Rescued kitten plays rough - need advice

Hello,

I'm new to the site and am glad to have found the forum. My husband and I are first time cat owners and have just started fostering a 4.5-5 month old kitten for a private shelter. The kitten was abandoned in a rescuer's yard, malnourished and had lost most of his whiskers. The rescuer took him to the vet and shelter where he received the care and medication he needed. My husband and I took him in once he was healthy enough.

The kitten was friendly on the day he arrived - he would sit in my lap after eating and asked to be petted. Once he was allowed around our flat he became more adventurous and began stalking our feet. The rescuer thinks it because he's finally allowed to move freely in a large space.

I would like some behavioural advice because its clear he wasn't properly socialised. The kitten bites and jumps on our hands and feet any time he sees movement. For the past three days we firmly tell him no and try to draw his attention to toys. He also goes crazy any time he smells bread and tries desperately to get at it. I have a bad feeling that whomever abandoned him fed him a lot of bread. It could explain what the vet said about his malnourishment and his whiskers falling out. 

We want to train him out of this so he doesn't grow up attacking people's hands, feet or sandwiches. We would love to be able to pet him without any rough play. Thank you!

I don't think you need to worry about him continuing the behavior as he grows up. This is kitten behavior and he will most likely grow out of it. This is how kittens often play with each other. My foster kittens does the same thing to the other cats here. He likely has a lot of pent up energy and needs an outlet. Another kitten to play with would be great. Single kittens sometimes develop behaviors we find problematic. This is the reason many organizations only place kittens in pairs. I'd recommend taking a lot of time to play with him to give him an outlet for his energy. A Cat Teaser or Da Bird are great toys. Try to play with him as much as you can. You could also put a harness and a long leash (or long rope - like 20-30 feet) on him and take him outside to explore a bit, supervised by you of course.

If he isn't neutered that may also help calm him down but mostly I think you just need to wait it out. He will calm down as he gets older. In the meantime play with him a lot and if possible ask the shelter if they have another kitten you can foster along with him.

The bread stealing may let up to but some cats just have little quirks like that. One of mine loves yogurt and will try to grab the cup when someone's eating yogurt. He can be very persistent and will try to get at the yogurt from any angle he can. Another cat just wants to eat whatever my husband is holding. If you give her a piece on the floor she's not interested. She wants what's in his hand and is very persistent too.

You could try to give him his own piece of bread by his food bowl or put him in another room when he's being a pest.

Some of these things are just the joys of having a kitten. Some are little nut cases but fortunately it tends to get better in time, hopefully :-)

Do you have a wand toy, like Da Bird?  Those are great for redirecting kitties away from hands and feet.  

Hello,

Yesterday I went to the pet shop to get a cat teaser and something close to Da Bird (its more of a toy mouse on the end of a rope and stick). I live in China so the toys here are different. The kitten loves the toys! My husband and I have been tiring him out.

We decided to name the kitten Bolin after a character in the Legend of Korra show. He's biting less forcefully but still finds our hands attractive. However, he did ask for affection without any rough play right after his afternoon siesta. 

Bolin hasn't been neutered yet as we are waiting for him to gain his full health. He's got a good appetite and is filling out nicely.

Thank you for the advice! If anyone else has any more tips I would love to read them!

Actias said:

 
Hello,

Yesterday I went to the pet shop to get a cat teaser and something close to Da Bird (its more of a toy mouse on the end of a rope and stick). I live in China so the toys here are different. The kitten loves the toys! My husband and I have been tiring him out.

We decided to name the kitten Bolin after a character in the Legend of Korra show. He's biting less forcefully but still finds our hands attractive. However, he did ask for affection without any rough play right after his afternoon siesta. 

Bolin hasn't been neutered yet as we are waiting for him to gain his full health. He's got a good appetite and is filling out nicely.

Thank you for the advice! If anyone else has any more tips I would love to read them!

Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear the stick toy is working.  It may take some time.  And neutering him will help, too.  Do you have any photos of Bolin--we'd love to see him!  

Just wanted to say I love the name! Bolin is a great character, really funny and one of my favorites!

Thank you!

Bolin is biting less and less forcefully unless he is really animated. Because of his malnutrition, he needs to gain an additional 50g before he can be neutered. He's been doing so well! He already gained 40g and looks more like a normal sized kitten!

Hehe, Bolin is just as silly as the real character and he also has his moments of genius. 

Here is a picture of him while he was behaving

Oh what an adorable guy!  He's so cute.  I'm glad to hear he's doing better.  Keep us updated on things go with Bolin.

I had the same problem. My boys are male main coons, so they're pretty aggressive and powerful in how they play. Da Bird works - it got my grumpiest, Romeo, to come out of his shell and regain his confidence after I adopted him. But the dang thing kept breaking. I found that the Da Bird wasn't strong or tough enough. I spent waaay too much money getting replacement parts, or buying new toys altogether. (And just so you know - I never let my cats chew on their wand toys, ever. My cat's destroyed the da bird simply in their pouncing, swatting, and grabbing the lure in the course of normal play therapy sessions)

The Da Bird style of toy really works in triggering the natural hunting instincts, exercising your cat's aggression, and helping them be calm and confident the rest of the day. So I've done a lot of research and looked everywhere for da bird alternatives. I've tried a bunch of them, but I keep coming back to the Cat Tamboo Flyers (cattamboo.com).

Unfortunately, I don't think they ship international... though it's always worth asking. Small business owners can be really helpful if you tell them what's going on and why you really want to try their toys.

The owner of Cat Tamboo makes all the toys (by hand, believe it or not) from natural materials. He says he tests every toy before he ships it (and I believe it - dang things are perfect every time). He even sent me a free replacement feather tip with my first order (which I still haven't needed six months later). The material he uses to make the toys is really interesting - I don't know what it is, "Tamboo" I guess? But it's natural, like some sort of reed or wood, but extremely flexible and it never splinters. It's just one (very) long, whip-like rod, with the feather lure attached directly to the end. I like that the Cat Tamboo toys have no plastic rod or polyester/nylon strings. It says on the website that the toys are 95% biodegradable, and I think they're right! If I ever have to throw mine away and get a new one, I'll bury it in the garden and see how it goes, haha.

My second favorite alternative to the Da Bird is the Freddie's Feather Wand. It's much smaller (so easer to travel with I guess) but it doesn't get the same response from my cats as the Cat Tamboo toys. It's the classic wand-style with a string. Great materials, good, sturdy construction, but it's harder to entice your cat and give the feathers a really realistic movement. Freddies Feather Wand is sold by a lot of different online stores - you might be able to find one that ships international.
Hope this helps...