Shoulder cat SOS

[Mewbril]

My kitten is a 4 month old Russian blue. He is very sweet, very energetic,and very cuddly and... a shoulder cat. He absolutely loves to hang out on my shoulders and it's been adorable so far.

Until this morning.

I was getting ready in front of the mirror and he jumped onto my shoulder. Usually this is not a problem, but he missed by like a small amount, got startled, scrambled about, and ended up digging his entire claw into the bottom of my neck. There was lots of blood and honestly it still hurts.

Here is the deal: his nails were trimmed just a few days ago (literally, 2.) I have also been wearing thicker layers/long sleeved shirts since we got him, as he has left lots of scratch marks on my torso before. He got the part that wasn't covered at the top of the shirt. Also it's not an issue with his nails being sharp, per say... it's more that he is a very rambunctious kitten and he has a lot of force, especially when he is excited in any way. It seems like he really enjoys spending time up there, so I wouldn't want to take that away from him.

Has anyone ran into this issue before with shoulder cats? How do you manage?

Random extra facts about him: he is a bottle-fed baby who has been with us for 2 weeks. We do have a 2nd kitten that he loves to play with.

 

[lucicat]

wear thick turtlenecks? I think you just have to mange it best you can while he's little. My cat does less shoulder time now that she's bigger, but she did draw blood on me a couple times in similar scenarios.

 

[susanm9006]

I never allowed “shoulder cats” or kittens climbing up me. Even if claws are clipped and it doesn’t hurt, once they gain another five months it will. So jumping kittens get put down immediately or I move away so they can’t try and climbing kittens are pulled off immediately. You can shuffle your feet or gently shake them off to discourage them or walk away.

 

[Caspers Human]

Sorry to say... That's the hazards of having a full-contact relationship with a cat.

If you allow your cat to play rough, using your hands, you have to accept the fact that you will walk away from almost every play session with scratches or bite marks on your hands.

Cats don't have hands or opposable digits. They have teeth and claws. Cats have to use teeth and claws the same way that humans would use hands.

If you don't want to get scratched up, don't allow full-contact play.

Same goes for shoulder climbing. Cats have to use claws to hold on when they climb. Without hands, that's the only way.

If you want to allow your cat to climb on you, you're going to have to accept getting clawed, occasionally.

Remember what Calvin says: "Five out of six ends of a cat are sharp and pointy!"

 

[Willow's Mom]

Shoulder kitties are worth it, though; don't be sad because roses (and kittehs) have thorns, be happy because thorns have roses (or kittehs).

My almost-six month old is one of my oldest shoulder kitties. She's pretty good about using body language to ask me to pick her up when we're outside and I'm wearing rain gear or something obviously expensive, but these are babies and they're going to make mistakes.

Willow isn't a bottle baby, but she was taken away from mother and sibs too young out of necessity. I buy the largest package of band-aids at the store and try not to let her get too freaked out about the red stuff leaking out from time to time.

She's started really leaning into my face when she's happy up there and purring away. I hope she NEVER outgrows my shoulder!

 

[Mewbril]

Will note all of these things. Thank you so much for everyone's replies!

 

[furmonster mom]

We had a kitty that like to be on shoulders. We taught her to jump up on specific counters and cat-tree perches when she wanted a shoulder. She'd jump up, and we'd pick her up and set her on a shoulder where she'd hang out until we had to end the ride.

You can train with treats to begin with. The trick is consistency.