Playing When Not Wanted, Help

[KC14]

My kitten Leo is about 9 weeks old now and is full of kitten energy! I play with him during the day as much as possible between school and work but still get very little sleep at night. My main concern is that he attacks my hands/arms and occasionally my face and he’s destroying all of my furniture with his claws!!! Sometimes his biting is more of a sweet nibbling and he likes to lick my fingers and face too but now his sweet nibbling is turning into more painful bites and scratches. I really don’t want him to think it’s okay to attack humans for fun but I’m not sure what to do about it!!! He’s also almost completely stopped letting me pet him and thinks all attempts to pet are playtime! I only pet him if he approaches me first and try not to force affection onto him but only a couple weeks ago he was so sweet and loving and wanted to be pet for hours. Any advice welcome!

 

[susanm9006]

He is just being a kitten and that is what they do. First of all, trim the pointy end off of his claws. This won’t hurt him and it will reduce your jabs and scratches. When he does bite or scratch, hiss at him or tell him no In a stern voice. You may need to do this dozens and dozens of times but eventually he will learn he isn’t supposed to bite.

As far as nighttime, if he gets too wild have another kittenproofed place, even the bathroom, to keep him in overnight.

He is still very young, so you need to plan on at least a year of wildness before he starts to settle down.

 

[KC14]

Thanks! Just wanted to make sure the behavior is normal! Any thoughts on how to clip his nails? He’s very wiggly and will definitely not appreciate me trying to clip them

 

[susanm9006]

Wait until he is asleep or very sleepy - they go practically comatose at his age. Set him on your lap, gently press to bring out his claw and use a nail clipper to take just the tiny pointed ends off. There are good YouTube videos in how to clip cats nails.

 

[Timmer]

I agree about the nail clipping. And at his young age it's good to start that habit now because I snip my cats nails periodically otherwise they get caught on carpet loops. I always offer treats when I'm done. My girl doesn't like to be held, so generally I huddle my body over hers and just snip the tips off.

 

[Luckytheordinary]

Yep, kittens certainly are little bundles of endless energy. Maybe you can try different toys that your kitten can play with during the day like interactive feeders, various toys that your cat can bat around, Turbo Scratcher, etc. Maybe providing more cat trees and scratching posts near the furniture that he scratches would be a good idea to direct his scratching needs to more appropriate spots?

 

[ArtNJ]

As far as nail clipping, avoid the pink part of the nail, called the quick. Cutting that will hurt them a lot.

When you said a couple of weeks ago, meaning 7 weeks since your cat is 9 weeks old now, your cat was more a baby, not a kitten. Your baby is now a kitten, acting like a normal kitten -- totally normal to be more playful & adventurous and less interested in staying by the mother or human filling the role. It is often quite difficult to pet a kitten except when its sleepy. Your correctly not forcing the issue -- don't try to hold the kitten down to pet or pick up a squirming kitten. You can try summoning the kitten with a treat and call noise, but mostly it will take time.

As far as play biting, Susan told you right. A loud "No!" is what I do, and try to disengage and ignore for a bit.

 

[basscat]

I "think".....He thinks that's what he's supposed to do. So, to change his behavior, change yours.
Around dark thirty, I go inside, kick back, watch TV for a couple hours, turn it off, and all the lights off, then I go put my cat to bed. I walk into his room, stand in front of the sofa, he comes and makes a circle around me, I flop down on the sofa, and he does the same. He grooms the palm of my hand, kneads, purrs, and goes to sleep. Wakes up about 15 minutes later, head buts my face, flops over on his side, and within a couple minutes, he's out like a light. 30 minutes later, I get up and go to bed.
This is what he thinks he's supposed to do at this time of night, given the specific pattern of cues leading up to "bedtime".
It's the EXACT SAME every night so long as my routine is the same.

Not so long ago.....any other time of day, or if the TV is on, or never was on, or something is different? When I walk into his room, he would come running, flop down on the floor at my feet, roll over on his back, tail and whole butt wagging like an excited puppy, and....it's PLAY TIME! (to him). And play time like that with my cat will get you shredded.
He did that because he that's what he thought he should do, because that's what we did when he was little. He doesn't have the brain to think that's what I wanted him to do. It's more of a redundant/trained response since that's we've both always done.
As of a few months ago, due to being play mauled every visit, I changed MY behavior.
I stopped playing/rough housing with him with my hands. When he flipped ove on his back, I grabbed one specific stuffed toy, and kept it in between my hands and his mouth...let him chew on that instead of trying to get me. I still wanted to play, didn't want to ignore him, wanted him to play....I was just tired of getting chewed up.
NOW, when I walk into his room, he'll actually go get that toy and bring it with him. He simply thinks that's what he supposed to do. He chews and gnaws on it instead of trying to get my hands and arms.
Change what you do to change what your cat does. It'll take awhile, but, with redundancy, he'll figure it out.
Hands are NOT toys. Hands are for petting. Maybe just a stroke or two is all he can stand, but, at the 1st sign of BITE? STOP, say NO, and walk away. OR, have a toy within reach and stick that in his face. Just be sure to do that EVERY TIME.
Hands are not Toys is the hardest thing to do. For you and your cat. And after it's too late, it's incredibly hard to stop.