6 month old aggressive kitten

When we were vacationing in Hawaii two months ago found a starving kitten on the beach. The beach was surrounded by jungle so we had the sense she was either feral or had been dumped and barely surviving. Despite her poor condition she was very friendly and calm. After parking her at the local shelter for a week, when no one claimed her we flew her home with us. Despite weighing barely 2 lbs she was actually 4 months old per our vet. Isolated her from our other three cats initially, during which time she was a typical loving, friendly, playful kitten. Introduced her to the other cats slowly over about 6 weeks. It went extremely well except that after a month she dominates and is aggressive towards the other older, much larger, easy-going cats. The lab too. They don't fight back, just seem mystified.

She's gaining weight nicely. But now at 6 months she's a terror. Terribly aggressive to my husband and I- infact there is no time anymore that she will tolerate love without biting and scratching. Once and awhile she will sleep on me if I'm sitting, but if I try to stroke her she immediately wakes up and bites. It's probably been 3 weeks since I've even heard her purr. She plays chase with two of the other cats but she attacks them, while they just want to play.

Now I realize that she probably had little mothering/sibling time- she didn't learn acceptable behavior. She had an extremely difficult start surviving in a jungle/beach. I've read so much about aggressive kittens and how to manage biting(saying loud no, clap hands, walk away, offer toys, several daily play sessions daily etc). Nothing is working and I can never even pet this cat. Ever. Thought we had this sweet, playful, lovey kitten. Is this something she might outgrow, or is it likely that her behavior is ingrained from her rough start and not likely to improve? I've had cats/kittens all my life and used to the biting/scratching aggressive stuff at this age, but never to the extreme as with this kitten. This doesn't seem within the normal range of kitten behavior that we can never touch her, does it?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Nancy

Has she been spayed yet?  I would get her vet checked again and/or spayed.  She might be coming into a heat cycle. Since the behavior has changed it could be medical related. 

Also when working with her, I would not at this time try not to pick her up or pet her.  Sit on the floor so you are not looming over her.  Offer a special yummy treat and see if she will come and take it.  You may need to try plain cooked chicken, tuna, salmon or something extra yummy and smelly to entice her.  Offer the treat near you and if she won't approach toss the food closer to her.  You can keep tossing until she gets closer to you.  Once she is close, just talk softly to her.  She needs to trust that you will not grab her or try to pet her at this time. 

You can play with her at this time too.  Try a laser pointer, da bird wand toy or other wand toy.  Really get her moving.  This will help to tire her out.  Play until she is exhausted.  There is a theory called hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep.  You play with the cat so they can hunt, catch and pretend kill.  Next you offer a small meal or extra special treat for the eat.  The cat if really tired out will then groom its self and then take a nap.

Once she will play, you can get a feather wand toy and play with it on the ground with her.  You can start to touch her with the feather part.  Gently stroking her back and sides and top of her head.  She may freak out at first, but try to keep the play going and then sneak in a few "pets" with the feather. 

Thanks very much. These are great suggestions. I have some of the wand toys but they are the long kind that you use standing up- can see where "looming over her" might be threatening. I'll try a short feather one. Just had her spayed three days ago- the surgery did not slow her down- she came home charging about.

Thanks once again. I'll report back in a week.

Nancy

Petunia42 said:

 
Thanks very much. These are great suggestions. I have some of the wand toys but they are the long kind that you use standing up- can see where "looming over her" might be threatening. I'll try a short feather one. Just had her spayed three days ago- the surgery did not slow her down- she came home charging about.

Thanks once again. I'll report back in a week.

Nancy

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It can take awhile for her hormones to shut down.  I wonder if she might be better in a few weeks.  When a females hormones start coursing through the body, it can cause behavioral issues.  Work with her slowly and see if it will help.

Also have you tried a feliway diffuser or composure liquid max calming supplement.  Both might be of help.

Yes, it can take a 4-6 weeks for  the hormones to settle down in both spayed females and neutered males. She may also be agitated because she's still recovering from the surgery--it can take a few weeks for her to feel well and normal again. She may also be angry because you took her to the vet to have this done. She will get over it soon--all domesticated cats do.

I have a feral female I took in at 10 months two summers ago, and she dislikes being petted or touched, but she loves to play with me and a wand toy. She loves the dollar wand toys you can get at Shop N Save. I sit on my chair at my computer and she comes to my chair and waits for me to swing the toy around. I'm sitting down, so I'm not looming over her, and the wand toy is long enough to swing around the room. You may trying to engage her with a wand toy while sitting on a chair.

I would advise to not push affection on your kitty too much right now. Give her some space and time to recover from the spay surgery and let her come to you again. Cats are sensitive and fragile creatures and sometimes take a while to recover from any kind of change or trauma. You rescued her, and she knows that--so be patient and she will certainly come around.

Ms Aimee, she's not really agitated per se- just bites and scratches with any interaction. She's actually kitten-ish most of the time, running around maniacally, playing with kitty toys. She will let me stroke her when she eats and when I give her treats- and even purrs. And she does forget herself on occasion and come sit next to me and let me touch her just a bit. But any other time even when she comes up to my face to smell, if I try to stroke her- bitey! She's constantly plopping down to lay on her side- I thought that was an invitation for play/affection. With her it's a "come hither so I can bite you." She does play chase with the other cats, but she swats at them and charges them most of the time.

Shadows Rescue, really appreciate your thoughts. Guess I have to be a little bit more patient with her, lower my expectations and hope that a lot of this is hormonal. She began so sweet and affectionate with us- and now has the whole household terrorized 2 months later!

Was scared that maybe I wasn't doing something to encourage her to be properly socialized and that the window of opportunity might be closing.

Going to follow everyone's suggestions and see where we are in a couple weeks. My other cats are very mellow and sweet- worry that we have a potential Hawaiian bully.

Thanks for all the thoughts and help- will report back next week.

Nancy

PS. Btw, always have a few Feliways going.

I recommend playing with the kitten as much as possible and keeping plenty of treats handy. If a kitten isn't socialized while young, they are much harder to train when they get a little older. My Orange cat, Archie (also on my logo), wasn't very friendly. He wasn't mean or aggressive, but growled when some people petted him or carried him. He is OK with me, but growls at my wife (Good Cat!   )...but he wasn't always nice with me. I found that by using a laser pointer (I even had three different colors) he began to get a lot more friendly and tolerant towards me. Any types of interaction that didn't involve direct touching really helped with his attitude over time. It also helped a lot having another cat that also played with the pointer...you would be surprised how much cats learn by watching other cats. Before long, both cats were playing with each other instead of fighting and Archie became friendly as long as it was on his terms and times. Keeping treats handy can prove invaluable in getting a kitten to associate you with something positive. Once they get used to "asking" for treats, they usually get a lot friendlier and less aggressive. I'd refrain from prolonged petting if the kitten seems to be getting agitated, and just stop playing with him when he starts to bite or get rough...a stern "NO" should be said when he bites or claws, followed by leaving the kitten alone. Eventually they will understand that they have to be nice to get goodies and will at least act like they like you.

  Aren't most cats like that anyhow?

Jim - Owned by 4 cats