Poppy acting bad these past few days

[poppy0109]

Since yesterday evening Poppy has been acting mean and misbehaving.

He's biting me all over (feet, legs, knees, arms, hands). I say NO firmly and/or I make a high pitched squealing noise then I redirect him to a toy but he keeps coming back to me and biting.

Also, he won't leave the one side of the couch alone. I put two-way sticky tape up, I've sprayed it with that stuff but last night he wouldn't stop trying to scratch it and bite it. So, I went and got a piece of cardboard and it just so happened to be the same size as the side of the couch. I put it in front of it and it's staying in place because the end table is on that side. He was under the couch going crazy trying to push the cardboard away from the couch. I kept trying to redirect him to toys but he kept going back.

Could this new bad behavior be caused by the following things that have happened since last Friday?
-He's on antibotics for his sneezing & running eyes. I forgot the name of it but it's stronger than the stuff he was on a few months ago.
-I introduced him to the basement. I've been teaching him how to go through the cat door in the basement door. He's doing good with it. I bought him some of those pop-up cube tent things so he can play in them down there. Also, I put another litter box down there because I want to start training him to go in the basement and not in the half bath. He's still going in the box in the half bath but he has used the one down the basement a few times.
-I also bought him another cat tree/condo/scratcher for the bedroom so he could look out the window. He now has two. One in the living room and one in the bedroom. When I brought it home on Monday he went absolutely bonkers for it and was running up the stairs, into the bedroom then jumping on it, then running back downstairs....back and forth like crazy.
-ALSO, I've been painting the second bedroom since Friday. I moved the empty bookcase out in the hallway and I've kept the door closed so he can't go in there. This weekend I spent alot of time in there painting and a couple times he was at the door crying but most of the time he's slept or played by himself.

I really hope his bad behavior is because all of this and he'll calm down again. What do you think?

The kitty's doctor wants to neuter him at the end of this month, when he's 5 months old. Will that help calm him down a bit? Is that too soon? Should we wait until the end of May when he's 6 months old?

 

[mycherona]

I actually had Kitty neutered when he was a little over 4 months, and the vet didn't think that was too early. I really didn't notice that much of a change in his behavior after his neutering, but that could be because he was so young when I got it done. It *may* help, but it may not. I'm finding that Kitty is calming down somewhat with age (he'll be 2 in July)....maybe that will happen for Poppy too? My guess, out of any of the things that you mentioned which could be the cause of his behavior change, would be the antibiotics. Those are strong chemicals for a little kitty, so they might make him feel weird...?

 

[satai]

Neutering may help, though these aren't the type of behavor problems that are typical to see in unneutered cats, as far as I know.

It sounds to me a bit like he's bored and missing you - if he's feeling under the weather as well, that probably isn't helping his mood any.

I suggest making sure the room you're painting is very well ventalated (in case that's a factor), and spending more time playing with (but before he gets bitey, or he'll see it as behavor that's working for him).

You should also call your vet and ask if you should be concerned about a reaction to the meds he's on.

 

[mrblanche]

Kittens in the 3-6 month range can be very troublesome. They are adult enough to jump very high, but not adult enough to know when they're getting in trouble.

 

[poppy0109]

I made sure to give him all my attention this evening. He was trying to scratch the other side of the couch, so I sprayed it, threw a blanket over it and put his ultimate scratcher right up against the side of it. He kept trying to bite me again and I kept redirecting him to his toys.

I've been keeping the window cracked open in the bedroom I'm painting...though it's still getting cold at night here.

I think I just need to remind myself to be patient with him. I will call the vet and ask about side effects of the antibiotics though.

 

[skimble]

Those plastic bendable straws are great to redirect the biting of kittens. When mine went through that stage I was carrying plastic straws in my pockets and they were thrown all over the place. Needless to say, a straw was always close by to stick in their mouth to replace my hand/foot/arm.

Oddly it has been many, many months and I am still finding those straws.