My Kitten does wierd things.

Hi, I am not a very expierienced cat owner, so I joined this site for help. I have had my kitten (Who is approaching 17 weeks weeks) for about 10 weeks now. She is very loving kitty, but sometimes is very abnoxious. I'll be petting her and she'll all of a sudden start biting and clawing me. And when I wake up in the morning for work, she chase me around and bite at my feet, toes, and ankles. She's cute when she does it, and I don't think she means any harm, so I don't yell at her. She is a kitten. But it does get annoying and she kind of hurts. Is this normal for a kitten to bite all of the time? And how do I break her from this habit?
My Kitten, Callie, also does another wierd thing. Sometimes, I'll be watching her and she'll be clawing at the wall. Then all of a sudden, she'll jump, literally a good two and a half feet up the wall. She does it just out of no where. And when I surprise her, instead of running away, she jumps REALLY high. About three feet. It's actually quite comical, but I've never seen a kitten do this. Is this normal? Sorry if these are dumb questions, but as I said, I am not a expierienced cat owner. Thank you all in advance.

I know I am new and I dont know if there is a rule that the new guy cant reply first but I had a similar experience with my cat Geisha. Whenever my husband and I would be sleeping at night, Geisha would run around really fast through the apartment and then jump on either of our face and scratch us and take off and do this over and over throughout the night. Sometimes she would wait by the bathroom door and as soon as I walked out, she would attach herself to my leg and take off. She outgrew this by the time she was 6 months old. Now my new kitten, Sakura, will sit by my head and if I make the slightest movement, she claws at my eyelids. The only thing that really deters either of the cats is if I blow in their face while they do something cute/rotten like this. It seems to really annoy them. Try a squirt gun or bottle for longer distances. A lot of cats hate being sprayed with anything. Except Geisha, who will sit there and ALLOW me to squirt her. But shes an alien I think.................either of these methods have worked for me. But remember yours IS a kitten. They do some silly stuff and usually grow out of it.

I am a newbie too and I don't know how much we are allowed to say but I found this really awesome site
Basically a :" Why do cats do that page"

Here is something they had to say that I found was interesting:

Why do cats suddenly take off at 90 miles an hour?
This behavior is due to pent-up energy that suddenly overflows. Cats are nocturnal beings and natural hunters. Even in an environment where there is nothing to hunt, or the cat no longer needs to hunt, he will feel the need to hunt anyway. At ful hilt, a cat clocks an amazing 31 mph and covers about three times his own length per leap. Cheetahs, which are the fastest land animals, hit their stride at around 70 mph.

It also has some information on that hop or jump they tend to do for no appearent reason

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/whydo.html

Is this normal for a kitten to bite all of the time? And how do I break her from this habit?

No, it is not. Take a look at my "favorite toy" thread and "favorite treat" thread to pick out some stuff you can buy. Channel her energy in a positive direction by playing interactive games like "Cat Dancer" or "Laser Pointer". That puts her urge to swat or nip or run at things into a game instead of directing it towards your ankles. Reward her with treats and say encouraging words afterwards so she knows these games are a positive outlet. If you can, buy some catnip mice and carry one in your pocket in the morning -- you can toss it out to her as a misdirection so she will leave you alone. Whatever you do -- don't give her attention for misbehaving (however you wish to define it). Instead, give her attention when she acts the way you want her to act.

Second, she might be biting or nipping you if she feels over-stimulated. Are you petting her a lot? If so, basically you need to learn to "quit while you are ahead" and don't pet her so long that she gets excited and starts nipping you.

If she's jumping a whole lot, and if this is a problem, again do something constructive instead of something punitive. Give her a cat-tree or cat-walls or a cat-perch or something similiar.

Don't use a water bottle or blow air in their face. And don't assume they will grow out of something if you just ignore it or punish them -- establish yourself as an affectionate and reliably consistent caretaker from the earliest days that a cat is living in your home.

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone!

Originally Posted by DaiDreamer

I am a newbie too and I don't know how much we are allowed to say

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As far as I know, newbies are allowed to say as much as anyone else!!

And I'm sure if anyone, newbies or high-posters, say too much, they'll hear about it!!

Say whatever's on your mind....just say it politely!!

Originally Posted by Geisha_Girl

I know I am new and I dont know if there is a rule that the new guy cant reply first....

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PFF! Nonsense! Of course you can be first to reply, and of course you can say as much as you want!

I've been reading the experts here that don't agree with sprinkling water on the cats. When I got my cats, the shyest one darted and hid for a time behind the refrigerator. I was very concerned because it is both very dangerous and filthy. When she headed that way again later that day, and her sister appeared to be following her, I cut her short by sprinkling water on her head from a glass. I don't think she even really knew where the water was coming from. But, she has never (to my knowledge) gone behind the refrigerator again. Why is that bad?

