Naughty Kitten!

[gravekandi]

I have a 9 week old kitten who/ has recently started attacking my arm. She will wrap her arms around my arm, pull me in and chew on me. I wont lie it kinda hurts sometimes

 She hasn't drawn blood or left any big marks. I have no idea how to stop this behavior. On top of that she has recently started attacking my head. My hair to be exact. I will be petting her, she will be purring and then she sees a piece of my hair and goes crazy. That also almost always hurts, especially if she gets me by surprise

 Not to mention I kinda worry over it since I dye my hair crazy colors I feel like it might be toxic??

 Any who any advice on how to stop this will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[mservant]

Mouse might be a distant relation of your furbaby!  He loves nothing better than to chew on a good arm or leg, and heads are for jumping at. 

  He doesn't have any concept of cat / human difference and I am to be played with like he used to play with his mom. I take this as a licence to 'paste' him like his mom did when he goes too far!  She would ignore him and if he still kept jumping at her and biting she'd gently get him on his back and pin him there showing him who was boss  (she'd bite his throat and lock jaws with him). 

  OK, I do NOT recommend the latter unless you are playing with him and you do it gently, and of course no biting of neck or locking of jaws!  The source of behaviour is likely to be the same though - he thinks you're a cat.  The ignoring bit is essential  unless your kitten is actually drawing blood I'm afraid. 

Needless to say, do not encourage your cat to play with your hands and feet, but if your furbaby is like mine you won't have to, the critter will just go for anything that moves and sadly people do!  Your hair will be another extension of this, and of course it's an interesting texture like long fur.

When they're little and learning about what hurts people (useless cats with hardly any fur) it helps to wear clothes with sleeves and long legs, plus socks so you have a bit of protection over your skin

The serious advice:

Mouse will occasionally try to play like this still, but he knows he's not meant to and he knows how it's going to end if he gets rough.

If he's wanting wild play but doesn't bite at all it ends with him on his back and me kneeling over him rubbing his belly and his paws.

Stage 1. If he bites me or jumps at my head he gets a firm, sharp 'no' or 'ouch' and I stay totally still until he lets go.DO NOT PULL BACK - that gives a message you are playing and the cat will bite more.

Stage 2. If the sharp 'no' or 'ouch' doesn't work he gets a repeat 'no' or 'ouch', and I push suddenly but lightly in to him with the arm / leg / foot he's biting. I then need to stay completely still until he lets go. DO NOT PULL BACK as above.  It took about 3 months to get to the stage I didn't have to go to stage 3 with Mouse.

Stage 3. If he kept biting or jumping at my face he got put out of the room and the door shut - which he HATES. I occasionally still have to do this with him when I'm making beds as he gets totally over excited.  He gets let back in about a minute later but if he starts up again he goes back out. 

 

Generally Mouse, and most other cats, will quickly learn they get attention and play if they behave in the ways you respond to, so you give them a minimum response / reward for anything you don't want to encourage.  Mouse now only resorts to the chewing arms and legs when I've been ignoring him and he's getting bored and annoyed with me.

.  

Good luck and have fun with your kitten.  It's good that you want to learn how to stop this behaviour now and not waiting until you have a cat that can really hurt you.  

 

[mservant]

Oh, and some cats will lick hair, like a loving cat grooming human thing. It's a real compliment if your furbaby does that. 

 

I'm not sure about the hair dye thing. I dye mine daft colours from time to time but with permanent colour and always assumed that after the first couple of washes the chemicals should be gone and not worried about it too much - but then I haven't had a cat that regularly licked my hair (not got much hair any way - keep it really short). Maybe someone else will have a more definite answer on this question.

 

[gravekandi]

Thank you s much This was very helpful, I will try this out next time she goes bonkers lol.

 

[mservant]

I had to laugh earlier: just after I finished posting to you Mouse decided to go crazy, was all wound up and started biting my arm and jumping at my head like I hadn't played with him for days or something!!!  I swear he knew what I'd been writing.  He hadn't done that for ages! 

  I guess it keeps the technique fresh in my mind.... 

   I tend to say NO when it's just something I don't want him to do but isn't hurting me, and 'OUCH' when it's something that is or can hurt - like the biting.  I do think he understands the difference and he's much less likely to push his luck and keep doing something if he gets an OUCH. 

 

[gravekandi]

I find that hilarious! Ziggy (my kitten) wouldn't stop nibbling on me when I responded. She even got on my laptop and covered the screen with her body. Like she didn't want me to see how to control her behavior 

 

[janitor]

Interesting. I was just experiencing this. My cat, Jewels will be perfectly calm and then when you are petting her, decide to chomp. She is getting stronger and that has us worried. I don't think that it is a love bite or that she is that agitated but it needs to stop. 

