# Scatty kitten concerns



## Clarabean (Sep 1, 2016)

hello! 

I am a little concerned about my 17 week old kitten behaviour/habits and hoping someone can recommend some helpful tips, because if I am honest I don't know how much more of her scattiness/aggression we can handle

We got Socks when she was 7weeks old (I know this is young, the rspca in the uk recommends 8weeks but sadly some circumstances out of our control led to us to getting her earlier than planned), for the first couple of weeks she was having a few fussy eating moments but her actual behaviour was great! Coming to nap on me and my partner, having play times and enjoying getting to know her new surroundings. But at about 10 weeks I noticed she was barely eating and its something I keep raising with my vet because she has one or two mouth fulls and that's it, and people keep telling me she won't starve herself and the vet says she's a grazer, but honestly I am throwing away more than she is eating 

So with the above in mind, I know it might be having a knock on effect to her erraticness because I know she's hungry because she sits and cries when I am cooking my tea, but refuses to eat her own. I will be discussing it again with the vet at her next visit, because in my opinion she's very thin but they are happy because on the scales she has gained weight, but surely that's just because she is just naturally getting bigger?

However, she is nuts! Plain and simple, she is crazy! I have owned cats/kittens through out my child hood and I have never seen a kitten so erratic, one millisecond she's attacking her toys (not playing, literally attacking), next millisecond she's pounced on my feet, the next she's zooming around the room like crazed lunatic! i want to meet the people who say 'kittens sleep for around 20hours a day' like hell she does, more like 20minutes!!!! I have to shut her away so she will sleep, which can be very upsetting cause I can hear her crying to be let out, but within 30mins there's silence, I have a sneaky look and she's finally dropped off to sleep. 

She's now taken a liking to jumping up at mine and my partners legs (catching my partner in his 'area' once or twice which you can imagine he didnt appreciate). In the last week or so, she has started to move away from us trying to stroke her, I can't remember the last time she came to one of us for nap time snuggles and most upsettingly started to bite/scratch when we try to pick her up or when we are holding her (she does bite/scratch in general, but I try to ignore that as I know she's just play fighting). I do try to play with Socks, we have dangling toys on string, laser pens, balls, bells, wind up mouses, scratching post and a few others. But she plays for about 10mins then runs away or just pounces on me biting and scratching, so I end up having to walk away and sometimes giving her a little time alone. 

It's becoming a very frustrating experience! I keep holding on to hope that when we have her spade (however it's spelt) this will calm her and also I can see she is desperate to go outside, and when that time comes she wont be as frustrated/bored! I know she is getting to that age in a female cats life that she might be moodier that normal (is that a thing)?

Has anyone experienced this in female cats, can you offer advise of what happened once your cat was spade or let outside? 

Can you offer any eating advice? I have tried the following - dry, gravy based, jelly based, kitten pate, kitten pate watered down (advice from the vet), grain free, fish, chicken, ham and treats (I have found one she likes but I save them for days I know she refused to eat all day just to get her to eat) 

Sorry for such a long winded post, but I felt there was a lot of info to go with Socks situation ☺ 

I do love her so much, it took me 5years to convince my partner to get a pet (he's never owned animals before) and he is getting a little disgruntled at the whole being attacked, hissed at! I am very very frustrated but i refuse to give up, there must be light at the end of the tunnel, but currently we just see her behaviour getting worse! 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I know it's a lot of detail and thank you in advance for any advice, stories or just general info that you can offer. 

Socks and Clara ☺


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi @Clarabean and welcome 

It sounds as though Socks is a bit of a handful ! Single kittens may demand a lot more attention from their human companiions than a pair of kittens who have each other as playmates. You may have to put in a lot more time to keeping a single kitten entertained to prevent them becoming bored and destructive. Also, as you have found, as you and your OH are the kitten's only playmates you will be likely to come in for more feisty play from her than if she had a feline playmate to rough and tumble with.

For a start I would recommend you arrange to have her spayed within the next couple of weeks as it will calm her down a bit when her hormone levels drop. There are vets these days who are willing to spay / neuter from around 4 months old. If your regular vet is not in favour then I would phone around other local vets and find one who is. You can always go back to your regular vet for future treatments.

The other thing is diet. I would cut out the treats and all the dry food. It is high in carbs which cats do not neeed and can lead to erratic behaviour, even hyperactive behaviour as blood sugar levels rise and dip. Some kittens seem to be more sensitive to the effects of this than others.

I would choose a high protein grain free kitten food, such as Natures Menu Kitten food, Hilife Kitten food, Wainwrights Kitten food in pots (not pouches). Also have a look at the kitten food on The Happy Kitty Co website. Good quality German makes, imported by a UK company. They are all pate texture, so would need chopping into small piieces or mashing if your kitten prefers that,

http://www.happykittycompany.co.uk/collections/cat-food/Kitten

If kitty is not keen on pate texture then you could have a look on Zoooplus UK at Animonda Rafine pouches of chunks in gravy, or Miamor pouches of chunks in jelly or gravy. They are not such good foods as the pate ones, but would be better than e.g. Felix or Whiskas or dry food.

