NEED HELP with naughty kitten.

[will sanders]

Hello everyone,

I adopted an 8 week old-kitten ("Leo") several days ago and he is the sweetest thing... Most of the time. Here are the two main issues I am having with him:

1) He's already starting to develop the habit of thinking that my hands are toys even though I say "no" and walk away when he bites/scratches them. It is getting to the point where he will try to bite/scratch my hands even when he isn't in a hyper mood if I reach down to pet him.

2) He will not stop jumping/scratching on my vinyl couch. This is a problem because every time he jumps/scratches on the couch his claws get stuck, thus putting holes in the vinyl. I have tried saying "no" when he does this and it's like he doesn't even hear me. I have also tried spritzing him from a distance so he doesn't know it's me, which worked yesterday (he ran away very quickly) but today it doesn't even phase him. I am worried that he is already becoming "immune" to all forms of negative reinforcement which is very disconcerting to me.

I am new to kitten ownership so any advice would be very helpful.

 

[pinkdagger]

Welcome Will! If that's Leo in your avatar, he's a cutie!

I find using a hissing sound, or a long, sharp "ssssss" is more effective than saying "no" since cats already know it means to stop. What kind of toys do you use to play with him? My boyfriend's cat is touch and go about hands because he's always used either hands or something very short, so hands are super close to the toy. I prefer using want toys so there's a distance placed between your hands and the appropriate play thing.

Is he allowed on the couch in general? If you find it problematic, you could get him a cat tree or post for him to relax on and scratch and make it a general rule that he plain isn't allowed on the couch. I'm not sure how adhesive they are to materials like vinyl, but you could try double sided tapes on the parts he likes to scratch. If it smells funny, he might not be as interested either.. if you have a cat-appropriate spot for him to be, try rubbing or spraying some catnip on it to attract him there instead. Some smells that tend to deter cats, as I use them near my potted plants, are citrus or bitter apple. If we catch our cats scratching the couch or carpet, we give them a loud hiss and if they keep going, we actually walk over and lift their paws out of the material and send them on their way in the direction of the cat tower.

I've also seen SSSCAT cat recommended a few times to keep cats off of areas they shouldn't be on (usually counters). I don't have too much experience with these behaviours, so hopefully others can come and give their first hand input with these problems. Good luck!

 

[will sanders]

I have a ton of toys for him, most of which I throw for him and he plays with once he stalks/pounces on them. I also have a wand toy which he likes to play with sometimes. I got him a scratching post which I put next to the couch. He plays with it a lot but he still jumps onto the couch and scratches the heck out of it. It's just frustrating because every time I try a new form of negative reinforcement (spritzing, saying "no," or even hissing) he seems to stop being afraid of each method after 24 hours. I don't understand what to do about this.

I want to be able to pick him up and put him on my lap when I'm on the couch, but I don't want him to feel like he can jump up himself because that is when he scratches it up.

 

[roguethecat]

my Rogue was a very, very naughty kitten. There was no eating breakfast for me without having him clawing up my legs... I threw tons of toys on him, but of course nothing was as exciting as a living being. Then I got smart and got a second kitten: instant cure.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Hello everyone,

I adopted an 8 week old-kitten ("Leo") several days ago and he is the sweetest thing... Most of the time. Here are the two main issues I am having with him:

1) He's already starting to develop the habit of thinking that my hands are toys even though I say "no" and walk away when he bites/scratches them. It is getting to the point where he will try to bite/scratch my hands even when he isn't in a hyper mood if I reach down to pet him.

2) He will not stop jumping/scratching on my vinyl couch. This is a problem because every time he jumps/scratches on the couch his claws get stuck, thus putting holes in the vinyl. I have tried saying "no" when he does this and it's like he doesn't even hear me. I have also tried spritzing him from a distance so he doesn't know it's me, which worked yesterday (he ran away very quickly) but today it doesn't even phase him. I am worried that he is already becoming "immune" to all forms of negative reinforcement which is very disconcerting to me.

I am new to kitten ownership so any advice would be very helpful.

something that might be worth trying for the biting is to gently push your hand into the bite/his mouth when Leo bites you. prey reacts to biting by pulling away from it, so by gently pushing into the bite this should confuse kitty and he should release his bite from you. i know this works well with adult cats, but have not tried it with kittens.

for preventing scratching up of your vinyl couch, how about using a relatively inexpensive cloth type couch cover (the kind with the elastic sewn onto the edging) and placing something like a foam mattress pad under it and put both over your couch...? i'm sure this won't look as nice (or fashionable, etc) as the look of your vinyl couch, but it could be for just until Leo gets old enough that he's past his "kitten crazies" phase.

you might want to start trimming Leo's nails while he's young. this will help make nail trimming so much easier and more pleasant for you both when he gets older. and...when the time comes that he's settled down enough to be trusted not to scratch on your vinyl couch, keeping Leo's nails trimmed on a regular basis will prevent accidental scratching/holes from him.

edited to add -- Leo sure is a lil cutie!

 

[stephenq]

Here ias a good article on play aggression and how to curb it! http://www.thecatsite.com/a/playtime-aggression

 

[cute cats]

SO CUTE LOVE HIM WHAT A CUTE CAT

 

[llinda]

You want a cure get a playmate. That's what I did. And on amazon there are air blowing products to keep kittens away from hot spot. I used for wires. For my furniture I have blankets.

 

[cute cats]

Get him first some toys and a cat pole too scratch on then he or she will be fine oh on my lat comment i meant that he sounds cute and lovey  show a picture please