We have a kitten who is now around 4 months old - he took quite a while to settle in but from day 1 he has taken a great dislike to our 7 yr old daughter....
This is the second time we have considered rehoming him - he just 'flies' at our daughter and bites REALLY hard
This morning was the final straw - my daughter was getting dressed on my bed and Louii just 'flew' at her and grabbed her around the thigh and BIT!!! He bit so hard he drew blood confused:.
He does bite us others occasionally, but he can be sitting on your knee and then suddenly grab you, but we as adults are quick enough to see the signs and stop him before he goes too far.....wyhereas my daughter isn't.
I know itt might improve after his castrated, but thats still a few weeks away and if this was my dog biting and drawing blood she would be gone!!!
I am not sure the best way to go about rehoming - my local cat centre wont help.......

Hi,

How long have you had him for?? I would definitely suggest neutering him first before taking the action to rehome him.

I can understand your concern for your daughter, I would be the same. Has there been any rough play with the kitten at all? we bred a kitten last year where the dad would rough play with the kitten and he would nip. They neutered him and the improvement was huge.

If your daughter fears him, and who would blame her that will actually make her an easier target sadly. I would ensure he can not get into her bedroom at all so she has a safe haven while this situation is addressed but I would also encourage gentle play between them with toys like feather wands. If he starts getting overexcited I would walk away from him until he cools off.

Where did you get him from? it could be he has not been properly socialised and maybe has been be handled roughly? I hope it works out for you, it would be a shame to have to let him go but obviously your daughters welfare comes first. I would exhaust every possibility before rehoming because I think this little fella could be turned around into a lovely little pet.

Izzie

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Hi
we have had him since he was nearly 8 weeks (and I have already been slated on here previously about getting him too young etc etc, but he is my 5th kitten and I had all at 8 weeks with no problem..).
My daughter has always been kind and gentle with him and I don't encourage rough play with him for exactly this reason - but yes I am concerned as thesae 'attacks' are totally spontaneous and he really means business!!
He is having his last jab today so i will discuss it with the vet again, and he said neutering should help......!
He is in all other ways really sweet and does come and snuggle under my chin, but my daughter really dislikes him now.....which is really sad!!

Might sound like a silly question but does he mean it aggressively? Or is just that he doesn't know when to stop when playing? Is he aggressive otherwise? Does he hiss at your daughter? or nervous around her at all?

Although kittens should stay with their mum until 12 weeks many people have them from 8 and its not a problem. I had Coco from 8. But then there are some cats, which sounds like yours...and mine to a degree, which don't benefit as well, and in that extra 4 weeks they could of learned through playing with the rest of the litter that biting hurts so it discourages them, but maybe he hasn't learnt this.

My cat use to be terrible for attacking my youngest daughter! She would be toddling around the house and Coco would just launch at her thigh, wrap herself around her leg and start biting her. Never through aggression but just too playful. She use to be terrible with me too, usually at night when i was trying to go to sleep and she'd attack me out of nowhere! Sometimes she use to get too rough and the ears would go back and everything. If Coco did start going too far i would shut her in the kitchen for a while just to calm down. But it meant always making sure my daughter had her arms and legs covered or else she'd be covered in scratches.
It was never really a big problem for us because we knew it were play and my daughter found it hilarious. (she's odd like that!)

Coco never got so rough to the point that she drew blood from any of us! But she did bite REALLY hard at times! She is 6 months today (not spayed) and doesn't do this anymore. But it has only been over the last month she has stopped, but have seen a gradual decrease in the aggressive play over the weeks before as well and think that giving her that 'time out' when she did get too rough did help. It were from about 10 weeks till about 4 months or so she were at her absolute worst!
It could also be a case of him calming down once he is neutered.

I can honestly say that Coco is now a wonderful cat and very tolerant with my 20 month old, doesn't have an ounce of aggression in her at all!!
I was lucky in a sense that my daughter is odd and found it funny and never become scared of her. Also that she never drew blood from any of us. Coco that is - not my daughter

I do think it is highly likely this behavior will stop either with age or by neutering and think the end result is that he could turn out to be the perfect pet... but whether you choose to take the risk and wait and see or rehome him is ultimately your decision. You have to decide what is best for both you, your family and him. I can't imagine how difficult it must be if he has gone as far as to draw blood and your daughter is now scared of him. But I do think it is worth the try and that he could be a wonderful cat.... if all failed and if worst come to worst i wouldn't think of rescue but would look to advertising and finding the perfect home myself where i think he'd suit and would be loved and looked after - eg: with a single person or couple with no kids, garden if necessary, company throughout the day if necessary. Whatever i think would best suit basically. Where i knew he'd be happy and with people i think would adore him.

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I personally think he is doing it aggresively - like I said my daughter was sat on my bed getting dressed and didn't even know he was there until he launched at her....!! He often chases her when she is walking (always her as she usually has bare legs - not one for trousers at all although I encourage her to wear trousers or leggings to be safe...) and has also done this to me and my husband on occasion and torments my dog enormously until it gets to the point when my dog knocks him flying!!!!
My daughter is not scared of him as such but reluctant to allow him near her (not without reason....)!
He seems to tolerate my 22 month old ok, without being aggressive and has just taken a dislike to my daughter!! Even the vet said sometimes they just dislike one person!!!

Could you speak to your vet about castrating him sooner?

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Yeah I am going to ask that today when he goes for his jab, but I doubt they would do it sooner I suppose there is a reason why they say 6 months so there 'bits' are big enough to find...lol.

Ask your vet to refer you to a cat behaviourist too. They're not as expensive as you might think.

If the neutering and cat behaviourist thing doesn't sort the situation out then I'd be looking to rehome too, if I were in your situation. It's not a popular viewpoint to have on a forum like this but I couldn't allow a pet that hurts my children to remain in my home.

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This doesn't sound like aggression--it sounds like playing. Inappropriate playing, yes, but playing.

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My babies
Aber, Ragnar, Kelso (the corgi trio), Daisy (our rescue mystery-mix puppy), Ellie, Henry, Gwennie, Jezebel (the kitty quartet), Blake, Chaucer, Molly and Milton (the kittens), and Bingo the African Grey parrot

Over the Bridge:
Pippin: 1/6/08-17/5/11
Freja: 11/8/10-30/10/10
Kirby: 11/8/10-1/11/10

"Praise liberty/The freedom to obey/It's a song that strangles me/Well, don't cross the line" Billie Joe Armstrong

They wait until 6 months so the cat can develop a little more--there are secondary sex characteristics like a broader face (something to do with the "jowls" that males have) and muscular structure that take about 6-8 months to develop. Over here, and especially in rescues, they will neuter as young as 6 or 7 weeks as long as they weigh enough. It's not really dangerous, but it doesn't allow the cat to develop fully. If it means the difference between rehoming and not, I'd encourage the vet to do it sooner rather than later.

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My babies
Aber, Ragnar, Kelso (the corgi trio), Daisy (our rescue mystery-mix puppy), Ellie, Henry, Gwennie, Jezebel (the kitty quartet), Blake, Chaucer, Molly and Milton (the kittens), and Bingo the African Grey parrot

Over the Bridge:
Pippin: 1/6/08-17/5/11
Freja: 11/8/10-30/10/10
Kirby: 11/8/10-1/11/10

"Praise liberty/The freedom to obey/It's a song that strangles me/Well, don't cross the line" Billie Joe Armstrong