Behavior Problems Please help! I don't know what to do anymore

hello,

I have a kitten who is about 6 months old. I adopted her from a family when she was about 1 month. She is very aggressive. I have tried everything to make her stop biting and scratching. I have told her no in an assertive voice, I have used a water bottle to spray at her, I have redirected her aggressiveness towards a hanging toy, I have seperated her or ignored her, I have stopped playing with her when she gets too aggresive. Nothing seems to work cause she still bites me and my face and scratches up my arms. She just recently got spayed so I figured it may calm her temper, but it didn't at all. I am at a lost I don't know what else to do...I really don't want to get rid of her, but I am so lost right now

Originally Posted by Harliqueen

hello,

I have a kitten who is about 6 months old. I adopted her from a family when she was about 1 month. She is very aggressive. I have tried everything to make her stop biting and scratching. I have told her no in an assertive voice, I have used a water bottle to spray at her, I have redirected her aggressiveness towards a hanging toy, I have seperated her or ignored her, I have stopped playing with her when she gets too aggresive. Nothing seems to work cause she still bites me and my face and scratches up my arms. She just recently got spayed so I figured it may calm her temper, but it didn't at all. I am at a lost I don't know what else to do...I really don't want to get rid of her, but I am so lost right now

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You say you got her when she was only one month old, that is the root of the problem. She has missed out completely on the secondary socialisation phase that starts from 7-8 weeks and continues until 3-4 months of age. During that time the kitten will learn from its littermates and/or mother what is acceptable behaviour, for example; it should not bite or scratch others because it hurts when they bite or scratch her.
A kitten of 4 weeks is also not weaned yet and the weaning process helps a kitten to learn it can't always get what it wants, it learns to deal with frustration as the mother slowly makes nursing impossible more often.

Does she really come after you or does she only bite/scratch when handled ?
If she only does it when handled, try to handle her less so as not to give her an opportunity to hurt you. When you need to handle her, wear something to protect your arms and hands (gloves, biker gear, sports equipment, whatever). Yes it might feel weird but whatever works, right ? When attacking you has little effect because it does not hurt you she might try to attack you even harder at first. Compare it to a human who starts a machine by pushing a button, when one day they press the button and nothing happens, what do they do ? Push the button several times and push it harder, maybe even kick the machine !
If she finds her behaviour has no effect she must try something ele, try to reward good behaviour (praise, treats, play) to reinforce it.

Or does she actively seeks you out to attack you ? Again, do not give her a reaction ! Protect yourself if necessary so you don't give involuntary reactions. Interact with her when she is calm and/or at a distance by means of a toy on a string.
Maybe she is bored, try to play with her, enrich her environment (give her as much space as possible with possibility to climb, play food games, etc) and maybe consider adopting a very secure older cat that can teach her some kitty manners.

It is very important to be consistent and stick with a method for a longer period, because like I explained before she will keep trying her old behaviour for a while first, since it has always worked so well for her.

Is it possible for you to trim her nails ?

When I got dEUS he was a bit of a biter, whenever he tried to chew on my hands I did not pull away but pushed the side of my hand (or a big part of my finger) further into his mouth. Gently of course. he never liked that very much and quickly learned to stop biting my hands.

I meant she was about 3 months old (i dunno where I got 1 month I think i was thinking of my sisters kitten) most the time she will go after me...Especially when i walk by she jumps and bites the back on my legs. Sometimes when I play with her I wear a sweater that allows her to play a bit ruff cause I don't feel bites....but thats about it. She loves to bite my wrist so its a little hard to do something to make her uncomfortable (such as you putting your finger futher into his mouth)...I think my brother had something to do with her behavior. When I would be trying to shun her for bad behavior (such as letting her cool off in a seperate room) he would ignore me and let her out then play with her by swiping his hand around her face...it pissed me off...

Please do not let her play with your arm even if you are wearing a sweater, that way you are teaching her it's ok to attack you limbs, even in play.

