Is this normal??

Ok so I feel like we may have a dominance issue going on with Jake. He never lets me sit in peace, and always walks on top of me, attacks me and bites a bunch of my hair and pulls. He also gets on my head and bites my ears a lot. I put him down about 30 times saying no but the more I put him down the more excited he gets that I'm paying attention to him and comes back even more eager to bite me. He does this not only to me but also to my parents, but it's worst with me. It's just that it scares me that when I try to be firm and say no, it's so clear that he just doesn't get the idea. Nothing works with him. It seems like the more I scold him the more excited he gets for a flight. He has this mean look on his face too...I'm a little worried. I also posted earlier about him biting. Well, he hasn't stopped. I spent an awful long time putting him down and saying no but again, he climbs up to me even more eager after I've put him down. He doesn't care if I hiss at him either. I have tried biting him back, and as soon as he realized there is some discomfort with me biting, he meows a little and I let go. After this he is much more eager to attack me. Even if I don't let go and hurt him a little he still doesn't get the idea and thinks that I am provoking him to play fight even more. He just loves to play rough I guess...He also hits his head on surfaces because he runs so fast that he cannot stop in time. He doesn't mind at all getting himself hit. Is this how a kitten normally acts? He is 11 weeks today.

I can't say whether this is "normal" or not, but to me it seems like he might have some pent up energy that needs to be released. Have you tried playing with him a bit more each day? One of those toys that's a stick or handle with a string + bell, or something along those lines, can do wonders. I walk around the house and let my 7 month old Zoe hunt/stalk the toy. I find she's extra cuddly and friendly the more I play with her and let her get exercise.

Hmm I guess it could be that. I played with him a lot today because I was at the house. On Mondays I am usually out from 10 am until 7 pm and that is when he was the worst when I came back so I'm thinking maybe it's correlated with him being left alone...I dunno there is not much I can do for him when i'm gone though

Definitely he wants to play...at that age...get a toy with a stick and feathers or similar and shake it at him so he runs, jumps, moves, up, down, sideways....and he'll be so tired afterwards..he won't move....

He has alot of energy and needs to play...that's what he's asking for. Please don't bite him....that teaches him that you want to hurt him...remember..he's like a 1 yr old....and is just discovering his world.

Play, play, play.....play till he gives up....believe me, it won't take long. I have a 6-mo old, and a 9-mo old and this is what we did. They can play for about 5 minutes at top speed, then they need to sleep. By playing, you are forming a great relationship with them..they are having fun, gaining confidence, exercising their muscles, they are happy and most of all...it is all with you!! You are his friend and loves your attention. He wants to know that you love him and you show that by playing with him.

Of course, as he grows older, playtime will last longer, but at a slower pace and he won't bug you so much...they grow up too fast.

Enjoy him while he's a cute little fellow who wants nothing more than to play, and have hugs and kisses.

When you're out of the house..he'll amuse himself and mostly sleep, but like you have seen....once you get home...he's ready to go!!! He'll stop playing and all that stuff soon enough....enjoy him while he's young and active. He sounds like such a sweetie.

Also....if you can...get a laser pointer....you can rest, he can do the running. They love it. Just don't shine it in his eyes. We have a ball with the pointer...we laugh so much at their antics..... ...

I agree with Triv85, it's probably pent up energy, especially since he's so young, just a baby! On the good side since he is so young it'll be a lot easier to train him out of it and for you to establish that you're the lead cat, early on instead of having to try to train an adult out of it. On the bad side those kitten teeth are sharp!!

Think of it this way: Have you ever drank an energy drink or something else that gives you lots of energy, and then simply sat down in a chair and watched TV or played a video game? You feel AWFUL. You want to get up, move around, go for a run, etc. You feel all this energy and need to exercise. That's similar to what kittens feel but practically all the time because they are young and full of energy (and they don't even need any drinks! Geez!) And there's also his inner instinct to want to hunt and stalk prey. So when he bites you he's most likely frustrated and wants more of your attention.

