Agressive Kitten

We have a new kitten, have had her 4 weeks now and she is 11 weeks old. She seems very happy but when she gets excited and hyper she launches herself at our legs, or if I am sitting at my desk or table she again launches herself at us with claws out, its extremely painful.

Is there anything I can do to stop this. A friend of mine suggested the squirty water thing, but from the research i have done that doesn't seem the best solution.

Would love to hear from anyone that is in the same situation or has had the past problem and sorted it.

Thanks
Lisa

We have a kitten around the same age and he has been known to do something similar. I was covered in scratches the first week we had him. However a couple of loud 'ows', clapping my hands loudly and then placing him at his scratching post when he does it has put a stop to it. He now retracts his claws when he plays with my appendages (most of the time!)

I know it's painful but take heart from the fact your kittie isn't trying to hurt you, she just wants to play.

Yeah I know she wants to play, but its so painful.

I have tried telling her no when she does it and putting her on the floor again, we tried putting her in the kitchen last night and shutting the door for 5 minutes that stopped it for the evening, but then first thing in the morning she is all hyper again and attacking us.

Well if you don't have a scratching post maybe getting one will help. Harry definitely claws at us less since we got him his own. It also saves the furniture! The other thing you could try is to exhaust her as much as possible playing with her toys (things on a long leash preferably!) and see if that settles her down. Once she knows that she's allowed to claw at certain things and not others she'll hopefully get the message.

I hope that helps.

First of all, cut her nails. That will reduce the pain quite a bit. Have her follow you around while you drag a belt or a shoelace or a string. Keep going. Your goal is to tire her out. Play with her with a toy in your hand so she won't scratch your hand.

I've been telling our Paisley who is 1 to put her claws in. It works for 5 seconds. You might have to wear long pants until she out grows the baby stage. Good luck.

Thanks for your advice, appreciate it.

She has had a scratching post since we got her so thats not a problem and she does use it. I will try the exhausting her option and she does like her ball on a piece of string, so will have to run around with that.

She is undergoing normal kitten behaviour, practising her new hunting skills - unfortunately, you don't want to be the prey. For the next little while get some small soft stuffed toys - beanie babies work great - and have them scattered around the rooms. You want to be able to have one of them within reach when she is attacking at you because you are going to 'substitute' the stuffed toy for the body part:-). You need to put the toy down between her front paws so she transfers her teeth and paws to the toy. Another useful idea is to get one of the cheap pool noodles, cut it into 12" lengths and leave those around. You can again reach out, grab one and put it between her front and hind legs so she starts attacking the noodle rather than your arm or leg. Basically, you are 'training' her about acceptable toys rather than unacceptable ones. I did this with my three bottle raised babies (orphaned at 10 days old) and they all play with their wrestling toys now and never mistake hands, legs or feet for toys. In fact, they love to get their bellies rubbed and will lie there all stretched out with their bellies exposed enjoying their tummy rubs without attacking my hand in any way. When they want to play I will hold their wrestling toys and they will enjoy a good wrestle with them, enjoying the interaction with my hand moving the toy. My hand, however, is never a target and they immediately stop if they feel my hand under their teeth or claws.