I'm a first time cat owner (after having several dogs as pets) and I have no idea what to do! My kitten is a 13 week old male and he won't stop biting and scratching me. I have looked at every message board and website and tried just about everything and nothing works. First I tried diverting his attention with toys and he would just come back to bite me 5 minutes later. I've tried looking him in the eye and saying No or No Biting and all he does is swat at me. After all this I decided to try the spray bottle idea (in this case I bought a bunch of squirt guns and keep them everywhere). This worked for awhile, until he got big enough to jump into the shower and has found a new love for water. The squirt guns don't even phase him now. He'll be back to biting any part of my body where skin is exposed in a matter of seconds. I tried talking to other cat owners to get other suggestions. Scruffing doesn't work, he thinks it's a game...Putting him in a closed room for a couple minutes does nothing...one friend even told me to try putting pepper on my finger before he bites it which did seem to work but he doesn't just bite my fingers and I definately don't want to be covered in pepper 24/7.
So, basically I'm asking if anyone else has suggestions that I haven't tried yet. He's getting to the point where he draws blood now and I look like I got in a fight with 10 alley cats on a daily basis. My fingers are all puffy and have a poison ivy-ish rash on them from him biting them so much (bacteria in his mouth possibly? If someone else has experienced this problem and knows what it is please please please help me). I'm seriously considering taking him to the nearest shelter and giving him up for adoption but he does have his really sweet moments where he cuddles and licks me. I'm reaching the end of my rope here. Someone please help me out!
So, basically I'm asking if anyone else has suggestions that I haven't tried yet. He's getting to the point where he draws blood now and I look like I got in a fight with 10 alley cats on a daily basis. My fingers are all puffy and have a poison ivy-ish rash on them from him biting them so much (bacteria in his mouth possibly? If someone else has experienced this problem and knows what it is please please please help me). I'm seriously considering taking him to the nearest shelter and giving him up for adoption but he does have his really sweet moments where he cuddles and licks me. I'm reaching the end of my rope here. Someone please help me out!