Before you leave the house I recommend turning on the radio for the kitty. TV can work too sometimes but not for all cats. I know our kitten rarely pays attention to it. Maybe TV is more for older cats?

Hmm he drove me crazy last night because I wanted to sleep and he kept playing and making so much noise!! And he is confined to my room until he gets older so I cannot just close him out because his food and litter is in this one area and I think that if I move it it will confuse the heck out of him..Today he was biting a lot...I was in a huge hurry to put socks on so it will hurt less on my feet

This sure is normal... when they are playing with other kittens.

I'm assuming he is an only kitten so he is looking for someone to play rough with and you are his playmate.

My three 16 week old kittens rough each other up pretty good. They bite and generally just beat the heck out of each other. You would think they were trying to kill one another, but they are not, they are just play fighting. If they didn't have each other to beat up on, they would most likely try to beat up on me or the older cats.

Like others have said you need to redirect the rough play. When your kitty starts to bite and play rough with you, put him on the floor, grab a toy and play with him that way. And for bed time... about half an hour before bed, run him ragged. He will be so tuckered out that he will "hopefully" sleep for quite a while. A laser pointer or Da Bird is great for trying to wear a kitten out.

Of course the best way to stop it would be to get another kitten I have found those to be the best "toys" for another kitten.

I think he really misses being able to fight with another kitten... I don't think running after da bird is going to substitute that. I noticed that when he is ready to play fight he doesn't want to stalk and chase he just wants to bite and attack..I try to get him to stalk and chase some kind of toy but he just lies on his back and kicks up in the air while watching the moving toy...I just don't uderstand how he doens't get the fact that maybe the person he plays with might try to do him harm and things might get serious?/ Sometimes I take his head in my fingers lol and keep it there it pisses him off that he can't move and starts meowing and as soon as I release he will attack more and more fiercely than before...I wish I could get another kitten...He was soo bad today, so forceful like I couldn't do anything to contain him...

I agree it doesn’t sound like he is aggressive just too much pent up energy. When he’s not attacking you I would say go for DaBird or a laser pointer. Try to wear him out before he comes after you.

My Spooky used to do the attacking and latching on and biting like you are describing and trying to redirect to a toy never worked because he wanted to go after my hands/feet that had the toy instead. I got him a large stuffed animal - I used a somewhat fluffy stuffed dog – its about 18” long and lays on its stomach with all its arms spread out around it with the beads in its arms so they are heavy and flail around when you shake it, its just a human toy. When he would start that behavior I would use his stuffed animal to “wrestle” with him (with my hand safely behind it…) so all of his attacks went into the stuffed animal instead of me. Eventually when he would start I just had to toss his stuffed animal towards him and he would attack it and roll all over the floor biting and bunny kicking it until he got tired.

Also sometimes Spooky would just cause too much mischief and wanted to play (worst was when I was trying to sleep) and I just could not right then and he would start the attacking to get me to play and get all riled up even when my only response was to say no and put him down. When that happened I would put him in “time out” in either the bathroom or his carrier. It would range from 15 minutes to 2 hours confined and he would calm down.

I never had any problems like that from Mulder, but I don’t know if it is because he had a playful kitty to entertain him (Spooky at 1 year) or if it was because Spooky was feral for a long time and Mulder was always a housecat.

If trying to redirect the energy is not working you can always try what we did with Bear. He is one of the three kittens and when he was about 6 to 7 weeks old he took to always trying to bite us. Every time he bit one of us we would squeal very loud, so loud in fact that we would scare the other ones too

Its what his siblings would do if he actually hurt them and its a cats way of saying stop your really hurting me. Hissing may not work in this situation because at this age they are into "sassing" mom and its mom who would be doing the hissing.

He doesn't bite us anymore, but then again he just bites his brothers instead