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.
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.