Naughty Kitten!

[Rosella moggy]

Beware and keep doors locked as I'm rather partial to black furries ..... I only give the one warning 

[Emma2Cats]

Oh she is a character... shes strong minded and very bossy but also a sweety at heart!
I need to get some pics up 

[Rosella moggy]

Just saw this thread.  I assume Gill just meant that some peeps think Tortis are norti   

Tansy sounds quite a little character.  Am gonna see if I can find some pics on other threads 

[Emma2Cats]

No shes black... Mitzi is torti though, why do you ask?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Tansy isnt a torti, is she 

[Emma2Cats]

Hi There,
I would be very suprised if she was anxious - as although I know purring can be a way of comforting themselves... when she is in mine or my partners arms she is so relaxed she has her eyes shut and shes very happy... but yes I think its a possibility shes more loving to reassure herself if she is insecure.
Its just a suprise to think that as she is extremely confident - isnt afraid of anything and does as she pleases so I never thought she would be insecure.

Thanks for the advice on the hissing - when she does this quite unexpectedly - so for example, recently my sister lifted her paw and she didnt like it so she hissed at her  strange reaction but we didnt respond.

However she will on occassion hiss when we pick her up and move her away from something she shouldnt be on.. the fridge or kitchen work surface for exmaple.... she doesnt want us to get her down and will growl and hiss... she used to scratch too but she has stopped that.

We have learnt alot fromher  in the last 6 months, she responds to us hugely - so if we are tense with her we get a negative response - when we comb her if we stay very calm she allows it now but still growls the whole way through - but we keep talking to her and give her a treat afterwards. she used to scratch and bite!

If she wont leave the living room, and will bite and hiss if we try and pick her up as she doesnt want to come out we get a treat and she comes running so we try and avoid the stress now.
Like you say it takes time to learn better ways of doing things and what we can and cant do.

Mitzi we can pick up and play with and shes as placid as anything but Tansy wont do anything unless its on her terms.

[sweepster]

Hi, my interpretation would be that she's rather an anxious kitten, and I'd see her behaviour in that light.  You mention purring and rubbing her face on things - bear in mind that cats also purr when they are in pain or distressed, as a means of self-comforting, so it can be a more complex response than simply expressing pleasure.  Transferring scent by rubbing the face on things can also be a sign of anxiety.  I don't mean to suggest that your kitten is a neurotic wreck!  But the intensity of these kinds of behaviours may suggest that Tansy uses them to reassure herself, which could well relate to her difficult start in life.

Hissing is her means of communicating something to you - whether fear, frustration, confusion etc - and as she hasn't the ability to communicate in any other language I'd try and understand and respect her boundaries rather than seeing it as 'bad behaviour'.  All three of my cats have different, and difficult, backgrounds, and understanding their individual characters, and their boundaries in terms of human interaction, takes time.  I'd try not to react to the hissing, but where possible just leave her alone to calm down.

[Emma2Cats]

Thanks for the reply.
What you say makes perfect sense as when we got our second Kitten Tansy was only 8-9 weeks old ... Mitzi was very well adjusted as she had been with her mom and siblings and played with them etc...
When we introduced them Tansy was terrified and didnt know how to play where as Mitzi was rolling all over the floor looking at her trying to play 
Tansy then started to play but was too rough and Mitzi would hiss at her but slowly she learnt to play gentler with her and is much better now... but at that time we thought maybe it was because she never had play or games with her siblings and mom (her and her siblings were too ill to play).

When shes naughty and scratches and hisses we hold her still for about 10 seconds and say No very clearly and then put her down - this seems to work well. And when she listens to us she gets lots of fuss.
The funny thing is although she has these temper fits and moods she is far more affectionate than my other kitten.

When she was younger she used to wake us up constantly all night rubbing her face on us purring for fuss... that has eased off now but when we get in the house shes up on our shoulders and necks purring and rubbing her face everywhere and does it frequently when were at home where as my other kitten is much more laid back and although she likes fuss she isnt in your face.

The other thing is she likes men more than women for some reason?
She is starting to warm to me again now and I wonder if it was because it was mainly me disciplining her... but now I give her space abit shes starting to like me aagain

[Fire Fox]

I think I already said on another thread, but the same again here! I am sure some of the rescue experts will come along soon to give you an in depth response, but my understanding is that the queen teaches the kittens manners and if they have to leave mum too early a kitten might have more behaviour issues. There will probably be some information on the Purrs guides to get you started
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/board,63.0.html

You can train cats with a bit of perseverance, as you have found with the fetch game. Some people swear by 'time out' for naughty behaviour and clicker training can be used to reinforce good behaviour. I have done a little clicker with Noah and we both really enjoy it - he gets prawns so purrs non stop! There are loads of 'how to' videos on YouTube - including some on behaviour rather than just tricks - and the clicker itself is only a couple of pounds.

[Emma2Cats]

I have 2 kittens... and have never owned cats before so want some advice on Tansy!

Firstly I dont know whether this is at all relevant but she may be from feral lines.... she was found at 5 weeks old very poorly with cat flu and worms... shes extremely healthy now but I dont if her behaviour is because of that fact??

Well when she was a baby she was THE most loving kitty ever .. at 5 weeks she was scared of noone and marched around purring...
as she got older she developed an 'attitude'... which dont get me wrong we love her for...!!

Basically she is very temperamental... at night if she is tired and you need to bring her out of the living room she will hide and bite & scratch you... she is very giving with her hissy fits quite literally.... if you play with her and she doesnt like how you played or if it got abit too rough she will hiss at you... both my cats play fetch ... and when she brings the paper ball back after about 5times she gets all funny and if you try and take it to throw it she hisses!! The things is she doesnt mean it... she just being moody... well atleast thats how we interpret it.

When we comb her she growls the whole times and makes a moaning noise lol....

is all of this behaviour normal?
I have another kitten and she is the complete opposite... just quiet and sweet.