Is my cat's aggression normal?

First off I will tell you a little bit about my cat Indy. His parents were wild cats that roam around outside my bother in-law's family's property and he was found after a couple of kittens had fallen through a hole in the loft of a barn. Well my brother in law's father decided it was best to take them from their mother and give them to the local animal shelter but first asked if I would take one. Well I saw the shy little guy and decided that I could take care of him. I have had cats as a child and one about ten years ago that was hit by a car in a rural area where I lived at the time. Well I now live in an apartment and decided that it would be best to keep the cat indoors. Shortly after I got the shy little kitten he turned into a "psycho kitty" and began running around the place playing constantly, bouncing of walls and attacking everything in site.

Well now my cat is 4 months old and for the last couple of months I have had difficulty with his aggressive behavior. On a number of occassions my cat has taken to launching himself at me while I am sitting and sometimes he makes the leap and other times he doesn't and saves himself from falling by digging his claws into my bare flesh causing bloody wounds. Other times he will come at me and attack my hands or arm, latching on and biting and kicking with his feet as if I my hand was actual prey. One time while lying down reading he thought it would be a good idea to swipe at my eyelashes as they moved from blinking, needless to say not a good thing.

Trying to stop this behavior has not worked so far and my cat seems to be getting more aggressive with his attacks biting harder and digging his claws in deeper. I have tried to flick his nose but that is nearly impossible to do as he will bite and claw to stop me. I haven't tried spraying water but my cat does not seem to mind water so I doubt that is a viable solution. I have also tried playtime which helps stop him from waking me at 5:00 in the morning but really gets him riled up. He gets to the point that he will run from one end of the room to the other climbing everything and then he will attack and every now and then he will do a little crazy dance while attacking the toy, as if there was a spider on his back he was trying to get off, and careen as fast as he can in some random direction using his claws to gain traction, sometimes he will end up launching himself in my direction and clawing me in his fight to get away. If I stop playing with him or tell him "NO" firmly he seems to get agitated and will start attacking furniture or tearing up newspapers or biting things, especially the biting. I have also tried to give him time outs by locking him in the bathroom. This works for a little while but then his kitten energy starts again and he starts acting crazy. I also have a lot of toys that I dole out when he starts getting rambunctious but my hands still seem to be his favorites.

Now don't get me wrong my cat is very friendly with me and sleeps on me every chance he gets. He also loves it when I scratch his chin or behind his ears when he is in a sleepy state. It is when he is in a playful mood that things become difficult because he is very aggressive. I am not really sure what to do at this point. Is he teething? If so what can I do about it? The cat stores in my area have nothing for it. Is he trying to tell me something and this is his way? Or is he just a crazy cat and I should get used to it? If anybody has any insights I would appreciate it.

I don't see how old the kitten was when you aquired him but I suspect he was pretty young. He didn't get enough playtime with his littermates and doesn't know how far he can go when he's playing with you. Flicking his nose is not going to help and will likely make things worse or instill fear of your hands in him. The hardest part is not making it seem like you are playing with him when he starts biting and scratching. I find hissing or a loud pffft/psst works well with most cats. As does blowing in their face.

As for the rest, your kitten doesn't sound any different than any other kitten. They're all a bunch of furballs with ADHD on speed. Once he's 2 lbs, getting him neutured should help some, the rest will come with time, patience, and persistance. Try to enjoy it while you can as they grow up fast.

Originally Posted by PhantomSr

Once he's 2 lbs, getting him neutured should help some, the rest will come with time, patience, and persistance. Try to enjoy it while you can as they grow up fast.

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He is at least 4 months old, I would hope he is over 2 lbs otherwise there would be something seriously wrong with him...

First thought I have is that he was taken from his mother and siblings too early, I am also curious how old he was when you got him. He is neutered? That should make him calm down a bit, his male hormones will be kicking in soon anyways if not already and things will not get any better believe me.

If you could answer those questions then we can go on to give you some advice

Oops, I missed the age the first time through. Getting him neutured should help some, but he's a kitten. Having lots of energy and being crazy is what kittens are all about.

Thanks for the replies. As for the age when I got him, he was probably 8 weeks old and I believe he was taken at about 6 weeks but I am not 100% on that. I believe that he was weaned too early and didn't manage to get enough reinforcement regarding play from his mother and siblings. He still suckles and kneads which seems to confirm that theory. My cat is definitely more than 2 lbs now but had a problem with worms a little while ago (he has since been dewormed) so he may still be a little underweight. I guess the reason that this all seems like new behavior is that I have always had outdoor cats and they probably burnt of a lot of that energy outside playing so I never had to deal with it. I plan on getting him neutered around 5-6 months in order to avoid the complications that can arise from having a cat neutered too early. Maybe that will calm the little guy down, as it is he isn't really a bad cat, just a little crazy and I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't something more than being a kitten.

Keep his nails trimmed and when he does the attacks do a high pitched MEOW. This is how they let each other know they are getting hurt. Immediatly stop playing with him and give him no attention. By reacting to what does it is reinforcing that it is a fun game because you chase him. By getting up and ignoring him he will get the message that it is not OK.

Make sure you have a regular play time, or if you do not have enough time to play every day, you might consider another kitty, maybe from the shelter.

Teresa