how can i tame my kitten?

thedrowner

i have this 6 month old neutered kitten (i was hoping the neutering would knock a bit of the violence out of her but it didnt calm her down at all)

she's incredibly vicious when she wants to be, she goes for my hands especially but its not just playful scrabbing, its clinging on, scraping and biting for dear life while i shake my hand in the air to try get her off me!

she calms down, and gets all snuggly but if she sees my hands she goes for them again...(or my feet. and sometimes *so cute* she hides behind things and jumps out at me thinking she can knock me over....awwwwwww)

ive never had a kitten this bad before, and im just wondering, before i ahve no hands left, does anyone no anyhting about taming kittens like this?

koneko

There's quite a few guides on the web to taming kittens and animals in general. They need to be taught that you don't like being attacked.

Kittens would play with eachother and get pretty nasty, but our skin just isn't as thick :rolleyes:

Put her down and walk away when he's being bold. I'm not really in favour of the smacking or tapping on the nose, but if you've no other choice...

If she is nice and does good things give her a little treat. When she's bold, stop giving her attention. She should get the drift.

Whatever you do, when she bites you, don't try and make her stop by being nice or giving her treats to distract her. This way she'll think she's being rewarded like a good little soldier.

thedrowner

Originally posted by koneko


Put her down and walk away when he's being bold.

he he.

thanks for the advice i shall try it from now on, and let yiz now in a week if its improving any

koneko

Hehe, I know it sounds kinda lame, but it has worked for me before

Let us know how you get on. Kittens are the cutest.

Hellrazer

Ive a 4 month old kitten which is just as vicious.
But dont also forget that kittens go through a "Mad" patch around the 4-8 month age bracket.They usually calm down after that.
The neutering usually has no effect on its behaviour if its done before the animal is sexually mature.Thats how the myth of people saying that neutering/spaying has changed their animals personality.
Just give it a bit of time and get it something to pounce on/attack and use that when it goes for your hand.That will get it use to having its own stuff to play with.
Richie

thedrowner

shes been vicious like this since we got her, when she was a month old, once she got over the whole fear of being moved to a new house!

tribble

cake anyone?...;)

WhiteWashMan

picking a cat up by the nape of the neck will also tell it that you are in charge.
they will automatically curl up into carrying position no matter what size or age they are.*





*dont try this with a lion.
they are too heavy.

Typedef

Err kell, kittens when they are young are wild, end of story.

All you really have to do is show it where to excrete and what not to scratch.

When the kitten lets fly on your sofa, you 'must' rub the kitten's face in the urine, so the kitten will learn not to urinate in the house.

Other then that, cats are supposed to be wild.*
* I have five cats.

If your cat scratches you I would recommend 'playing' with the cat... and allowing the cat to scratch at a pillow. When you have the cat on it's back... it can scratch the *hit out of a pillow as if it were another cat... when the cat realises that this won't work, it will soon loose interest in scratching you as, to some extent it will identify you as another cat!

Advice. Put your hand down to the kitten and let it sniff you... a few times... don't force the cat to let you stroke it... allow it to become at ease with you and that way it won't feel threatned by you.

After some time it will recognise you as part of it's extended cat family and won't scratch you. None of mine scratch me, ever, but that is because they trust me... in so far as a cat can.

Typedef

while i shake my hand in the air to try get her off me!

Right, a big mistake to make is to withdraw your hand when a cat scratches you.

1. A cats claws are made such that they are barbed, so withdrawing your hand will give you a worse scrape.

2. If you don't withdraw your hand, it will show the cat that you aren't afraid of it and that it has nothing to fear from you.

*In this sort of situation, I would wear a glove on my hand and play fight with the cat. When the cat gives up eventually, it will think of you as a dominant cat and recognise you as such. Right now, the cat regards itself as the dominant one and that is why it is scratching at you.

This dominance is normal behavour for cats, my own five cats have a hirearchy, that is simply how cats work, so all you have to do is to gently let your cat realise that it can't beat you up. I don't mean hurt it, no, that would be bad, simply put on a glove or cover your hand with your jumper and play with the cat... and allow the cat to back down.

That sounds bad... play fighting with your cat is normal and is all part of the fun, but that said, play fighting is one way young kittens establish dominance over each other... so as another kitten (in terms of your cat) you have to let your cat know that you aren't scared of it.... they are predators (the most efficient land predators going) after all.

The mistake you are making now is backing down before the cat does, so that cat regards you as a subordinate.

*The (wollen glove/two pairs of socks) is to prevent you from getting scratched.... allowing you to withstand the cat's attempts to assert it's dominance over you.

This is normal for all young cats, but I would recommend you don't allow it to manifest itself into adulthood.

</sigmund cat mode>

The neutering usually has no effect on its behaviour if its done before the animal is sexually mature.Thats how the myth of people saying that neutering/spaying has changed their animals personality.


