Firstly, hello!

I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I have recently aqcuired a kitten and I am new to the world of owning a cat so any advice you can give me is appreciated.

My kitten is a male and constantly pounces on my hands and scratches and bites them. Is this normal behaviour? Is he just playing? Do I need to discipline him? It doesn't hurt that much but I can imagine it would if he had a set of adult teeth!

Also, I was using a litter tray liner because I thought it would be more hygenic but I wasn't able to scoop out the mess properly so I got rid of it, now the little tyke is kicking litter all over the floor!! Any advice of how I can stop this?

Cheers!

Hi and welcome to the forum - there are a lot of very experienced people here.

First of all you need to train the kitten that your hands are not playthings. When he starts doing anything that causes you problems tell him 'Name, No, Ouch' and withdraw hand(s). Stop playing for a few minutes, then play with a toy that is removed from hands such as a string with a paper twist knoted at the end of it so you can drag it for the kitten to pounce.

Thanks Janee, I don't like telling him off because he looks at me with them big eyes like the kitty from the Shrek films and I feel bad about it. But, then again I don't want my hands covered in scratches so I will follow through.

Thanks for replying so quickly too!!!

Hi and welcome to the group
I'm sure you will enjoy coming on the board making friends and sharing pictures of your kitten ( hint hint) lol
what your kitten is doing sounds quite normal he will grow out of it btw, in the meantime if he bites you say NO and stop playing with him, play with a toy that is removed from hands as Janee said
Your kitten could be teething and this is a reason he is biting! he will like to bite on soft things (like your hands)looking forward to seeing pictures of the little fella

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Mazpahs Siamese & Orientals

Thanks May,

I will post some pictures when I get home, I love him to bits, they are so entertaining aren't they?

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SELKCAH NORWEGIAN FOREST CATS
www.selkcahcats.co.uk

Hi Mrs T and welcome along,can't wait to see pics of your little fur terrorHow old is he,also for the mess from litter-what litter do you use as some track(make more of a mess than others) but sounds like he may be better with a hooded,deeper tray

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Dogs have owners, Cats have slaves

Burnthwaites Siamese

May, you just reminded me about kittens teething, I'd forgotten we went through that with one of our kittens. For a few months she would gnaw on anything she could, had to hide things from her as she caused damage to a few household items (speaker wires were a favourite ) Once she lost her kitten teeth she stopped doing it

When our cats play and start to bite we just say NOOOOOOOO and keep our hands still for a few seconds till they retreat, they usually end up licking you instead

Found we had litter all over the floor if we used the lightweight cat litter, they don't seem too bad with the normal stuff.

Can't wait to see some kitten pics