Being a kitten, my Pepper is very playfull. I love playing with her and watching her run around like a loony.
However, i'm concerned about her becoming scratchy and biting people. How can this be avoided? She has already done this a few times and I don't want my son to be scared of her.
When I was younger and we had Sugar, my Dad wouldn't let us play with her to avoid her being scratchy. But I wasn't happy about it as it seemed mean to not allow her her fun and natural instincts.
I thought one solution may be to buy her a scratch post with toys attatched and not play with her ourseves. That way she still gets to play and learns we are not toys.
Or will she just grow out of it?

i would deff get a scratch post. if you get a large one she'll not grow out of it and it gives her somewhere to practice bein a cat.

with her being a kitten the scratchin may not be on purpose jst abit of over excitement or miss judgement, Sheldon uses his claws for everythin so now i dnt play with him with my hands i use toys.

tell her no when shes bitin tho coz this is not good and trust me can really hurt when they get older, as Sheldon proves everyday.

if you stop playin everytime she bites she'll get the message. also encourage her to use the post and to bite her toys, Sheldon has a fish which he loves to "eat" and bunny kick so i dnt get too much lol

good luck

Thank you. We are definately getting a scratch post.
And we've decided to stop playing with her ourselves (we never did with our hands, only toys) because she is getting worse with attacking us! So i'm hoping she'll begin to associate us with cuddles and stroking, and toys for playing and scratching.
She is turning into a loonatic and I have scratches all over my arm from her running around over the furniture and me!

I don't see why you should stop playing with her yourself as this remains part of the bonding process. If you're worried about getting scratched whilst playing then why don't you try some of the toys such as the fish on the fishing rod thing (it probably has a proper name but I've no idea what it is!).

That way you're still playing but at more of a distance

It's just a kitten thing. My arms looked like chopped ham while Dexter was a kitten. But he's a big teddybear now (10 months old)

Ian.

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"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain

Dave - We were playing with her with a ball on the end of a ribbon, which her previous owners gave us as it's her favourite. So it was already distanced play.
I don't feel bonding would be compromised as she's asleep on my lap as i'm typing

Cyberfyn - Chopped ham aye? At this rate i'll be the same! Nice to know they can calm down as young as 10 months.

I understand it's part of being a kitten and if it were just me I would not be bothered. However, my 6 year old son is now afraid of her I don't know what to do. She just randomly attacks and it's really scared him.

i have a male cat and no children so i dnt really no wat ya goin through. sheldon still does his attackin thing from under beds and stuff buts it more funny now than hurtin altho he did randomly bite oh leg the other nite. i thought it was very amusing hehe.

mu cousins however have a female cat and a 3 year old son. her kitten is round bout 8 months and has jst been done in the last few months and they said she has calmed down loads. so maybe if shes not already spayed shell be better once she is.

you no you have severe scratches when your at work and a customer says "oh been playin with a cat?" dnt worry they heal he he.

i dunno wat to suggest bout your son, maybe jst tell him to play with her only when your there and keep out of her way untill shes done

Thanks Hayley. Lol at the "oh been playin with a cat?"
I'm not bothered about the scratches on me. My biggest concern is my son. He is even more afraid of her now. She has completely come out of her shell and is a total loon!! He used to be great with her and really love her, now he fears her. It's very sad And to be honest, at times it's frustrating. She has never even left a mark on him and he jumps and runs away from her like she's a huge ferocious lion! Oh well, i'll have to persevere and hope for the best.