Tyrion is a tyrant

I love him dearly but he is such a little brat!  He never stops!!  I tell him "No" and put him down and he jumps right back up and starts all over again!  So, I walk away and ignore him.... He comes running after me, attacking my ankles with his sharp little claws.  Sleeping? Forget about it!  He is all over me!  He has scratched up my face and pulled out my hair!  It has gotten to the point, and I feel so awful about this, but I have to crate him because I am so afraid he is going to injure me.  I've tried shutting the door, does no good, the door has a kitty door to get through and he comes in that way. 

I know it's his personality and he can't help it, he is the lone kitten left from his litter so he has no one to play with constantly and teach him boundaries.  My older kitties help all they can but I think even they have had it with him!  He gets slapped a lot by them.  He doesn't seem to be hurt... Still I worry for him. 

He's about 9 weeks old give or take.  Full of energy and stubborn as can be.  He doesn't understand or respect "NO" .  I've tried hissing at him and growling at him... Sounds silly, I know.  But that just makes him think I am challenging him and makes his attacks worse!  The other cats hiss and growl at him when he gets on their nerves and he gets slapped.  It seems to be the only thing he understand from them. I won't resort to that!! 

I don't know what else to do?  I can't just crate him 24/7 that seems cruel and unfair.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to get through to him or do I just need to wait on it to pass?

Could he be bored? Maybe he needs more interactive play sessions. Do you have a routine for bed time? 20-30 minutes play, raw or wet meal then bed works well here.

Also I have more success with uh-uh than no

Thanks!  3 times a day, I use the laser light and Da Bird with him so he gets about an hour and a half of hard and interactive play per day and he doesn't get raw but he gets cooked real meat.  He just never runs out of energy?  Plus, King Arthur, Phoebe and Morgan La Fay play with him all the time, too, until they get sick of it.  I know it's normal for kittens to be playful and energetic but he is almost extreme.  Maybe it just seems that way because he is the only one?  Maybe if he had his siblings, it wouldn't seem so bad?  He probably is bored.  He's the only little one left.... 

missymotus said:

Could he be bored? Maybe he needs more interactive play sessions. Do you have a routine for bed time? 20-30 minutes play, raw or wet meal then bed works well here.

Also I have more success with uh-uh than no

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Agree he is probably bored.  Have you thought about seeing if a local rescue has a kitten that needs fostering of a similar age?  Suspect that would almost entirely fix the problem.

Well, I really don't have the room for another kitty right now.  I know that sounds bad but I have to draw the line somewhere on numbers of cats in my home.  Plus, if it didn't work, I'd be stuck with another cat for the time being. 

I did notice tonight during interaction play that Tyrion hides a lot... He wants to play but I think he has been creamed a lot by the bigger cats... Not on purpose.  King Arthur is a HUGE boy and he gets really into Da Bird or Laser light play and he is so focused on those that he doesn't pay attention to the others around him.  On the contrary, Tyrion is very small.  So I think he removes himself from the situation because he doesn't want to be creamed. 

I can't very well tell the older cats (Phoebe, King Arthur and Morgan La Fay) they can't play and it's just to wear Tyrion out.  They wouldn't understand.  And removing them from it seems cruel because they can hear it.  But, I did just that tonight.  It helped but not a lot.  He is still too small for Da Bird.  He likes the laser light but he gets frustrated with it easily.  I tried another feather wand, it was OK but he wasn't really impressed.  He prefers balls or toy mice and anything that moves!  I'll give it time and see if that helps. 

He was taken from momma and siblings (died) too soon.  So it's not his fault.  I know this.  I do love him.  He can be quite sweet and loving when he wants too, as well.

My kittens all love teasers from a young age so it makes playtime easy, plus they've got mum & littermates. I would definitely shut the big cats out during playtime, they can have their own play session later. 

They also like circuit toys that they can play with alone

Do you have a cat tree?  That might help keep him entertained.  Also, a turbo track is fun for kitties that age. 
Tumbles also loved the Cat Dancer when he was that age. 
Be sure you also have lots of "kicker" type toys that he can bunny kick.

He's a baby! 9 Weeks? Give him a couple of months to catch on. 

Also - clip those claws.

My kitten did the same thing. Give him some time and getting him fixed might help.

