New cat doing annoying things!!

[lrgrant]

Hi,

Myself and my partner got a female 9 month old cat just over a month ago from our local shelter.
We don't know about her history, all we know is that she ended up at the shelter with her brother, who was adopted separately.
The shelter told us before we got her that she'd recently had cat flu and that it could come back due to the stress of moving.
Sure enough, 3 days after we got her she got ill again and had to have a 10 day course of antibiotics and eye drops in both eyes.
We thought she had recovered but a week ago I had to take her to the vets again because one of her eyes was looking bad again and she was still sneezing.
The vet prescribed a second round of eye drops and antibiotics and I'm hoping that she is now better. When we first brought Annabelle home she was very timid and spent the first 3 weeks in her safe room (the bathroom). She would let us stroke her but wouldn't come into the other living areas or sit with us on the sofa. Now, she seems to be fully confident and is happy to explore the other areas of our flat and spends most of her time in the living room with us.
She enjoys cuddles and play time and is happy to sit with us on the sofa. However, we are having a few problems with her behaviour.
Sometimes, when we try to pet her, all she wants to do is bite at and grab at our hands with her claws which hurts! My hands are covered in scratches now! We keep telling her 'NO' when she does this but she takes no notice. She also enjoys scratching the sofa and carpet and attacking the cushions. She uses her scratching post so I can't understand why she feels the need to scratch at other things. Also, when we go to bed at night she sits outside the bedroom door miaowing. We try to ignore it but I feel bad and guilty about it!! We recently got a Feliway plug-in which we put in the living room, but this isn't alleviating the problems. Does anyone have any idea why she is displaying these behaviours? Many thanks!

 

[di and bob]

I think she is doing pretty well for being new. She needs more time (and age) before she turns into a well adjusted cat. As for the sneezing and eye problems it could be feline herpes virus (don't freak out it's VERY common) basically a cat cold. L-lysine, an immunity builder, worked wonders for my cat. I bought them cheaply as a cat treat on Amazon and it works well, and no giving pills! Does she bite and scratch right away, or after you've petted her for a while, Some cats have a low tolerance for petting, especially females. I had to warn everyone with my Chrissy, she only allowed 1-2 strokes! If she does it right away, watch for signs before petting, tail whipping back and forth, intent staring,  tail fluffed, all mean she doesn't want to be petted. Try to distract her with a wand toy, and after she scratches you, ignore her, turn your back on her, and leave the room, this shows her it will not be tolerated. Punishment does not work on a cat, it just makes them afraid. You might try yelling loudly, or 'hissing' at her to try to let her know you do not approve. She is basically still a kitten and has to be shown how to play. Put double sided clear sticky tape on the places you do not want her to scratch, cats hate it and it can be removed eventually. Also try one of those cheap, 9.99, corrugated cardboard scratches, my cats much prefers it to my couch! Good luck, and many happy years.

 

[frappe]

She sounds like a typical kitten to be honest. Definitely have some cheap cardboard scratchers lying around. Also, the double sided tape put along the corners of the couch worked really well for us to deter scratching. Then you can place one of the other scratchers right next to the couch so she has a second, more acceptable option.

She is playful and a lot of kittens have issues playing with hands. Just make sure you never encourage it by playing rough with your hands. When she does grab on to you, say "Nope!" and calmly get up and walk away. I always end petting on my terms, before the cat gets annoyed. If you leave them wanting more and walk away when she bites/grabs your hand then she will start to see that she gets attention when she is nice. Likewise, if you over-pet her an annoy her (not saying you are annoying, but many cats have a short threshold for how long they will tolerate being pet), she won't seek out attention as often.

Congrats and best of luck with your new kitty!!

 

[agentspooky]

Do you know anything about her background? She may just be young and energetic, in a new environment, and not know enough about how to "play nice" or be able to be calm yet. She is spayed, yes?

When you pet her and she bites you, she is probably just playing. You can try to read her body language and see if her tail is twitching or how relaxed she looks before you pet her. If she looks twitchy or keyed up, don't pet her, play with her. If she does bite or scratch you, stop moving and make a "pss" noise and/or blow a little air at her face untill she stops. Then remove your arms and hands from her vacinity for a few moments.

When you do try to pet her again do so slowly and calmly, seeing how she looks at you. If she's wild eyed or her tail is twitching or she starts to make a move, take your hand back and leave her alone or get out some toys and have playtime. When you are petting her always set the tone by being calm and gentle so she knows that's how to interact with your hand.

These are just some general suggestions that could hopefully help, but different cats have different personalities so there could be more specific answers.

It's natural for her not to want to be kept seperate from you, but if you want the bedroom to yourself at night it will help if she gets as much energy as possible out during the day and just has time to get used to the routine of living in your house.

You might consider getting her a young companion to give her someone to play with at night and help her work her energy out.

As for scratching up your furniture, someone else might be able to give you advice, but I think there are sprays you can mist on furniture that cats don't like as well as some other tricks you can use.

 

[catspaw66]

You also might want to start trimming her nails. Once she gets used to not grabbing your hands, that is the time to do it.  Have you had cats before?

 

[lrgrant]

Hello,

Thanks very much for all of your replies. We are now trying to bear in mind that she's still a kitten and therefore needs some training so that she realises we don't like it when she scratches and bites. The miaowing has decreased now I'm pleased to say. We still have the problem of her scratching the sofa and carpet and attacking the pillows but I'm confident this will also decrease given time!

Many thanks again for your help!