all and I'm kinda at my wits end and unsure what to do. I don't want to be resentful of noodle nor be afraid or anxious around her every time she starts getting energetic. Please help!
(An addendum: I know I'm not free of fault either, I should've known about the 2 cat rule and perhaps it would've been better for me to adopt a fully grown adult cat first I'll admit to that. But we're 2 months in with noodle and I'd hate to give her back to the shelter ((no kill by the way! thankfully) after all this time because I know it would crush her as much as it would for me...)
For recontext: This is my first time adopting a kitten! I adopted my lil cat back in early January at 4 months and now she's about 6! I named her noodle, she's a domestic medium hair kitten. She's spayed. She's not shy at all- she loves to play and is super energetic and very smart! And is the cutest little thing haha. She isn't very touchy but she likes some scritches here and there when she's all tired and sleepy.
Now I'll get to the issue at hand. She's been super naughty recently haha- which I saw coming since 6 months is kinda when their teenage hormones kick in iirc? The issue therein lies in...the scratching. And she does bite but never hard enough to break skin so that one isn't much of an issue- I think those are love bites. It's mostly the scratching haha.
We've been cutting her nails every month (and giving her treats so she likes it), she's in a routine mostly, we try to feed her at regular intervals, play with her when she gets super hyper (usually dawn or dusk ofc, after she poops haha) and keep playing with her until she gets super tired (like she's panting). She actually likes baths so we give her one every sunday. I haven't seen her use her scratching post as often as I used to but she hasn't been scratching the furniture or anything (maybe she does it when we're all asleep).
Her nails are reaaally sharp as one would guess. Easily gets us to bleed when she swipes. We aren't doing anything to cause it I dont think, I tell my parents not to play with our hands- but my mom usually wears a ponytail and noodle thinks that's a tail or toy to bat at so my mom's back/neck has been scratched a bit which made me feel awful about. Also any tassels on clothing noodle likes to swipe at as well for the same reasons, and if I try to remove it or hide it, I get a pretty nasty cut on my hands and arms.
I am aware of Jackson Galaxy's methods, especially the PLAY EAT GROOM SLEEP cycle and the GIVE A YES TO EVERY NO which is something i've been trying to do. We have plenty of treats for her but she has this kind of weird treat aggression where she hisses and bats at us whenever we try and reward her behavior. And it's exclusively for that because she never does that when we give her her actual meals (she's actually quite nice about that, she tends to purr and head bonk our legs when we give her her food so haha). I'm guessing this is because she thinks we're taking food away from her instead of giving her. So I'm actually...not quite sure how to go about that either.
She's the only kitten in the household. I know numerous people will recommend having a second kitten to have her learn properly since that's the most effective way but that just isn't doable in my current household unfortunately. Our place is too small for that. If I had maybe the foresight before adopting maybe I wouldn't have done it at all but I want to see this through, I really like noodle and I love her to bits and want to be a good momma for her. I was always planning to get a cat ever since I moved out in September. Aside from her hyper bursts she's very docile and nice. I know this is just normal kitten behavior and I just gotta teach her what is ok and not ok to do. Is hissing at her an appropriate tactic? It's hard to see what's ok or not ok since the internet tends to scrutinize everything that a pet owner does so I often find myself second guessing because of course I don't want to be cruel to noodle.
But I feel god awful when I hear my parents yelp in pain from her scratches (let alone my own when she hurts me) and I dont want to have to make my mom cut her hair just so she would stop hurting her, and it feels like the household is starting to feel a little exasperated from it all and I'm kinda at my wits end and unsure what to do. I don't want to be resentful of noodle nor be afraid or anxious around her every time she starts getting energetic. Please help!
(An addendum: I know I'm not free of fault either, I should've known about the 2 cat rule and perhaps it would've been better for me to adopt a fully grown adult cat first I'll admit to that. But we're 2 months in with noodle and I'd hate to give her back to the shelter ((no kill by the way! thankfully) after all this time because I know it would crush her as much as it would for me...)
