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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / May 2005My kitten sees my hands as prey
My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. She follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take a run at them and pull up at the last minute, or just go to give them a light tap with her paw. But the last little bit she's been starting to take to them as chewing toys at times too. I've seen her do it gently a few times, which I don't mind so much, but sometimes it gets pretty aggressive. She has plenty of other chewing toys and stuff, and she uses them a lot - she loves to chew. It seems to make her happy when I let her chew on my hand, like it's a bonding experience or even a trust gaining experience (?), but I don't really like it when it gets aggressive. I also don't really like it when I am sleeping and she decides to give my thumb a chomp, thereby waking me up. Can anyone offer advice about how to deal with this? Ideally, I'd like to avoid chewing altogether. I don't mind licking, but chewing is a bit annoying. Thanks, Steve > My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. She > follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take a run at [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Thanks, > Steve Put some bitter apple spray on your hands at night. When you are awake, always, IMMEDIATELY, get a different wand type toy to play with when she begins this. If she does bite you Say OOOW!!! Very loud and redirect her attanetion elsewhere. She'll learn. > She has plenty of other chewing toys and stuff, and she uses them a lot > - she loves to chew. It seems to make her happy when I let her chew on > my hand, like it's a bonding experience or even a trust gaining > experience (?), but I don't really like it when it gets aggressive. And what do you do about it? Do you correct it? Redirect it? Allow it? > I also don't really like it when I am sleeping and she decides to give > my thumb a chomp, thereby waking me up. Again, what do you do? Not correcting the behavior implies it is acceptable and increases the chances it will occur, assuming she gets a positive experience from the behavior (which she apparently does). It is highly unpleasant for any living being to wake me up in the middle of the night. I don't have 'waking me up' problems in my house. Including with other humans. LOL > Can anyone offer advice about how to deal with this? I reacted to my kittens very much like another cat. They understood this rather well. If they bit too hard and hurt me, I'd do what another cat would do. I'd yowl, give a hiss, narrow my eyes, and walk away. Stop interaction. Immediately. If they continued, I'd do the same thing but also give a gentle bat and a growl as a reminder that I am the boss, not them. Like momma kitty. And I do mean gentle. Mostly, a hand wave, like a cat batting at the air, with little to no physical contact. Modeled after my own adult furkids and how they behave to each other when one wants to play too rough for the other. LOL As they got older, 'OW' was substituted for cat vocalizations. They are now conditioned to 'OW' to mean "stop that, that hurts". If your kitten is too big on playing with hands, you should stop that altogether. Use stuffed toys and kitty wands instead. When she goes for your hands, immediately substitute the toy.  Signature-- ~kaeli~ Hey, if you got it flaunt it! If you don't, stare at someone who does. Just don't lick the TV screen, it leaves streaks. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace > I reacted to my kittens very much like another cat. They understood > this rather well. If they bit too hard and hurt me, I'd do what [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > -- Good advice! > My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. She > follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take a run at [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Thanks, > Steve ***Hi Steve, Do Not let her "chew", bite, or nip at your hands or feet. Always, when she does this or attempts to do so, say to her loudly, "No!", then immediately move your hand(s) away. Let her know this behaviour is totally not* acceptable with you and that you won't put up with it. She will learn with time, believe me, just don't act* like it's okay, or she simply won't know any better, or behave any better. Good luck! ML >> My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. She >> follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take a run at [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > ML I was never that patient. A middle finger flick on the end of the nose works faster. >My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. She >follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take a run at [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >Thanks, >Steve I can't stop my kitten from biting my toe. Why should you have it easy? :) http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=140147 > Thanks, > Steve Oh, you started it! playing..."Mr hand is gonna get the kitty" now...it's starting to hurt. haha On Wed 18 May 2005 10:32:29a, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116426749.661029.204730@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com): > My 4 month kitten often seems to fixate on my hands as prey. > She follows my hands wherever