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- Jan 27, 2013
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Hi all.
My flatmate and I bought a 9-week-old kitten (Hexidecimal) last October. So he is about four or five months old now.
While he is the loveliest pet I've ever owned - so affectionate, friendly and cute, he is also the meanest: he bites, attacks and scratches us all the time. Literally, all the time. It's got to the stage where we can't cope.
I've had kittens before (three in my adult life) and none of them have been this bad. When he play bites he does it hard - really, really hard, breaking the skin and doesn't care that it's obviously hurting.
I've never had a kitten that hasn't reacted to 'no' or 'ouch' before.
We've never let him bite our hands or let him think human hands are toys. The same with our feet and ankles. If we're asleep and he wants to play he'll bite our faces, drawing blood, to try and wake us up. He bit my back so hard when I was asleep that it bled and got infected.
He's learnt that if he bites faces, the bit of skin on the back of your arm, thighs or back he gets the loudest shrieks. He'll burrow under the duvet to do it. It's not that we mean to shriek or react but he's doing it when we're asleep. It's a natural response.
And we've tried EVERYTHING to stop him, including…
1. Water bottles - he likes it. He'll also jump in the bath or in the shower
2. Saying 'no' - bitey cat don't care
3. Pulling duvet over head and/or ignoring him - he'll burrow under or just keep doing it. Walk away and he'll follow, biting you.
4. Biting him back - yeah, not proud of that one but was desperate. He, however, was delighted. YAY WE'RE ALL BITING NOW. SEE. TOLD YOU IT WAS FUN!!
5. Looking him in the eye and saying 'no' or trying to make dominant eye contact - he'll duck his head down and still do it.
6. PIcking him up and giving him a 'time out' in the bathroom - this sometimes works. But sometimes you open the door and he tries to bite you as he walks out.
He's also now started to either try and climb our legs or just walks up and digs his claws in. I've covered in scratches and he does it really deep. Today he managed to make me bleed through a pair of jeans - brand new jeans fresh on today that he has ripped a hole in. Because he is so big now it really, really hurts.
When he bites or scratches we don't reward the behaviour with attention - we now put him straight in the bathroom and ignore him.
Literally can't cope with him any more. We love him and would never get rid of him, but it's horrible to always be attacked by this foul little beast. We know he's probably doing it for attention, but we can't give him much more attention and still have lives! And there's four of us here so he gets loads.
Also worried that I might accidentally hurt him: when you're asleep and something attacks you your natural instinct is to throw it away from you. Same as if you're boiling the kettle and he leaps and digs his claws in your thigh.
To give you a bit of background on him:
He's the most adorable little black moggy you've ever seen - so bold, friendly, LOVES people - even strangers. He loves to be picked up and held or carried around or rocked like a baby. He will cry to be picked up if he wants to be or will jump up and snuggle whenever he can.
He is also independent at times, so not ultra clingy or needy.
He's been like this since they day we got him - he adores people and wasn't scared of us at any point in the slightest.
We got him from a couple whose cat had snuck out and got pregnant when she was under a year old. She had six kittens and the couple also had a few other cats at home.
He's an indoor cat. But I work from home 1-3 days a week (I used to work from home four days a week) and there are four adults living in this flatshare so there's always someone around for him. Two of my other housemates work from home a few times a month too and I work 20 mins from home when I'm in office, so am nearly always in.
He has a giant cat climbing tree. They actually sent us the wrong one and I had to throw away the top half because I didn't want a 9ft tree in the house…
He has a pingpong ball maze, LOADS of toy mice, a cat dancer toy (we play with him with) and we hide treats around the house for him/spread his food around before work so he can 'hunt' during the day.
I set my alarm an hour early each morning to play with him before work and try to incorporate as much human/cat play as possible while still having a human life/job.
We live in the UK where vets won't neuter under 6 months old
Please help me. Any advice would be much appreciated.
My flatmate and I bought a 9-week-old kitten (Hexidecimal) last October. So he is about four or five months old now.
While he is the loveliest pet I've ever owned - so affectionate, friendly and cute, he is also the meanest: he bites, attacks and scratches us all the time. Literally, all the time. It's got to the stage where we can't cope.
I've had kittens before (three in my adult life) and none of them have been this bad. When he play bites he does it hard - really, really hard, breaking the skin and doesn't care that it's obviously hurting.
I've never had a kitten that hasn't reacted to 'no' or 'ouch' before.
We've never let him bite our hands or let him think human hands are toys. The same with our feet and ankles. If we're asleep and he wants to play he'll bite our faces, drawing blood, to try and wake us up. He bit my back so hard when I was asleep that it bled and got infected.
He's learnt that if he bites faces, the bit of skin on the back of your arm, thighs or back he gets the loudest shrieks. He'll burrow under the duvet to do it. It's not that we mean to shriek or react but he's doing it when we're asleep. It's a natural response.
And we've tried EVERYTHING to stop him, including…
1. Water bottles - he likes it. He'll also jump in the bath or in the shower
2. Saying 'no' - bitey cat don't care
3. Pulling duvet over head and/or ignoring him - he'll burrow under or just keep doing it. Walk away and he'll follow, biting you.
4. Biting him back - yeah, not proud of that one but was desperate. He, however, was delighted. YAY WE'RE ALL BITING NOW. SEE. TOLD YOU IT WAS FUN!!
5. Looking him in the eye and saying 'no' or trying to make dominant eye contact - he'll duck his head down and still do it.
6. PIcking him up and giving him a 'time out' in the bathroom - this sometimes works. But sometimes you open the door and he tries to bite you as he walks out.
He's also now started to either try and climb our legs or just walks up and digs his claws in. I've covered in scratches and he does it really deep. Today he managed to make me bleed through a pair of jeans - brand new jeans fresh on today that he has ripped a hole in. Because he is so big now it really, really hurts.
When he bites or scratches we don't reward the behaviour with attention - we now put him straight in the bathroom and ignore him.
Literally can't cope with him any more. We love him and would never get rid of him, but it's horrible to always be attacked by this foul little beast. We know he's probably doing it for attention, but we can't give him much more attention and still have lives! And there's four of us here so he gets loads.
Also worried that I might accidentally hurt him: when you're asleep and something attacks you your natural instinct is to throw it away from you. Same as if you're boiling the kettle and he leaps and digs his claws in your thigh.
To give you a bit of background on him:
He's the most adorable little black moggy you've ever seen - so bold, friendly, LOVES people - even strangers. He loves to be picked up and held or carried around or rocked like a baby. He will cry to be picked up if he wants to be or will jump up and snuggle whenever he can.
He is also independent at times, so not ultra clingy or needy.
He's been like this since they day we got him - he adores people and wasn't scared of us at any point in the slightest.
We got him from a couple whose cat had snuck out and got pregnant when she was under a year old. She had six kittens and the couple also had a few other cats at home.
He's an indoor cat. But I work from home 1-3 days a week (I used to work from home four days a week) and there are four adults living in this flatshare so there's always someone around for him. Two of my other housemates work from home a few times a month too and I work 20 mins from home when I'm in office, so am nearly always in.
He has a giant cat climbing tree. They actually sent us the wrong one and I had to throw away the top half because I didn't want a 9ft tree in the house…
I set my alarm an hour early each morning to play with him before work and try to incorporate as much human/cat play as possible while still having a human life/job.
We live in the UK where vets won't neuter under 6 months old
Please help me. Any advice would be much appreciated.
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