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- Sep 18, 2015
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I got my first kitten when she was 8 weeks old. When she first came home, she had a lot of play aggression and would frequently bite and scratch my hands when I tried to pet her, and attack my ankles, then run away. The worst thing she did was attack my eyes - a couple of times she actually scratched my eyeball and it bled a bit.
She's about 4 months old now, and during the time I've had her, I've thankfully managed to train her a bit so that she mostly knows what's appropriate and what's not for play. For example, instead of attacking my ankles with her claws out, she just bats at them with her paws then runs away, and when she bites, she does it gently enough that it doesn't break the skin anymore.
The only problem is, she still tries to bat at my eyes. This usually happens when I'm lying on my bed, or when I'm sitting with her on my lap. She no longer does this with her claws extended (thank freaking GOD - getting my eye scratched was SOOOO painful!), but she does it with enough force that my eye still gets really teary and hurts for the rest of the day. Granted, she doesn't use a lot of force - she's still a small kitten - but it doesn't take a lot to make it hurt, especially since she tends to get me when I have my eye open. (She doesn't attack my face while I'm sleeping, even though she sleeps in my bedroom - for some reason she only does this when I'm awake)
I have tried doing the kitten squeal and moving away, and when she followed me, I have tried pinning her to the ground for a few seconds before letting her go. I've tried stopping playtime and ignoring her. These have been quite effective for the most part, but her favourite thing to do after play attacking is to run away, so they don't always work. Plus, the eye attacks don't usually happen in the middle of playtime - they seem to happen whenever I have my face close to her, whether I'm carrying her, leaning down to fill her food bowl, petting her, etc. I've tried squirt bottles but I'm not sure it's working - when I lift the bottle, she runs away, but it doesn't seem to deter her from trying again.
I know we've made a lot of progress since she's stopped going for my eyes with her claws, but now we seem to have plateaued at going for my eyes with her claws sheathed, instead of stopping entirely. We've been stuck at this plateau for about a month now, and we don't seem to be making any further progress. I really, really need her to stop doing this. She has already gotten much bigger and stronger since I first got her, and since she is a Maine Coon, she will get even bigger and stronger before she is fully grown. The eye attacks hurt very much already - I don't think I can handle it from a big, fully grown cat.
Please, TheCatSite, I desperately need help. Any advice on how to stop this?
She's about 4 months old now, and during the time I've had her, I've thankfully managed to train her a bit so that she mostly knows what's appropriate and what's not for play. For example, instead of attacking my ankles with her claws out, she just bats at them with her paws then runs away, and when she bites, she does it gently enough that it doesn't break the skin anymore.
The only problem is, she still tries to bat at my eyes. This usually happens when I'm lying on my bed, or when I'm sitting with her on my lap. She no longer does this with her claws extended (thank freaking GOD - getting my eye scratched was SOOOO painful!), but she does it with enough force that my eye still gets really teary and hurts for the rest of the day. Granted, she doesn't use a lot of force - she's still a small kitten - but it doesn't take a lot to make it hurt, especially since she tends to get me when I have my eye open. (She doesn't attack my face while I'm sleeping, even though she sleeps in my bedroom - for some reason she only does this when I'm awake)
I have tried doing the kitten squeal and moving away, and when she followed me, I have tried pinning her to the ground for a few seconds before letting her go. I've tried stopping playtime and ignoring her. These have been quite effective for the most part, but her favourite thing to do after play attacking is to run away, so they don't always work. Plus, the eye attacks don't usually happen in the middle of playtime - they seem to happen whenever I have my face close to her, whether I'm carrying her, leaning down to fill her food bowl, petting her, etc. I've tried squirt bottles but I'm not sure it's working - when I lift the bottle, she runs away, but it doesn't seem to deter her from trying again.
I know we've made a lot of progress since she's stopped going for my eyes with her claws, but now we seem to have plateaued at going for my eyes with her claws sheathed, instead of stopping entirely. We've been stuck at this plateau for about a month now, and we don't seem to be making any further progress. I really, really need her to stop doing this. She has already gotten much bigger and stronger since I first got her, and since she is a Maine Coon, she will get even bigger and stronger before she is fully grown. The eye attacks hurt very much already - I don't think I can handle it from a big, fully grown cat.
Please, TheCatSite, I desperately need help. Any advice on how to stop this?