I need help!!

I really need help. My husband and I got a kitten when she was approximately 8weeks old. She is a very affectionate cat, she likes to crawl up and lay on my chest. Lately, however, she has been an absolute monster! She will crawl up to my chest and start licking my cheek, which is cute but then out of nowhere she'll bite me. Sometimes I can tell she feels like she is grooming me, I've seen her do it to herself, but I've yelled ouch, I've smacked her on the nose, I've thrown her off the couch and ignored her. Nothing seems to work, and this is not the only time she does it, she will be sitting on the couch or something and my husband or I go and try to pet her real nice, and talk to her sweet and she will claw and bite. I just don't know what to do because sometimes it is in play others it's a grooming thing and other times she has drawn blood. She is now 3 and 1/2 months old. We also can't seem to get her to quit playing/biting our electrical cords, again nothing works!! Please help!! :?

 

smacking her on the nose will do absolutely nothing except make her afraid of you.

A stern "no" and gently putting her on the floor and walking away will suffice. She's a kitten -you must teach her what is acceptable and what isn't. It might not happen overnight - but please don't hit this baby. She'll only become frightened of your hand and the behavior problems will get worse cause she won't trust you - her caregiver

 

Try to find body signals before she attacks you. My Pumpkin will nip me gently when she's had enough petting. Her tail will swing and her ears will be pinched back. Licking might mean she wants something. And if you don't meet her demands, she will attack you. Does she lick you in bed or while you are on the computer or watching TV? You need to double tape your electrical cords. My Vene used to destroy our electrical lines as well. I wish you lots of luck. Please don't hit her or throw her because her behavior will get worse like Mary said.

http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomf...scape.com/articles/artShow.asp%3FartID%3D3505

http://www.perfectpaws.com/agg.html

http://www.ivis.org/advances/Behavior_Houpt/horwitz/chapter_frm.asp?LA=1

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=458&S=2&SourceID=18

 

Sounds like you've been given some good advice.

My Mittens is a little high strung and I have to respect her nature of being a cat. That doesn't mean that I put up with her hurting me. If she gets a little over rambunctious, I'll either stop moving and sturnly say NO so she will stop doing what she is doing or I will get up so she is not on me anymore to stop her from doing what she is doing.

This seems to work pretty well. She is a kitty though so I know it will happen
again and have to keep reinforcing it. She has cought on and knows to stop.

Be patient. Give her lots of love and understanding. She will grow up to be a wonderful companion.

 

oops

OK, I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S ADVICE, BUT I HAVE TO SAY THAT SOME OF YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE I ABUSE MY KITTEN. NOT TRUE!!! I AM NOT MEAN I TAP HER NOSE WHEN SHE HAS DONE SOMETHING WRONG, THE SAME THING MY MOTHER TOLD ME TO DO, WHO IS AN ANIMAL LOVER AND HAD CATS ALL OF HER LIFE. SECONDLY, WHEN I SAID I "THROW" HER ON THE FLOOR, I CERTAINLY DON'T USE A BASEBALL PITCH. SHE GETS TOSSED ON THE FLOOR. SHE IS NOT ABUSED OR "AFRAID" OF ME. JUST HAD TO GET THAT OUT, THANKS FOR THE HELP

 

What is it with kittens/cats and electrical cords? :roll: I have always had this same problem with every cat I have ever had. My solution is that I went to the hardware store and got lots of electrical cord covers. It's a hollow plastic cord cover that has a slit down the middle, that way you can encapsulate the cords with it. They can still bite it, but it's much thicker and harder and they won't be able to electrocute themselves with it. It's not the most attractive thing to have in the house, but you got to do what you got to do to keep our kitties from chewing on these things. You could also ask your local pet supply if they carry any products that are safe to apply/spray on the cords that taste very bad to cats.

Do you have any other cats in your home? I wonder if your kitty would like to have a little buddy to hang out and play with? Would this be a possibility?

 

Tigger>> we dont mean to emply u are a horrible cat owner or some kind of ogre. *hugs*

Chessmind i was gonna suggest that stuff too. the bitter spray stuff. Even lemon juice or vinager maybe...

