how do i stop it

well i have had my cats for two months now. We love having them except for the fact that lola claws at the kids and will try to bite them. Almost always the scratching is when she is not being provoked or not even being played with. I have seen her come up to my kids (3 and 18 months) and they were playing in the floor with each other quietly, and lola just walked up and clawed them. I dont get it.

When the kids cry, which the 18 month old does quiet often b/c she is 18 months, lola comes up. stares at them for a second and then proceeds to go behind the kids and stand on her hind legs and then places her paws on their shoulders or ears and tries to bite the kid, sometime succeeds at it too. When we first got the cats she tried this with no claws and no biting. she would pretend to is my best description of what she would try to do at firs.t now her claws are out and she has bitten the kids.

I have tried water to the face, shaking a bottle of pennies at her, and a few other things. I dont know what to do anymore and while I dont want to get rid of the cats, I just might b/c of the biting and scratching by lola.

I also want to add, when the kids are around the cats bothering them and the kids dont heed or recognize the warning signs and they get scratched. I take that moment and try to teach them the respect of the animals

Any advice you can give or techniques I can try to curb this behavior?

I'm sorry I have no suggestions for you. I do, however, think you may find reading this thread interesting: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=152850. I believe it explains some of the behavior you are describing.

I don't know if this is similar, but what, exactly, do you mean by claw at them? Is it with aggression? Because when I sit on the floor, our little Ming Loy will come up behind me, put her paws up on my shoulders and stretch and "claw" at me - kind like I'm a scratching post. Because I'm an adult wearing clothes and her claws are clipped, it doesn't hurt. If it bothered me enough to want to stop it, I'd keep an air can handy and blow it (not AT her because it can freeze their eyes or nose - just the sound does it) and reach around and push her down gently with my finger on her forehead. This is basically how a mom cat would teach a kitten not to do something - hiss and/or push them on the forehead.

The problem is that unless you're completely consistent about any of it, it won't help. And when it comes to your 18 month old, if it is either hunting instinct or mothering instinct - doesn't really matter which one it is because it is driven by instinct (as described in the thread I provided the link to) - the only solution I can figure is your baby growing out of the crying - which is no solution.

I hope others have more informed ideas for you, and I'm so sorry Lola is doing this.

Laurie

If you watch a mom cat with kittens, mild clawing and biting (which seems to be what Lola does) are what she does to either discipline or play with her babies. Cats do not much like a child's crying or howling so I am not surprised that Lola will try in her feline way to stop it.
I think that instead of putting blame on Lola, you may want to explain more to the kids about cats. Wait for the cats to accept the children and not the other way around.