Kitten gone wild!

Hi Everyone,

First post, previous cat owner for 16 years.

A week ago, we found a small kitten in the engine compartment of a car in our office parking lot. We brought him in, cleaned him up, took him to the vet (clean bill of health, 7 weeks old, hard food, water, does his jobs in his box), got him a tall climbing "house" and a whole bunch of toys. Vet recommended Eukanuba dry kitten food and pine pellet kitty litter (no dust).

The first couple days, he was very lethargic, presumably recovering from whatever ordeal he had outside in the 100 degree heat (he has black fur too).

The last few days, he's taken on A LOT of energy. He wakes up, eats, drinks, does his jobs in the box and then goes crazy. Swatting at everything, pouncing on his little mice toys, you name it. Half hour later, he goes back in his house, sleeps for a few hours and repeats the cycle all over again.

In the last day, he swatted at my face and drew blood on a coworker after swatting him with his claws.

My question is this -- Is this normal kitten behavior or is this little guy just gone wild?

And second, are their any recommendations we can try to help curtail the negative aspects of his play? We are all cat lovers and don't want to hurt or break his spirit in any way, but we can't have him swatting people in the face either.

Or is this just normal kitten behavior?

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

You should probably clip his claws, for a starter.

But kittens are very rambunctious and are learning boundaries, along with their own limitations, just as a child would be.

Sounds like a happy little boy to me!

Sounds like a normal kitten to me. Keep your face away from his claws.

He just sounds like a happy, peppy little dude! Definitely seems like normal kitten behavior- he just doesn't know any boundaries yet.

If he were my kitten, the first thing I would do is keep his claws trimmed well. And as for the swatting at the face, what I did with all the kittens that have come into my home is this: when they do something bad like that, I would make a loud, high-pitched piercing noise. Like squeal, or clap once. That was a harmless way of curbing the behavior, yet it worked for me. Oh, and don't let him near your face until he has learned that it's not appropriate

your kittie sounds just like my Max. He is exactly the same way. He is usually very amusing with his little antics. When I play with him, I use objects such as a toy mouse, ball, string or laser light....never with just my bare hand, because it does encourage him to bite and swat me. Also, when Max is playing and running around, I don't pet him. I just let him have his fun or play with him. I have noticed that when he is in that playful mood and I reach down to pet him that will result in a bite or a swat...especially if I rub him on the tummy when he's like that I find that there is plenty of time to love on him when he is done playing.