Play aggression, how to curb

[kattiekitty]

Hello,
I have a nine month old neutered male kitten. He is normally a very sweet playfull cat. The strange thing is he gets into these moods where he wants to play attack my hand or leg ect. He doesn't have his claws out and he doesn't bite but I'm worried that this might be abnormal behavior and it will get worse as he gets older. I have seen evil mean cats and I don't think he is that. I just don't think that he knows when he is being to rough. Also what really worried me the other day is that after my boyfrien and I clipped his nails, we let him go and he got the crazy cat look in his eye with the dialated pupils and jumped at my leg. Again, he isn't hurting and doesn't have his claws out, but I knew he was mad. I told him no and picked him up and gave a time out after which he was fine. He will also get that crazy look if we are playing and he gets too riled up. We have several cat wand toys, but sometimes he will attack our arms. He will also do this when we want to move him from a chair or the couch. I have done the hissing noise which is working, but I just wanted to make sure I don't have a bipolar kitty lol and that his behaviour is normal cat behaviour.

 

[farleyv]

I also have a nine month old neutered cat. They are still very playful and "wild" at that age. All cats get that dilated pupil crazy look when playing. You are doing the right thing by giving him a time out and that hissing sound has been recommended before. Or blow in his face when he starts playing too rough. Don't ever strike him though. He looks to you for affection and safety. That would undermine your relationship.

The fact that he does not put out his claws or bite tells me he does not want to hurt you, just wants to have a little rough housing. He should start to calm down as he gets older. I think he just does not know his limits. A firm "NO" while firmly pushing him away when he is attacking you should make him start to learn what he can and cannot do.

He is just a playful boy, who would be playing with his siblings this way were they available. If they were, they would use their body language to adjust his behavior. You have to be his sibling or his mother and do the job they would. When my nine month old gets too rough with his mother, she lets him know! She will push him over and keep her foot on him like she is saying "ok, calm down". Be gentle but firm.

Can you get him a cat tree to climb. That uses a lot of energy and hopefully he will expend some of it there.

BTW, I have had cats many years. I have probably known 50 cats in my life time. I have never known an evil mean one. There are cats that are wild and do not make good pets. I have seen cats that do scratch and do not like to be picked up. But they are far from evil. Your kitty is neither, he is learning to be a young cat.

Be patient but firm and loving. You should end up with a good friend who will love you for many years.

 

[lynsey]

You could also try throwing a toy in the other direction to divert him from going after your legs. My brown tabby would often attack my boyfriend for no reason, he eventually outgrew this phase. I think your cat is still in the rebellious teenager phase too.

 

[kattiekitty]

Yeah I'm thinking he's a rebellious teen as well. The holding the head down works well and he stops biting. One thing that he does though that I want to nip in the bud is when he is mad, he will stare you down and make a long meow. Last night my boyfriend pushed him away while in bed and he batted his face! It wasn't play, but he didn't have claws out, he didn't bite, he just lunged batted and ran off. When he did that my boyfriend hissed at him said no real loud and we gave him a time out in the bathroom for 5 minutes. After that he was fine. I think he is trying to challenge us and see what he can get away with. I have noticed he will do that stare and meow when we push him off a chair, couch or place that he wants to be. Other than that he is pretty easy going. He plays with the dog and the dog will reprimand him when he gets too rough, but our dog is really gentle. The cat will be chewing on his leg and the dog doesn't care. One thing the cat does is that he will bat our dog in the face like he did my boyfriend but again not a scratch on him. He loves the dog and they will play chase for hours and it is giving my dog who is nine a new lease on life. The cat will initiate the chase and the dog will play. It is very cute. I really am attached to this cat and he is adorable. The weird thing is that he will attack either our leg arm ect, then run in the opposite direction. I think he will be fine, just trying to get used to cat language lol. My cat at work is 6-7 years old and is such a sweetie, very laid back and doesn't do the play bite or anything at all. Two different cats I guess.