Crazy kitten - food to blame?

Hi all,

We just got a two-month old male kitten 1 1/2 weeks ago. He had been living with his 4 brothers and sisters until we brought him home.

The first several days his behavior was similar to that reported by his previous home - he was docile, loved to be held, relaxed in your arms, etc. Now, he tears around the house, climbs me (and just about everything else) like a tree, doesn't like to be held too close but loves to curl up with us to sleep (after he pounces on various parts of our bodies for what seems like an eternity and tries to eat my hair).

My hubby was wondering if it is our kitty food. I've been giving him IAMS kitten food with a very small amount of high quality (Merrick's, and others) wet food mixed in. I've also been giving him a few drops of salmon oil. Could there be something to this? Prior to us, he was being fed "Special Kitty" food (?) or whatever the cats were eating if he ate their food or whatever he was scrounging (they weren't too concerned)

Help and ideas are very much appreciated - he's just about driving me nuts !!!! =-)

Thanks!

He sure sounds like a normal playful kitten to me.

It sounds like yhou are feeding him better than he got where he came from and is just going through the phases a kitten goes through.

Try feeding him some canned food right before bedtime and then play with him with a Da Bird or something equally stimulating to tire him out and then he will hopefully be ready to settle in when you are ready.
If not, have some other little toys on hand for him to play with that are not on the bed and maybe he will tire himself out some more before climbing in to sleep.

That sounds like perfectly normal kitten behaviour to me! 2 month old kittens are rarely described as docile!

I'm afraid he's doing what kittens do. I don't know how many times Rosie and Sophie used me as a kitten tree, and as they get older they start their night time antics by running loopy around the house between 10pm-11p.m at night in my house.

Now havent i made you feel better!!

Mine acts the EXACT same way! lol

I don't know if this helps, but our 9 month old kitty races around the house like a maniac, and pounces on our feet all night if we don't tire her out enough!

He probably played with his brothers all day, and now they're not around to entertain him, he needs to find his own entertainment.

Make sure he has plenty of toys. Kittens seem to love the toy called "Crazy circle" - or anything similar that they have to put their paws into and make something move. It's a good interactive toy.

We got a little fist sized soft pet toy that we throw to Stumpy and she loves it. She races around after it, throwing it around, and carries it around in her mouth. Just find otys he can play with that'll wear him out

You may also find that he has more energy because he's getting a good diet now, and isn't having to fight with his siblings for food! If it gets too much, then get another kitten friend for him to play with

The first few days, your kitty was probably subdued and cautious because he was getting used to his new home, now that he's comfortable with his surroundings, all hell breaks loose ... that's normal

The suggestions about feeding before bed and about playing before bed are good ones, though may I suggest, playing before eating or just choosing one of those activities ... if he gets too frisky on a full stomach, you may end up scrubbing kitty puke out of the carpet

Thank you all for your responses - they all seem quite valid.

Another thought occurred to me. They stated that he was the quiet one of the bunch and actually had thought to give him to us because of his docile, loving personality (we were originally thinking of getting a ragdoll). They couldn't believe he was being this rambunctious. They said that his siblings had behaved more like what we are describing.

How about this theory - maybe it's psychological? For the first couple of days he spent time looking for his siblings - maybe now he's acting like them? Was his personality suppressed by theirs? Or was he trained by them?

Or, was he perhaps, not eating enough and it's the food.... Our previous sick worn out little stray we adopted got quite kitty like on this diet.

I dunno. I guess for now I'm going toy shopping! Thanks!

My kitten is also crazy. She slept for the first 2 days I got her - now she acts like she's on speed and zooms around the house for a few hours and then comes crawling onto my lap, purring and ready for her cat nap!

Then she wakes up and goes nuts again...The funny thing is - she has dozens of toys, yet her favorite "toy" is a crumpled up piece of paper she stole out of the garbage can.

Your story makes me smile. I've got two theories. Maybe he is feeling better and doing better on his diet now, sounds like he is getting better food.
Also, maybe he was sorta the quiet one and felt dominated by his sibs. Now that they aren't around, he is having a blast being himself.
You can't do too much to calm him down other than to wait and play with him a lot to wear him out. Also you could give him a kitty tree.. the cheapest are like 35 bucks at wal mart and he could climb that rather than you. You could also get another kitty as a friend so they could wear eachother out too!

Thanks! I think this sums it all up pretty well. I did go out and buy him a da bird like toy (they only had a knock-off that attached to the fridge with a suction cup) and one of those round deals with the trapped ball for him to chase around. It's been two nights and he's much easier to have around at bedtime. Of course, at 5:15 am he goes nuts and decides it's time to wake me up - I don't know what is wrong with him - I don't wake up till 5:20!!!!!

He's still not the docile one, but we've made excellent progress. In a couple of years I'm sure he'll be quite the calm one!

Thanks again. You guys were life savers !!!!!!

One more thing - he did seem to get a bit more cranked up after he ate his wet food - I only mixed in about a tbsp with his dry - it was Wellness. I don't know for a fact, but I'll monitor it for awhile. Maybe he was getting too many vitamins? Or, maybe he's just a happy cat!

You have from the sounds of it a happy healthy active kitten

He sounds just like our kitten - healthy, happy and very active.... all the time!