Why does my kitten hate my partner?

My kitten is a real sweetie pie, gets along great with the kids, and is friendly with everyone in general (even the vet). However, she seems to absolutely loathe my partner. She will attack him any chance she gets and will lay in wait, then pounce on his feet with claws and teeth. I have had to resort to locking her in a room when he comes over because she is relentless in her pursuit.
I'm not sure why she is doing this around him. He's only out every few days for a couple hours, and has never been mean to her- he just leaves her be as she hates him.
How can I show her that she's safe around him and doesn't need to worry? She will let him pet her as long as I'm holding onto her, and doesn't seem to mind, but once she's on the ground it's on!
I need some advice on what to do in this situation. I'm sure she will eventually learn to tolerate him, but wan't to make sure I'm treating this situation appropriately.

She might just be playing!! Or trying to impress the alpha male with her hunting prowess, lol!!!

I don't think it's playing . She's at him with ears back and claw's drawn. It seems rather aggressive.

She'll be attacking him, and when I pick her up to 'save' him, she's a cuddly purr machine.

Very different from how she acts with the kids. When the youngest gets too close she just flattens herself and meows for me to pick her up (he's a rough 18 monther so is not allowed around her unsupervised) .

@Mildew

woah! i've been there. My female kitty Jet despised my BF for a while..it was strange because she is actually HIS cat, and when we first got her, she was a very young kitten and was sick, and my BF would take care of her, feed her, clean her and give her meds while I was at work. However, the BF and I unfortunately went through a rough patch within the past year, where we were fight and yell loudly at each other in front of her, and that kind of made her not like the BF for a while. But with consistency and hard work, she has come around a lot.

Since you have a very young kitty, it could be that she is just playing with your partner.

Its important to understand your cat's body language. Try to identify her body language when she is "attacking" your partner. This could help you differentiate between play and attack.

Also it said that most cats (not all), feel safer around women then they do men, because a woman's voice mimics a cat's voice (frequency wise). Sometimes, a man with a very deep voice can frighten a kitty, and cause her to react in a negative way, by attacking or hiding (most likely hiding). you might want to ask your partner to speak to your kitten in a soft calming voice. this will help your kitten feel more comfortable around him.

Other things your partner can do, is to give her treats when he is over, so that over time your kitty associates him with good thing and positive actions. You can also ask your partner to play with your kitty..but it's important to remember that human feet and hands are not toys. He should play with her with an appropriate cat toy, and reward kitty with food after wards (preferably served by him).

The above methods have helped my girl Jet associate good things with the BF and she is less skittish around him now.

Please view the below link, hopefully it helps you:

http://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/cat-body-language 

a couple other things to consider:

how old is the kitten and is she spayed? maybe she smells another animal on your partner and she feels threatened and feels she needs to attack him. intact females are much more territorial than one that is fixed. 

If your kitten is of age but not yet fixed, i suggest getting her fixed as soon as possible to see if that alleviates some of her aggression.

Also, if she's over 2 months old, you might want to look into calming cat treats (can be found at pet store or Amazon) and consider giving her some before your partner comes to visit. 

Cats can take a while to get used to someone..and from what you mention or wrote, i'm getting the impression that your partner doesn't live with you? sorry if i've misunderstood this..but the fact that he's not living there, and is visiting could be making it take longer for her to get used to him.

Thank you for the advice.

He is the only man I've had around Sweetie Bell. I've only had her a few weeks and she's probably somewhere around 10-11 weeks. She seemed a bit friendlier towards him this evening for a few moments before starting to attack his foot. It's really hard to tell if she's playing or attacking. Her fur isn't raised, but she's hissing and carrying on.

I'll give the suggestions a try and see how it goes .

Mildew said:

 
Thank you for the advice.

He is the only man I've had around Sweetie Bell. I've only had her a few weeks and she's probably somewhere around 10-11 weeks. She seemed a bit friendlier towards him this evening for a few moments before starting to attack his foot. It's really hard to tell if she's playing or attacking. Her fur isn't raised, but she's hissing and carrying on.

I'll give the suggestions a try and see how it goes .

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awww your girl is just a baaayyyybbbbbeeeeeee!!! kittens are so cute and volatile at that age! haha. 

sometimes when cats play, it does seem like they are angry or fighting. they will sometimes hiss and growl. it's nothing to worry about...but it is important to try and figure out if it's just play, or if she is intending on being malicious. 

Seems like she might be getting a bit of pet aggression and then started to attack your man's feet. My girl jet used to do this when she was your kitten's age. when she gets aggressive like this, it's best to distract her with a toy. in a calm fashion, remove her from any body parts that she's playing with or attacking, and give her a toy right away so she can take her aggression out on that. 

If you don't already have, please invest in some cat toys. maybe a stuffed animal that she can attack, get one of those wand toys with the string and toy at the end of it, a laser pointer would be good too. Anytime she is aggressive just distract her or make her focus on what you want her to focus on...not body parts. If anyone in your house uses their hands or feet to play with kitty, it would be best to stop immediately. Also get a scratching post/cat perch...something she can claim as her territory and place by a window or a busy part of the house so she can be with you guys on her scratching post. 

She is still quite young, and from what you've written, it sounds like she was separated from her litter mates and her mother at a very young age as well. she may not understand boundaries as yet, as these are things kittens learn when growing and playing with litter mates and mom. But you can teach her, as i've done with my girl Jet (who was also most likely separated from her cat family at a young age..she was only 8 weeks old when i adopted her from the shelter). 

Also because she is young, and probably a bit easier to handle, I urge you to clip her nails at home. It's really easy to do..if you get your cat used to it at a young age, as she is now. Keeping her claws trimmed will make it less painful for you guys if she accidentally does scratch.

As she gets older, please consider having her spayed as that will eliminate a lot of her aggression and it's best for kitty.

Below I'll put some more links that might help you, as they were very helpful to me when i became a first time cat parent a little over a year ago

Online Articles on Feline Aggression:

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/five-steps-for-correcting-petting-induced-aggression-in-cats/

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/health_resources/brochure_aggression.cfm

Info on Spaying your cat if you did not already know:

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/spaying-or-neutering-your-cat-faq

Some more info on cat body language:

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/features/cat-body-language

Info on Soft Claws and Clipping Nails:

http://www.wikihow.com/Trim-Your-Cat's-Nails

http://www.softclaws.com/

Good luck with the new addition to your family!!

She might be plain jealous.

Mildew said:

I'm not sure why she is doing this around him. He's only out every few days for a couple hours, and has never been mean to her- he just leaves her be as she hates him.

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Cats don't just decide to be aggressive to random people. Something is triggering her aggression. Especially so if she's nice and sweet to everyone else. 

Thank you all again for the help.

I have clipped her nails a few times, which she doesn't seem to mind but they need to be done again as they're getting some sharp tips.

We do have quite a few kitty toys (mice, balls, laser pointer, catnip bags and such) and I'm planning to build her a cat tree over the holidays. Her favorite toy however is a plastic toy ninja star. She carries that thing everywhere and goes crazy when you try to take it .

On a side note, the little stinker ate my dinner this evening (beef stroganoff). Left it on the table for two minutes and she had eaten almost half of it .