As for the biting.. my blind kitten Razberry is alitte bit of a biter (tho he's a sweetie too) he's just getting older now (now 7 weeks) and getting alittle more bolder and playful. i think he may 'bite' to mouth things to 'see' what they are.

Anyways, biting lightly is ok... hard is not.. try what Chessmind has suggested and instead of tapping her nose, puff in her face with air. Look at my post um.. what was it.. Kitten Biting or something like that. there are other good methods to try to train about biting.

Good luck with your baby.

 

I didn't read any responses accusing you of abusing your kitten...anyone else read that?

But again...do not "tap" your kitten on the nose as you'll only cause the kitten to become afraid of your hand. Okay your mother's an animal lover, my mother is too....and she used to think it was okay to rub a puppy's nose in its mess when trying to housebreak. I think a lot of people thought that - did it mean they were being abusive? No...it was what they were taught.

But you won't solve a kitten's behavior problems with a tap on the nose...all the kitten knows is you are tapping its nose and it hasn't got a clue as to why.

 

Hi everyone. I just want to clarify the gentle tapping on the nose as a training method, only because I posted it as one of two possible training methods in EternalFlame's 'Biting Kitten' post (the first being blowing in the face).

First of all let me say that I personally do not use the gentle tap on the nose in conjunction with a firm/loud 'No' or 'Ouch' followed by walking away. Blowing air in the face (only one puff) in conjunction with the firm/loud 'No' or 'Ouch' and then walking away is what has worked for my kitties.

Secondly, the tap on the nose should only be very GENTLE. Cats will not become afraid of your hand, unless you are hurting/scaring them with it. Gently tapping once or twice on the nose will not make them afraid of your hands. This is a training method that is suggested in a lot of training books, as well as the ASPCA. Granted, just because it's in books doesn't mean it's right or wrong. I only mentioned the ASPCA, as they are very against all forms of animal abuse.

Now, since I personally do not use the gentle tap method, I went and tried a test with my Romeo and Juliet. I went up to them and gently tapped each of their noses twice. I didn't do any firm 'No' or 'Ouch' as they were not doing anything wrong. Anyway, Romeo and Juliet didn't run away or get scared of the gentle taps on the nose. I think they just figured I was petting their nose's as usual.

Now if anyone has any good tips for biting, please post. Everyone's opinions are valuable and each kitty is so different. What works well for one kitty may not work for another. For instance MaryNH has a training method that works well for her kitties and would work well on a lot of cats: A firm 'No' and walking away from them.

 

Wow Tigger, your kitten sounds like one of mine, Milo. When we got him, he was so sweet, then after we had him for awhile, he started biting, alot. We still haven't found a great way to stop this, but usually a firm "Hey!" or really anything that comes to mind works. Plus we put him on the ground and either walk away, or not let him back up.

Its a game to him though, he thinks its fun to attack people all the time, sure does get annoying :roll:

I don't think I helped much, but we are in the same boat, but I've been in it for a little over 3 years!

 

I also need help

Hi, i'm new to the board and i'm having some issues with my 4 and a half month old calico Bella. Lately she's been waking me up every single day at 6am. Every morning i get up and check but she always has plenty of food and water. She's never waking me up directly, she never just comes up and swats at my head or anything like that. Its more of her zipping around my room, climbing on my desk just to knock things off, scratching at the corners of my mattress (but only long enough to make a noise then she runs away, only to come back in a few seconds to do it again). i'm a light sleeper and she mostly just plays very loudly in the background. i've tried bringing her out to the living room where all of her toys are, but the second i close my door shes right outside of it meowing until i let her in. i'm a college student, and so by definition, i'm not a morning person. luckily my classes haven't started yet, but they do next week and i'm worried that if this continues i'll be too tired in all of my classes to pay attention. I don't know if there's anything that can even be done, but i welcome any suggestions. I also have an idea of maybe why she's started doing this, but i could be wrong. The behavior was sporatic until right after i came back from a week long vacation, and then she started doing it everyday like clockwork. She's very attached to me (to the point where she follows me into every room, all the time, which i have no problem with) but she's also fond of my roomate, who was here with her all but one day of my vacation. she left on her own vacation the day before i came back from mine, so she was alone for a night. Is it possible that she could be mad at me or afraid that i'm gonna leave her again? Again, i don't know if there's a cure for this, but anything would be helpful
Thank You
Tiffany

 

you are mommy...that's a good thing - although the lack of sleep isn't. When I got Zeus he would wake me up every morning at 4am - drove me nuts cause I couldn't get back to sleep. My solution I went to bed earlier LOL

She'll outgrow it...gotta be patient. Play with her and get her really tired before you go to bed. She's probably getting you prepared for future parenthood :roll: then it's up 2-3x a night.

