# 4 month old kitten



## Ld1987 (Nov 10, 2016)

Hi. I have a 16 week old kitten who is adorable. I know he is supposed to be mischievous but he is becoming a nightmare. Swinging from the curtains. Attacking people's feet. Chewing through charger after charger. Blinds. Carpets. He's worse than a puppy. My question is. Is this normal to be so boisterous or would he benefit from been neutered. Would it calm him down?? He's going to be an indoor cat and I'm dreading it


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi @Ld1987 and welcome.  What a gorgeous kitten you have ! 

Kittens of his age often are very boisterous and lively, with masses of energy. Climbing the curtains is common behaviour for kittens. 

He needs plenty of outlets for his energy, especially lots of interactive play with you, in several sessions a day. I usually give about 4 hours a day to playing with young kittens. Channelling his energy is the right way to stop him being destructive in your home. Left to himself he will make use of anything lying around (such as cables) to amuse himself. Attacking your feet means he wants your attention, i.e. he wants to play. Basically you cannot play with a young kitten too much. They are very time consuming at his age 

Getting him neutered in the next few weeks will be a good idea before he becomes sexually mature any time from now on, as you won't want to risk him starting to spray in your home. It will take about a month after neutering for his hormone levels to fall. However please don't rely on neutering as a means of calming him down. He may become a bit quieter, but the main way to manage his high energy levels is to channel them into play that is acceptable to you and tiring for him.

So, lots of fishing rod type toys such as Flying Frenzy and attachments, which get him leaping around. Use these twice a day minimum until he is exhausted. Ping pong balls which you throw for him to chase. If you have stairs, get him running up and down them chasing balls you throw or toys.

He needs to be able to climb safely, so give him ceiling high cat trees, and maybe fit shelves up the wall leading safely up to the tops of cupboards.

Curtains can be tied back with loops so they are less attractive for kitty to climb.

Cables can be wrapped in baking foil, and anything electrical such as e.g. phone chargers, should be put away in a drawer when not in use.

You need to redirect any rough play with you such as biting or scratching onto appropriate toys. Buy him some toys to gnaw on such as the Yeoww cat nip banana toy and toys for him to kick and bite such as the Kong Kickeroo. All from Amazon. Keep them handy and if he goes to bite you, immediately push one of these toys between his paws.

Feed him a high protein, low carb diet so his meals are being digested more slowly. High carb food causes dips and peaks in blood sugar levels which can result in erratic behaviour. So, no dry food at all, just a good quality wet food for kittens, preferably a grain free food.

Feed him as much meat based wet food as he wants. He will be less aggressive if he is not hungry. He won't get overweight on a wet food diet and he needs plenty of good nutrition whilst he is growing fast, to build strong bones and muscles.

Nature's Menu Kitten, Wainwrights Kitten, HiLife Kitten food, are all available from [email protected] Or have a look on Zooplus UK for good quality canned kitten foods such as Feringa, Animonda Carny and Smilla.

Make any changes in diet slowly, a teaspoon a time, on a saucer alongside his current food. If you switch too quickly you risk upsetting his tummy.

And, don't worry he won't be as energetic as he is once he is an adult, but he may always be a cat who needs a lot of your attention to keep him happy. Very people-orientated cats like your kitten often are that way.

Good luck, please let us know how things go.


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## TeddyMum (Jul 26, 2014)

Teddy was a nightmare for wire chewing as a baby, thankfully he has grown our of it now!


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## XXCazzyXX (Apr 16, 2016)

It depends on the cat I think. My kitten is very mischievous. he is now 9 months old, and he is nurtured. The he was little he did climb curtains, and stair spindles. after he was nurtured this behaviour turned into more physical play, biting, kicking ect. as long as you transfer that energy into a play activity he should be fine. My kitten knows his boundaries and never bites to hurt me, but when he plays if he gets to rough he stops as soon as I make a noise. Getting him neutered is always a good idea though, stops him spraying in the house. especially if he is going to be a inside cat you don't want that.


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## Linda2147 (Sep 26, 2013)

A kitten is just like any other baby, everything goes in the mouth, only way they have to know if its edible or not. He will outgrow it as he matures. I do suggest that you have him neutered by 5 months so he won't spray. If done before he's sexually mature he won't spray.


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## MissKittyKat (Jan 23, 2016)

Gizmo being neutered didn't change anything he still is a bit crazy. This is mostly running around at warp speed now and no climbinf but he jumps on everything in the living room before he will settle. He saw a spider in our living room yesterday and spent 10mins jumping up at it from a chair pretty much to the ceiling until it came out of hiding on a web strand when he pounced and played with it for another 20mins which is definitely more fun than killing it!

At 14months he can still be a crazy kitten but also sit in my lap for hours 

So I think they always have some crazy kitten in them even when neutered x


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Just to say re: the question of cats spraying indoors. Neutering kittens before they reach sexual maturity will _in most cases_ prevent the kitty spraying indoors. But research has shown there is a small percentage of kittens that will spray even after they have been neutered early. This is because spraying is a reactive behaviour and is not entirely stimulated by sex hormones. Of course I do recommend kittens being neutered before sexual maturity, but it's worth being aware it is not a 100% guarantee.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Usually kittens do grow out of "nutty behaviour" and calm down to being reasonably sensible adults but just to warn you that it isn't always the case.
Meeko my loveable crazy Ragdoll is still as likely to leg it up the curtains now at 6 years old as he was when he was 6 months old  .


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