My kitten smacks me in the face!

[ducman69]

You don't have to worry about long-term repercussions for verbally chastising your cat with a hiss, and I can say that from personal experience.

My two are almost overly clingy and very loving and have been chastised like that when misbehaving since I've had them. Although I find a hiss hard to do and just do a TSST of varying intensity.

They understand it and it works well. Saying "NO" has never ever worked for me consistently, even though its louder and in a very deep tone to sound different than normal speech. A "TSST!" or hand clap or finger snap though, works every time. Had to use it quite a bit teaching them not to constantly mess up my blinds, and now they don't touch em.

But at 9 weeks, I would have very low expectations and just count on em to be wild and goofy and handle damage control, heh.

 

[susan_marie]

Thanks for your reply Ducman. I have been doing the "TSST" to get her to stop biting me but she could care less at this point in her little life.

I am hoping that she will grow out of it. I've had cats all my life and I know they bite when they're babies, but I've never had one try (and succeed) to smack me in the face out of nowhere. She's lucky she's so darn cute...

 

[rosiemac]

Oh my goodness she's adorable!!!. She reminds me of my Rosie when she was a kitten, and even now we play peekaboo with her at the bottom of the stairs and me at the top, then she starts stalking but stops as soon as l put my head around

You have a little ball of fun there

 

[tabster]

With all my animals, if they hurt me accidentally or otherwise, I always do a very high pitched squeal, like OWWW! If you have ever accidentally stepped on a cat (or dog)'s tail or paw, that is exactly the noise they make. It usually works really well, and they get shocked/surprised and stop what they are doing. I have never tried the hissing thing, I guess because I see it as an aggressive signal and don't want to hype them up even further.

With kittens and puppies, if they are playing and one gets too excited/aggressive, the other will squeal to let them know they are hurt, and if it continues they will just up and walk away. So they quickly learn if they don't play nice, they don't get to play at all.

Oh and one other thing: Don't use body parts as toys! Like having them chase your fingers etc. Good luck and have fun

 

[parsleysage]

Oh Susan - do I feel your pain!!

I adopted two brothers when they were six weeks old back on May 1. They're now 15 weeks old and I know exactly what you're talking about!

For what it's worth, "NO!" hand claps, stomping, etc. NEVER worked on Simon & Garfunkel. If they reacted at all it would just be to throw me a look of disdain over their shoulder and keep on going

They crack me up!

However, the one thing that has worked - and I use it regularly now that they realize that the stuff I'm putting in my mouth is food and that, hey, they deserve some, too, mom! - is the hissing! Or the "TSST!" as Ducman said. I combine it with a hand flail/wave lol, right in front of their face - kind of a "shooing" motion. I can't stop them from getting on the dinner table (I think I taught them to be better jumpers by putting the chairs and other access points far away from the table, LOL!! It seems like overnight they went from barely mastering jumping up onto the couch to jumping on the table, up from the table to the second highest shelf on the bookcase, etc.), so since I can't stop them from getting up there, I just shoo them away using the hiss/hand wave motion, and they usually get the picture after a few times. Experiment with what works with Lucy - because the only thing that worked for me from ages 6 weeks to 12 weeks was physically removing them from whatever they were doing!

Originally Posted by Ducman69

But at 9 weeks, I would have very low expectations and just count on em to be wild and goofy and handle damage control, heh.

I NEVER thought I'd get my two to calm down when they were Lucy's age. It comes with time - just be consistent.