Kitten Behaviors And Training?

[KitCat93]

Ok, so I kinda just guessed where to put this so if there's a better place please let me know!

We just got our little girl two weeks ago. And we got her at 6 weeks. It was not by choice and we originally had it set up to get her around 9/10 weeks but the woman getting rid of them wanted rid of them right away because of expenses(insert eyeroll, should have spayed her cat if she cant afford kittens) so we took her early. I'd rather her be with us than someone who won't care for her since they were free and basically being pushed out the door. I'm not sure about her siblings and wish we could have taken them but sadly there was no way for that to happen .
She's doing very well and is completely healthy, has been to the vet for her first check up and goes back on July 9th for her shots etc. She's gained great weight and is growing well so all is well with her health except a hernia. (and she will be spayed but the time for that will be discussed with the vet because of said hernia he was just busy yesterday)

Her behavior is where were seeing some issues from her leaving early .Mostly in how she plays. She's great in basically all other aspects but her play is...rough. is there a way for us to help her learn to play less aggressively? If it's something well just have to deal with that's ok too, but I thought it couldnt hurt to see if anyone has any tips.
Thanks in advance and again if there's somewhere else better to post this please lmk.

 

[Kieka]

Rough play is common with kittens that young. Since Mom isn't around you have to be Mom to teach her what is acceptable and not. Thankfully, with consistent reinforcement the rough play is fairly easy to correct.

1) Hands are not toys. Don't use a hand as a toy. You can hold larger kick toys or use a wand but never just a hand. No matter how tempting it is to play hand monster and wrestle you just can't. It sends conflicting message to her.

2) If she gets rough with a person (jumping at a leg for example) or uses even the slightest amount of claw. A loud immediate "No! Ow!" Doesn't matter if it didn't leave a mark. Doesn't matter if you think it's adorable. Every single time. Follow the no with completely ignoring her. Don't even look at her, don't acknowledge her, nothing, she doesn't exist for that moment. Count to twenty and then back to normal as if nothing happened. She will learn very quickly, trust me. I did this with my cats and now at ages 3-5 years old I can count on one hand accidental human injuries from claws and those were all a cat got scared and bolted while being held type situations.

3) Routine. Kittens live for routine. Setting up a good routine now will make life so much easier later. It does take commitment to stick with the routine yourself but it pays off. I've found having set play time in the morning and night followed by a meal is best. It goes right with natural instinct of hunt, catch, eat, sleep so your kitten should pass out. When it's bed time you do the play, followed by dinner, then bed now and when she's an adult she will tell you when it's bedtime. Speaking of, bed should never be associated with play. Once the humans are under covers there can be some petting but hands and humans stop moving or engaging if it turns to play. You don't have to ow in bed but stop all movement and tuck in hands to indicate the bed is not a play spot.

My four year old boy yells at me if I skip a step at night. When we do climb in bed he passes out in minutes and sleeps soundly until morning. My girl doesn't yell, she just gives me sad eyes and large yawns until I climb into bed. Neither try to play in bed, they both curl right up and sleep. If they want to wake me they get off the bed and make noise to do so. Never jump on me and never bite me because they've learned neither gets results.

 

[KitCat93]

Thanks so much! We do have a good routine set in place, it kinda just happened to work because I have small children and she follows their routine well, and it's pretty similar to what you said. And she learned quickly I don't play at night. At all. If she wouldnt leave me be id put her on the floor lol. So I'm sure shell pick up on not biting and clawing just as quickly. I'll just have to remember no hand play!

 

[Etarre]

Congrats on your new kitty, and thanks for making sure that she has a safe home! You sound like a much more responsible owner than her first...

I don't have much to add to Kieka's very good advice, but wanted to encourage you to post pics when you get a chance and keep us posted on how your kitty is doing.

 

[KitCat93]

Of course! And thanks, it was a harder decision because we have kids and she was so little but I didn't want her to end up in a worse situation than what we got her. She had fleas and had been fed chicken the day we got her so she was sick all that night (I have no issues with feeding your cat like a "raw" diet or anything but this was just negligence that made her sick) but she's all good and on track now

 

[KitCat93]

this is her from a couple days ago .
Her name is actually Rias, but she gets called baby all the time