kitten turning vicious

Rosedust84

Im just looking for some advice, basically about 2 months ago I got a 3 month old kitten, she was never overly friendly but she was quiet enough, kept to herself, but in the last few weeks shes attacking everyone, her teeth are still too blunt obviously but shes scratching and can be quite vicious..I have a baby and she wont leave him alone, keeps attacking him and she pounced on him the other day and broke the skin..I know with pups they go through the biting stage but is this normal for a kitten? Ive had a few in the past and they were never like this. Any help appreciated!

elainesnuffles

Rosedust84 wrote: »

Im just looking for some advice, basically about 2 months ago I got a 3 month old kitten, she was never overly friendly but she was quiet enough, kept to herself, but in the last few weeks shes attacking everyone, her teeth are still too blunt obviously but shes scratching and can be quite vicious..I have a baby and she wont leave him alone, keeps attacking him and she pounced on him the other day and broke the skin..I know with pups they go through the biting stage but is this normal for a kitten? Ive had a few in the past and they were never like this. Any help appreciated!

Hi we had a kitten just like this before! She used to hide behind door and wait for my son & then pounce on his ankle and dig her teeth in! He was terrified of her, we were even beginning to think she was ferral. We were advised to buy her lots of toys & a scratching post.
She grew into a loving cat but was sadly knocked down when she was two!
So try her with toys even a ball of wool, shes just playing & their natural instinct is to hunt. We had a wind up mouse which our cat loved!
Hope this helps

Shenshen

Rosedust84 wrote: »

Im just looking for some advice, basically about 2 months ago I got a 3 month old kitten, she was never overly friendly but she was quiet enough, kept to herself, but in the last few weeks shes attacking everyone, her teeth are still too blunt obviously but shes scratching and can be quite vicious..I have a baby and she wont leave him alone, keeps attacking him and she pounced on him the other day and broke the skin..I know with pups they go through the biting stage but is this normal for a kitten? Ive had a few in the past and they were never like this. Any help appreciated!

When I was growing up we had a kitten who was very similar, he would hide and pounce on anything that moved. At one time he even found a way to the top of a cupboard, and would drop onto anyone walking past.
I suspect it's a phase, the kitten is growing up and has just way too much energy, sure humans aren't much different in that respect ;o)
I would second the advise of getting her lots of toys, scratching posts and make sure she's got some areas where she can climb (an empty shelf or something like this), as well as actually spending time plying with her.
A lase pointer is a fantastic thing for that, as is a simple piece of string.

Try and get her to understand that there are things she is allowed to play with (the toys) and that she is not allowed to play with the baby. A sharp "no" and a light tap on the nose, or a little water flicked in her direction. She won't stop it straight away, but she should learn quick enough.

meoklmrk91

I think most kittens go through a phase like this, hunting instincts are really kicking in and they don't get the fact that they can hurt when they do this. My kitten would wait until my back was turned and then climb my leg like it was a tree before jumping down and running away, leaving me with several scratches

Give the kitten plenty of toys to play with and play with her using a laser or something to try and tire her out. I can assure you that she is not viscous or intentionally trying to hurt your son, she is just a baby who is learning. It might be best to keep them separate for the moment unless you are there to supervise, that way no one gets hurt

ameee

one of my cats did this as a kitten,its just practice for hunting get lots of toys or even make them (cotton ball on string ) and let her chase it around.One thing I will say is my kitten that did all that play hunting now brings home dead birds no matter how big a bell we put on his neck! He doesnt eat them just leaves them on the porch for me to find in the morning couldnt have a more affectionate lovely pet though

boomerang

It is just play, it's not deliberately hurtful!

It's one of the downsides of having a single kitten - they don't have a sibling to practice with so you're the substitute - ow! Kittens teach each other to inhibit their clawing when playing with each other. Your kitty just hasn't had the opportunity to learn this. She will grow out of it though.

In the meantime you could trim her claws with a regular nail clippers? Only a tiny bit - just enough to take off the sharp point at the end. (You don't want to cut the quick.) I do this with my foster kittens now and I'm no longer covered in cuts and scrapes!

Shenshen

boomerang wrote: »

It is just play, it's not deliberately hurtful!

It's one of the downsides of having a single kitten - they don't have a sibling to practice with so you're the substitute - ow! Kittens teach each other to inhibit their clawing when playing with each other. Your kitty just hasn't had the opportunity to learn this. She will grow out of it though.

In the meantime you could trim her claws with a regular nail clippers? Only a tiny bit - just enough to take off the sharp point at the end. (You don't want to cut the quick.) I do this with my foster kittens now and I'm no longer covered in cuts and scrapes!

Sound advise re the claws, there.
Our vet did that to our kittens when we first brought them in for check-ups.

forestfruits

Cant agree more with previous advice- toys will save you a few scratches. If you play with the kitten yourself one on one with a little toy or just letting her chase your hand/fingers, and when shes too rough you use a short sharp noise- a NO or AH whichever and you stop the play- stop moving your hand, she will learn quite quickly whats play and whats not.

My tom cat now 7 - not overly playful anymore, but when he decides its play time its rough as hes very strong now- he will tear strips off my boyfriend as he lets him, but wont continue to play with me once I say Ah quite sharply.

Good luck!