And you and your brother need to get on the same page so he will not incite her to perform behaviour that you do not want in other contexts.

Yea, I don't intentionally mean for her bite my arms...it just ends up so even when distracting her with a toy. As far as my brother goes....I am moving out soon cause I can't stand him so hopefully that won't be a problem anymore. I've looked up some stuff online such as meds from the vet that might calm her down...I'm also considering declawing her too

Please do not declaw her, she will just start biting you more and harder.
Have you ever tried just cutting her nails or using softpaws ?

Medicating her will also not solve this. Declawing and drugs both cost money but I don't think they will have much effect, I'm convinced in that case you could better spend that money on consulting with a feline behaviourist.

Well i have 2 cats in the past that were both fixed and declawed...and they behaved very well. They were 2 boys cats and they acted like brothers it was sooo cute. I have considered trimming instead though, I also might call and talk to my vet to see if there are any alternatives. I hope maybe she'll grow out of it, because sometimes she is a complete sweetheart. She cuddles, and licks my face like crazy and cozies up next to me to sleep, but then she'll have random spurts of energy where she becomes mean, so I hope its just a kitten thing too

Like right now, she's not doing anything kindof watching me and walking with me to see what I'm doing (packing because her and I are leaving in an hour)

Ok i am going to try something with her to get her to focus less on me...I have a fish pole toy and as I walk around I drag it with me and she is loving it

A playmate might be a good solution to your situation, but it might not be an option and I understand that.

When she bites, scratches, and does anything else aggressive, you have to be the mom cat and growl or hiss at her. Push towards her gently, but firmly, and say "NO!" and "Owwwwww!". This will teach her that her behavior is inappropriate. Also, one finger to the forehead with a firm "NO!", again not yelling, just firmly teaching her, will act like a cat giving another kitty a paw to the head to tell them no.

Also, at 6 months everything is a toy and she has unlimited energy. You'll have to keep her very well entertained with toys and redirect her A LOT. Be consistent, be firm, and be patient. It's a good thing they're so cute at that age!!

She is going through the adolescent stage!!! She has pent up energy and probably needs an outlet, meaning lots of interactive play sessions This will help take the edge off of her high energy level. I always think cats do well in pairs and then have a friend and playmate. But you would now need to find another out-going kitten about the same age. That is what I would do.

Please do NOT declaw. This is like amputating your fingers to the first digit. You did say you had two other cats declawed with no adverse problems. You were lucky then, because most declawed cats have emotional damage and will even start to pee out-of-the-box. Just keep the nails trimmed weekly, just taking off the tips.

i had a cat ( siah) that chased me and bit me in my leg when she was kitten, the habbit went away after a while and did not do it anymore. i think this might be a temporary situation.

I have a kitten that bites and I have been clicker training her. Her attitude is improving. She has other cats to play with which helps too, because they can discipline her in cat language.

Clicker training is all about positive reinforcement. The clicker noise registers in the emotional part of their brains and they connect the sound with whatever behavior they are doing. The clicker "marks" the behavior and lets them know the reward is coming. My kitten is extremely reactive to be touched so I'm using the clicker to mark the times when I can touch her and she remains calm. I've also used the clicker to teach cute little behaviors, it really gets the cat thinking and working for their treat. The more activities they have, the more you get their minds working the better behaved they will be. It curbs boredom and it's fun.

A few books that I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Cat...7895093&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Naughty-No-Mor...7895125&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Starte...7895125&sr=1-1

Please don't declaw your cat. It will only make the behavior worse!

http://www.pawsneedclaws.com/Declaw_...ral_Issues.php

Have you seen those soft paws things? They are very cute, and come in lots of colors. Unfortunately, declawed kitties sometimes resort to biting even more.

I'm glad to hear the fish toy is working. They do make gloves to play with cats with, but I would just go with the string toys or a laser pointer.