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Why does my kitten Casper like me but always scratch my friends even though they've know him for a pretty long time.
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Casper is always friendly with me but whenever my friends come he scratches them and bites all the time. When I pick him up he is very calm, but when my friends pick him up he wants to get away and doesn't seem to like them. Now some of my friends are like scared of him cause him bit them really hard and scratched them alot. How can I make him a bit friendlier to people other then me????
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Casper
on Dec 1st 2009
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in Socialization
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We tried to answer your question about Casper yesterday, but anyway... You said in his profile that Casper is 2 months old. He's still a baby and baby cats are very active. They don't want to be restrained. This is what your friends are doing. Casper is very cute and adorable and your friends want to cuddle him. But he doesn't want to be cuddled. So he reacts by biting and scratching. You and your friends shouldn't blame Casper for acting out like this. A lot of cats don't like to have their feet off the ground, like I told you yesterday. When you pick them up, they don't feel safe and/or in control and biting/scratching is their only defense. The solution is simple. Tell your friends NOT TO PICK CASPER UP!!! You can't force him to like someone. Tell your friends to play with him with a feather teaser on a pole, a ball (he can be taught to fetch), or other interactive toys you can get at the pet store. This is called "socialization," and it's what he needs right now.
Izadore (Izzie)
answered on 12/1/09.
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Agreed with Izzie. If your friends must pet him and fuss over him, they can do so by getting down with him on the floor so that they become less threatening to him.
They also may just be too high energy for him, which has him be defensive towards them. My mom's brother loves cats, but he's more energetic than I am used to in people, so whenever I've visited his home, I get shy and run away from him. He doesn't take it particularly personally though, he sort of knows that he has that effect on cats. MOL.
Make a suggestion to your friends to ignore Casper, and then be very deliberate and slow in their movements if he takes an interest. The more they can interact with Casper predictably in a way that makes him relaxed, the less likely he is to act defensively. That means no grabbing him, or picking him up, or petting him roughly.
Boris
answered on 12/2/09.
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And tell your friends who get scratched or bitten to be sure to wash the wound well and sterilize it. Should someone get a really serious bite, they should go to the ER, where they will probably get a tetanus shot and antibiotics. I got savaged by three of my kittens last year when I was grooming them for a cat show, and by nightfall, the scratches and bites had become swollen, painful, and red. Right now, letting your friends use a toy when they play with Casper is, as Izzie says, a good compromise.
Currier
answered on 12/2/09.
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