Bud went ballistic on me and tore up my arm and hand

[kittens mom]

 
Well it's not as bad as all that, and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. We have an incredibly tight bond, and the vast majority of the time there's no problem. It's just that he has his little outbursts and when he does, he bites and scratches.

I just can't fathom how he could be scared of me or how he could be stressed.

You described him as going ballistic and tearing up your arm. So you know Kitten was taken in at days old and hand raised by a couple of rank armatures. She would pull the same kind of stunts. She was never disciplined , something no one did her entire life. She ruled. We did however find that clicker training and redirection ended these kind of attacks. Which to me seem a combination of fear, play aggression and lack of confidence. We couldn't have had a closer bond if she had been a real baby. Stress can manifest in many ways including not knowing how to express yourself.

 

[DreamerRose]

Plan, Mingo does the same thing when he wants to do what he wants and I frustrate him. He's mainly telling me to quit it. He's being stubborn. When he attacked my arm to play, I yelled really loud, and he's learned not to do that unless I have long sleeves on. Seriously, he eyes my arm and goes away if I have short sleeves on.

The can of air is a good idea when you want to discourage him from walking on the tables, etc. I used that when he prowled around the back of the computer desk looking for cords to chew on. It really worked, and he doesn't go back there anymore.

Sometimes, when I'm playing with him, he gets over stimulated and wants to attack my face. This is really different. His eyes dilate, the ears go back, and the tail is thrashing. It's very frightening. Of course, not getting him over stimulated is the first thing to do, but if it happens suddenly, I stare him down and say "NO!" really loud until he calms down.

I hope this helps. You've gotten some really good advice from the other posters, too.