My kitten Poppy is 9 weeks old and we got her at 6 weeks (rescued from a not very nice family). At her birth home, she was taught to play with peoples hands and feet so she's always bitten and scratched us when she's feeling playful and we've discouraged it from the beginning.

We've tried saying no and we've tried clapping when she does it, when that didn't work, we tried a spray bottle but she seems to enjoy that, so I now pick her her up and move her into another room. The only problem is, she also bites me the whole time I'm holding her because she knows she's been naughty.

Just in the last few days she's been getting a lot worse and biting harder so it breaks skin and hurts. I really don't know what else I can do and it's getting a bit upsetting She's really very nice otherwise, I promise!

Any advice would be much appreciated xx

Attached Images

Poppy8weeks3.jpg (76.4 KB, 26 views)

You have my sympathy ,I know what you are going through.My kitten is (was)the same I hope he is now begining to learn but it has been hard work.Firstly do not use any physical punishment,try not to react to her biting(very difficult)try if you can to distract her when she bites by throwing a toy or at least diverting her attention on to a toy.Never use hands in play,a wand type toy with something on the end to chase is worth a try.Some say to spray with water that imo is similar to punishment and doesnt work.Putting her out of the room for 10 minutes is good or you leave the room (closing the door )
Lots of quality play time with her to build a bond.6 weeks is far to young to leave mum so she has not had the socializing she should have had,mum would have taught her most of what you are now trying to do and as you are finding mum does it better.with consistancy and love and a lot of hard work you should win.Good luck and hope this helps .There will be those more experienced than I am giving you more detailed advice but this is working for me along with support.

Welcome to the forum

__________________

thanks for your advice and for the welcome

I felt really awful about taking her so young, but one of her sisters died in a horrible accident after my friend left them alone in the house for a couple of days, then her kids were throwing them around and feeding them Wotsits and chocolate spread, so when she told me she wanted to get rid of the kittens, I took Poppy before she could get hurt or given to someone else who wouldn't take care of her.

I will persevere with the training and hopefully she'll learn in time.

That is terrible ,What happened to the other kittens?Poor little soul what a start in life no wonder she is biting,was she reported to sspca/rspca for cruelty?

__________________

It was difficult because she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. Fortunately the last two kittens were re-homed a couple of days after I took Poppy and the mum is getting a new home too- she's still just a kitten herself really.

I don't know if this would work for you and poppy but maybe try hissing at her like a mother cat would if she starts her bad behaviour. It worked for me when Harley used to bite and scratch, i got that advice from a thread on here.. i'll try and find it for you as theres a lot of good information and advice in there.

Found it Nasty kitten Hope this helps!

__________________

I had a kitten called Poppy who was exactly the same, she was playing with me the same as she would any sibling (if she had any), I was covered in scratches all the way up my arms. Unfortunately I split from my ex and she had to be rehomed.

I got 2 cats and they are not quite as bad with me, but my God! they are awful to each other sometimes. Now I have 2 14 week kittens who are chomping on everything in sight, they don't chomp me too hard but they are evil to each other to the point where one or t'other squeaks. They do like to chew on my help for heroes band.

I think at this age it is because they are teething.

I will never have a single cat again because they are better at entertaining each other and I don't end up quite so bloody

you have my sympathy also here our nando is just over the 5 month mark now he bit and scratched and then he'd learnt that it was bad with a combination of putting him in the hallway when he bit and using the spray bottle, it really did die down for a bit but over the last 2-3 weeks hes got back in the habit this may be a stage in his growing up or he may just be a little monster but im determined to tame him but we also got him at 6 weeks and learnt that this was a mistake that im not keen to repeat, ive also noticed he can be very loving like hell come over the length of the room to come and give you a head bump you stroke him and its play time its patience i think which is the key

Sorry for hijacking this thread.Nando has your boy been neutered yet.Mine is off to vets tomorrow this may help



Just read your post on another thread .he is neutered.

__________________

thanks for your help everyone

I'm just wondering if it's normal that she has started biting in revenge now lol. She knows when she's been biting and I pick her up that I'm going to put her out of the room and she really goes for my hands while I'm carrying her outside. Then when I put her down, she'll try to attack one last time while I withdraw. She doesn't seem to like me at all at the moment