Does anyone (or has anyone) owned a KITTEN - need advice

[LadyWentworth]

I recently have taken in a kitten. This was about 6 weeks ago. She is 3 months now. She is perfectly normal (from what I observe). The only time she really seemed to be odd was when she had a toy that had catnip in it! I swear she was tripping off it!! So, I took that away and she is her normal self again.

This is the problem, though. It is kind of difficult for me to pet her and show any affection. She doesn't hide the fact that she wants it. So, that can't be a problem. She used to only go as far as maybe rubbing her head against my arm as I'd pet her. Now, she gets it into her head to bite me. Twice now I have felt her teeth on me, but I manage to pull away in time. Then I always feel bad about not giving her more, but she just isn't to be controlled in that sense.

I don't understand it. It isn't like she is lacking in affection or attention. I can't seem to say anything to the vet because he just lets everything I say go in one ear and out the other. After all, the kitten doesn't seem to have a voice anymore!!! She only seems to SQUEAK! When I asked about that, he just brushed it off and said "They do that sometimes". It is like I am bothering him with questions.

So, has anyone experienced this biting tendency? Or if anyone has an idea of what it could be, I would greatly like to know. If there is something I can do to get her to stop, I'd LOVE to know!! Thanks in advance!

[jon1jt]

Miaow!

[applepie]

We got my old cat when he was only a few days old. I had to bottle feed him, and he was the sweetest little thing in the world. Then he hit about the same age. I don't know if it has to do with settling in or what, but he started to bite and attack people. We had named him Mac, and we began to jokingly call him Mac Attack:lol: He was a little terror, but he did outgrow it some. He still likes to chase people's legs (he's 9 now, I think) and bite them. He also curls into a ball and goes into a frenzy attacking his legs. I wouldn't worry about the kitten. There isn't likely anything wrong. She may just be a similar type of personality, and she'll likely need to just outgrow this phase. Mac settled down after maybe 6 months to a year, and he doesn't bite nearly as often now. I've not been bitten by him since he was about 6 months old. My trick is yogurt. Cats love it, and it makes a wonderful bribe for them to be nice. They always love the person who gives them treats. Goodluck with your kitten. ~Meg~

[stephofthenight]

ahh i bottlefed my kitten nightmare, and its like his way of showing love, he nips at my arms when i pet him, never realy hard and if i say owe or something he imidetly lets go and looks guilty. umm, so yeah, some cats just do that, try tapping his nose whith your finger when he does it, or get a spray bottle and if he nips u spray him.

o and get a new vet, your not paying him to ignore your questions...

[Telegram Sam]

She's just a bad actress... cats are evil creatures who have mastered the art of acting cute. Don't trust them.

[LadyWentworth]

She's just a bad actress... cats are evil creatures who have mastered the art of acting cute. Don't trust them.

Sometimes she makes me wonder!!

Well, thanks for the help. I will give it a try.

You know, she has the habit of curling into a ball and biting her legs, too! They do sound alike. Maybe they were truly meant for each other! :)

[Nightshade]

One of our cats does it if we stroke her stomach or she thinks we are going to started at about that age too. My grans cat does it if you donts stroke jst right.... and the answer is a light wack and shove them off your knee... my grandmother usually tells Smudge off too but I dont know if that has any effect on him.

[Shalot]

I have a kitten. She is roughly three months old. we rescued her from a shelter so I don't know how old she is exactly. She gets very playful. She plays with fake mice and balls of paper, the other cat's tail, and really anything she comes across. When she is in her energetic playful mood she is very boisterous and runs around from here to there. She attacked my shoes earlier, and then fell backwards. if i pick her up when she is in that mood, she will attack my hand and bite it, but she is just playing. We have a spray bottle we use when she does something that will get her hurt or something we just don't want her doing (like jumping into the dishwasher). Two sprays will do ya.

I say get a spray bottle. it gets the point across. :thumbs_up

[Bakiryu]

she just wants to play! i let my kitten bite me all she wants, it mangles my arms a lot though. mine doesn't meow either, i wonder why that is?

[crisaor]

All kittens love to bite when they're young, it's perfectly normal. After that, they'll begin testing their claws on your furniture (expensive couches are usually preferred).

It's also normal that they don't meow "properly". It gets louder with age, although it varies for every cat (mine resembles a sheep sometimes).

