She just keeps getting worse...

I have a 3 month old female kitten. she WAS settling into the house nicely, but she is becoming an absolute nightmare.

things shes doing:

1)Going to the toilet anywhere but her litter tray.
2)frequent destructive energy outbursts.
3)attacking feet and hands... or.. anything around the house really.
4)has small naps of a day and climbs the walls all night.
5)only likes a small pat after she wakes up. (she isnt affectionate at all)
6)runs from us. literally bolts out of the room and hides.
7)ALWAYS (as in NON STOP) "playing" with something. anything. what ever is lying around she will scratch it to shreds (including our power cords and my make up)

all of these things are unprovoked. i just have to stand up and she goes crazy. i thought it was because she was bored, but she just doesnt want to spend time with me or my partner.

for a little while there we would tap her on her nose when she scratched us. Could that have started all this? and how do i stop her from being as destructive as she is?

Welcome to TCS!

You didn't say whether you'd had experience of young kittens before, or whether this is your first, but I'll assume it's your first

Kittens of that age are extremely playful (I have had to give up on my lie in this morning due to my 3 month old going nuts with a till receipt on the bed for over an hour!) so her playing with anything and everything is to be expected. The best thing you can do, and which will help with most of these behaviours, is to get some cat toys - the type that are attached with string to a wand or fishing rod, and spend a lot of time dangling it for her, and flicking the toy about for her to chase. This will keep her from getting bored, wear her out before bedtime, and keep the play at a safe distance from your hands!

If she nips or scratches your hands, don't snatch them away as this will trigger her instinctive drive to 'hunt' them. Freeze, say 'NO' firmly but calmly, then put her on the floor and play with her with a toy instead.

The litterbox problem could be a number of reasons - has she ever used it? My little one has gone outside of the box a couple of times but normally uses it, a problem I have never had with my other cat, so I'm also interested to hear people's responses to this!

regarding the kitty litter episodes.. or lack thereof

kitten may just need to be retrained... I've got a 7 week old kitten at home at the moment, he's very very playful, bites and chases our ankles given half a chance, also climbs us like we're his very own tower

regarding the retraining, after eating, pick kitten up and place immediately in tray, same upon waking and before bed, show kitten how to 'dig' a hole and cover it back up again... and make sure the tray itself is in a 'secure' area... perhaps even invest in one of the litter trays that is enclosed with a door (with or without a flap over the door) your kitten may feel exposed and unsafe, resulting in going in inappropriate places...


with kittens, this is normal if there isn't another kitten or cat to play with that they play with whatever is available... appropriate or not lol


as cats/kittens also are usually more active late evening and early morning (prey is awake and active at these times) the active times you've mentioned sound relatively normal for a young kitten

If you haven't done so already, get a vet to check kitten over and get vacc etc

try getting a laser light pen and introduce playtime with you with that... they won't follow it as quickly as an adult cat would to start with, but it's a good introduction to playing with you

as for getting the kitten to be more attentive to your own needs .... try greeting kitten with outstretched hand and a finger or two pointed at kitten, most cats greet by nose touching and this can be a form of that for humans, won't work for all kittens, but you never know..

umm.. more toys for kitten? maybe a play room so you don't hurt your feet when standing on leftover toys? I use ping pong/table tennis balls, fluffy stuffed mice, balls with bells in...... that kind of thing... screwed up bits of paper on a string dangling from a stable object are loads of fun for kitten and mom/dad or even try a long string and play chasie.... if that gets too tiring... circles or sweeps are good while you sit and get your breath back. then when kitten is sleeping stroke lightly and talk quietly to him/her etc..

I'm sure you've tried most of this before.... but I thought I'd stick my 5 cents worth in anyway

it's worked with a lot of litters that I've rescued and fed up and then given back to shelters and pet shops...

oh, and as far as tapping her on the nose for discipline? not an entirely bad thing, but the "freeze and say NO in a stern deep voice" is very good too... as was mentioned in another post 8)

my little Spaz has had small soft toys thrown at him when I'm too far away...
and I find that a water bottle with a spray nozzle that does a jet instead of fine mist works wonders too...

thank you very much for the response!
and yes... She is my first kitten >_> ive only ever babysat other friends cats hehe

Its good to hear that all the energy she has is normal, and the need to terrorize things just comes with the age. I was worried she was stressed or... just didnt like me >_<

She does have a fair few toys too, and i will spend more time getting her to play with them (so i wont come home to knocked over DVD wracks anymore lol)

and a big thank you with the litter advice. I'll work on retraining her and hope she gets the idea soon enough. the next big thing is to work on the smell she eats nothing but dry food. but still... soooo stinky!

thanks again!
=^_^=

Has she been checked for worms - many times smelly poo is due to either worms, or poor quality foods. What kind of food are you feeding?