Originally Posted by Luvmybirmans

I've been reading the experts here that don't agree with sprinkling water on the cats. When I got my cats, the shyest one darted and hid for a time behind the refrigerator. I was very concerned because it is both very dangerous and filthy. When she headed that way again later that day, and her sister appeared to be following her, I cut her short by sprinkling water on her head from a glass. I don't think she even really knew where the water was coming from. But, she has never (to my knowledge) gone behind the refrigerator again. Why is that bad?

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A lot of people say that it can cause the cat to become terrified of you, but I spray my cats, and I don't have a problem. Also, it can get in the ears, so you have to spray away from the face.

while i dont quite understand why it would be bad too sprinkle water on cats... I do know, some wont respond to that as a deterent, just like a slight tap on the nose or even blowing on their face, might not work.
Each cat is different, so never assume, what works for one cat will work for another.
Try something, and if that doesnt work try something else.
We used to keep a spray bottle handy to keep the cats from clawing the furniture or making themselves at home on the counter, and for most of teh cats that was simply enough, the other cats that that didnt work for, a rolled up newpaper swatted beside the cat usually did the trick or even a can of rocks--shaken at the offending feline, was very successful.
I never had an issue of a cat being afraid of me becuase of that, most understood that it was punishment, as the moment they stoped what naught act they were doing, they got praised.
I could see how some cats could become frightened by such things, so if thats the case, some less nosey or waters deterents could be implimented.

Originally Posted by Luvmybirmans

I don't think she even really knew where the water was coming from. But, she has never (to my knowledge) gone behind the refrigerator again.

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That's why it worked so well for you. Because the cat associated the water with the refrigerator, not with you. Most people don't have that fortuitous combination of circumstances. I used the squirt bottle (and squirt gun) for a while, too. And my cats knew exactly where the water was coming from. They would high-tail it outta there as soon as they saw me reaching for it. So obviously they associated the squirt with me, not with the undesired behavior. And, in the end, it had no effect on ending that behavior.

My cat elliot does the jumping on the walls thing expecially if I make the play noise, which is gritting my teeth and breathing hard... elliot will fluff up and gallop around teh house, and he will run up to the wall and jump up it and slide down He used to do this more when he was an only cat, but he does it less now that he has my kitten Aerowyn to play with Want to know something interesting? When I make the play noise for elliot, aerowyn wont react, but if I add a bit of a purr in it, she will start going crazy and wanting to play too

play with your kitten with toys more, try to avoid using your hands


Aerowyn plays wtih my hands too because I got her when she was younger, and she was really small, so the toys dwarfed her She doesnt attack my ankles though, and only nibbles and licks my fingers, so I guess it depends on the cat

My cat, Sparkles, had a problem with biting when she was young. Once I was petting her back and she turned around and bit my thumb and drew blood. In response to that, I bit her back. I just wanted her see how that felt. I didnt draw blood like she did but it made her yell. She tried to bite me once after that but once again, I bit her. She hasnt bit me since. Like everyone else says, different things work for different cats. The spray bottle didnt work too well with Sparkles but I have blown in her face if she tried to scratch at my face and it worked usually. I just allow my cat to be a cat and no one gets upset!

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

A lot of people say that it can cause the cat to become terrified of you, but I spray my cats, and I don't have a problem. Also, it can get in the ears, so you have to spray away from the face.

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I spray water on my cats. Max responds very well to it, I think it's because I'm not yelling anymore! When he hops onto the table when we're eating, I'll say "Get Down" in my 'mommy voice', and I'll grab the water bottle. All he has to do is see me hold it or reach for it and he gets down right away. It took a few months for him to be trained on this, but now it's great. Serena just sits there and looks at me like "What do you think you're doing? Is that supposed to scare me??" Little miss innocent... Anyway, I think that it's all in the way you use the spray technique. When they don't listen, they get sprayed. When they do, they're instantly rewarded with "Good boy/girl!!!", lots of attention, and sometimes treats. That way they forget about the water, and just remember that when they listened to you, they got a treat! And then you're all happy!

I used a squirt gun with my previous cats, Melichus(RB) and Annie(RB). However, the squirt gun I was using was a battery powered "AK47" (you can't find them anymore, I think it looked too "real,") that would shoot a stream a good 30 feet or more. I always took care to sneak and be hiding behind something when I heard cats on the counter or table or whatnot. Annie and Melichus both never feared us or water (they taught us to keep the toilet lids down for instance.) Melichus was actually a love-bug. And they learned that getting on kitchen counters would inexplicably cause short, intense showers .