# Mischevious Kitten Behavior



## Astarael (Feb 20, 2013)

Hi all! I recently brought home a "teenage" kitten. He's about 8 months, roughly and still very much kitten behavior. I keep meaning to make a "Welcome" post for him on the general chat, but he's kept me on my toes pretty consistently!

1.) He likes to eat/chew stuff. Almost PICA like, but I brought it up with the vet (I had to take him in because he ate some part of a melamine/mr.clean magic eraser sponge!) and he said it's likely because he was taken away from his mom too early. I'll elaborate on that in a few, but he likes to eat stuff. His foster mom said he was still teething, so I also attribute it to that. I'm afraid of giving him toys in case he chews pieces off and ingests them (he has, and fortunately threw it back up about a week later, and I had NO idea!). ANYWAYS, what are some safe toys that, if ingested won't cause blockage, or helps with his mouthiness/chewing habits? 

2.) He gets into my trash, like a puppy! It definitely happens when he's bored and/or close to feeding time. Is there a trash can I can get that's little kitten paw proof? Or is it better just to put it away where he can't get it? I have one spot where I could put up the trash, but it's in my tiny laundry room, and its already crowded so I'd rather get a trash can he can't get into rather than putting it up. 

3.) He kneads (which is not a big deal) but he also tries to suckle on stuff. He'll start licking (which is ouchie, because rough sandpaper tongue!), and then using teeth/trying to suckle on skin. It wouldn't be a big deal if I could get him to do it on a blankie/something else, rather than my bare skin. I know it's a comfort thing but it kind of hurts and wakes me up in my sleep! I wind up having to burrito myself up at night and make sure my bare skin isn't showing, then he just curls up and is perfect. 

To help with his energy, I'm starting him out on clicker training and he's responded fantastically so far!  we're still on day 1, though. Otherwise he's a really sweet kitten and I really adore him. <3

Thanks again!


----------



## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Neelix is my second kitten. Book was JUST like this at 8 months and so is Neelix (just about 8 months old now).

He is a chewer. He gnaws on EVERYTHING. I buy teething toys for toy dogs. He can gnaw on them to his heart's content. He loves mylar toys but was eating them so they are put away until he gets older and past this phase (just like I had to do wiht Book). I buy the little fake mice and any small plush toys I find. He can chew on them until I see bits starting to fall off then I take them away.

Trash... yeah.... I had a pop top trash can that was perfect until Book figured out if he jumped up on it and then off it popped it open. I started putting a painted brick on it so he couldn't get it open... until he learned to shove the brick off. Then when I purposefully broke the pop mechanism so I had to LIFT the lid Book ripped the entire lid off and broke it. Now there is an upside down cardboard chewy.com box over it. They can jump on it but the box goes down the side of the can and they can't get it up high enough to lift off the trash. If they knock the trash over completely the box stays on and they can't get to the garbage.... that will do until I can find a new can.

Neelix doesn't suckle, but he's a licker. He's constantly licking any bare skin he finds. He's finally starting to move past that phase. I pet him when he does it but if it goes on for more than a few seconds and give him a NO NO NO and get up and walk away from him. It's finally starting to click that he can lick, but only for a short time. He doesn't suckle on objects, but does pull at MowMow's blanket if I don't watch him carefully. He finds the little fabric 'pills' and eats them. I just pick that blanket up if I'm not there to watch him, besides if he lays on it then MowMow gets all snarky and won't use it until I've washed it. It gets coodies on it.

Clicker training did WONDERS for Book. Neelix not so much.....

Hang in there. When Book hit 8 months it got so bad I really thought about returning him to the rescue. HE was driving me BONKERS. Then he hit a year and things started to smooth out really quickly after that. Neelix is just about where Book what as this age and I've got a lot more patience knowing that in another six months things will (God, I hope) ease up and he'll mature out of some of this stuff.


----------

