Is this normal kitten behavior??

[BellaLuna]

Disclaimer

I am not a “cat” person, but I am an animal lover who has had, cared for and loved my barn kitties over the years and I thought I knew about cats…

The background…
my son came across a mom and young litter outside of his house at college. This one female kitten would come out and play with the kids while the mom would hiss and the others would hide. This went on for a few days until one day, on his way to class, the female kitten was sitting there all alone. They waited until the end of the day and she was still there, so they brought her into the house, and called me. I guessed the age to be about 3 weeks. Tiny. They kept her for a week and then I went up to get her with the intention of making her a barn kitty. My vet recommended keeping her isolated from my older barn cat for about a month, then testing her and acclimating her to barn life. I even found her a “sister kitty” that I will be getting so that she will have a playmate her age. She is currently living in the house, crated for her safety from my cat tolerant, but not cat loving labs, but lots of positive handling and attention. She is now about 5 weeks old.

The problem…
She bites. She scratches. She growls. She snuggles one minute and flips the next. She is so small, these bites don’t hurt. For now. When she is biting, I scruff her and it stops. I have put her back in her crate for time outs. I just don’t know what to do with a kitten that is brave and aggressive. I know dogs, I know horses, but not kittens. Can you work with a kitten? She will be in the barn, maybe sooner than later ;), but I’d like to work on some of this now if it’s possible. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I have 2 a bit like this.

Mick was abandoned by her mother at about 4 weeks of age – she moved the rest of the litter, we found Mick and put her in with the other kittens, then momma cat moved the entire litter except Mick AGAIN. So Mick became a bottle baby. But she definitely has a temper and an attitude – we call her the “psycho demon cat” for a reason. She was fine until she was about 3 months old, then the acting out began. Couldn’t look at her cross-eyed without getting your face ripped off. In fact, when we took her to be spayed, I warned them about her and they laughed. When I went to pick her up, they said, “Um . . . could you maybe take her out of the cage and put her in your crate yourself?” Now that she’s older, she’s mellowed.

Angel (Don’t Blink!) was also rescued at about 4 weeks of age, had to have an eye removed, and spent a great deal of time at the vet. She’s 2 years old now and you STILL can’t love on her. I raised her; she should be the sweetest thing ever, but I call her my Venus Fly Trap: she’ll wiggle on the floor looking cute, you go in to pet her, and zap! Blood flies everywhere. You literally cannot hold her for more than 10 seconds before she starts growling. If not put down immediately, she bites and claws until she is put down.

I think some cats are just hardwired strangely. Your kitten probably still feels very afraid and alone; this is not “home” yet and being inside, after being outside with her family for the first weeks of life, is going to be strange. The crate should be a place of safety and refuge, not a place of punishment. Maybe someone else will have some more concrete ideas for you . . .

[ReSomething]

We had a feral kitten like that, I had to sleep with my face buried deep down under the covers because he’d come over and try to “play” with me, ie bite and scratch as soon as the lights went out. My DH was largely responsible for calming him down after he was about a year old. I couldn’t get it to work at all but DH would settle on the couch and then firmly hold the cat down on his chest, hold his paws, not reacting, just letting him have lap time on our terms. It was really nice to lay down and have the cat hop up and “lay down”, but you also had to limit stroking.

One of our current cats was a nervous little bitey, licky thing and he did the same thing with her, which meant that at the last vet checkup, she did a down stay and was the vet’s easiest patient out of the lot of them. They can be trained, it’s just more, subtle perhaps?, than training a dog. With Tomette, the current one, she hops up all excited and then remembers she’s supposed to lay down and be still - no command involved just the situation.

[tallyho392]

well, having had my summer FULL of feral kittens, i will relay what i have real, and what i have expeienced with them…

what i read…
tht kittens taken/abandoned too early, and then perhaps becoming the only cat , are often extremely rough in their “play” becausethe have not been able to socialize with others to learn how to sheath claws, not bite hard,etc…
there are consequences when they hurt another kittne with biting or scratching too hard,they could easily get nailed themselves…so, playingwith others teaches then appropriate control…

what i have observed…

out of the 7 feral kittens i socialized this summer, the one tat was handled by me the most is the most bite-y and plays with claws out…the one that i left with its litter mates and momma, and just fed while getting close enough to touch,etc. has turned out to be that most mellow and gentle of them all…

