Is this normal behavior for a kitten?

[misssara]

We've had Cora for 2 months now (wow that went by fast), so she's around 4 months.

We've always been careful not to play with her with our hands, and she has lots of toys. However, the more we play with her (which is a lot) the more aggressive she gets. This cat sleeps like 2 hours a day, and is always going. She's soo violent.

She doesn't attack and then run away, she claws and bites on my hand for dear life, hanging on no matter what I do.

I've tried staying still, I've tried loud noises. She just wants to dig into my flesh!

She also spits and hisses a lot. I'm not sure if she just thinks my arms and hands and feet and legs and knees and toes

are an evil villain she must kill.

She never lets us pet her, unless she is sleeping, but then she'll suddenly wake up and you risk losing an entire hand.

Is this normal? She was soo sweet when we first got her, she slept in my lap the whole car ride home (over an hour). She would cuddle up to us and pass out, but we haven't seen that side of her since. She barely spends any time alone, if she's alone, it's only for a couple hours at a time.

Here's a Halloween picture, the pumpkin didn't stand a chance.

 

[kailie]

Although rough play IS normal kitten behavior, this does sound a little excessive, especially with the hissing. She is at the age where she should be able to be spayed now, so once that is done, it may help her calm down some. During that time, you may want to express your concerns to your vet to see what they suggest. Was there any particular event you can think of that triggered this behavior?

 

[misssara]

Hopefully the spay works. We wanted to wait until she gained weight, which is why it isn't done yet. She was severely underweight when we got her from the shelter, so we fought to have it done by our own vet (who agreed that it would've been dangerous to do it at 1 lb.).

I can't think of any event. It sort of gradually grew worse from what I can recall. Sometimes she acts completely feral!

She started biting right before our second appointment with the vet. So she ended up doing a number on the vets hands, and she warned us not to let it get out of control, but none of her suggestions (or any on the internet) seem to push her away from it.

 

[cat person]

We've had Cora for 2 months now (wow that went by fast), so she's around 4 months.

We've always been careful not to play with her with our hands, and she has lots of toys. However, the more we play with her (which is a lot) the more aggressive she gets. This cat sleeps like 2 hours a day, and is always going. She's soo violent.

She doesn't attack and then run away, she claws and bites on my hand for dear life, hanging on no matter what I do.

I've tried staying still, I've tried loud noises. She just wants to dig into my flesh!

She also spits and hisses a lot. I'm not sure if she just thinks my arms and hands and feet and legs and knees and toes

are an evil villain she must kill.

She never lets us pet her, unless she is sleeping, but then she'll suddenly wake up and you risk losing an entire hand.

Is this normal? She was soo sweet when we first got her, she slept in my lap the whole car ride home (over an hour). She would cuddle up to us and pass out, but we haven't seen that side of her since. She barely spends any time alone, if she's alone, it's only for a couple hours at a time.

Here's a Halloween picture, the pumpkin didn't stand a chance.

Although rough play IS normal kitten behavior, this does sound a little excessive, especially with the hissing. She is at the age where she should be able to be spayed now, so once that is done, it may help her calm down some. During that time, you may want to express your concerns to your vet to see what they suggest. Was there any particular event you can think of that triggered this behavior?

The kitten sounds feral or feral-ish, no?

 

[misssara]

We always feel like she's feral, but we got her at barely 2 months old. She was in the shelter with only her litter mates, no mom was present.

Can a kitten become feral? I never thought so. I had cats all growing up!

 

[cat person]

We always feel like she's feral, but we got her at barely 2 months old. She was in the shelter with only her litter mates, no mom was present.

Can a kitten become feral? I never thought so. I had cats all growing up!

As far as I am concerned, the answer is simply yes. A domestic cat needs consistent handling to remain tame. A kitten needs to be "well handled", from  two to seven weeks old, in my experience. If you expect the cat to be a "good pet".

The parts of the original post, that make me feel your kitten is feral, are that you can only touch her when sleeping. Along with the frequent hissing behavior coupled with the "attaching" of your hands and feet. Does she draw blood, when attaching your extremities?

 

[misssara]

We play with her all the time, and have always wanted to hold her and pet her a lot. She just stopped allowing it. I still continue to attempt to do these things when she is awake... but she ends up latching on with her teeth.

 

[nebula]

Just had to comment- the halloween picture is ADORABLE

Anyway do you think she is having some kind of PTSD post abuse thing going on?

