Kitten gone wild
by Corrie Sullivan
(greensboro,NC U.S)
I have just gotten a kitten who is 7 weeks old but he is going wild. I do not know if this is because he is a kitten but he seems to think that it is ok to chase people's feet and cling onto them, scratch til blood appears - even when we are simply holding him.I would like to find a way to train him to get out of these horrible play habits because i can't live with my scratched up body!! hah
Answer by Kate
Hi well this is completely normal kitten behaviour. Usually it is not advisable to remove a kitten from its siblings and mother until at least 8 weeks and probably a few weeks more would be of benefit. the reason for this is that kittens learn a lot of socially acceptable rules from their mother and siblings. I.e playing is ok but to bite too hard etc is bad.
As you kitten is only 7 weeks old you will have to take on this training role. cats learn by negative and positive responses. i have a web page about this here
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-discipline.html
So when he displays this behaviour you need to walk away from him quickly, with no eye contact or sound. Do this every time and he will get the message that this is not the response he was after. Also when he is good make lots of fuss of him etc. Again this will show him that when he behaves in a certain way he gets lots of attention.
best wishes Kate