the first one was left by momma on the driveway at about 3 weeks…still nursing, doingthe army crawl across the driveway, and YELLING…momma stood closeby watching…i ws able to confine babe in a tall bskt, and momma would come and go to feed, but never spent time with him…he was handled LOTS by me…after a couple weeks, i found another kitten alone, teetering around…i was able to grab momma and toss her into the bathroom with the babes,where she could not get away from them or me…she settled really quickly, and would nurse them, and let me pet her, but she was never snuggly/ nuzzly with the babes…they bonded with me…then i found aother kitten on it’s own, and tossed that one in with the gang…momma nursed all of them, but no lovies…and when i stepped into the bathroom , the first kitten wouls attack my feet and legs…the other two were much less aggressive, and would play with inatimate objects…they aremaybe 10-12 weeks old, outside, come for food and lovies, but are still very quick to bite a hand, calf of the leg, while you are petting…the firstone still tries to climb my legs…

the feral litter that i fed , but stayed with momma…2 of then are extremely friendly, love cuddles, and do not bite, at all…they touch my arm when they want attention, but no claws used…just overall ,much more “mannerly”
than the ones that did not have much teaching from mom or other kittens

[VaqueroToro]

Redirect her crazies to something that can be shredded to bits but still allow her to play with you – tether a cat toy to a shoe lace and have her go ape with it while you bounce it about. Throw things for her to chase. Wear her out before trying to love on her.

DO NOT encourage her to use your hands/feet/other body parts as toys or this will get very painful once her teeth get sharper/jaws get more powerful, especially at 2am and she decides your big toe would make a nice chew toy. If she does bite on a finger, turn it sideways and gag her with it. They don’t like the sensation and will start to associate your body parts as bad things to chew on.

Time outs are fine – if she gets super nasty, put her back in a crate or isolate her in a bathroom to dissipate the stimulation. Depending on her reaction, tossing a blanket over her till she calms down might also help.

Eventually you’ll learn her triggers. Some cats just get overstimulated if petted too much in the same spot or too roughly, etc. My adult cat gets like this – I have to switch spots and different types of rubs/scratches every couple of strokes or she’ll flay my arm.

Edited to Add: Also, get her used to having her paws touched/nails clipped now. You’ll save yourself agony later in her life.

If they try to use your legs to climb on, clap your hands loudly or make a quick, loud vocal noise to discourage it.

[clint]

I’m surprised that a kitten that young is that feisty. I am feeling today like I have fostered somewhere close to a million kittens starting in the three to four week range, and I haven’t had any of them be that aggressive, and many of them have been feral and then motherless. I’m wondering if it is the cage? I always keep mine in a small area with a covered crate for a few days, until they feel comfortable with me, handle them often throughout the day, and I can’t think of any of them who weren’t nice to handle, at least by me, within a week. Maybe the new roommate will soothe the little tyke.

[cardicorgi]

I raise my voice and say “OWWWWWWW” (a bit like another kitten would do if it’s hurting from rough play); IME it stops the behavior - and as soon as kitten lets go/stops biting after your “OWWWW”, then praise it and redirect attention to a toy/string/etc.

They respond well to praise and play IME.

[BasqueMom]

Have fostered many kittens, some feral. Ones that young have always been
a snap, the older ones, not so much. We don’t do tummy rubs, hand grabbing
play because it will continue when they grow up. If they ask for tummy rubs,
it stops if they start grabbing and biting.

Think a companion will help. In the meantime, get some smallish, kitten-sized
stuffed toys. Squishy ones are the best. One guy hung on to his bunny after he grew up–he was about 10 months old before finding a home. His tattered bunny went with him. Even though he had other cats to romp with, he often took his bunny and trundled off for quality bunny time. Goodwill type
stores are a good source. Bigger ones have gone into their beds for something to cuddle up with ala with a mommy cat.

[BellaLuna]

Great suggestions, thank you all.

I was a bit suspicious that this behavior was due in part to not having another to play with and learn social skills from them. I found a stuffed lion this afternoon to give her and she seemed ecstatic with her new friend. Hopefully, her new “sister” will be able to join our family within the next week or so. They want to wait so that they can wean her from her momma.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[vxf111]

The second she bites, you have to emit a high pitched scream and stop engaging. That’s what cats do to other cats to communicate “no.” The less kitten-on-cat/kitten interaction they have as wee ones, the worse they are about this. But consistent squal/go away will work.