they go. Sometimes she will take [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > even a trust gaining experience (?), but I don't really like it > when it gets aggressive. Sounds like she's teething. > I also don't really like it when I am sleeping and she decides > to give my thumb a chomp, thereby waking me up. One of my lil 8 mo old kittens does that to my feet when I sleep! Ouch! > Can anyone offer advice about how to deal with this? Ideally, > I'd like to avoid chewing altogether. I don't mind licking, but > chewing is a bit annoying. Not sure how to stop it if you're sleeping, unless you close him out. I can't do that with mine, but that's just me. When you're playing with him, just keep pulling your hand away and say very loudly NO! and don't keep playing with her with your hands. Use toys only. :) Once the habit starts as lil kittens, it's hard to break later. Any pics of her? :) SignatureCheryl "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath." - W.C. Fields > One of my lil 8 mo old kittens does that to my feet when I sleep! Poor kitty (you are risking giving the kitten lock-jaw or triganosis)maybe you should put socks on your big feet, or stop wearing combat boots altogether >> One of my lil 8 mo old kittens does that to my feet when I >> sleep! > > Poor kitty (you are risking giving the kitten lock-jaw or > triganosis)maybe you should put socks on your big feet, or stop > wearing combat boots altogether Can we save ourselves a little time here with a simple question? Are you going to start humping all of my posts? I'll give you some info about my posting schedule so that you don't start thinking that "you won" or some other childish thing when you don't get a reply in 5 minutes: I don't usually post every day. Sometimes I do during the week; weekends are usually mine and NO computer unless I'm bored. Sometimes I just read and don't feel like posting. Lurk mode. Try it some time. I don't post during the day. I'm at work and very busy. Sometimes I'll just ignore you. This is very very important, so please remember this one. I absolutely will not reply to you if you hump one of my posts in a sad or serious thread that takes the attention away from the OP. That's just rude. I go to bed early on weeknights because I get up very early in the morning. If you hump one of my posts at say 10pm EDT, you might not get a reply for almost 24 hours. Can you handle that? ;) Lastly, if your post-humping continues at the current caliber, you'll probably end up in my PLONK FILE (LOL!) because you're just not worth the time. But, if you end up there, you'll have a second chance to win my affections after 100 days, because that's when you'd expire. SignatureCheryl "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath." - W.C. Fields > A big long love letter > "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited > breath." > - W.C. Fields Humping? no more or less than you've been humping mine. uh huh killfile me?....killfile ME??? "Hang me just as high as you please, but for the Lord's sake, don't fling me in that briar patch." On Wed 18 May 2005 09:03:13p, bigbadbarry wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116464593.555929.278770 @g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com): > "Hang me just as high as you please, but for the Lord's sake, don't > fling me in that briar patch." Minions are still minions ... even if they think they're a rabbit. SignatureCheryl "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath." - W.C. Fields > On Wed 18 May 2005 09:03:13p, bigbadbarry wrote in > rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116464593.555929.278770 [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Minions are still minions ... even if they think they're a rabbit. Minions. The drama! lol > On Wed 18 May 2005 09:03:13p, bigbadbarry wrote in > rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116464593.555929.278770 [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Minions are still minions ... even if they think they're a rabbit. So Cheryl has decided that you are my follower. :) Is my every wish your command, then? > > On Wed 18 May 2005 09:03:13p, bigbadbarry wrote in > > rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116464593.555929.278770 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So Cheryl has decided that you are my follower. :) > Is my every wish your command, then? I would walk two miles on my, hands and knees ain't no doubt about it, Mary, it's you I aim to please I'd wrestle with a lion and a, grizzly bear it's my life sure but, I don't care I'd put out a burning building with a shovel and dirt or climb the empire state, fight Mohamad Ali what's up > > > On Wed 18 May 2005 09:03:13p, bigbadbarry wrote in > > > rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1116464593.555929.278770 [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > what's up OMG this is so COOL I have my very own MINION!!! Let me just sleep on my first command. You may retire to the minion's quarters after you draw my bath and scent it with fragrant herbs and flowers. > > A big long love letter > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > "Hang me just as high as you please, but for the Lord's sake, don't > fling me in that briar patch." Cheryl's big into humping. Unfortunately the humpees keep running away. |
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