xumi's mom
Susan
I'd like to ask everyone about their experience with kittens who are biters, what methods have worked to abate it, and if nothing worked, did they grow out of it?
Xumi is a 14 week old female F2. I got her when she was 11 weeks old. She was the only kitten from her Mom's first birthing, so she didn't learn bite inhibition. Also, I don't think Mom ever scruffed her (probably didn't have much need to), the result being that she HATES being scruffed.
She is super hyper, bouncing off the walls, pouncing on shadows, racing through the house, etc. She has plenty of toys, and we play with her by using feather wands, throwing her favorite stuffed toy, Mr. Squirrel, or crumpled paper balls to chase down. We alternate these bursts of energy with quiet timeouts in the bedroom so she doesn't get overstimulated. She's not allowed free run of the house without being supervised, so when we go out for errands, she's in the bedroom, where she has her food and litterbox. I work during the day but my husband is home during the day, so she's not alone. There are no children and no other pets.
She is very confident, and nothing startles her. She doesn't even flinch at loud noises. No, she's not deaf. So it has been challenging to teach her what NO means. Like staying off the counters for example. Although it's exhausting keeping her out of trouble, all her kitten antics are tolerable except for the biting. She bites HARD, breaking the skin.
She's very motion oriented, and she especially has an obsession for hands. She can be playing with a toy, see us move our hands, and she'll drop the toy and attack the hand. She'll even attack hands she sees on TV! I have tried the passive approach of holding still, so as not to further trigger the prey response. I have tried saying NO firmly, setting her down, then ignoring her. I've tried timeouts in the bedroom. I've tried a bicycle horn, loud hand claps, and a very loud "NO", "OW", etc. I tried the bitter apple spray, which she doesn't like, but only gets the taste in her mouth after a bite. Everyting I try just ups the ante in her mind, and the next attack is even more aggressive. Scruffing her to the floor toally backfires - she retaliates in a very angry way, arched back, flat ears, jumping and attacking whatever is closest - arms, face, ankles (son of a bitch, that hurts!).
Clearly, the negative reinforcement approach isn't working. I don't believe in hitting a cat to punish it. I did try blowing in her face, and it had the expected angry response.
The positive approach involves clicker training, which I've started. But I can't get past the click=equals treat stage. I'm using a chopstick for the pointer, and of course that isn't anything except a moving toy to her at this point.
I know she's at the age to be teething, and she's also not spayed yet (this will be done in 2 weeks), so I'm hoping this behavior will subside on it's own. But my fear is that if I don't establish an alpha role with her now, I'll never be able to.
Thoughts? Advice? Before we bleed to death?
Xumi is a 14 week old female F2. I got her when she was 11 weeks old. She was the only kitten from her Mom's first birthing, so she didn't learn bite inhibition. Also, I don't think Mom ever scruffed her (probably didn't have much need to), the result being that she HATES being scruffed.
She is super hyper, bouncing off the walls, pouncing on shadows, racing through the house, etc. She has plenty of toys, and we play with her by using feather wands, throwing her favorite stuffed toy, Mr. Squirrel, or crumpled paper balls to chase down. We alternate these bursts of energy with quiet timeouts in the bedroom so she doesn't get overstimulated. She's not allowed free run of the house without being supervised, so when we go out for errands, she's in the bedroom, where she has her food and litterbox. I work during the day but my husband is home during the day, so she's not alone. There are no children and no other pets.
She is very confident, and nothing startles her. She doesn't even flinch at loud noises. No, she's not deaf. So it has been challenging to teach her what NO means. Like staying off the counters for example. Although it's exhausting keeping her out of trouble, all her kitten antics are tolerable except for the biting. She bites HARD, breaking the skin.
She's very motion oriented, and she especially has an obsession for hands. She can be playing with a toy, see us move our hands, and she'll drop the toy and attack the hand. She'll even attack hands she sees on TV! I have tried the passive approach of holding still, so as not to further trigger the prey response. I have tried saying NO firmly, setting her down, then ignoring her. I've tried timeouts in the bedroom. I've tried a bicycle horn, loud hand claps, and a very loud "NO", "OW", etc. I tried the bitter apple spray, which she doesn't like, but only gets the taste in her mouth after a bite. Everyting I try just ups the ante in her mind, and the next attack is even more aggressive. Scruffing her to the floor toally backfires - she retaliates in a very angry way, arched back, flat ears, jumping and attacking whatever is closest - arms, face, ankles (son of a bitch, that hurts!).
Clearly, the negative reinforcement approach isn't working. I don't believe in hitting a cat to punish it. I did try blowing in her face, and it had the expected angry response.
The positive approach involves clicker training, which I've started. But I can't get past the click=equals treat stage. I'm using a chopstick for the pointer, and of course that isn't anything except a moving toy to her at this point.
I know she's at the age to be teething, and she's also not spayed yet (this will be done in 2 weeks), so I'm hoping this behavior will subside on it's own. But my fear is that if I don't establish an alpha role with her now, I'll never be able to.
Thoughts? Advice? Before we bleed to death?
seems to have worked well for both of us. I like that wording more, for a cat they seem to be more willing to do it if it seems like it was THEIR idea.
