Hi- still a little new to the forum. I just got two 8 week old boys Meiko & Scoupe. Scoupe is definitely the more playful and adventurous of the two. They are both such little lovers- when Scoupe wants to be petted he purrs like mad, but as soon as I touch him (even if he is still purring and seems like he's loving it) he tries to bite my fingers. Even his baby teeth hurt me a little so I want to stop this as soon as possible. Until now when he does that I just give him a stern "No" and put him on the floor. He also doesn't seem to know that under my jeans or pj's is a leg and sometimes he tries to climb up me- claws out and all. He is a very good kitty- I just would like advice on how to stop these naughty habits he has. Understand, it is not as though he doesn't want to be petted, he comes up to me for that reason a lot of times. But as soon as I touch him maybe he thinks my fingers are toys? =( Love my baby but he needs to learn a lesson!! Please any advice you have will be taken to heart I am still very new at this
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens
First time kitten owner.... one kitty nips please help
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Posted 1 year ago by Momma Bear #
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I have the same thing going on with Jax. I think they don't really understand how our appendages belong to the rest of us. I can only tell you what I've read and people have told me. You are supposed to just firmly say "ouch" or something like that and just walk away and pretty soon he will learn that his biting is causing you to walk away from playtime and that's just disasterous. Im interested to hear what others have to say.
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*sigh* I would love to help but this is an on-going battle between me and Roxy as well. She constantly uses my legs as ladders to reach my shoulders! The funny thing is, she only does this when I am wearing pants...she seems to know the difference between a clothed Mommy and when Mommy is dressing herself in the morning or wearing a skirt! I do know that you have to teach him your hands are not playtoys so when he starts biting you during a play session, either walk away or distract him with a real toy so he learns hands are for petting/treats not toys. Other than that, I'm fresh out of ideas :)
Posted 1 year ago by roxysmommy #
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Magoo did that a lot as a little kid and I think my high pitched girly yelps scared him. I would also stop playing and petting him when he did it. He still does it a bit sometimes when my fingers are near his mouth, but it is more of a suck than a bite now. I didn't discipline him too hard when he was a baby because I thought I was only going to foster him (he knew he was staying tho) and he is blind and nearly died so I guess he is spoiled. Anyway, I kind of like the sucking on my fingers and if he gets too rough I just stop playing and say no. Your kittens will also learn limits from playing with each other, ie knowing teeth hurt.
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LOL - I have the same problems with Ozzie - both with the biting and with the climbing up my legs! The scratches are still healing from when he tried to climb my bare leg on Memorial Day. I wonder if he likes making his mommy make that screaming sound? I'm hoping that the leg climbing is just a phase he will grow out of. When he bites, I tell him 'NO' (and/or yell 'OUCH' and then put him down. I am doing the same with Murphy. Not sure how well that is working with either! ;-)
Now that we have Murphy, at least Ozzie is less obsessed with me and has not been climbing up my legs. I have been able to eat my meals in peace! I guess jumping on Murphy and getting him in a choke hold is more fun than climbing up Mom. But like Pucca says, I'm hoping that the play between them will also help them to learn to keeps claws withdrawn and to not bite too hard. :-)
Posted 1 year ago by Rubia in CA, 4/28 #
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Hi, MB, all kittens climb up legs because it's the only way to get close to their human mamas but as soon as they can jump up that high, they will do that instead! So yes, Scoupe will grow out of it. In the meantime, jeans are good! Check the pink Tag 'biting' in the top right hand corner, it has many previous threads on this subject with loads of good advice.
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My Matsuri like to bite as well. I just firmly tell him 'No!' and he stops...for a while anyway. I think its a mix of play and teething. I also tend to move one of his stuffed toys to his face when hes trying to bite me. Hopefully he'll learn to bite his toys and not me.
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Kittens are kittens and having new teeth who are just begging to chew on something, anything including fingers....so you can always change their focus on your fingers and give them a little stuffed animal to chew on. Remember to never use your fingers as play things for them, those kind of lessons are much harder to 'unlearn' than to change the focus away from in the beginning. As for the climbing, its natural they want to be near you as the pseudo mom or dad, you can help by trimming their little nails so that they aren't quite so sharp plus it helps to start now trimming them for when they get older.
Posted 1 year ago by AZDEBRA 5/27 & crew #
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All good ideas!! Thanks. I have started saying a higher pitched ouch to let him know it hurts me, another thing that helps (SOMETIMES) is to distract him with his favorite toy (feather wand). As for the leg climbing.... I hope he can jump higher fast cause, ouch! But RxM you were right, he does seem to know not to climb up my legs when I am in shorts.
Also- about the nail trimming I know it is a good idea to do especially since I would like them to be able to keep their claws but how do you go about that? I would like to start ASAP but I'm pretty nervous about it. I'll search for other threads about it but any tips will help I'm new at this! =) thanks everyone this is such a cheery place
Posted 1 year ago by Momma Bear #
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I also have a similar issue with Dusky. He views me and Jax as his favorite play toys. I always keep a toy near me so that I can distract him but it doesn't always work. When he bites me I will yell ouch and he just looks at me like "I'm not stupid I know what you are doing" and goes right back to going after me. I don't know if it is because he was hand raised or if its just him being stubborn, rofl.
Posted 1 year ago by JaxDuckyChloe #
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LOL aren't they scandalous little ones. It is all worth it at the end of the day though to see my two little guys passed out on top of each other purring =)I have a feeling Scoupe is going to be quite a handful, he managed to sneak outside while my hubby was working on his car- had a fun time chasing him around the deck before he found something more interesting than a treat...naughty kitty!! lol
Posted 1 year ago by Momma Bear #
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