# 8 week old kitten - Need advice



## Cat_Nip_Thief (Nov 16, 2005)

Kittens need a lot of attention and they have a lot of energy but Izzy plays really rough and literally hurts my wife and I to the point we have to punish her. We have a small spray bottle with water we use as a last resort for punishments. Izzy will sit on the sofa arm or our lap and leap for our face with her claws. If we yell at her she’ll come back, hiss and attack us … most of the time drawing blood then she darts off quickly.

I was lying on the floor last night playing with her and trying to get her to play with her toys instead of my hands, arms, legs, feet and face but it’s impossible to do. Her favorite toys are my wife and I!

When we sit down for dinner she constantly claws and bites us … climbing up, trying to get at our dinner begging constantly. 1 of us has to sit and baby sit her while the other eats and she constantly tries to get away from me so she can get to my wife and her dinner. I’ve tried putting Izzy down by her food and she eats a bit then full speed runs back to my wife and continues to frenzy … scratching and biting again.

At night we shut our bedroom door when we sleep and she sits in the hall and yells till my wife opens up the door at which point Izzy runs into the room at full speed and playtime begins. We try and sleep while Izzy runs back and forth on the bed scratching and biting our face, feet, legs, arms and hands constantly. Izzy leaps for our face and scratches nonstop after we let her into the bedroom.

It almost seems we can’t eat, sit and talk on the sofa or get any sleep. It’s only been 3 weeks since we’ve adopted her and she’s already driving us both absolutely nuts. When we punish Izzy by yelling at her or even the water spray bottle she’ll throw a small tantrum … by tantrum I mean she’ll run off and hide then come back hissing and snipping at us. She’ll then bite and claw HARD and draw blood most times at that point then dart off quickly.

I want to get her claws trimmed and teach her to be nice but I don’t want to turn her into a mean cat at the same time trying to teach her right from wrong.

*How can we teach our 8-week-old kitten to play nice instead of so rough? How can you tell when a cat is playing or not and what is too far? Will she calm down after we get her fixed here in a month or so? * 

I just hope Izzy isn’t this wild and rough the entire time she’s with us. I have a lot of fond memories of growing up with cats when I was young but I’ve never honestly owned a small kitten like this before. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :roll:


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

All this is normal for a kitten of that age. I'm sure you don't realize it, but you're actually enabling much of this behavior. For example continuing playtime, babysitting, opening the door.

What a kitten wants is someone to pay attention, someone to play with. A kitten doesn't understand punishment. She doesn't understand why you're doing that to her. The best way to get a kitten (or a cat) to understand that what they're doing isn't acceptable is to immediately deny what they want. When she scratches you, immediately stop playing, get up, and go into another room. She'll eventually learn that behavior produces something she DOESN'T want: loss of attention and playtime. Shut her in a room with her own food during mealtime. Don't open the bedroom door at night.

And when she does something she shouldn't do, communicate in a way a cat understands. When she hurts you, respond like you're really hurt. When she hisses at you, puff yourself up, stare her in her face, and give out your best and nastiest hiss. Sounds like this kitten is trying to be the dominant animal in the house and so far is doing pretty good at it. :lol: 

I think when we try to teach a cat something, we expect instant results and give up too soon. A cat can learn, but it just takes longer. It takes consistent and persistent repetition.

Good luck and enjoy your cat's childhood!!


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

What Tim said.  Three weeks isn't very long for her to adjust to her new environment AND rules. Be consistant and don't reward bad behavior. Ignoring her when she's bad is the best "punishment". I found a good harsh "No!" and then walking away and ignoring then for a few minutes worked wonders. And, of course, TONS of play.
And I'd highly recommend trimming her nails. Little kitten nails are rediculously sharp! It should be done about every ten days or so. If you're not sure how to do it your vet or groomer will show you how. Now's a good time to start too so she gets used to it and isn't hard to handle later.


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## fellajetandmonster'sslave (Aug 5, 2003)

*izzy!*

all cat behaviorists say that "punishment" in it's conventional form, is not only ineffective for a cat, it will intensify the undesirable behaviors............I also feel that the spray bottle method is not for long-term, a good plan.....I feel that it demeans the cat---in other words, any action from you that can be interpreted as "negative", will worsen your problems........................and embarassing and/or shaming a cat will not net you a better-behaved cat..............however, this is an excellent formula for producing a frightened, resentful cat...


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## Superkitties (Jan 30, 2004)

Awww, hang in there. We had one here, she's still called The Phantom Menace, although she's calmed down substantially, not completely.

I've suggested this one many times, and while TimsK says it doesn't work for guys, perhaps your wife will try it - a high-pitched scream when the kitten attacks. The first few times the ears go back, and they pause. After a while, they'll get that they're doing a bad thing and stop right away.

Here's a helpful thread, and one of my replies has other good threads too: Advice needed-demon cat


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## nancyLA (Feb 13, 2005)

I feel for ya!! I didn't think I would survive my one year old cats' kittenhood,..they drove us NUTS!!!
At one year old, they are starting to calm down a bit!!


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## linguafranca (Jun 21, 2005)

I know you are already trying but i just want to stress the importance of not ever playing with her with any of your body parts. And the only way i know of for getting a kitten to stop what they are doing is to distract them. Get wand toys (where you get to keep your hands a safe distance from the object being attacked) and keep things handy wherever you think you might get attacked. You won't ever get it 100% with a little kitten like that, but you sure don't want an adult cat that thinks you are a plaything...ouch! 
Also, try your best to tire her out before bedtime. And I'll second the not letting her in the bedroom - she'll stop crying eventually. You can try leaving a radio on a talk channel near her bed as well. If you want her to eventually sleep on your bed i would work really hard on exhausting her with playing all day. She's probably too young to sleep all night right now anyway though.


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