Kitten very bitey and scratchy...ouch!

[clixpix]

I'm currently fostering a litter of three approx 10 week old kittens. They're adorable, and were a bit sick when I got them. Now that they're well, one of them is emerging as a very rough-playing kitten. She constantly play bites, and is constantly clawing my hands in an attempt to play. If I move my hands (or feet!

) away, she'll keep lunging after them. She will also run up my back to attack my hair, scratching me up in the process. The other two kittens are much more gentle. Sure they occasionally bite or scratch, but much, much less.

I don't allow any of this behavior, and never allow her to use my hands as toys. If she scratches or bites, I take my hand away and give her something else to play with. I play with them a lot, and they have tons of toys, scratching posts, and two cardboard scratchers.

Can anyone think of anything else I can do to decrease this behavior? It's not that bad right now because she's little, but I'd sure like to break this bad habit before she gets adopted out!

 

[kara_leigh]

I just came on here to ask this exact same question. Emmett is driving us nuts b/c we can't pet her at all unless she is sleeping without her turning around and biting our hands. She drives Nora nuts also b/c she is so hyper and aggressive and always wanting to play fight, Nora never gets a break. Last night she even whined at us when Emmett went to attack her. Emmett was put in a time out in the bathroom at that point. I just don't know what to do to stop her. I don't want to bop her every time she does it b/c I don't want her to become skiddish and afraid for us to touch her, but nothing works. She sounds just like your kitten. We're at our wits end. Like you said, it doesn't really hurt now and I know she is just being a kitten, but I want to put a stop to it so she doesn't continue this behavior into an adult at which point she could do damage.

 

[russiankitten]

Caspian ( a cat I used to have ) used to get bitey when he wanted to play and scratchy

He was a very large male cat and I still have a scar on my leg. He was actually a very nice cat its just he was a big dominant tom cat who liked to play rough. He got a better as he got older (I had him for about a year). What I used to do with him was if we were playing and he'd be rough I'd withdrawn my hand toy whatever it was we were doing or set him down on the floor if he was on my lap. Confidently tell him NO and then fold my arms and ignore him. If he jumped back up or started pawing me again, I'd reply firmly NO!! and keep my arms folded and ignore him. If he kept and kept and kept on at me I'd shut him in the kitchen for some cool off time. The times he did nip me or scratch me (even when it was just a light nip) I would make a distinctiv shocked loud "AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!" so he knew he was hurting me and hurting me is not acceptable and hurting me results in no more play time and no more attention! I think this worked to a point but he was still quite rough even when he was older but I think that was more down to him being a very large cat and naturally very dominant. Hope that helps !!

3 kittens hay? I've got 3 little nutters rampaging around my living room right now. Amadeus followed by Symphony and then Symphony quickly followed in hot pursuit by Nefertiti Wink

 

[sarahp]

I would do a loud KSST type sound as well. It's the sort of thing a mama cat would do with rough play, and I'm guessing just distraction isn't working - she needs to be told NO in kitty language too

 

[katachtig]

Lucy liked to grab and bunny kick me when she was a kitten. When that happened, I would an "owww" sound and withdraw attention for a few minutes. Eventually, she stopped. The kitten needs some feedback that she is hurting you the same way she gets feedback from her littermates that she has gone too far.