Kittens get wild. That's just the way they are. No sense getting angry about
it. If you don't want the kitten to get into something put it away. The
concept is the same as babyproofing for small children. She will be less of
an itch as she gets older. At 4 mo. she's still a baby.

I never found punishing a cat to be particularly fruitful. When I gave Boots
a time out it was to provide a less stimulating environment when he got too
wound up.

W

Why would you be furious at such a little thing?

No. It will probably only make your cat fear you. The key to training a
kitten is persistence. Ours understand verbal commands, sometimes all it
takes is a look to let them know they're doing something they're not
supposed to.

That's normal for kittens. They are wild.

Get another kitten. They will keep each other occupied and out of trouble.

I think you need to reasses owning a cat.  You don't show the temperament
for it, and you've just committed to it for at least 15 years.  This doesn't
bode well for the future of your pet.  Rehoming it now while it's still a
cute kitten will be a lot easier than it will in 9 months time when you
decide you've had enough.

Getting angry at cat behavior only bothers *you*.  It doesn't bother the
cat.  And it certainly won't cause a cat to stop acting like a cat.  If you
are a cat person, cat behavior is amusing and entertaining.  You're
obviously a dog person, because you think you can control a pet's actions
totally.  Nope.  Not with a cat you can't.  Not even with a dog, really,
unless you put in hours of training.  Sounds like the pet you really want is
a goldfish.

Hi Larry,

I'm not sure if all the responses you've had so far are that helpful, but
some of the points are valid.

A cat is unlikely to ever have a similar level of obedience to a well
trained dog; cats have been solitary animals since they evolved something
like 30 million years ago; their whole social concept is completely
different; most dogs are innately trainable because they have an evolved
desire to fit in with the "pack" formed by a dog owning family and their
pooch; cats have a very different outlook on the world.

Your kitten was most likely playing with the umbrella because it looked
interesting when she patted it with her paw (their vision is very different
to ours, much of the world is a blur until it moves; cat eyes are wired for
movement, anything that moves about maybe reflecting light in it's folds
looks pretty interesting), maybe it smelled of something interesting, maybe
a spider or a bug was hiding in it that you didn't see.

A firm "no" (and the marbles trick someone suggested) is typically the best
step in dissuading a cat (something they hate is loud sudden noises), but
obviously in this case whatever caught her attantion was interesting enough
to risk a further telling off. If my cat ever pushes for a second telling
off we tend to make it a stronger one, shouting a big "no" and stomping up
to her, she'll normally skip away to some corner, we follow and give her a
few more stern "no"'s whilst shaking a finger in her face, the typical
response is for her is to duck her head back into her neck a little, fold
her ears back and kind of cringe, looking a lot like a schoolkid sternly
told off by their teacher; she then tends to quiet for a few hours after
which we'll go find her and show her som affection to let her know we still
love her and so on; obviously this only works if you use it for when the cat
is VERY bad, otherwise she'll just get scared of you all the time.

You could have simply removed the umbrella to a place she couldn't reach it;
though this may have just turned her attention to something else.

I think the best policy here would be one of distraction though; if she's
playing with anything then she wants to play (one guide I read summed it up
as "your kitten will only be awake for a few hours each day, but during
those hours they will expect to be entertained!"), if you had started
playing with her with some string, that would probably have been a lot more
interesting than the umbrella, or maybe kick about a small ball of paper or
aluminium foil for a few minutes, this is normally enough encouragement for
them to play with it themselves; we had a big problem with our cat getting
bored at times when we were both busy at work or whatever, she used to
scratch against furniture or get into difficult places (like under the
floorboards) as a result, we bought her an activity centre thing with
scratch posts and bits of string etc. hanging off it and no more problems;
she had this big thing to clamber around and play on that we encouraged her
to play with, so no more need to do anything else.

It's not always convenient to play, and sometimes cats can just be wild
little demons, but that is what makes them what they are; seriously consider
having her neutered as this does generally "calm down" cats, and a second
kitten may not be such a bad idea either as they will keep each other
occupied most of the time if you're busy, but locking her into a single room
is unlikely to do much other than make her see you as an enemy, it will
probably make her stressed and more wound up, she could grow to fear you
which doesn't mean she'll obey you, she'll just run away when you come near.
In the wild cats will learn by copying what their mother does, OK you can't
go down on all fours and convince her not to play with the umbrella, but by
taking the lead and showing her something else to play with she knows that
is more acceptable to "mum" than attacking the umbrella; try to find the
time, it only takes 10 minutes, and in a few months she'll begin to mellow
out as nearly all cats do.

Remember she's still a baby, and they don't always do what they're told!

Good luck,

Steve

the cat does not need to calm down, You should have gotten an older cat.  A
"time out" is not an appropriate behavior modification for a kitten.  Its
like trying to keep the tide back with a spoon.  The kitten WILL get into
everything, despite your desire for her not to.  Sure.. leave her in the
bathroom, she'll just shred the curtains, and unwind the toilet paper.
Older cats will eventually listen and learn.  They do want to please the
ones they love.. not as obviously as dogs, so you do have to work
differently with them.  kittens however have absolutely no concept of
training.

Rehome the cat.  Everyone will be happier for it in the long run.