Kitten's bad habits
 

Hi all,
This is my first post here, my kitten Bauer is 7 months old and developed very annoying habits in the last month. He digs through our bathroom garabage can and take everything out. Also I have a candy bowl on an end table and he takes them out and plays with them, I cant keep anything like that around for guests.
I have a spray bottle that I use, but he'll do it when we aren't around or in another room. I'm getting very frustrated with this. He'll even find my makeup brushes and I"ll find them under a couch later on. What are other suggestions to get him to stop? Thanks

Does he have enough toys of his own to play with? Do you spend enough time interacting and playing [I]with[/I] him? You can redirect him to the appropriate toy and give him treats afterward. Tire him out with a wand or fishing rod type of toy, or a laser toy (just be careful of his eyes). Teach him to fetch. Train him to a harness and take him for walks. It sounds to me like he's just being a kitten and has lots of energy to burn.

How about keeping lids on everything so that he can't have access to the stuff you don't want him to?

Please don't spray him, it doesn't teach him anything except to avoid doing this around you, which he's already apparently learned. If you don't want him getting into the garbage or whatever, make it so that he [I]can't[/I].

Oh, days of kittenhood. Love it!!! They are so full of mischief and fun! My suggestion would be like SCM's. Keep the garbage can as empty as you can. Maybe taking it and dumping it into your kitchen can. Leaving candy around is an open invitation for kitties to play with it. Having a kitten around is like having a toddler. You have to kitty/kiddy proof everything!! Just enjoy it. He should, with extra toys and play time with you, grow out of it soon.

Thanks all for the advice, he is like a child in many ways, and we are starting to keep our garbage can empty and that's funny about the harness I was saying a few days ago that we should get one, so I will be doing that for sure, he is full of energy on or off, that's how he is..but he's my baby :) Thanks again!!
Sarah

My O'Shawnnessey who will be 2 years old around July we think, soon has started in the last few months to get into the garbage in the bedroom. He has a thing about qtips! He turns over all the garbage and pull everything out of it looking for them and plays with them all over the house. So I stopped putthing them in there. I'm going to get one of those step on cans so he won't be able to get at them, but I'll be able to start putting garbage in the bedroom again. :laughing: