naughty kitten

[Susieh]

My 3 wake me up several times a night but not by attacking or even wanting fuss, they just walk on me now and again 

Unfortunately shutting them out isn't an option because they wake up the rest of the household trying to get in.  So my sleep is sacrificed for the greater good and I don't really mind.  I'd rather that than they be in someone else's room, although when I stop being a student and start having to work a full week on little sleep I don't know if I will see it the same way 

[Millys Mum]

I would be tempted to shut her out the bedroom until this bad habit has been dealt with or the next 15 years are going to be full of v.bad nights sleep. They have to learn that night time is when humans dont play/feed/cuddle. Tough love but it makes them a better adult.

[Christina]

Thanks a lot. Sounds like some good advice. I never thought to try and blow in her face, or hiss at her.  I will try that.
My feet as well as my hands are now covered in scratches, woke up last night in the middle of the night to find her attacking my feet the cheeky thing! The moor i tried to pull my feet under the duvet out the way, the more she went after them! Oh dear!
Cheers for all the helpfull info.

[Christine (Blip)]

You should also let your hand go completely limp when she does this (it can take an effort of will!) and say 'No' at the same time in a firm, but not shouty voice.

Blip has only done this on rare occasions but the 'dead hand' gambit seems to do the trick. Worth being part of your defensive armoury.

[suzi]

This is rewarding the naughtiness so you have to stop this too!

Your right Milly's mum! Im just so tired sometimes it was a good way of stopping it!
Im gonna try the blowing in face thing instead!

We also use our hand to play with him, but definatly gonna stop that too, dont want him growing up to be vicious!

[chimpzoo]

Mine is about 4 months now and i had the same problem. Biting my hand or wrapping herself around my arm while playing was common until i started blowing in her face - after 2 weeks she rarely does it. It looks really uncomfortable for the cat when you do this but if it's done everytime they attack you won't have to do it for long. She still scratches my hand sometimes but that's getting less too.
Going to bed was a problem as she wanted to continue to play while i wanted to fall asleep, so now i play with her an hour before bed, leaving 20 - 30 mins for her to calm down which sometimes means ignoring her and it's worked so far.

[Ela]

This is why its so important not to use your hands to play with kittens, they dont grow out of it by their own accord, you have to untrain them

Teasing if only  putting your hand towards your pet then pulling it away and even if only in play is often the start of the pet turning into an aggressive pet. When a kitten is only tickles however as the kitten grows it hurts

[Littlebobo]

When we first got Snarf she was like this people used to think i was into self harming !

I was advised to not enourage it as they think that it is play, after ignoring it - even when blood was drawn she soon stopped ...well after that she moved onto daddy lol ..

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

http://wizz-catz.co.uk/aggression.html  read wizz's tips on agression

[Millys Mum]

I grew up with a rampant cat for 11 years, he never had hands as toys but was still an evil butter at times and i still have the scars 

Alot of this type of cat end up in rescue, not many people want an adult cat who they cant stroke, so its something that needs to be nipped in the bud before a child gets it and they get turfed out.

[Rosella moggy]

You took the words right out of my mouth Millys Mum!

Our Freddie monster aged 5 YEARS old does this all the time.  Blowing on his face stops him. Whatever you do don't pull your hand away quickly, just blow on Stevie's face, as hard as necessary it won't hurt her.  It's always so much worse with kittens as their claws are like needles.

I can't say I'm that bothered by it as most of the time Freddie keeps his claws in and he has only 2 teeth so the biting is no problem but it is definitely playing; he doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body (or a brain for that matter!)

[Millys Mum]

I remember when she was really little, it was funny watching her trying to bite my hand

This is why its so important not to use your hands to play with kittens, they dont grow out of it by their own accord, you have to untrain them.
Do you squeal when she does it? This makes it fun for her. When she jumps on you blow at her face and do nothing else. When you throw her off it becomes a challenge to kill the hand.
If you ignore the behaviour she will soon decide theres no point in biting as daddy just says butter off.

The other thing that sometimes works is by giving her cuddles

This is rewarding the naughtiness so you have to stop this too!

Edit: refered to stevie as a boy so changed sex to female!

[Team Svartalfheims]

Hiss loudly at her when she does it. This is how cats tell each other off so she will understand this much better than 'no'.

[Christina]

Thanks for that. I feel a bit better knowing that its a normal thing  to do for kitttens.  Its still anoying though! I will try to ignore her like you said and see what happens. It depends how long i can stand her latched onto my hand for!!!!!   I remember when she was really little, it was funny watching her trying to bite my hand, as she was so weak it almost tickled! But now its not so funny! Do they grow out of it eventually?
If anybody else has any  more tips for this type of behaviour they would be greatly appreciated!

[suzi]

Hi,

Our cat Bailey is now a year old, and he behaves in exactly the same way you are describing. Its just playing! He also has lots of toys, which he also plays with, but will 'attack' us when he wants attention. He also sleeps with us everynight and cuddles in...but at about 7am every morning he starts pouncing on us, biting us, trying to get into our feet, and sumtimes runs up, paws us in the face then runs away! It's just his way of saying "get up and play with me"!!!!!!!

We have found that reacting to him, just makes him think its more of a game, so he does it more. The best thing we have found which works is just ignoring him ( i know it's hard, and painful). Sometimes, he keeps going for longer, and other times he gives up! The other thing that sometimes works is by giving him cuddles, then he sumtimes falls back to sleep!

Hope that helps a little!

[Christina]

Hi everyone,
                   Im having a little problem with my female kitten stevie. She is nearly six months old. The problem is that she keeps attacking my hand.  I have scratches and puncture marks all over them.  Shes a very lovely and loving baby most of the time. She sleeps with me every night, and cuddles up to me all night, but sometimes, she just turns on you and just launches herself at your hand, and she will not let go. If i throw her off, within a split second, shes gone for me again. It happens a lot in the morning, when i wake up. Its really getting a problem now, as she is getting bigger and more strong. This morning, i was in bed watching tv, and she was sitting on my tummy, when i mooved my hand to pick the remote up, and her ears went back and she just lanunced at me, wrapping herself round my hand scrating and biting me.  I had to lock her out the room, as everytime i threw her off, she jumped at me again. My hand was stinging so much after, as i had loads of little scratches on it.
It doesnt happed all the time, im not really sure what to do. Shes so loving an affectionate all the time, so i dont think its cuz shes a nasty cat. Do you think it maybe cuz she wants to play? We have laods of toys for her though, like fishing rod toys, balls with bells in that she pushes around, and a scratching post with toys haging off it, oh yeah, and a lazer pen that can keep her occupies for hours!
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to stop this behaviour? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, for the sake of my poor hands! Thanks for any advice.