As a rule I don't agree with sterilising cats. If it were available, I would have mine on a feline pill.

koneko

As a rule I don't agree with sterilising cats. If it were available, I would have mine on a feline pill.

This is available though isn't it? I can't speak for Ireland, but back when I lived on "the continent" one of our cats was a pedigree Siamese (and a beaut too), and she was on the pill. No joke.

Typedef

Really they are my mother's cats, so it's not my call.

When I eventually get settled and get more cats, I will get the feline pill if I have females... and needless to say, I won't caustrate my males.

*talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

thedrowner

have to say i completely agree with neutering and spaying, because although it may be cruel to ahve yer bollix chopped off, whats ever crueler is that amount of unwanted animals it couold result in

a pill would be great! gross, imagine trying to get that down yer animals neck every day!

i have tried putting my hand down to her, typedef, and that didnt work ecause she was too intent on chewing it before she sniffed it, but ill also give yer glove idea a go!

bashibazouk

Originally posted by koneko

Put her down and walk away when he's being bold.

Now come on. Putting the thing down for an aul few bites is a bit rash.

koneko

Har har.

Saruman

Get one of them Garden gloves or maybe there is a special animal handling glove.. anyway use it and let her claw away but you are stronger so show her you are in charge.. its natural for her to be like that and eventually she will calm down.. trust me.. been there done that with 4 cats. My current one when she was a kitten was like yours.. even down to the moving house thing! Give her toys to fight with if you are afraid to get a few scratches!

[edit] just noticed Typedef mentioned the glove thing so i guess its good advice! [/edit]

If all else fails then a water pistol will come in handy.. also good for dogs!

thedrowner

i've tried the glove thing but she doesnt seem to realise its my hand and knows she wont be able to scrape me to pieces (well, thats my interpretation of it) and so she loses interest

i tried the whole letting her keep chewing it till she loses interest....it worked a few times but on other occasions it just got too painful

shes a bit mad, i dont think conventional methods are working to show her that shes not the strongest eprsn in this house....she keeps going for the 2 older cats even tho theyve maimed her a few times.

FAYESY

Just a quick note here, all cats have differn't personalitys! same as people! some are friendly & love to snuggle up, some like ruff & tumble games, some stay away from people, I have a cat that loves to sit on our laps but you must NOT stroke him or else he'll leave! Cats like company! 1 cat will need a lot of play time! 2 are just as easy as 1 get him a mate!

As for neuturing YES YES YES!!!! because the people in my village won't spay their cats I have ended up with 18! my next door neighbours cats move in with me as we feed cats good quality food & not bread & potatos like my neighbour!! Cats are obligate carnivors they have to eat meat they also need Taurin for their eyes! which is found in all good quality cat food!

Cats are very independant & very clean! give them a litter tray & they will use it! just put them in the tray & move their legs so they stratch the litter!

Cats rule & dogs drool!!!! (I should know I have 8 dogs at home too!! strays etc!)

Stay cool guys

Faye:cool:
PS please ingore spelling mistake!!! damn this thing needs a spell checker! LOL

Mercury_Tilt

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koneko

BOLD Merc!

Don't make me open a can of Anti-Spam on you.

thedrowner

what did i miss this weekend, dammit

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

thedrowner

t total

is that the opposite of what i did last night (get really drunk in my workplace AGAIN, feck off to the turk's head where i encountered the BEST chat up line ever......'you have hair like a warm snuggly duvet' *peck on the cheek from him* and i *ran away*)

um...to get back on topic still no luck with the kitten....but dammit she's so cute

Mercury_Tilt

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thedrowner

i saw something in the gadget shop yesterday that might make it more bearable....sam the live cat. his chest rises up and down while he's asleep. incredible (scared the b'jesus outa me. and then it upset me, and ive no idea why).uh oh. think i may have to vacate this computer. im in my other work and ive stolen someone's comp.

i think when koneko reads that post YOURE going to ahve the painters in.


One good trick... and Im serious... is to hold on to it and hold its head... while staring into its eyes. You need to use your serious look. It will pick up on it and know your the boss. Takes a bit of time but.... Another is to use feeding as a tool in teaching it the "whos the boss" approach.

this is a great paragraph if you dont take it seriously.


i think im still drunk. shpynx....is that the hairless one? (no...dont even go there....)

koneko

Merc is getting such a smacking if I can make it to the boards beer.

In a friendly way of course. Now stop spamming.

jean141

i have tried everything with my 6month old male kitten, but he still attacks all my family and he attacks our older cat who is 9 years and also our 16 year old dog. he has now started wrecking the house. he has been snipped but it has made no difference. my mum now wants to give him away, so i need help fast!:mad:

Jumpy

You would be better off creating a new thread for this. This one is 7 years old.