Toodles: Attacking us while we are sleeping...

[sirthumpsey]

Back story: Toodles is a black Tort kitten about 11 weeks old that was apart of a litter of three to a semi-feral cat. She has really warmed up to me...and somewhat to my hubby but still runs from our 18 month old. (I'm just glad Toodles hasn't gone after her and usually runs from her and hides under the couch)

The problem: While we are sleeping or trying to go to sleep she will attack (I think she is really trying to play, it doesn't seem aggressive) my hubby's feet. My husband has a lot of problems with his feet...and they hurt almost all of the time. (Result of long term diabetes that went undiagnosed) Toodles attacking it has seemed to make the nerves in his feet act up even more so this is really not good. 

She will also attack my hair while I'm trying to sleep...and I don't wanna kick her out of our room ( I really like that she sleeps with us-mostly on my side) I don't think it would be very fair to her...And I don't want to have to kick her off our bed. I doubt she'd stay off for long anyway.

I'm really not sure what to do. I really want to break Toodles of the habit of playing with feet (she will play with mine sometimes too-all hours of the day. Fingers too)

Actually I was laying on the floor by the chair she was under and she started jumping at my hand and she actually jumped out at my face and scratched my nose a little bit...and with a young child, I really wanna nip that in the butt before it gets worse.

Any and all adivce is greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

 

[bluebo]

Have a spray bottle close to the bed and spray her when she attacks your husbands feet...

 

[minka]

No, no do not spray your cat with water. By the time you get the water bottle, she won't make the correlation between her play and the water shooting her in the face. You will only make her scared of the water bottle and you.

What it sounds like is that for whatever reason she didn't spend enough time with her mother/littermates. So she doesn't know better not to play with other peoples bodyparts. So when she attacks the wrong things, you need to teach her that it is not acceptable. Hissing and/or making a sharp noise is a good start. Also making that bodypart as boring as possible. So if she jumps at your hand, don't move it. A immobile object is no fun. If she doesn't get the hint, you can gently scruff her and hold her in place on the ground. (Or in this case, bed.) Don't push her into the mattress or anything, just hold her there until she stops squirming for a few seconds. Then, slowly take your hand away and ignore her. You want to teach her that biting or playing with you in any way = stopping of all fun time.
Now, in conjunction with this you can never ever play with hands. It will undo all of the teaching. Make sure she has Lots of toys to play with, and get string on a stick toys so you can burn off most of that neverending kitten energy with her. That will be your playtime together.

 

[white cat lover]

It may also help to be devoting 15 mins just before bed specifically to interactive playtime - get a wand toy & tucker her out before bed. Sometimes "foot attacks" are the result of boredom....

 

[sirthumpsey]

ok so no spray bottle...good to know.

I've tried playing with her but its hard to wear her out cause she is sooo energetic. I think a lot of its cause she is a kitten. 

Last night before bed i played with  her for 20 minutes and she was ready for bed but a  couple hours later she got a second wind and started jumping around like crazy again. Any idea why?

 

[orientalslave]

She's an energetic kitten and she's bored.  The best thing for her would be a playmate - a kitten of a similar age.  They will play for hours chasing each other round, hence 20 minutes is probably only enough to get her going.

If another kitten is out of the question you need to play a lot more with her, using 'distance' toys not your hands or feet.  And when she does jump on hands or feet, cry out loudly.

Also shut the bedroom door.  We don't have to sleep with our pets and while she learns the rules it will save you getting hurt.

 

[sirthumpsey]

Hubby thinks getting another kitten would be too much....so we aren't gonna go that route. 

Okay, I'll try playing with her longer....

Actually, we usually keep all of the doors shut in the house (except my daughters bedroom) and the second we open the door to our bedroom Toodles runs in there so fast all you see is blurry cat...and she immediatly hides under the bed...She does come out eventually though...

 

[minka]

Lol! Oh toodles, causing chaos!