I think my kitten doesn’t love me anymore

[Rapmonenergy]

My kitten Binx is 7 months old now. When he was younger he would purr just by touching him, he loved cuddles, he would give me kisses, sleep next to me, etc. He almost avoids me now, he only comes up to me for food, whenever I pick him up he whines then jumps out, he hardly ever purrs, he avoids my pets, and doesn’t sleep next to me anymore. We recently moved to a new house, he likes to get on things he’s not supposed to, scratches the carpet up and messes with the blinds. I’m trying my best to try and re direct him, tell him “no”, not yell at him, etc. he has many other things to scratch on yet he’s scratching up the carpet so bad my mom is threatening to go behind my back and get him declawed. I don’t hit him, the most I do is tap his nose with a “no”.
Please help I don’t know what I’m doing wrong and this is my first time owning a cat.

 

[Katie M]

It sounds like he's going through the terrible twos. While each cat is individual, they do tend to grow more independent, as well as naughty

PLEASE try to prevent your mom from getting him declawed. Educate her on how declawing adversely affects cats. My mom had our cats declawed when I was young, but wishes she knew then what she does now.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Can you confine him in your own room whenever you are out, just so he would not be left unsupervised and irk your mom more?

 

[Rapmonenergy]

It sounds like he's going through the terrible twos. While each cat is individual, they do tend to grow more independent, as well as naughty

PLEASE try to prevent your mom from getting him declawed. Educate her on how declawing adversely affects cats. My mom had our cats declawed when I was young, but wishes she knew then what she does now.

Yes I have told her and even showed her vet study’s on declawing! she grew up with Siamese cats all her life that were declawed and says that the cats she had were all fine and happy, therefor saying that everything I show her is bull and that her furniture is more important I have considered maybe getting the soft claws nail caps to prevent him from tearing up things, although I’ve heard that they are cruel to the cat and are a bad idea.

 

[Rapmonenergy]

Can you confine him in your own room whenever you are out, just so he would not be left unsupervised and irk your mom more?

I’m actually home all day since I have school online. He’s supervised all day by me even when my mom comes back from work, so he’s actually never alone with her.
We leave him roaming around when we’re gone since his food is in the kitchen and litter is in the bathroom, all the rooms with carpet are shut while we are out, along with the blinds being up. (plus he likes to look out the window).

 

[ArtNJ]

Dont pick the cat up or hold it on your lap if its squirmy. Instead, figure out what the cat likes and do that. Is there still a spot and/or time the cat is willing to get petted?

It could easily just be an aging thing, but I also think that sometimes people cause problems by taking their pets love as a blank check to treat them like a stuffed animal. Even if this doesn't cause the problem, it can make it worse, as people are slow to recognize their pet's changing preferences.

Its like this: who gives more hugs: (a) the teen whose mom recognized that the kid was getting uncomfortable with hugs as a preteen and reduced them to certain circumstances; or (b) the teen whose mom continued to hug the heck out of the kid over the years because dangit, being a mom is hard and she wanted the bleeping hugs even if her kid got super uncomfortable with them? I think its even more pronounced of an effect with cats -- being a (b) person is dangerous with a cat. Its not your fault, a lot of people make this mistake, but here is a solution - just backup, becoming an (a) person and slowly win him back.