[Shalot]

Here's my kitten when she is at rest:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n25/Shalot_bucket/kitten.gif

of course right now, she is running around the room with a wadded up piece of paper she pulled out of God knows where, but isn't she cute?? I covered her up because she came home with kennel cough and it's cold in this house so I tucked her in (he he)

[jon1jt]

Muse or Mews?

[Nightshade]

We have a spray bottle we use when she does something that will get her hurt or something we just don't want her doing (like jumping into the dishwasher). Two sprays will do ya.

I say get a spray bottle. it gets the point across. :thumbs_up

Never tried this method but heard it is very effective.

:D

[applepie]

Sometimes she makes me wonder!!

Well, thanks for the help. I will give it a try.

You know, she has the habit of curling into a ball and biting her legs, too! They do sound alike. Maybe they were truly meant for each other! :)

Sounds like she may just need some time to settle down then. Mac is perfectly healthy and all, but sometimes I wonder if he was born with a wire loose in the brain:lol: He's a really great cat, and there is never a dull moment. Good luck with the kitten.

[mtpspur]

Sounds normal to me. We've had many cats over the years and they all went thru a nipping stage--half wobder if it's teething. They usually grow out of it.

[SleepyWitch]

we had a cat from the sanctuary once and he often nipped at my hands for fun, he didn't really bite though. he also didn't miaow much even though he was grown up.

i have a question about kittens, too. I'd like to have one one day (not anytime soon,though). when you're raising a kitten, do you have to stay home all day and watch it? what if you have to go to school work? do you take it along in one of those basket/cage thingies? around what age can you leave them at home alone?

[LadyWentworth]

Yeah. I heard about the spray bottle thing, too. I will have to give that a try.

I have had to keep her downstairs for now, and she has the entire room for herself. She has gotten into a few things that she knew she shouldn't have (she just runs away from me as soon as I say "What did you do?"), but today she did the ULTIMATE thing. We have one of those child gates to keep her from coming up the staris. I opened up the door and there she was! She went running down SO FAST! She had a little trouble getting back over it again. I think she was trying to hurry so that I wouldn't see her! Because as soon as she got over it she sat on the steps, looking up at me, like nothing had happened. Naturally, as soon as I said "What did you do?", she went running into one of her cubes that she has (like I am going to beat her or something!! Crazy cat!).

[kitten]

hey! no one owns me!!!!:flare: :lol: :lol: :lol:

my two nipped but grew out of it. the water bottle didn't help with mine - they like water! :confused:

i hope it works better for you. cats are SO worth it. :)

[*Classic*Charm*]

Hey! I work for a vet (past two years) and I'mstudying animal biology in school. More to the point, I own two cats. The thing with kittens is that they have three different kinds of bites. I know it sounds rediculous, but there really are love bites. If you're petting your cat and he/she rests her teeth on you, or gives you a little nip, it's possible that it is a sign of affection/appreciation. Then there are the play bites. That is common in kittens and they usually grow out of play biting if they are played with properly as kittens. That is, if you teach your cat to play with toys and not your feet/fingers, they learn that you are not a toy, and so they will not bother trying to get a reaction out of you by biting. You can encourage them to stop that by giving them other toys, like catnip (he tripping out is normal and not harmful) or chasing toys. Finally, there are bites of aggression. In this case, either your cat is scared and should be left alone to relax or it is actually trying to be mean. That's where your spray bottle comes in handy. Figuring out the difference between the bites comes with time. But it is important to figure out the difference before you go spraying your cat in the face if he/she is trying to say thanks for the rub.

[SleepyWitch]

Hey! I work for a vet (past two years) and I'mstudying animal biology in school. More to the point, I own two cats. The thing with kittens is that they have three different kinds of bites. I know it sounds rediculous, but there really are love bites. If you're petting your cat and he/she rests her teeth on you, or gives you a little nip, it's possible that it is a sign of affection/appreciation. Then there are the play bites. That is common in kittens and they usually grow out of play biting if they are played with properly as kittens. That is, if you teach your cat to play with toys and not your feet/fingers, they learn that you are not a toy, and so they will not bother trying to get a reaction out of you by biting. You can encourage them to stop that by giving them other toys, like catnip (he tripping out is normal and not harmful) or chasing toys. Finally, there are bites of aggression. In this case, either your cat is scared and should be left alone to relax or it is actually trying to be mean. That's where your spray bottle comes in handy. Figuring out the difference between the bites comes with time. But it is important to figure out the difference before you go spraying your cat in the face if he/she is trying to say thanks for the rub.
don't they also flatten their ears when they are agressive? so the facial expressions should tell you when it's a love/play bite and when she's trying to be nasty?