 

[catspaw66]

The biggest thing is: don't use your hands to play with the cat. When she she bites you, tell her she is hurting you in a sad, kinda whiny voice. It may take a while, but most cats get the message eventually.

 

[mservant]

 
Interesting. I was just experiencing this. My cat, Jewels will be perfectly calm and then when you are petting her, decide to chomp. She is getting stronger and that has us worried. I don't think that it is a love bite or that she is that agitated but it needs to stop. 

catspaw66 is right to reinforce 'no hands', but I'm not too sure if the whining voice would be as effective as the defined 'ouch' if they are hurting you.  I don;t think Mouse would have taken that seriously, and when he bit hard I don;t think I could have controlled my self! 

Hope you read my first post in this thread for the serious advice Janitor.  I've got a boy that was a terrible chewer and biter when he was younger  (didn't have siblings to teach him biting hurt so I had to do the job), and now he's 4 1/2 kilos with wide jaws he can be quite scary if he decides to try rough play. It's just as well he's a real honey and doesn't bite often these days- and knows what 'ouch' means. He sometimes ignores a 'no' with a cheeky glint in his eye but the 'ouch' gets an instant response.   

Does Jewels get over stimulated / sensitive  when stroked in certain places, or is this a new thing?  You can also try touching her with a long wand toy or similar to get her used to being touched without using your hand until she tolerates it a bit more?  Or avoid the areas she doesn't like to be touched on?

Interested to hear how you guys are getting on in a couple of weeks.

 

[catspaw66]

The Ouch was given. I usually say 'OUCH      you're hurting me. why do you want to do that?'

 

[mservant]

 
The Ouch was given. I usually say 'OUCH      you're hurting me. why do you want to do that?'

  I think Mouse would forget the 'ouch' and think I was chatting to him and telling him to carry on!  He's a bit cheeky. 

   Do your cats ever answer back?

 

[gravekandi]

The ouch works with my kitten for a while but then she just continues to do it a couple of mins later X_X

 

[mservant]

Persevere and if she does it more than 3 times in quick succession try moving to stage 3 - put her out of the room and shut the door for a minute before you let her back in.  It's hard when you actually find the whole thing quite funny (which I do) as well as sore but for it to stop you really do have to be firm and keep at it! 

 

[karkel59]

OMG ! My husband and I both play with our hands and feet with "64" she bites but it doesn't hurt....she's easy..I hope she continues to stay easy, I think she knows not to bite hard...could I be wrong ?

 

[catpack]

The more you encourage her that hands/feet are toys, yes, she could definitely begin to bite harder as she gets older. It's always best to teach them to play with toys rather than body parts.

 

[princess123]

Funny when Princess was just under 8 weeks old she would climb up the bed and we dared not move anything as she would attack. she also did play the grab the hand to bite  game but we just sid no in a firm voice and then pulled away grabbed a string with a toy at the end and let attack that .kittens can be feisty but enjoy it as later on they do settle down .as for the hair thing when Princess was well she is not so well now, she would come behind my pillow and begin to chew my hair ...again i had to cover it. they do grow out of this agressive behaviour I rthink. it is all that energy and they are predators so all moving objects are prey at this time . What ever you do do not pull away abruptly then it becomes a game just gently move teh hand away and subn the toy. It worked for us

 

[princess123]

I tried putting Princess out when she was a kitten .She was not having that. she rushed the door and banged so hard i thought she would hurt herself so i gave in. She is the queen in my house. I hope she gets better soon

 

[catspaw66]

 

  I think Mouse would forget the 'ouch' and think I was chatting to him and telling him to carry on!  He's a bit cheeky. 

   Do your cats ever answer back?

Almost every time I talk to them. Silly and Julie are the ones that talk the most. My Psy

was the big talker. She would talk to me from the time I woke up till I went to sleep -with her snuggled against my right side- when we were both inside.

 

[buckwheat]

A firm "NO" should be enough, and if tha doesn't work ask you Vet. Bad behavior should be taken serious, at all times. My concern is if he drawing blood, he should be put on the floor, and not aloud to continue the behavior.

 

[deborahlee]

She's just a baby.  That's how kittens play and their energy is boundless.

Get some of those rod toys with the toys hanging from them and leave them all around the house.

When she gets crazy like that, she has energy that needs to be expended.  If she attacks, do the firm NO thing, then immediately pick up a toy and start to play with her with it for a few minutes.

That will expend the energy, and will teach her what is appropriate play and what is not.

You can't say no and then expect her to not do what kittens do.  Redirecting to toys can help a lot. 

But you need to use interactive toys.  Just throwing a ball or stuffed mouse to her won't give her the hunting instinct she needs to expend.