Kitten now allowed on bed, but she's destroying things

mishventurer

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Hello, I previously posted asking for tips to keep a cat off the bed but since a majority of people think it's better for her to be on the bed when she wants to, I've allowed her in.

But how do I deal with the kitten attacking my pillows, biting our wires and knocking remotes off the shelf above our heads? It's like she wants to come up and cuddle and she purrs a lot, but then she sees it as a ticket to scratch and bite everything up here instead of settling down to sleep. We exhaust her with an hour play each night and she's sleepy but she gets overly excited to be up here and would go on a claw and teeth rampage. Help!
 

tabbytom

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How old is she? As mentioned that she is a kitten, they go through different phases as they grow. They could be doing one thing this moment and the next moment they are at other things. They are just amused by things around them and are inquisitive.
Have her toys in bed like a teaser or soft toy. Whenever she goes for the stuffs, distract her with the toy.
Try hiding the wires and remotes. I think pillow is ok for her but just have her toy at hand.
 
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mishventurer

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Hey, she's about 9 weeks now. She's definitely inquisitive and I've actually kept some of her toys by my dresser so when she climbs up and starts attacking us, I'll distract her with the toy and throw it to the opposite end of the room for her to chase. About 15minutes or so she comes back again and it's hard to keep doing that when I'm trying to fall asleep. :(
 

tabbytom

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9 weeks is a very young kitten and there's lots of energy in her. A kitten will go through different phases in her life at this growing age. All you need is lots and lots of patience and lots and lots of love. Do not let your kitten loose trust in you.
Get a toy or two to distract her and divert her attention. Get balls for her to chase. One or two ways is try to tire her out just before bedtime and also you can feed her a late dinner so that she goes to bed with a full stomach.
But just to let you know that she won't sleep throughout the night. They are most active at dusk and dawn.
My boy who is coming to a year old in a few days time, he wakes up at 3:30-4am and wakes me up at 5am to feed him. So be prepared for early morning calls.
As for her, 9 weeks old has a pretty long way to go before she stops what she is doing. They are inquisitive and needs lots of play time. If you don't play lots with her, she'll be doing other things like what you mentioned and also wants to climb and jump, this is because she is bored. Once she gets to do things, smell things, investigate things and after awhile, she'll loose interest. Take more you restrict her, the more she wants to do it. So let her do what she wants with supervision. Never punish, yell, hit or use certain objects to scare her. This will make her loose her confidence and trust in you.
Just shower with lots of love and be very patience with her and give her a happy life.
I never restrict my boy, he has all access pass to the whole house. Whatever we do, he's there to watch. If he gets to close, we'll just say no nicely to him. We let him smell or food but he dosen't eat them. Because he is inquisitive so we let him inspect our things and he never bothers us because we let him see, feel, smell and once he finishes, he walks away.
Start training your 9 weeks old kitten now and you'll be amazed what she can do.
 
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mishventurer

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Hey TabbyTom,

Thanks for the useful advice. I'm a first time cat owner and I'm experiencing first hand a good test at patience haha! I'm ok with her exploring, just now at night when we are trying to sleep. But I'm gonna try letting her into the bed during the day and and make sure she gets bored of all the things she can explore around that area. Hopefully by night, she would find somewhere else to explore (everywhere else is cat safe)
 

tabbytom

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You are welcomed. We learn from mistakes and experience. Thankfully you found the right site.
At first when I got my boy, I was very restrictive with him. This cannot and that cannot and it ended with me full of frustrations. Then good thing I realized it early that it's wrong to restrict him. So I let him loose with supervision and now he's a happy cat and not an angry cat.
And most of the times, they don't stick to things all the time. One moment you find her sleeping here, next two weeks you find her at another spot. So just let her be. Teach her right and everyone will be happy.
Yes, as long as your house is cat safe, it's less worrying for you.
 
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