Need help...have new kitten and he scares me

[harper]

I just got an adorable 6 week old kitten from a friend of a friend. What a cute bundle of fluff. But I suspect he is a demon spawn. So, how do you teach a kitten some basic manners. I realize he's just a baby and I certainly don't want to scare or harm him in any way. But right now I'm stanching blood since his perferred way to get to my lap is to spring onto my bare legs with all four sets of claws extended and just hang on.

He also regards my two older cats as large cat toys. They are beginning to get real impatient with him and I'm afraid they'll hurt him. I'm separating them when I'm not at home to supervise their behavior. Should I just leave the three of them to work it out between themselves?

I got my two older girls as adult strays, so my kitten experience is limited. All I can say is it's a good thing God made kitten so gosh darn cute or else the species might die out.

[radwriter0555]

1. Eh let em work it out. Don't acknowledge the negative behavior

such as using your legs as trees. Use a spray bottle to correct when he does it.

Reinforce the behavior you want with praise and nice attention, and oppose the behavior you don't want with cat like hisses and the spray bottle. He'll chill out.

Let the cats work it all out amongst themselves... He needs to be around them for the corrective behavior as well.

[liberalitch]

3. here here....

when I have a kitten.... (my boys are all grown up now) I would correct pverly aggressive "loves" by grabbing front paws gently bolwing in their faces and saying "No No, Spooky".... Of course you would say your own cat's name not mine...
for further comfort... visit
meankitty.com

[commander bunnypants]

2. I agree with radwriter

The kitten needs to learn cat manners fron the elders. It is a natural thing. He will get cuffed once or twice and learn from it.


DEMMAN

[Blue_Chill]

4. I think you are doing it right

Until the little guy is big enough to hold his own in a fight, he should be supervised with older cats.

[mistertrickster]

5. Okay, the source of the problem is that your pet is

a CAT!

I'm only partly joking. When I bought my house, I had to tear out the carpets because of "cat odor," a euphanmistic term for urine sprayed all over the place.

I haven't been too keen on cats since then . . .

[Skittles]

8. my cats never spray

because I get 'em neutered early.

[geniph]

21. My three have never messed outside the litter box

not once, not ever. Cats are actually LESS likely to mess in the house than dogs are, because they'll use a litterbox from the time they can walk, whereas puppies have to be trained to ask to go out.

[CatWoman]

6. Look at my Streak

she is the kitten from hell. That kitten bounces off any and every thing, and claws me whenever she jumps in my lap. Trinity, on the other hand, is coming around and is acting more "civilized".

I was worried about how the older cats (Male and Female) would react to the new ones, too. It really is true -- they will work it out.

They are like big sisters and role models. Plus, Male always swats Streak to keep her in line :D

[liberalitch]

7. DEVIL CALICO CATS!!!

I'm calling the justice dept.

[Skittles]

9. re: Trinity's pic

does s/he always look like s/he got caught doing something?

[CatWoman]

10. LOL --

actually, Trin is a sweetheart.

That picture was taken while they were outside playing.

She was chasing Streak up a tree, and was all excited.

Hence the "crazy" look :D

[SoCalDem]

11. He is just being a kitten

I have scratches all over me ...mine still "climb".. He will eventually get it..

Buy yourself a pair of Gerber Baby nail clippers, and when he's in your lap purring, snip the sharp ends off of his little claws.. He will have soome trouble "grabbing on" after a while and will start to calculate his jumps better..

He is just trying to show the older ctas that he's a tough guy and not to be trifled with..

Kittens are born with ZERO manners , (like kids) and must be taught.. Clap your hands loudly and yell "AAAAAH" .. every time you see him doing something you don't want him doing.. when he's older get a spray bottle and set ot to stream...a couple of times is usually enough to teach him... I only have to SHOW mine the bottle and they settle down :)

[bloom]

12. I have a fairly young kitten also

and have been going through this. I think it is helpful to make a noise to indicate pain when clawed - so they know. My kitten seemed to respond to that. Other family members seemed to want to pretend it didn't hurt and then "how is it supposed to know?"

We also put her outside when she seems intent on causing havoc. I don't know if that is an option for you - but it helps me stay sane.

[CatWoman]

13. those two have completely trashed my house

it may never be the same again.

On the bright side, they are calming down.

[SoCalDem]

16. Please don't put your kitten outside

:(...

It's a cruel world out there and there are diseases and fleas & ticks and all kinds of creepy things:(..

I always look at our pets as perpetual toddlers.. (That's about the highest level they ever achieve, intellectually).. They have instincts, but that's what gets them killed.. (chasing, hiding, attacking etc)

Would you put a 3 yr old outside??

Some day when you look outside for your kitty, he/she will not be there because a dog has chased him/her off, of they have gone wandering and have been hit by a car..:(

This is not a judgement (I know lots of people DO let their cats out), but it's a hard life outside and if they are not ever let out, they develop better inside manners :)

[harper]

17. My cats are indoor cats

On my days off I read the morning paper out on the deck and the cats go out with me, but they don't stray very far into the yard. And I keep a close eye on them. Also, the yard is fenced to keep out stray dogs. Other than that the girls (and the kitten) stay inside.

[MiltonLeBerle]

19. cat clippers

instead of Gerber baby clippers, you'd be better off with a pair of these- they're designed specifically for cat claws.

[AnnabelLee]

14. I wouldn't separate the kitten from the older cats

The swats & growls he gets from them is something he has to go through in order for them all to learn how to get along.

As far as the leg-clawing, it does help to trim the claws, & to let him know that he is hurting you when he does it. Don't haul off & let him have it, but a swat or two from you when he does it won't hurt him. My kittens did that at first, too, & my calves are full of scratch scars right now because of it, but after a couple of weeks of my letting them know I didn't appreciate it, & their leg muscles had developed enough for them to jump instead of climb, they stopped doing it.

[harper]

15. Thanks for the hints

I've seen some good ideas. I'll get the baby nail clippers today...plus I'm wearing jeans for the next little bit instead of shorts. Panda played like a demon all morning then crashed and went sound asleep on my lap for a catnap. Talk about being down for the count. He is a cute little guy and I guess we'll all survive till he learns some manners.

[molly]

18. Most of the time, my baddest babies

turn out to be superior adults! He'll grow out of it soon.

[SoCalDem]

20. You are right.. Marvin is a magnificent "babysitter"

He was a rascally kitten (still is a rascal), but he "adopted" Sara and Sammy.. Right now he is curled up on the couch with both of them laying on him.. He washes them and allows Sara to "nurse" on his ear..

[geniph]

22. Yell, LOUDLY, when he hurts you

it works best if you yowl like a cat, but the idea is to a) startle him, and b) make it clear he hurt you. Most cats will back off.

Let him and the big cats work it out. They'll teach him manners.

Buy some interactive cat toys, like the Cat Dancer or Da Bird, to wear the little booger out. It'll help, and he'll settle some when he grows up. By the way, six weeks is WAY too young for a baby kitten to be taken from mama...they really need to stay with their mom until they're at least 8, and preferably 12 weeks old. They are supposed to work out their demon energies with mom before they move on.

Momcats discipline kittens by yowling at and cuffing them, and so long as you don't swat any harder proportionally than momcat, you can use the same method in moderation. Never hit to hurt, though. Momcats hit to startle, unless they're really pissed.

[TrogL]

23. Hissing works

That's one reason a water bottle works doubly well.

You need to teach them, however, to like being lap kitty otherwise they get anti-social and won't warm your lap when they're older.

Or my cat's just plain psycho.