 

Hi Bellakitty and welcome to the forums! Sorry to hear about the problems you're having. With my cat Moe, I have found that it's a phase she goes through every once in a while. I try to ignore her when she does it (I'm also a light sleeper). I just pretend I don't hear her and she gives up and goes away. Once she knows I'm awake, she will not leave me alone.

I also spray bottle trained my cats. If they do something they're not supposed to I would say "NO!" very firmly a couple of times, and if they didn't stop, I would shake the spray bottle. If they still continued, I would spray them (just once, don't soak them!). Now, when they do something bad I just shake the bottle and they stop what they're doing right away. I haven't had to spray Moe in at least a year.

A lot of people don't like this method as the cat may associate you with the water-bottle and become scared of you. I have found if I use the bottle very rarely that this is not the case. My Moe is most definitely not afraid of me!

Anyway, I'm sure other people here will have suggestions as well. Good luck!

 

:m23: BellaKitty. 2/4 cats don't let us sleep either. It's Pumpkin and Milo. They will stomp across our belly or chest to wake us up between 4-6AM. They demand fresh breakfast. Besides stomping, Pumkin will lick, claw, and purr real loud. She is one demanding chick. Luckily, they are doing this less and less since we've been feeding them can foods in addition to the dry foods. A full belly makes them sleep better. I thought college kids don't sleep. They stay up all night and snooze in class during the day. Just kidding. :mrgreen: When I'm really tired, I will force Pumpkin to nap with me. I give her a huge bear hug and she settles down. I hope you find some method to train your kitty. Good luck! :m33:

 

Exactly...for both posts...Tigger and Bellakitty. I miss the days when my kittens would follow me constantly from room to room. If I want a wrestling match now I have to start it Soon thereafter I usually realize it's time to clip their nails......yeeeeouch!

Bella...I think it was just your choice of words (smack and thrown) that worried us. It is obvious now that you didn't mean that literally. Please don't take offence at the replies.

Halaroo.....I have raised all my cats with "the spray bottle". I laughed when I read that you just shake the bottle and they stop...SO TRUE!! I would spray the bottle in the opposite direction of them and when they heard the sound they would stop.

I had heard this too so I always tried to hide where it was coming from so they wouldn't associate it with me.

 

Well it's nice to know i'm not alone here. I used the spray bottle method for training, but i'm pretty sure she became immune. she does occasionally stop whats she's doing as soon as she sees the bottle, but sometimes she just looks right at me while shes getting into trouble..even while i spray her.. and i swear its like shes thinking "Oh, please, you're gonna have to do better than that!" But it does still work occasionally. Thanks for the advice, i'll definately have to give ignoring her a try.

 

good advice all around. i ditto the spray bottle, and laughed at halaroos post. but max...he loves water...so the spray bottle was like a treat for him....he would just turn his head, wait until he was soaked, and reengage in whatever it was he WASNT supposed to be doing. hee hee :roll: now...he runs in the shower when i am in there...just stands in there....gets soaking wet.

i also used time out ALOT. :m36: max would just get too rambunctious, and didnt know his boundaries. (UH...HE STILL DOESNT :shock: ). he is eight months old, and settling down. hardly any biting now. he used to grab ahold of my arm and not let go. [-X i had scratches, bite marks, blood drawn constantly. but i knew he wasnt mean :m3: ...just a kitten. i timed him out each and every time. and if he started again right after time out...hed go back in the bedroom. :shock:

using a "go between" is a good idea too. like if your kitten tries to bite, distract him with a toy...or something he can play with and bite.

quite honestly...mikey has been good for this too. now both of them can bite each other, playing, and release the energy :qm4: