Kitten Biting And Scratching - Help, Please.

[sabrinamcm]

My boyfriend and I adopted a kitten about a month and a half ago. Her name is Penny. Yes, we did adopt her earlier than 8 weeks because this was a bit of a rescue situation, and that's just how the cookie crumbled. She's up to date on all vet visits. She does only have 3 legs, but otherwise, she's perfectly healthy.
Here's the situation: my boyfriend and I are currently staying with his parents while we save up for a house of our own, in fact we're looking at homes now. The issue with the living situation is that the boyfriend's mom demanded that the only way we were able to adopt and keep this kitten is if she is secluded to our bedroom. We figured this wouldn't be a big deal since she's only about 3 months old now. It hasn't really been a problem until now.

The "problem" (and I hate referring to it as a problem) is that Penny is a biting and scratching machine. She constantly attacks my feet and my hands, and she's VERY persistent too, she WILL NOT STOP. I am covered in scratches and bite punctures. I chalk this behavior up to her being a kitten; she just wants to play, she's exploring the world with her mouth, maybe she's teething (idk if cats experience teething the way human babies do, but that's what I'm assuming), or maybe she just doesn't like me. I dunno. I don't understand why she would dislike me though. I feed her and change her water daily, we're lucky enough to be in a situation where I'm able to stay home with her a lot more, so I'm home with her all day, I play with her for a minimum of like 1-3 hours a day, I do allow her out of the room to explore the house a bit, and she's acclimated really well to the environment. So idk why she constantly attacks me. Maybe she was hand-reared? I don't know. The people I got her from gave me little to no information about her. But she doesn't attack anyone else. Nope, just me. She has bitten and scratched my boyfriend, but only during playtime, and it's very rare. However, with me, she'll just attack me all day. I can't even walk through our room without getting my ankles torn up. And I'm SO sweet to her. I'm always loving on her and petting her, playing with her anytime I can, she sleeps in the bed with us, and she licks me a lot! But then she scratches and bites me so much that it feels like I'm either doing something wrong, or this little girl just doesn't like me at all. We do have another cat, his name is Ty, he's a 5 year old neutered male. She attacks him too, and he hates it. He does swat and hiss at her when she jumps on him, but not in an angry, "I'm gonna kill you" kind of way, it's more like, "get off me, I'm trying to relax" kind of thing. He has never actually attempted to hurt her though, and he seems to tolerate her behavior to a point. She will submit to him for a minute, and then it's back to jumping on him spread-eagle. I figured that, inadvertently, he was teaching her cat manners, but she doesn't seem to get it. She follows him everywhere, she wants to be wherever he is, but she just doesn't stop attacking! It's constant! I've tried wearing her out with playtime, but this girl wears me out first haha. She could play for hours and hours on end. I have tried to redirect her biting behavior to a toy when she attacks me, but it's like she ignores the toy and keeps going for my ankles. I've bought TONS of toys, and none of them will get her attention off of my ankles. I've tried gritting my teeth and bearing the pain until she stops, but she just doesn't stop, and by the end of it all, I'm bleeding, and covered in teeth punctures and scratches, and she's still trying to bite me. I've never yelled at her, I've never even punished her for anything, I've tried everything I can think of. Feliway doesn't work for her. I've thrown money down the toilet on Feliway. I've tried ignoring her when she attacks me by turning my back to her and not giving her any attention, but she will just keep biting and scratching - ignoring her has not worked. But the straw that is really breaking the camel's back is the fact that she has been waking me up 3 & 4 times throughout the night - with teeth and claws. I have scratches on the INSIDE OF MY LIPS from her attacking my FACE in the middle of the night. I have played with her extensively before bed time, she eats before bedtime, she has food and water overnight, and she will sleep with us when we lay down. But come 4 am, she's up, and she will bite and scratch me in the nose, eyes, ears, and lips. I've tried hiding under the covers, but she will scratch and bite at the covers, and still get to me underneath them. She'll crawl under the covers on my boyfriend's side, and scratch the crap out of my back until I get up. But she won't do that to him! Even if I leave the room and sleep in another room, she won't bite or scratch him at all. Sometimes I get woken up with licking, and I can totally deal with that lol she will lick my face for 10 minutes and I don't mind that at all. But the biting and scratching and bleeding has me wanting to pull my hair out. And I can't lock her out of the room at nighttime because my boyfriend's mom wouldn't stand for that. I'm scared to reprimand Penny because I know that doesn't really work on cats and I don't want her to hate me or anything. I AM PRAYING that this is just a phase, and she grows out of this habit, but this CANNOT continue into adulthood for her. This is bad enough as it is while she's a baby. I love her so much, and I want her to like me and not be so ferocious with me, but I seriously don't know what to do. My face is covered in scratches and it's really embarrassing because I have to work with clients in person, and I always get looked at funny. My lips are also very swollen and painful. I just don't know what more to do. Please, I'm begging for help here.

 

[susanm9006]

First thing I would do with that baby is to trim her nails. That will help, at least a little bit with the scratches. But those little claws can still hurt. Yes, part of the problem is that she left her parent and siblings too soon and missed out on the opportunity to learn from them when she is being too rough. And she is also losing out on the opportunity to have someone to fight and wrestle with and there is a built in instinct to do this. Because of this it is gong to take much more work to help her learn.

So second thing I would do is to make sure she has one or two stuffed furry toys about her size that she can wrestle and kick. You make sure you have one of these toys nearby so that you can give it to her when she is ready to attack you. And if she does attack, you do what her mom would do and give her a big hiss and walk away. If she comes back at you just pick her up and hold her for a minute just to let her know you are bigger and the boss.

Lastly, since she is confined to your room you might need an extra large crate ( big enough for food, water and litterbox) to keep her in at night so you have a place to keep her when she pesters too much while you are trying to sleep. You can try ignoring her but if she gets too wild you confine her until morning.

 

[sabrinamcm]

It is unfortunate that she was separated from her mother and siblings too early. I couldn't control that situation, but I could control the situation she was in with the people that previously owned her. The poor girl was infested with fleas and worms and her missing leg had a giant gash in it and was on the verge of infection. We think she lost her leg because she was attacked by their dog. They posted her pictures on Facebook and said she'd probably die in the wild if someone didn't adopt her, so we stepped up and decided to do so. I wish she could've had a better home life with her mother and litter mates, but as it stands, we did what was best for her at the time.

I will say I hadn't considered using a plush toy her size. So, I'm gonna try that today. I have tried hissing at her like a cat would, and it worked for a good 10 minutes haha. I'll keep trying it though. Something is better than nothing! Trimming her nails may be a difficult process as she's really squirmy, but we'll give it a shot. The claws aren't as bad as the teeth though, as she is getting better about using her claws less. The teeth are the biggest problem right now, I would say. But a nail trim couldn't hurt. I am fervently against declawing, though, so I'm just gonna have to deal with whatever scratching may come lol.

I have considered getting a crate, but our room is pretty small, and we may not have space for something like that. I may just have to sleep in another room until she gets the point lol. I just hate to feel so frustrated with her when I love her so much. She really can be a sweet kitty. She loves to lick me a lot. But I feel like I'm beginning to resent her because every time I'm around her, I'm constantly trying to avoid a painful situation. It can be stressful, and I'm trying to maintain as much patience as possible.

Thank you for your advice we'll give these points a try.

 

[susanm9006]

Wait until she is very sleepy or asleep to trim her claws. At that age they are pretty much comatose when they sleep and she won’t notice what you are doing. It is a good practice when she is quiet and you are cuddling to massage her paws and express her claws so she gets used to you doing that. In six months or so it will be harder to handle her to trim them unless she is used to it

 

[She's a witch]

...and reward Penny with treat every time after the trim. My cats jump on my lap every time when they see a nail trimmer in my hands because they know they'll get a good treat after
Have you tried exaggeratedly screaming in pain when she hurts you?

The best would be to give her a company of other playful kitten to play with and learn through the play, but I can't imagine it is possible in your current situation? Does your other cat play with her at all?

I was also thinking, is it possible that she is in constant pain because of her leg and her biting is a reaction to that? Have you talked to the vet about it? Is there any possibility she's in pain?

 

[sabrinamcm]

Wait until she is very sleepy or asleep to trim her claws. At that age they are pretty much comatose when they sleep and she won’t notice what you are doing. It is a good practice when she is quiet and you are cuddling to massage her paws and express her claws so she gets used to you doing that. In six months or so it will be harder to handle her to trim them unless she is used to it

Yeah we could give that a shot. She doesn't seem to mind me grabbing her paws, she just bites me when I do lol. But she doesn't pull away or anything. But yeah, I'll give it a try while she's asleep or tired (:

 

[sabrinamcm]

...and reward Penny with treat every time after the trim. My cats jump on my lap every time when they see a nail trimmer in my hands because they know they'll get a good treat after
Have you tried exaggeratedly screaming in pain when she hurts you?

The best would be to give her a company of other playful kitten to play with and learn through the play, but I can't imagine it is possible in your current situation? Does your other cat play with her at all?

I was also thinking, is it possible that she is in constant pain because of her leg and her biting is a reaction to that? Have you talked to the vet about it? Is there any possibility she's in pain?

Haha I will definitely give her treats if I can trim her nails. And yeah, I've tried the screaming in pain, but it doesn't do much for the situation.

Unfortunately, no, we cannot have another cat. I know that kittens shouldn't be adopted alone, and that one should get two kittens when adopting. That wasn't an option here, and won't be until we get our own house, and even then, I'm not sure my boyfriend would let me get ANOTHER cat lol. It was pulling teeth to convince them to let me adopt Penny. But I'm glad I did because she definitely has a better life here.

I have considered that maybe her leg could be hurting her. In every vet visit she's had, I've asked the vet if they think the leg looks ok, or if there's anything more I should do with it to help her out, and they've pretty much said that they didn't see anything wrong with it. They did tell me that her nub would probably callous over though. It has been a bit dry, so I've been trying to keep it moisturized with extra virgin olive oil (I've read that it's ok for cats to have) and is has been helping a bit, but she does lick it sometimes even when she's not cleaning herself. So it is very possible that the callousing process is uncomfortable. That could be part of the problem.

 

[sabrinamcm]

...and reward Penny with treat every time after the trim. My cats jump on my lap every time when they see a nail trimmer in my hands because they know they'll get a good treat after
Have you tried exaggeratedly screaming in pain when she hurts you?

The best would be to give her a company of other playful kitten to play with and learn through the play, but I can't imagine it is possible in your current situation? Does your other cat play with her at all?

I was also thinking, is it possible that she is in constant pain because of her leg and her biting is a reaction to that? Have you talked to the vet about it? Is there any possibility she's in pain?

I also forgot to mention - no, the other cat doesn't really play with her. Ty pretty much tolerates her and is fine with her as long as she isn't jumping on him, but no, he doesn't play with her. Which is odd, because he's a very playful cat. I figured they'd play together after a little while. Due to my current living situation, I didn't have the opportunity to socialize them for as long as I would've liked to, so that may be why they don't play. I wish they'd play together! That would be a dream haha.