Kitten Climbing And Clawing

[Lana145]

Hi,

My tries to sit on my lap when I sit cross cross but he doesn’t seem to get it’s footing cause it always looses its balance and ends up clawing me to keep from falling. It also tries to climb my legs (and it hurts a lot) and sometimes even bites my feet (which does hurt as well). What can I do to stop these behavior?!?!?! My legs are starting to get pretty stretched up!

 

[ArtNJ]

It helps to be 200 pounds and have a big *&! lap. What? Not an option? You can try putting a pillow or something like that on your lap -- seen that work. However, that might not be stable enough. It may be that you have to do side-by-side on the couch. My current cat will sometimes do just the front parts on the lap. Many cats seem to end up behind the head on an armchair if they can't get lap comfy. Anyway, if you find the right configuration, likely most of this goes away.

In terms of stopping biting/climbing on you, most here recommend saying something loudly like "No!" or "hiss!" and ignoring the cat. Although in the case of one climbing my leg I would modify that to put him to the side before ignoring

 

[susanm9006]

First of all, you will get fewer scratches if you trim your baby’s claws. You only want to clip the very end off. Of you aren’t comfortable doing it, have it done at your vet.

It’s best if you can stop the kitten or distract him before he starts to climb you, but if he does peel him off, tell him no and set him down.

 

[5starcathotel]

How old is your kitten? Balance issues in very young kittens resolve themselves as they grow up....though for sitting in your lap, assuming you are happy to encourage this behavior, I'd keep a thick bath towel nearby for kitty to lay on. At least with my crew, a towel laid on any horizontal surface means "lay here".

For climbing, what is the context? When you are standing or sitting? Is there another, easier way for the kitten to get up where he wants to go? Maybe you just need a cat climbing tree next to the couch or desk, for example....