My cat is actually a small child.

My 8 month old kitten, Malachi, came to us from an adoption agency a little aggressive. He tends to bite and claw when playing or excited and we've tried to eliminate this behaviour by scruffing him, spraying him with a water bottle, or shaking a can full of dried beans. However, he has not stopped this behavior or other things we don't want him to do (being on the kitchen counter, running across our beds while we're asleep). Instead, he's learned he can avoid the punishment by running away. He'll bite us and then run off before we can grab him, or run across the bed and then hide under it. Is this a phase or have we come about disciplining him in the wrong way?

pepe and tiger do this as well and tiger is 11 months and pepe is 7 months

what we do is we chase them into the bedroom, close the door and then catch them and we hold them while we chastise them tapping the nose and saying "no you don't bite or scratch" or tap them on the bum and say the same thing it tends to work for a while but like kids they need reminders once and a while

I went through this ordeal and none of the normal "discipline" techniques were working. Someone suggested biting them back. I was desperate and decided to use this method--it significantly decreased the biting. I actually took a step back from the biting and because I have decent length finger nails--used them to pinch the tip of Jacks ear slightly (it felt like a bite, but I didn't have to put my face down in his face to accomplish it).

I quickly realized that its hard too bite a long haired cat without getting a mouthful of fur and you can't really pinch them on their neck because of the extra skin so the ear was the best place.

I was consistent for about 12 weeks and like I said saw consistent improvement. He still occasionally nips but now it is more of an overstimulation thing than aggression.

Leslie

^That is the main problem with biting back, whatever the fur length.

Stepping up to teach manners mother cat style can help. Try hissing or going "sssppsstt" too.

And no, your cat isn't like a small child, it's small children who act like animals.

Okay, thanks for the advice all. Hopefully a more audible approach will stop Malachi from running away to avoid being scruffed.

Just bear in mind that scruffing an adult cat, which Malachi will soon become, is really not a good idea due to the increased weight compared to a kitten. At least make sure that the abdomen and hind legs are supported.

We use a small 4 oz. spray bottle, and shoot the offender. I have found that my kids don't like to be blown on, when they get too close to the computer screen, I can't see, so I blow on the back of the heads and they lay down. But the spray bottle is for very bad things.
Bitting, counter tops while I cook, the stove when it's on, clawing carpet & chairs. Ya know BAD stuff.
K.

When I have to scruff one, I leave them where they are and just grab the scruff, push them down a little, and say no in a stern voice. It seems to work well for me. Or if I absolutely have to use the water bottle, I shoot their paws. They all hate wet paws.