Plays too rough and climbs up people.

[clearless]

Bumble is a 12  week old Birman kitten who loves to play. Unfortunately she lives with my boyfriend and his grandparents who not so keen on how playful Bumble is. She likes to rough house, a lot. She'll bite too hard, and gnaw on feet and climb up pant legs. She's not being mean about it. She's just so full of energy and wants to play non-stop. No matter how much you play with her it just isn't enough. Just her starting to draw blood is becoming more and more of a problem.

His grandmother is hypersensitive to pain so she thinks this kitten is the meanest animal alive.

So we need something to calm her down and teach her she simply cannot play with Grandma. But nothing works. I suggested a spray bottle as a last ditch effort, but it turns she loves water. Whenever they get bathwater ready she's in the tub swimming.

She lives in the bathroom for now, but when me and my boyfriend move in together in about a month or two she'll have full run of the place. I really don't want her to turn her pant climbing habit into curtain climbing.

It's a huge bathroom, but it's still just one room. I'm wondering if she's just going stir crazy? 

We use to have a Maltese/Yorkie mix who would play with her, but she passed away recently.

We also have rabbits. My dutch is use to free roaming, and he's a cranky old man who won't tolerate a kitten whose bouncing off the walls. As sweet and friendly as he is, he does stand his ground and will probably attack her if she gets too rough with him. I don't know about his netherland dwarf, he never seems thrilled when shes in the same room as him (him being caged).

She's a wonderful cat when she finally mellows out. I love her dearly and I never had a cat who liked me so much as her. She's my precious baby!

My boyfriend is hoping she'll grow out of it, but I feel like if she never learns that these behaviors are bad, she'll keep doing them. I don't know what to do with her.

She also likes to chew wires. Kind of another reason she's confined to one room. I'm guessing spraying everything down with bitter apple will hopefully help that?

Sorry this post is all over the place.

If you need anymore info let me know! I love that she's playful but I don't want people to bleed over it.

 

[franksmom]

Hi there and welcome to TCS! 

I also have a Birman kitten, they are such wonderful cats. My Ava is 6 months and they for sure mellow out a lot as they get older and really are one of the lazier breeds. Ava started to calm down at about 4-5 months and while she still likes to play she does sleep and cuddle most of the day now. It is funny your Birman likes water mine is the same she loves jumping in the shower!

What seems to be the problem here is that she thinks hands and feet are toys and she needs to be trained that they are not. Cats are very different from dogs and cannot be trained using discipline (http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix). I find re-direction is the best method when my Birman does something I do not like (she also likes wires) I redirect her with a wand toy to show her that is an appropriate thing to play with. 

Kittens need a ton of play and you will have to spend a lot of time trying to tire her out with toys. You will want to play until she exhausted and basically cant move. Only kittens often have these kind of behaviour issues because their humans just cannot give them enough play and the best solution is to get another kitten. My Birman expends most of her energy playing with my other cat and I would advise thinking about getting another kitten. 

At 12 weeks it is safer to keep her in the bathroom when she can't be supervised but when you are there I would recommend having supervised play in the rest of the house so she has more room to run around to get out her energy. 

As for the wires bitter apple is good but like I said redirection is also key.

Another thing I really like that works with my Birman is to leave out puzzle toys with treats in them. I have a slim cat and a dog tornado which she loves and this helps her to to be bored when I am out or trying to work. Here is a cute video with some cats playing with the dog tornado:

 

[clearless]

Thanks, good to know!

Trying the redirect and she's slowly going for it but usually just returns to feet. Hopefully she'll catch on. I played with her for a few hours the other night with a laser pointer and she was still full of energy.   I'll look into some interactive toy for her. That tornado thing is really neat, it looks like something she would really dig. 

Thanks again!

 

[lovesmekitties]

I love the name Bumble - that is adorable!  I have to second Franksmom's advice about considering another kitten if you can.  What a HUGE difference it makes!  I've had cats most of my life and never got 2 kittens at once until recently (and very hesitantly).  They are soooo happy!  I actually added a 3rd!  Your little Bumble sounds especially energetic and a buddy may be a lot less work for you and create a lot of happiness for your little girl. : )

 

[clearless]

Thanks! My boyfriend started calling her Bumblefoot when she was just an itty bitty. Saying she bumbled around the room. So the name Bumble just stuck!
I wanted to keep another kitten from her litter that she use to play with, but we also didn't want to load ourselves down with too many pets at once. Her and the dog would play, but she sadly passed away. ):

We got her an interactive toy, that circle thing with the ball in it. She basically plays with that till she passes out. Only to wake up and go nuts on it more. Once things settle down for us, we might get her another animal buddy.

 

[lovesmekitties]

Tell him he did a great job with that name!  Another toy idea that has been a standout for us is the Cat Dancer.  It's a wire that you hold like a wand toy and it has little cardboard tubes on the ends.  It looks like a piece of junk, but I kept reading cats go crazy for it, so we tried it.  They go NUTS wearing themselves out.  The first time I had to put it away because my Stewie went ballistic and got to panting really hard from all the acrobatics.  The movement of this wire seems to simulate the way a butterfly would move or something - it's just very erratic.  May help drain off some energy.