Also is she spayed yet? If not, get her done now - some kittens can go into heat at 4 months of age. Also, you might consider adopting another kitten around her age so she has someone to really keep up with her.

Its recommended in younger kittens to adopt 2 together if there is no other pets to play with in the house. That could help you out regarding the high energy. Do you have a tall scratching post/treehouse? If not, maybe invest in one that is about 4 feet or more tall with lots of climbing areas to play and watch outside the window.

Good Luck! It is tiring to have such an energetic kitten. I was climbing the walls the first 3 weeks with Ben. He was 4 months when we got him.
If she is doing something bad try a can with coins. They hate the sound. Spend ALOT of time playing with her & her toys to tire her out before bed time. Hang in there. They do calm down esp after being fixed.

I agree - most of what you describe is normal kitten behaviour. I'm repeating a lot of what has already been said, but to go through your points one by one

1)Going to the toilet anywhere but her litter tray.
There are 4 general reasons for this which I suggest you consider one by one to see whether you think they might apply
1. Not litter trained (possible in a young kitten) - try putting her in the tray after meals and putting pee and poop she does outside inside the tray to show her where she should go. If she pees outside the tray try to soak some of it up with a kitchen towel and squeeze into the tray. If that fails you may need to confine her in a small space (eg a bathroom or even a pen) with a litter tray, food and water etc so that she has little choice but to use the tray.
2. UTI - unlikely in a kitten but not impossible
3. Problems with litter box - location, type of litter used etc. How many boxes do you have? Some cats like to have 2 - 1 to pee in and the other to poop in.
4. Behavioural problems - stress such as being in a new home, a new family member (2 legged or 4 legged!) or something that makes the cat feel threatened in her territory.

2)frequent destructive energy outbursts.
Some cats are livelier than others but almost all kittens are hyperactive and have bursts of energy. Try to tire her out with toys that get her running - fishing rod style toys, laser etc. She'll calm down a bit as she gets older but how much depends on her individual character. Some cats stay kittenish well into adulthood while others become much less energetic.

3)attacking feet and hands... or.. anything around the house really. Normal kitten play! Most grow out of this but it's best to deter it when they're young. If she goes for your hands or feet try to distract her with a toy or hiss at her like mom cat would to let her know it's not acceptable. Blowing at her face can also be an effective deterrent. Above all try to avoid pulling your hand away with a shriek - that will only encourage her as you're playing the game by acting the role of prey. Better to keep your hand completely still and break eye contact.

4)has small naps of a day and climbs the walls all night.
Again perfectly normal kitten behaviour. Kittens like to play a bit, eat a bit then sleep a bit. Then they start all over again. Try playing with her a lot during the evening and dont' let her go to sleep. Wake her up if she shows signs of sleeping when it gets near bedtime. Then give her something to eat before you go to bed and hopefully she will then be ready for some sleep. She probably won't sleep through the night though. My 1 year old still only sleeps til about 5am. It's normal for cats to be active at dawn and dusk so it can be an uphill battle to get them to sleep according to our rules. If she continues to bother you at night you may need to shut her out of your bedroom at night but if you do that be prepared for some crying at the door for a while.

5)only likes a small pat after she wakes up. (she isnt affectionate at all)
6)runs from us. literally bolts out of the room and hides.
All cats are indivuduals and some are naturally more affectionate than others. Try not to force your attention on her as that will just make her more wary of you. Let her come to you and when she does play with her, give her a treat and a bit of affection. As she matures she may become more affectionate but if she doesn't you just have to accept that her nature.

7)ALWAYS (as in NON STOP) "playing" with something. anything. what ever is lying around she will scratch it to shreds (including our power cords and my make up) all of these things are unprovoked. i just have to stand up and she goes crazy. i thought it was because she was bored, but she just doesnt want to spend time with me or my partner. for a little while there we would tap her on her nose when she scratched us. Could that have started all this? and how do i stop her from being as destructive as she is?
Normal kitten behaviour! If you have anything you don't want her to get at put it away in a safe place. re power cords - either block them off, put a cable tidy on them or paint on something like bitter apple spray to deter her. Hissing at her if you see her attempting to bite them might help.

I just want to second the idea of adopting a little playmate. Our Dylan was an only kitty for six months, and his alpha nature made him determined to dominate all the humans in the house (even though he'd been neutered by the SPCA before we got him, at eight weeks)! That involved behavior very similar to what you're describing -- especially the biting.

Then came Sassy. Gorgeous, longhaired, calitortie glamour girl Sassy, four months old and queen of all she surveyed. Dylan was in awe! In a week or two, he started testing the limits... and after some royal battles, he and Sassy settled into a relationship most of us humans would envy.

But back to my point: Dylan stopped biting almost entirely as soon as we gave him a fellow feline to dominate. (Or TRY to dominate, anyway. Actually, Sassy just lets him THINK he's the boss. She's a very smart girl!)

Two kitties! Twice the fun!