[Nightshade]

and they go what my sisters and I used to call 'bufflo'. That is when all there hair stands on end and they look twice the size they are although its more common for just their tails to go.

[*Classic*Charm*]

and they go what my sisters and I used to call 'bufflo'. That is when all there hair stands on end and they look twice the size they are although its more common for just their tails to go.

Yeah.

[Shalot]

Hey Classic Charm, your presence is requested: :)

We have two cats. One we adopted when she was an adult and someone evidently trained her not to jump up on the table during meals and eat from a person's plate. Instead, the old cat just sits there on the floor, tilting her head and giving her best "cute" face in the hopes that someone will throw her some scraps.

We got a kitten a while ago, and no one trained her and I guess that makes us responsible for her training. She doesn't know not to eat from my plate while I am eating and I was wondering if the spray bottle would be a good way to break her of the habit...

Actually, anyone who knows could answer this as I haven't seen Classic Charm around in a while. She seemed to know what she was talking about though, so if she does pop in, well, I hope she lets me know.

[Dori]

We have a spray bottle we use when she does something that will get her hurt or something we just don't want her doing (like jumping into the dishwasher). Two sprays will do ya.

I say get a spray bottle. it gets the point across. :thumbs_up

Hehe. My kitten just stands there and continuously (and somewhat obsessively, its seems) clean herself. A big puff of air in the face usually does it though.

I adopted two kittens that were sisters from an animal shelter over the summer. One of them loves being pet and is rather loud. The other is quiet (she "squeaks") and seems to lick herself constantly. If you pet her, she'll clean herself again. So I pet her again :p . They are both quite playful and nearly inseperable, unless the former is being pet by someone. The latter is very mischievous. She is almost like a dog that doesn't exactly respond to commands. But I still love her!

Has anyone tried letting them bite you when they bite you? I do it all the time. They simply stop before any pain is inflicted. It's not even a bite, really. It's funny to see them with their mouth wrapped around my finger.

[metal134]

My cat likes to bite too, but it is only playing. Thing is, she gets whiny when I won't allow it. I know she means well, but it hurts. Whenever she gets like that that, I always put her in front of the dog and let them play. The dog is way bigger, but they play well and she would never hurt the cat. Of course, I always kind've watch in my perhipery and make sure it doesn't get too rough

[jon1jt]

I recently have taken in a kitten. This was about 6 weeks ago. She is 3 months now. She is perfectly normal (from what I observe). The only time she really seemed to be odd was when she had a toy that had catnip in it! I swear she was tripping off it!! So, I took that away and she is her normal self again.

This is the problem, though. It is kind of difficult for me to pet her and show any affection. She doesn't hide the fact that she wants it. So, that can't be a problem. She used to only go as far as maybe rubbing her head against my arm as I'd pet her. Now, she gets it into her head to bite me. Twice now I have felt her teeth on me, but I manage to pull away in time. Then I always feel bad about not giving her more, but she just isn't to be controlled in that sense.

I don't understand it. It isn't like she is lacking in affection or attention. I can't seem to say anything to the vet because he just lets everything I say go in one ear and out the other. After all, the kitten doesn't seem to have a voice anymore!!! She only seems to SQUEAK! When I asked about that, he just brushed it off and said "They do that sometimes". It is like I am bothering him with questions.

So, has anyone experienced this biting tendency? Or if anyone has an idea of what it could be, I would greatly like to know. If there is something I can do to get her to stop, I'd LOVE to know!! Thanks in advance!

maybe the biting is a sign that your kitty wants you to up the dosage of catnip, or a tad of marijuana. :D

[LadyWentworth]

maybe the biting is a sign that your kitty wants you to up the dosage of catnip, or a tad of marijuana. :D


She actually has gotten better with the nipping. You know what? I would much rather give her a tad bit of marijuana over the catnip!! The catnip didn't have that great of an effect on her, and she wasn't too pleasant to have around! At least with marijuana she may just mellow out a little bit! ;)