 

[speakhandsforme]

The hissing and spitting I'm not sure of, but my Boots (5 months yesterday) was feral before I got him. And there was a time in September when I thought he was deliberately trying to kill me. He would jump onto my back with all 20 tiny claws for no ostensible reason. After many loud yells, he finally got the picture and stopped doing it, but I think that coincided a bit with his growing up and calming down a little.

Anyway, when was the last time you took her to the vet? There could be something making her grumpy and causing her to lash out. A toothache, plugged up anal glands, maybe even a thorn in her paw or something. Just take her to a vet you trust and get her a thorough physical exam.

I also support the abuse theory above.... she could just be one scared little baby, with a history you don't know about. :heart3:

Does she hide from you at all? Or does she deliberately seek you out to play/attack?

 

[nebula]

Even smells that are different.

Have you recently changed anything such as laundry soap, body soap, shampoo, deodorant, cologne- anything that may be making her want to stay away from the "bad" smell?

 

[misssara]

The hissing and spitting I'm not sure of, but my Boots (5 months yesterday) was feral before I got him. And there was a time in September when I thought he was deliberately trying to kill me. He would jump onto my back with all 20 tiny claws for no ostensible reason. After many loud yells, he finally got the picture and stopped doing it, but I think that coincided a bit with his growing up and calming down a little.
Anyway, when was the last time you took her to the vet? There could be something making her grumpy and causing her to lash out. A toothache, plugged up anal glands, maybe even a thorn in her paw or something. Just take her to a vet you trust and get her a thorough physical exam.
I also support the abuse theory above.... she could just be one scared little baby, with a history you don't know about.

Does she hide from you at all? Or does she deliberately seek you out to play/attack?

She jumps on my back like that all the time. She'll attack me even when I am 100% still. I made an appointment with the vet already, so we'll find out! She could also be teething making her bite way harder than necessary. She doesn't ever seem to hide, occasionally she'll fall asleep in a hidden cozy place, but she is more of a "I'm going to find you and kill you" type.
 

Even smells that are different.

Have you recently changed anything such as laundry soap, body soap, shampoo, deodorant, cologne- anything that may be making her want to stay away from the "bad" smell?

It's possible... but this has been going on for over a month, so I can't remember if anything changed that long ago. It most likely hasn't because I use only 100% natural, chemical free, vegan products.

Just had to comment- the halloween picture is ADORABLE

Anyway do you think she is having some kind of PTSD post abuse thing going on?

haha thank you. I suppose that PTSD is possible, I wouldn't know since we got her from the shelter. We have no idea what she might have been through in those early weeks. All the other kittens had mothers with them, except for this litter. I've considered that they were separated because the mother was feral, but decided it wasn't likely because there were other cages of kittens with their moms that they wouldn't let us open because of that reason. I think they were most likely abandoned. When we first held Cora, she just nuzzled in our arms.

 

[misssara]

Ugh, things seemed to be getting better, but not they're worse.

Since last night she has been acting completely wild. I keep trying to channel her energy into toys, but she just attacks me and latches on. I have a scratch on my nose now and pretty deep cuts on my hands. It's all from her teeth! She bites all the time and really hard, her ears are almost always back.

I don't know what I did to make her act like this! I had kittens all growing up, we raised a lot of them from birth because stray cats would have them on our porch and leave, but I never remember them being violent like this at all. Sure, they would play and swat, but this feels intentional. I think Cora is trying to eat me!

 

[cat person]

Ugh, things seemed to be getting better, but not they're worse.

Since last night she has been acting completely wild. I keep trying to channel her energy into toys, but she just attacks me and latches on. I have a scratch on my nose now and pretty deep cuts on my hands. It's all from her teeth! She bites all the time and really hard, her ears are almost always back.

That makes me think, the kitten is "trying" to be aggressive. So, please be careful.

I don't know what I did to make her act like this!

Is she a food motivated cat? If so, I have some suggestions that might work.

I had kittens all growing up, we raised a lot of them from birth because stray cats would have them on our porch and leave, but I never remember them being violent like this at all.

All kittens/cats are different, so please keep that in mind. But, I get the distinct feeling, this kitten was NOT well socialized.

Sure, they would play and swat, but this feels intentional. I think Cora is trying to eat me!

I think she knows you are too big to eat. But, I do think, she is trying to be aggressive towards you.

Please note, my answers are in bold.
 

 

[luceelu06]

Just wanted to check in misssara, see how things are??

 

[misssara]

I'm sure she wasn't a well socialized kitten, they were 2 months and there was no mom.

She is food motivated, I've been struggling with trying to do stuff with that.