You could also consider introducing some raw food, whiich you can buy ready prepared on line from various pet food suppliers such as Nutriment or Natures Instinct.

The reason why your kitty is jumping up at you is because she wants to play. She needs to have a lot more interactive play than she is getting at present, about 4 or 5 hours a day, split into periods of 40 minutes or so. Kittens of that age can take up huge amounts of one's time, even more so when they are very energetic kitten full of character like yours is

You can pre-empt some of her boisterous behaviour by playing interactively a lot with her using toys such as Flying Frenzy, throwing ping pong balls for her to chase, and playing with a laser light. If you have stairs in your home play with her there getting her racing up and down chasing balls you throw, as it will use up a lot of her energy.

Also I would buy a few Kong Kickeroo toys from Amazon, and when she goes to bite you or kick you in play, give her a Kickeroo to play with. Most kittens love them 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KONG-Kicke...&qid=1472814961&sr=1-1&keywords=kong+kickeroo


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## Clarabean (Sep 1, 2016)

Sorry about my late reply and thank you for all your handy tips and advice! 

I have been trying out a few things and also Socks has now been netured about 3weeks ago. 

However, sadly, Socks behaviour has not improved In fact it's only got worse! She has gone from scatty to highly agressive, she hisses and spits at us quite regularly and has even jumped up to attack my face when I have been bending down to pick something up and so on. She constantly jumps up at people's legs and bites anyone who tries to stroke her. She has recently started bringing me her small cuddley toy, I thought this was a sign of affection but even when I go to stroke her then she either attacks my hand or cowers from me?!?

It's so upsetting that I have been trying to convince my partner for 5 years to get a cat cause I have amazing memories of previous pets from when I grew up and so upsettingly Socks is not the best example of a cat, as she's always in attack mode

We are both at breaking point, it's been a long 6 months (she's 8months old), of trying to be patient and understanding, playing and learning. But we just don't know what to do anymore, do we keep waiting and be afraid of our own cat in our own home or do we give up? 

If anyone has previous experience of agressive behaviour, I really would be so appreciative of any tips/advice! This can't carry on! The vets say she is just being a kitten but surely not every kitten takes chunks out of people?!?

I can't have a cat in my house who is being so aggressive, I need to be able to bring out Socks sweeter nature cause I dread to think what the alternative is


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

It is early days yet as far as a change to Socks behaviour post neutering,it is a shame that she wasn't neutered earlier as this would most likely have prevented the escalation of her unwanted behaviour.
My raggie Meeko was an aggressive, even obnoxious, little sod of a kitten.To some this will sound like a horrible thing to say but he wasn't fun to be around though none of it was his fault.
His rearing wasn't the best so poor lad had some demons to deal with ,it took a lot of time and patience but he is now a fairly laid back,even tempered adult who can still play rough but does know just how far is too far.
In those early days I just couldn't see him ever being the cat he is now and to be honest it has made the bond stronger.
I have no words of wisdom to pass on other than,be patient,never lose your temper and walk away when things become difficult,negativity and anger will only make a bad situation worse ,(not saying that you ever show her anger  ).


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

How often do yo actually play with her? Interactive play where you spend a half hour or more throwing toys for her to chase, dragging string on a stick toys for her to chase and leap at, etc?

Kittens need massive amounts of attention. You need to play interactive games with her at least three or four times a day. On a routine is best. The more routine things are, the happier she will be. Interactive Games, in the morning before you leave for work, when you get home and before bed, at the very least.

And did you take the diet advice from chillminx and get her on a good low carb wet diet? The schedule feeding will also help with routine.

Does she have a cat tree to climb and jump up on?

Windows to look out of?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Clarabean - I am sorry things are no better with Socks. But I am puzzled as to why she has suddenly got so much worse, so now she is hissing and spitting at you?

Frequent hissing and spitting, especially when she has not done this to you before, is worrying as it suggests she is unhappy and very stressed. When you say she is attacking you do you mean trying to get you to play, or that she is being angry and aggressive? If the latter I don't understand why this should suddenly happen unless she has begun to feel frightened or very frustrated. A kitten who becomes aggressive is usually responding to being punished. Do you think anyone in your home has shouted at her, or sprayed water at her perhaps? Cowering from you is also a sign she is very frightened.

I really do think as things are this bad you should consider bringing in a pet behaviourist. They will come to your home and observe the kittens, how they interact with each other and how you interact with them. So they will be able to give you a far more accurate interpretation of Socks' behaviour than I can.

If you have comprehensive pet insurance you will be covered for behavioural therapy as long as your vet makes the referral. These people are good - see if there is one near you:

http://www.apbc.org.uk/help/regions

Or these are good too:

http://capbt.org/findabehaviourist.php

If you don't have insurance it is still worth pursuing. You may only need one home visit and a follow-up by phone. Cost may be about £80, but worth it I think if you get some help.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Bringing in the help of a behaviourist really is worth considering.
I did this with my lad as I was out of my depth with him and didn't want to be making a bad situation worse.
All it took was a home visit and a few follow up phone consults well worth the £80 it cost


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