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Old December 27th, 2010, 11:33 PM
Raiee2010 Raiee2010 is offline
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Kitten will not stop biting and scratching

hello ,
i have a 16 week old kitten who will not stop biting and scratching,.. we have had him since he has been 6 weeks old.. and he has been doing it since.. he will not stop no matter what we do i always try distracting him , but it dosent seem to work , and i dont like hiting him like some poeple tell me to do .. BUT... the odd thing is when its just me and him he is fine and his daddy lol ( my boyfriend) gets home he acts out with the biting and scrtaching , he jumps on your arm and wraps his paws around it... im not sure what to do to make him stop , but any help would be great my arms look crazy from him..
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Old December 28th, 2010, 12:21 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
we have had him since he has been 6 weeks old..
Why did you get him when he was only 6 weeks? Kittens should stay with their momma and siblings until 10-12 weeks. That's how they learn about bite inhibition and other vital socialization skills.

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and i dont like hiting him like some poeple tell me to do ..
Don't ever hit your kitten. Whoever is telling you to do this needs to give themselves a smack. This will only cause your kitten to mistrust you and won't teach him a thing about controlling his teeth and claws. Could even make him worse.

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he jumps on your arm and wraps his paws around it... im not sure what to do to make him stop , but any help would be great my arms look crazy from him..
He's playing. That's what kittens do. If he had a sibling or playmate his age to do this with instead of your arms, it wouldn't be such an issue. Any way you can get another kitten for him to hang out with? 2 are better than one, and he won't be lonely when you're not at home.
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Old December 28th, 2010, 12:58 AM
pattymac pattymac is offline
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I agree totally with Sugarcat, biting and grabbing is totally normal and had kitty been left with littermates a few more weeks, he would likely not be so bitey and grabby with the claws. I may have the same issue with the kitten I picked up as a stray. Don't know how long she got to stay with mom but right now she's pretty gentle and while she'll hold with her paws, her bites are more like little nibbles. If you can find your kitten a decent sized stuffed mouse that he can grab and hold onto to kick and bite that should help. When he starts getting a bit rangy, give him that to bite.

I also agree with the 2nd kitten...they're so much more fun when they have a playmate.
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Old December 28th, 2010, 08:34 AM
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I agree with Sugarcatmom. This kitten was taken away from his siblings and momma much too early and he is just playing like kittens play.

Is your BF 100% consistent with the rules of NO PLAYING with the hands/feet, etc? Are you gentle with him when you are telling him NO and distracting him with a toy? Does he have a toy that is big enough for him to wrap his legs around and bunny kick?

Please no hitting, that can teach him that it is OK to play rough or if the hitting is hard, he will not trust you. A second kitten the same age would certainly help out in socializing him.
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Old December 28th, 2010, 12:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
hello ,
daddy lol ( my boyfriend) gets home he acts out with the biting and scrtaching , he jumps on your arm and wraps his paws around it... im not sure what to do to make him stop , but any help would be great my arms look crazy from him..
I would venture to say it's been your bf that the kitten has learned how to play with. He probably allowed it when the kitten was tiny. Now kitty is getting bigger he wants it to stop. It's fair game when the "big cat" is home.
As the others have already pointed out - 6 weeks is way too young to be taken from mom and siblings. From the time they are tiny until they are around 3 months mom is teaching them valuable lessons on survival and socialization. Their siblings are teaching them, and each other, how to play but not too roughly. I have a family right now who never try anything rough with me. With their siblings they do but they know their limitations. I also have a kitty who was found by himself and brought to me when he was a tiny little gaffer. He is quite rough with his biting when he decides he wants to play. He also shares my food with me but that's a different story.
The best thing to do when the kitten starts misbehaving is to say a sharp NO or respond the way a playmate would - by meowing - and redirect to a large stuffie. You should always make sure there is a stuffie close by when you know kitty is going to react to the bf. You have to be 100% consistent. Not 99. Not 98.
A playmate in the same age bracket is always a wonderful thought as well. Please make sure it is another cat and not a dog. That opens up it's own set of issues.
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Old December 28th, 2010, 01:44 PM
Raiee2010 Raiee2010 is offline
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we got the kitten when he was 6 weeks old because thats when the people we got him from were giving them away , no my fault of him being so young.. and as for him playing this is not playing way he does it to hurt you , and none of this is my bfs fault because he is never with the cat only for a few hours a day i sepdn all day the the kitten and i try and give him rules and he dosent obey.. i tryed the pushing down on the toungue thing and well that didnt work worth **** he bites ever harder
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Old December 28th, 2010, 02:14 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
we got the kitten when he was 6 weeks old because thats when the people we got him from were giving them away , no my fault of him being so young..
You didn't have to take him.

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Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
i sepdn all day the the kitten and i try and give him rules and he dosent obey..
Is this your first cat?

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Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
i tryed the pushing down on the toungue thing and well that didnt work worth **** he bites ever harder
What exactly is the "pushing down on the tongue thing"?
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Old December 28th, 2010, 02:29 PM
Raiee2010 Raiee2010 is offline
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well if i didnt take him they were going to get rid of them , meaning make away with the kittens that were left ... and well pushing down the tounge is when they go to bite you ur supose to push down on there tounge to make them stop .. it was on here i was reading it and well no this isnt my first cat i;ve always had kittens and cats and none who have ever been this bad.. all my kittens i got when they were 6 weeks oldd:P
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Old December 28th, 2010, 07:29 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
well if i didnt take him they were going to get rid of them , meaning make away with the kittens that were left ...
Huh? So what happened to the other kittens then? I have no idea what "make away with the kittens that were left" means.

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Originally Posted by Raiee2010 View Post
and well pushing down the tounge is when they go to bite you ur supose to push down on there tounge to make them stop ..
I'd advise not doing that. Not only can you cause harm to the cat's mouth, it obviously isn't a technique that's working for you.

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i;ve always had kittens and cats and none who have ever been this bad.. all my kittens i got when they were 6 weeks oldd:P
Where have you been getting all these 6 week old kittens from? And where are they now?
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