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Old May 3rd, 2012, 12:50 AM
Shi676 Shi676 is offline
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Question Kitten Biting and Other Things

Hello I just got a new kitten about a week ago. I found him outside of my work near a dumpster. He looked very thin, and I didn't want to leave him, so I brought him home with me.
I've named him Constantine. And after some research, I've figured out that he's about 5 weeks old. There was no mother that I could find around, and there were a lot of cars so I didn't want him to get hit.
Anyway, I assume that he's around 5 weeks because of his size and eyes. They still have a lot of blue in them. He is also very tiny.
Basically, I was wondering if there was any different way to make him stop biting than you would for an older kitten. I'm guessing it would be about the same, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me any tips.
He's also dry nursing on my fingers, even though I stop him every time he starts. I'm not sure how I would stop that either.
He's extremely hyper and active. He runs everywhere and gets into everything like a normal kitten. But when he's like this, you can't touch him without him deciding that he wants to rip up your hands and arms. He doesn't attack feet unless you wiggle your toes and get his attention.

I've tried:
Blowing in his face to distract him and give him a toy. Not much of a distraction.
Pushing down on his tongue? I've read that it works, but so far, he just thinks it's more of an invitation to bite more.
Saying "no", "nuh uh", etc in a firm voice. He just looks at me with this cute cross eyed face and keeps trying.
Only paying attention to him when he doesn't bite.

I'm not really into the thought of spraying him with water or anything similar. And I dont think putting him in a time out room would work. He finds fun stuff in everything and can play with anything.

I was also hoping to maybe get some tips on:
How to stop cord chewing (saying "no" to him normally works for that)
Climbing the couch and other things he shouldn't be climbing on ("no" doesn't seem to work there)

I have owned cats before. I have a 7 year old female right now that I adopted. She's still getting used to him. She's gotten to where she cleans him instead of hisses, so I'm guessing they're getting along.

Thank you so much for any tips

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Old May 3rd, 2012, 08:01 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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I like to give cats a stuffy toy to wrestle with and chew on. That behaviour is normal for a kitten but usually he would have litter mates to tell him when he is too rough. A stuffy about his own size is ideal. Encourage him on it.

Poor little guy. The suckling is normal too. My 10 month old feral is doing it when he cuddles with me. As long as he does not ruin my clothes or eat wool I don't care. I really don't encourage it though.

Lots of toys for distraction, one at a time, and he will use up his energy pretty quickly. At that age they are whirling dervishes for a few minutes and then crash and burn. Well, crash and sleep. One of ours would literally fall over mid leap in the air, asleep. Gave heart failure the first time he did that. He was orange too. My second favourite colour.

Bitter apple on the cords worked for us. Vinegar might work.

Oh, a doggy playmate was good for ours but the dog, I found, will allow much stronger biting and play than I would so I'm not sure how much of a good thing that is.

He is a sweetie pie. He might be a wee tiny bit older than 5 weeks, maybe 6, but hard to tell from that photo.
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Old May 6th, 2012, 11:38 PM
Edenca Edenca is offline
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We also had a cord chewer. The bitter apple worked for us as well. You could also try it on your fingers until he desides you don't taste good.
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Old May 7th, 2012, 02:07 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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I have little to no kitten experience, but I wanted to say, dang, that is one cute little kitten! Welcome to the board Shi676!
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