Thank you everyone... Yes, I have cat trees- 1 huge one and a couple of smaller ones.  Tyrion prefers the big one!  He wants to be where the big kitties are!  I have track toys for them, too... The Turbo Track and scratcher, The Motor Mouse, etc.  He likes them.  He and King Arthur play with them together a lot.  We have a couple of the kicker toys, too.  He doesn't seem to care for the cat dancer?  It's hard to find interactive toys that really interest him.  So I moved the bell balls today and he chased them and I got a couple of mice that chirp... He loves those!  I did clip his claws today.  King Arthur has played with him a lot today and I think it helps that he is more invested in him.  Tyrion is napping right now because he has played so much today!  Hopefully, King Arthur will keep this up!  I made sure to praise the King for being such a good big brother, too!

He goes this week (Friday) for his 2nd kitten shots and then 2 weeks later for his 3rd.  Doc A is hoping by then he'll be big enough to set a date to be neutered.  He doesn't want to right now because he is so tiny for his age. 

I think it helps that I praise him whenever he is being sweet and cuddly, too.  I made sure to really reinforce praise today for that and so far, he's been pretty good all day. 

P3 and The King said:

He likes the laser light but he gets frustrated with it easily.  I tried another feather wand, it was OK but he wasn't really impressed.  He prefers balls or toy mice and anything that moves!  I'll give it time and see if that helps. (ETA: My emphasis)

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I like what Jackson Galaxy has to say about laser toys in particular in a 3-part blog post on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Maybe take a read of all three of the posts? You could also substitute (in the second phase--you'll understand what I mean if you read the blog posts) one of the toys that your little baby likes better for Da Bird. I have to agree with everything he said in those posts, as they make purrfect sense regarding a kitty's innate nature.

i have one like that.  he's 2 now and completely less psychotic, and i think it winds down.  his name is hairy houdini and sometimes i call him, "houmeanie."  sometimes he just is. lol  i trim his claws when i can get him asleep or just waking up, but he starts biting my hand and the nail clippers, not really hard, but my vision isn't great and i'm afraid i'll cut into the quick so i stop.  as far as neutering, he already was when i got him at 20 months so i'm not sure that even helps.  probably does with some and not others.

i think kittens and cats are like kids, they each have their own personality and some are harder to take.  i considered crating at one time because i have a loft and no doors anywhere, but it got less and less annoying so i'm kind of glad i didn't.  i'm no expert on it by any means, but just when i think about the concept, i tend to think it will make the behavior worse because they don't really understand why they're in a cage and the other cats aren't.  maybe it works sometimes, like i said, i have no idea.  he still jumps on my head and tears at my hair sometimes if i don't wake up when he thinks it's time to eat (all three forced me up at 6:30 AM today.  then he refused to eat lol so piggy man ate all his food and houdini's too and then threw it all up and asked for more ) (no, it's not funny but when you get up too early and are groggy and not completely playing food police, that's what happens so you make your own life complete with even more things to do that you don't really want to.)  that's just kind of how it goes sometimes.

WhollyCat said:

I like what Jackson Galaxy has to say about laser toys in particular in a 3-part blog post on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Maybe take a read of all three of the posts? You could also substitute (in the second phase--you'll understand what I mean if you read the blog posts) one of the toys that your little baby likes better for Da Bird. I have to agree with everything he said in those posts, as they make purrfect sense regarding a kitty's innate nature.

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I try not to use the laser light too much myself.  Mine all get frustated with it because they can't catch it!  Phoebe used to be really bad about getting so mad that she'd attack someone!  They all prefer Da Bird or something they can actually "win" at!  But, poor little guy, though very interested in Da Bird, is much too small for it right now.  So, I think the chirping mice and bird toys and the feather teasers will have to do until he gets a little bigger. 

Thank you Cinderflower.  I agree cats are very human like sometimes and I do love little Tyrion's personality.  I am just hoping to mellow him out even a little bit... Only time will tell I guess!

i have 2 of those special little angels LOL. Manson and Snake. so much energy i swear if i could bottle it i would be a millionaire. both are just 4 months old.  so still babies and very sweet and loving. they like to play all day until exhausted. mine love boxes. give them a empty 24 pack soda box and they will play for hours. another rather inexpensive energy exspender is fuzzy balls. they are in the craft section. you use them to build toys out of. they will chase them for days on end. i replace them if i see any wear and since they are only around 4.00 a bag for about 75 it last a good long while. and always get the largest you can find because the bat them and carry them in their mouths. mine i have noticed when you throw a bunch out onto the floor they each have a favorite color they go for every time. and the fuzzies are a good 1 kitty toy but i bet your little one will have a lot of "help" playing with those.