in constant "attack" mode

marie-p

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Ok, Kinah is starting to drive me crazy. She's very sweet and affectionate but for some reason she always seems to be ready to attack and "kill" anything that moves. Sometimes she'll be snuggling on my lap, purring and all the sudden grabs my hand and bites it.
She also attacks my feet when they're moving under the blanket, attacks my pen when I'm writing, attacks my hair when she's lying on my lap... it doesn't stop. Anything that is in her field of vision and that is moving gets her in attack mode.

I tried hissing at her, yelling "ouch" or pushing her away and it usually stops her for a few seconds. However, it doesn't keep her from doing it again. I know she's not being mean... I don't even think it's really intentional. It seems more like a reflex than anything else... but it's driving me crazy!

She's always been like that but I always thought it was just her kitten energy. But now she's almost a year old and it's as bad as ever.

Is there anything else I can do to stop her from seeing everything as a prey? (especially my hands and feet?)
 

solaritybengals

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She might not be out of the kitteny playful phase yet at just a year. If she does it when you are petting her then you might be petting her a way she dosen't like or more commonly for to long. Cats have a low tolerance sometimes for being pet and especially if you get near their belly they might lash out at you. Keep a close eye on signals shes sending you, like tensing.

As for the feet...that might take a long time to break once a cat starts that.

It sounds like she needs more playtime. How often do you play with her? She needs some interactive time where you have some feathers on a string or a laser toy or something. It might get some of this pent up energy out. Especially right before bed when she might attack your feet.

If shes attacking something then you can also divert this with a feather toy when it happens. Eventually she'll concentrate on the feather toy instead of other things.
 

pombina

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I know exactly where you are coming from with this and it's not nice is it. Sleeves is 6 months old and when we got him (at 6 weeks) he did this, and we just let him because it didnt hurt as he was so tiny. BIG mistake. He's just never stopped. Sometimes I have to run away from him and this just excites him more and he's quicker than me and gets in front of me and latches onto my ankles.
I was getting soooo fed up with it, as he rarely does this to Mark, his daddy. I tried shouting, saying ouch, making a loud slapping noise on the wall, blowing a big puff of air in his face and nothing worked. I felt like I was going to loose my rag one day and I didnt want that as it would really damage our otherwise fantastic and loving relationship.
So now what I do, as soon as he starts, or he goes into 'feral cat mode' (thats our name for it) I say NO and if that doesnt work and he goes for me, I pick him up straight away and put him in the spare room and shut the door so he can have some Time Out.
I know he doesnt like it because he miaows but he is definately starting to realise that if he bites me he's going to be shut away for a few minutes and miss whats going on outside so the biting is become less and less frequest THANK GOD!
Definately something to try. Good luck!
 

tnr1

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We have 2 cats at our rescue that are like that.....what I do is redirect the energy to a feather toy. Play is ok...but it should be geared towards appropriate toys...not hands and feet.

Katie
 
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marie-p

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Ok. I'll try to give her playtime at the same time every day (in the evening, before feeding time). Hopefully that will calm her down.

I do need to get some toys. I used to have lots but the cats lost/destroyed almost all of them.
 
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