Kitten Behavior

[valorrego]

Hey Ya'll
I have a kitten who is roughly 8-9 weeks old. I found him in the street by himself and decided to take him in and care for him. At first he was really shy and wouldn't let anyone touch him or approach him. I understood it was normal behavior since he was just a baby. By the second week I had him he was much more comfortable with me and would let me pet him and play with him. Right now I'm having a lot of trouble with him biting and attacking me. Whenever he attacks me and bites me I either redirect him to his toy or try to quickly place a toy where he is biting me. Since he had no litter mates his biting is really hard and often causes bleeding. Every time I play with him he is not interested in his toys but only in my hand or feet! I don't know how to stop this behavior and It seems to be getting worse over the weeks.

 

[Ceracera]

I usually yelp and move away when they do that.

I dont give them toys cause that would be teaching them biting starts play.

 

[Elfilou]

I think the only thing you can do is try to redirect with toys or introduce another kitten for him to grow up with. Believe me I wish I had with mine. They need constant entertainment as kittens and it will consume a lot of your time! Good luck though!

 

[sydney]

Try playing with him with one of those sticks with the string and feathers on the end. That way your hands are away from the object of play. I do that with my kitten and after we play with that toy he is so tired and turns into a cuddle bug.

 

[valorrego]

I think the only thing you can do is try to redirect with toys or introduce another kitten for him to grow up with. Believe me I wish I had with mine. They need constant entertainment as kittens and it will consume a lot of your time! Good luck though!

We have another 3 month old kitten in our place as well. We slowly introduced them to each other until it was appropriate for them to interact and play. The younger kitten hisses every time they play together. The play is never rough and the younger kitten is the one that does most of the chasing. However when the older kitten chases him and wrestle that's when the hissing begins. I have a couple of videos, i've never had a kitten before so I do not know if the behavior is common.

 

[valorrego]

Try playing with him with one of those sticks with the string and feathers on the end. That way your hands are away from the object of play. I do that with my kitten and after we play with that toy he is so tired and turns into a cuddle bug.

Yes that's what I usually try to do mostly before bedtime! I've been reading some other threads and it seems to be that kittens who were separated from the mother before 8 weeks don't properly learn biting inhibition. I'm kind of nervous that as an adult he will still be biting on our feet and hands. For now i'm just going to try to do positive reinforcement and lots of play time

 

[valorrego]

I usually yelp and move away when they do that.

I dont give them toys cause that would be teaching them biting starts play.

Thank you for the advice, I've been trying this and it seems to be working. As soon as I yelp he walks away and starts playing with something else.

 

[sydney]

Try hissing at him too when he bites you. I actually just tried this with my kitten lastnight cause when I go to bed he will aggressively chew and claw at my hair and I haven't been able to stop him, but after I hissed at him lastnight when he was doing it, he looked at me shocked and then jumped off the bed.