Playfully Aggressive Kitten?

lavie1028

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My 8 week old kitten is for the majority of the time, mellow, calm and kind...but sometimes when I play with him, he gets overly active and starts bighting, nibbling...etc. I've read about methods of dealing with this, but I'm just wondering what methods you have used to deal with it that have successfully worked, or didnt work. I know I should make sure he doesn't think biting is okay, but I just want to make sure that I'm approaching it correctly. Thanks for the help in advance.
 

catsallover

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If you do a search, there are MANY threads about this
.

For my kittens, I do a cat growl (like their mother would do
) at them when they are getting carried away with the biting and scratching(sometimes it takes a few times for them to realize IT'S ME
), then a hiss if that doesn't work, and then getting up and leaving them alone, and if they follow and continue to "attack", it's time for timeout! Our animal timeout room is the spare bath- just leave him in there a few minutes to let him calm down, preferably with a kitten size stuffy for him to attack and get it out of his system, and then try letting him out. If he's still determined that you are the objective, put him back in, and offer the toy again. Sometimes, just offering a toy like that that he can bite and kick "the stuffing out of" (so to speak- don't let him get to the stuffing
will be enough of a distraction. You are doing well to nip this in the bud while he's small- in a grown cat, it can be down right dangerous, not to mention aggravating!
 

catsknowme

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Originally Posted by catsallover

If you do a search, there are MANY threads about this
.

For my kittens, I do a cat growl (like their mother would do
) at them when they are getting carried away with the biting and scratching(sometimes it takes a few times for them to realize IT'S ME
), then a hiss if that doesn't work, and then getting up and leaving them alone, and if they follow and continue to "attack", it's time for timeout! Our animal timeout room is the spare bath- just leave him in there a few minutes to let him calm down, preferably with a kitten size stuffy for him to attack and get it out of his system, and then try letting him out. If he's still determined that you are the objective, put him back in, and offer the toy again. Sometimes, just offering a toy like that that he can bite and kick "the stuffing out of" (so to speak- don't let him get to the stuffing
will be enough of a distraction. You are doing well to nip this in the bud while he's small- in a grown cat, it can be down right dangerous, not to mention aggravating!
You and I must have gone to the same cat-training school!
I have the hiss down pretty darn good. I also add a "Calm down" among my warnings. And you're right - what's annoying can quickly become dangerous as those tiny teeth and claws grow and those muscles mature
 

shadowsoul

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Can't do tha hissing, he'd know it's me, and I give him a tigger toy to get it out whenever Oscar is aggressively playing.
 

epona

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Mine has recently taken to 'playing' with my ankles while climbing up the inside of my trouser leg - it's not funny in the slightest and he's 4 months old now so not that little any more.

I ended up in tears this morning because he would NOT leave me alone. I have tried distraction, the pained 'OUCH' to let him know that it hurts, hissing and growling like his mum would, waving a stuffed toy around for him to go for instead (that worked for a bit but the novelty has worn off now), and resorting now to locking him in the bathroom for a few minutes to calm down. It really isn't amusing when they get that determined. Tonight I am going to try something unpleasant tasting like vinegar on my socks and ankles - I will just have to get used to smelling like a chippy LOL
 

catsallover

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Mine has recently taken to 'playing' with my ankles while climbing up the inside of my trouser leg - it's not funny in the slightest and he's 4 months old now so not that little any more.
I ended up in tears this morning because he would NOT leave me alone. I have tried distraction, the pained 'OUCH' to let him know that it hurts, hissing and growling like his mum would, waving a stuffed toy around for him to go for instead (that worked for a bit but the novelty has worn off now), and resorting now to locking him in the bathroom for a few minutes to calm down. It really isn't amusing when they get that determined. Tonight I am going to try something unpleasant tasting like vinegar on my socks and ankles - I will just have to get used to smelling like a chippy LOL
My foster, Gretta, was HORRIBLE at that age, but by 5 months, she started calming down, and when she went to her new home at almost 6 months, she was much, much, better, hence, she got to go to her new home
. I just kept doing what you're doing, but also saying "NO BITE!!!" when I went to put her in timeout, and just before I shut the door. I also started knowing when she got that attitude in her playing, or that look in her eye, and growled then, instead of after I was "attacked". Sometimes she just looked at me worse, and pounced anyways, so off to timeout! I also started skipping the growling and telling her "Gretta...no bite!" when she first started a bout of her ugly play, and right to timeout if she didn't quit. If she started back up instead of being nice, right back into time out- "No bite!".
I did all that I originally posted with her, and then this is the level I had to take it to with her! She was the most difficult cat, period, let alone foster kitten I ever had! But, she was also one of the sweetest when she wanted to be, so...

It worked, it just took a while (seemed like forever!
)of being consistant and a little maturity on Gretta's part.
I hope this helps! Hang in there!
 
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