Housecat that acts like a stray

i_love_toast

We have a 6 month old kitten. we got her from a country home where the mother was a house/outdoor friendly cat and the father was a stray. At first she was really affectionate, always jumping up on our laps and enjoyed being petted. However since mid summer she just doesnt like being picked up at all (lets out a cry and tries to jump down). She would rarely look for attention either. At the end of the day she likes to do her own thing and thats fine by us.

she is in a great home and is well fed and looked after. she is a particularly hyper cat that loves being chased and playing hide and seek. but after a while she plays rough and tries to claw and bite.

she is due to get neutered this week and we were told that this should calm her hyperness down. We just want to know does anyone else have a kitten that is kind of strange and does not like attention?

C2

Hi

My sister has a cat like that. He's a real oddball -playbites a lot and pounces on them when they dont expect it. He is a little affectionate as long as you let him come to you. Neutering helped but he still has the problem and my sister is convinced that it was just the environment he grew up in before he came to her at 3-4 months.

He is catsat by a vet friend and she say the same- they pick it up when they're young.

Sorry my answer isn't much help but I guess what I'm saying is dont expect big changes. Having said that my sister and her husband love the cat, oddities and all, so he cant be that bad. I think he's antisocial and a bit bonkers but I really like him too.

Clare

Rockery Woman

Kittens are mental, they really are! You really need to discourage the biting and scratching though. Get it some toys (most supermarkets have them near the petfood section) with catnip in them, the kitten will love slapping and biting these. Every time the kitten jumps on you and bites you say NO! put it and one of its toys on the ground and enjoy watching it play. Also pieces of paper and string are good kitten toys!

If you play with your kitten using your hands it will think nothing of biting and scratching you, cute now, but when its an adult OUCH!!!:eek:

I have cats myself, Ive seen all this before. My parents have a cat that will claw you to pieces because my father plays with it using his hands!!

i_love_toast

well that sounds very similar to ours. She hides under beds and around corners pounces unexpectedly. but we love the way she's playful. It just when she gets aggressive like a few minutes ago i picked her up and she tried to bite me.

Well her original owner said she was the most friendly of the kittens and when she came to us she was pretty friendly but just over time she seemed to go strange.

anyways thanks anyways for replying!!

Shenshen

Rockery Woman wrote: »

Every time the kitten jumps on you and bites you say NO! put it and one of its toys on the ground and enjoy watching it play. Also pieces of paper and string are good kitten toys!

I'd be a bit careful with that, you might teach the kitten that to get a toy, it'll have to bite the owner...