Help! Biting and clawing is out of control!

crazypoh

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Houdini has been acting very aggressive the past few days and its getting out of control. He is biting NON STOP. Every time I pick him up he attacks my face, hands,arms, shirt-anything within reach of his mouth. Ive tried redirecting him with toys, blowing in his face, scruffing him (which makes him even madder) putting him down and ignoring him and even putting him in his cage till he calms down. Bottle feeding him is getting difficult because he goes crazy clawing at the bottle and flipping around- its takes a good 5 minutes to get him to actually latch on and settle down. Nothing is working and Im at my wits end! I know this is normal kitten behavior, but my hands and face are starting to look like a war zone. And ideas???? Also this is unusual behavior for him-he didnt start acting like this untill 2 days ago. Hes been alot less cuddly and just moody? I miss my sweet kitty!
 
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crazypoh

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I think hes about 6 weeks old. Ive only had him for a week-and hes been bottlefed since he was found 2 weeks ago.
 

cheylink

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Wow....Sounds like you have a little rebel on your hands! There is always a dominant kitten, as well as the runt of every litter. Some runts are much smaller and fragile, some dominant, aggressive more like little tyrants. When they are out of control, bullying, tyrants, the mother and siblings have extreme difficulty handling the situation as well, so your not alone
!
6 weeks is very young, but it does sound like he is capable of eating a wet kitten food.
How many pets do you have? Is he separated for long periods of the day? Does he use litter?
 
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crazypoh

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Tyrant is a perfect word to describe him Cheylink! He is a bully and Im getting my butt kicked over here!


He refuses to eat kitten food-Ive tried a million different ways to get him to eat it and he jsut isnt having it. He wont even drink KMR out of a bowl-all he wants is his bottle.

I have 2 small dogs- Bichon Frise/Shitzu mixes. They were introduced to him on the very first day I got him and they get along GREAT. I was so relieved because these dogs go nuts when they see the ferals outside- barking and chasing them. But they are very gentle with Houdini-almost as if they know hes a baby. Houdini goes right up to them and bats at there tails and paws at there faces-so I know hes not scared of them. He does however get scared of them when they bark which unfortuantley they do alot of. That is a behavioral problem Ive been working on with the them. So when the dogs go nuts barking he runs under he couch or into his cage or anywhere where he can hide.

He is litter trained! Im so relieved! Ive been putting him in the box every 2 hours since the his first day home and yesterday for the first time ever he walked on his own from the kitchen to his bathroom. (Which is all the way across the house) So he is doing fabulous as far as litter training goes.

Seperations: I work full time, go to school full time and am usually home 3/4ths of the weekends. Mondays are the worst day for him because Im gone for about 14 hours total during the day but I am home for 3 hours in the early afternoon with him before I leave again so its not a soild block of seperation. When I am at work my aunt is home with him (her and I go to school together) and that is for 9 hours 3 days a week. She takes him potty-feeds him bottles and lets him roam around the house a bit but he doesnt get the kind of attention from her he gets from me. She plays with him a little and tries to hold him but he attacks her and she doesnt have the patience for it like I do. At night when I get home he has free run of the house and I play with him for about an hour and a half total throughout the night. But that doesnt include sitting on my lap while Im doing homework or me holding him while Im giving him a bottle so in my opinon he is spoiled rotten at night. He is very well loved and cared for here but maybe Im not giving him enough attention?

Sorry for the long post!
 

hissy

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He actually will eat kitten food now which is why he is being so out of control.
The formula sounds like it is not enough for him. Here is my procedure which has worked time and time again and been tested and redone for years.

Start with canned kitten food. Put a small amount into the microwave and heat it so it is warm to the touch, not hot. Put Houdini in your lap with his feet firmly planted on a thick towel. Scruff him gently, open his mouth and put just a morsel of the wet food into his mouth. Then release the scruff.
If he chews and swallows it, then he is ready for wet food. Give him a few more morsels this way, then present the rest of the warmed food in a jar lid. I use baby food jar lids. He isn't going to "get" it right away. You may have to gently put his nose into the food, but as soon as he figures it out, he should dig right in.

There have been many times when I have done this procedure with even 4 week old kittens who were so malnourished that the vet said, Let's just try this. It has worked every time. Also for the clawers- I go and get newborn baby socks and slip them over the front paws while I have the kitten in my lap. It helps with the scratching and as for the biting, he sounds very alpha and he is trying to let you know that he needs more than the KMR at this stage of his life.

Best of luck and keep your patience. With kittens you work on their time, not on yours.
 
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crazypoh

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Thanks Hissy for the advice! I tried the wet food again tonight-and fed it to him off my finger and then lead him to the cat dish I bought (I dont have any lids) and he started eating it right away! He only at about 1/2 tsp but he also had a bottle about 3 hours prior so I dont think he was too hungry. He still wont drink water out of the dish though- I tried putting some on my finger and he licked it off but he refuses to drink it out of the dish. Hes a very stubborn little guy!

Im picking up a pair of newborn socks first thing in the morning. I'll let you know how hes does
 

hissy

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They don't get water, because water has no smell. There are two tricks you can use. Dribble some tuna juice into the water, or use a glass bowl and put marbles, pebbles or some other objects in the bottom so they can see the bottom. Another great alternative is a Drinkwell. I have only those here at the house and kittens and cats love the movement of the water no matter what age.
 
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