Kitten Keeps Climbing My Body! (4 Months)

[kriskitties]

I'm having a real behavior issue with my "runt of the litter" Twitch.
When Twitch was old enough to walk he wanted to climb, and he first started climbing up my pant legs. He was so light so it didn't hurt, and it was "cute" that he got away with it as a baby.

Well...He is about 4 months now and it HURTS. This mostly happens in the kitchen, but he still does it everywhere. He is 100% of the time at my feet, following me wherever I go. Then if I stop, he jumps and digs his claws into my thigh & climbs. Or if he is up on something like the couch, he will literally jump, and soar through the air to get on my back.

I have tried EVERYTHING. A stern no, putting him in a secluded room for a while, sprinkling him with a little water. And every time he just has a blank stare, NOTHING phases him.

I know he just wants to be picked up and to be included in my daily activities, and I do prop him on my shoulder or hold him all the time... It's just the climbing that is killing me & my family. We all have deep scratches all over our bodies.

They want to de-claw, but I am just really against that. I SERIOUSLY NEED HELP, I have done all I can think of.

Any help would be great... Thank You [emoji]128570[/emoji]




PS. --- Twitch might have acute CH(has slight problems with his back legs, walking , can't see too well), but I will know for sure in a few days. Just mentioned incase it helped anything

 

[red top rescue]

You need to keep his claws cut very dull and cut them frequently, every few days, so he CANNOT climb.  Declawing is a radical solution to a problem that has a much simpler and kinder solution.  We are an anti-declawing site and will gladly give you lots of literature to read concerning that.  In the meantime, nobody ever showed you how to clip your kitten's claws.  We start clipping ours when they are tiny babies. 

There are a couple of good demos on YouTube.  I'm linking to two, but you will find more there.  The important thing is to only clip in the CLEAR area, never go into the pink.  With time and practice, you will get good at it.  With tiny babies I use a baby nail c/ipper, but with the bigger ones I use the scissor type nail clippers.

 

[jcat]

It's a phase kittens go through and will stop soon enough. Humans make very attractive "ladders" while they're exploring their world. Wearing jeans and a fleece top or sweatshirt for the time being and/or clipping his nails will help. Once he's big enough to jump high he won't need your "assistance" and will stop the climbing.

 

[molly22]

Don't worry. He will stop with time. I adopted my kitten when she was about 5 months old and she always tried to climb me. Now she's about a year old and she's completely stopped. I agree with the advisor and hope that you won't declaw your cat. We started trimming her claws right away to get her used to it and now it's turned into a 2 minute job. I just give her a treat afterwords. It also helps to have someone else hold them while another person trims.