# Help: Kitten attacking dog



## tc.catz (May 19, 2010)

Now that Tim has found his feet he has decided to sort the dogs out. It may seem funny or amusing that a tiny 11 week old kitten would take on two Boxer dogs but our smaller Boxer - Katie, had blood pouring out of her head yesterday. He does not really bother with Harvey other than to creep up on him and grips one of Harvey's leg and nip it, but seems to concentrate on Katie. After watching carefully I discovered that Tim waits until Katie gets on one of the chairs, then he springs onto her back/neck and starts to tear [claws extended] at her head. Katie goes rigid and tries to make herself smaller in the chair + is clearly very very frightened.

Every time I caught Tim doing it I lifted him down onto the floor with a firm "No" He is quite persistent and will keep going back. Katie is now getting frightened to come into the room at all

Other than being consistently firm what else can I do?


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## merothe (Jun 4, 2010)

I think the next step up from just a firm no would be to give Tim a sort of time out. Actually take him into another room and then leave him and ignore him. Sometimes you dont even have to shut the door - they get the idea that if they do this behaviour they dont get to play any more.

When he attacks the dog is he hissing/spitting? If not he may just be play fighting and not realise he is causing harm. 

There are loads of people on the forum that can give good advice about dealing with aggressive behaviour if you think it is more that play fighting gone too far


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

I would think it is going to be difficult to correct this behaviour.If it is a person then it is in one respect easier because the victim of the attack/play biting is in control and can react immediately,but your dog is not (luckily)as the result could be a disaster,But poor dog is being put in a terrible position and is now very wary of the kitten.I dont know what the answer is but I would be trying to keep the kitten and your dog, if not separated ,then definately supervised when together and where possible stop any attack before it starts.Good luck this is only an opinion .I dont know if it is the right way to go.


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## Philski (May 28, 2010)

Yeah, sounds to me like he's playing but too roughly. When kittens playfight together they are used to some retaliation, and soon learn how much scratching and biting is too much (for a game).

Katie's not fighting back, so maybe Tim's trying harder and harder to get a reaction, and he's too young to realise how much harm he's doing - assuming that another kitten at this stage isn't an option (and maybe not the right solution anyway), I can only think that spending time playing with him might help? I don't know whether you already do or how much, but if you're not, then it might make him shift his attention to you when he wants to play. (Toys on the end of sticks, if I were you!!)


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Gracious! And I was worried about getting kittens in case they were afraid of the dogs! I don't know what else to suggest, but definitely never leave them alone together. The kitten could cause some serious injury if the dog does not sort it out, and of course he is too gentle to do that.


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

If you know how to trim nails do it, if you don't learn now. It's not hard, just stay away from the pink and hold him very still as you are clipping them. I do Bailey's once a month and I never have any scratch marks on my arms or feet and she attacks my feet every night! You could also try those paddy paw things that are like little plastic things that glue onto their nails and stop them scratching.


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## luisa (Jul 14, 2010)

It could possibly be a territory thing

cats like high places the dog getting on the chair higher then him is a threat.

he could be stressed out as he is not able to "get away" from the dogs and chill.

i advise a high up shelf with a cat bed on ( those pyramid type ones ) and a way to get up there.

normally such a young kitten would have its mother to bite it and teach it that its not acceptable. as yours dont have this you need to do the teaching yourself. next time he does it HISS at him like his mother would. 

another way of prohibiting this behaviour is realising what triggers it and to avoid it before it happens. normally when a cats pissed off they will sweep their tail from side to side and their hairs on the base of the tail rise and their ears go back. then they crouch small and wiggle their bums before they pounce. Always have a toy availiable soon as u see him getting like this and divert his attention - fishing rod type toys are normally good to distract.


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