Attack of the kitten!

[af817]

I have an almost 4 month old little boy named Kevin, whom I love dearly. However, along with his super sweet loving side, he seems to love to ATTACK me and only me (his mom?). He has plenty of toys, a huge 6ft cat condo to climb, and gets plenty of love, play, and attention. I dont know what else to do! I know it is normal for young kitties to wrestle and attack, but he is nothing like any kitten I have ever experianced so im curious if anyone has any insight. He will bite me or attack my leg like most kittens do, and I sternly say "NO" with my finger pointing (like I have read from advice on these forums) and immediatly his ears perk up, eyes dialate, tail starts whipping hard, and he JUMPS up to attack me with as much force as possible. If I am on the floor or at his level when this happens, he does the same thing and bites as if he is truly trying to harm me. He gets this way from me saying "NO", and it happens every single time. Hissing sound, saying ouch, lightly pushing hin away, nothing works! Any kind of reaction to stop him just makes him want to go on the attack, like a little boy who doesn't like to hear "no" for an answer 

 I usually will then ignore him for a little while. It really gets me sad as he is my baby so it scares me that this isnt normal behavior, but then minutes later he will lay on me and purr away. He was not a feral or outside cat at any point in his life.

Please, any tips would be great. I feel like I have tried it all and nothing is working

 

[stephanietx]

Usually, mom and sibling teach social behavior when kittens are young, so it's a possibility he was separated from them to early and has no social graces, so to speak.  The best option would be to get him a playmate, but I understand that might not be best for you or feasible.  I always made sure to have a stuffed toy nearby when my kitties have responded like this so I could divert them to something other than my hands, fingers, or leg.  Playing hard with him using interactive toys (laser pointer, Da Bird, anything on a wand) might also help.
 

 

[af817]

Thank you for your response. He was adopted by us at a few days shy of 9wks, from a friend. He was with mom and siblings up until that point, but I am now learning 12wks is a better age to seperate them. He has a stuffed monkey that he loves to wrestle and carry around, and I do use that to divert the biting as much as possible, but when he gets into that mode after being told no...nothing really helps we have a laser, da bird, his new condo, you name it! I'm thinking he just doesn't like to be told no

 

[izzybees]

I also have a kitten who is just like that!
My problem is once she's focused on attacking my hands NOTHING STOPS HER!! Not even distracting her with another toy. I have to hide my hands and wait for her to calm down before I can get her to play with her toys.

 

[stephanietx]

When he gets in that mode of attack, remove yourself from him.  If he bites you, hiss, lean into him with your hand or finger so he'll let go.  This is very typical behavior for a kitten that age, but it should not be tolerated at all from you.  Don't hit him or anything like that, but tell him sternly, "NO!".  Also, learn to watch his body language.  Notice how his eyes change, ears change, posture changes as this is starting.  Some of this is from overstimulation.  If you can look for the signs, then you can stop petting him or whatever before he attacks and you'll have a better chance of diverting his behavior.

Keep wand toys handy so that when you take your hands away, they can go on the prowl for the feather toy or something more appropriate.