Kitten went from calm to crazy!

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions - big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other cat owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

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Kimba

1219468

Purred: Wed Dec 14, '11 2:47pm PST


	Hi everyone! My fiance and I adopted the cutest little 8 week old girl, Kimba. The first two weeks she was home with us she was wonderful! She fell into a routine of eating, gentle play, and sleep. Eating, gentle play, and sleep. For the past few days, she has become kind of crazy. She has been scratching and biting at everything (including us) and, honestly, has a crazed look on her face while playing. Playtime is lasting much longer and she has been more aggressive with play, too. I'm concerned because this is very out of her character (from what we have seen the past few weeks) and it just came out of nowhere. I'm just wondering.. is this normal kitten behavior? Could she possibly be teething? I am a first time kitty owner so this could all be normal, but I really have no idea. I want to make sure I'm doing all I can to raise a healthy and happy kitty!

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Pudgy

El Presidente

Purred: Wed Dec 14, '11 4:21pm PST


	Kittens can act crazy with lots of scratching and biting, that's pretty normal. It sounds like she is the only cat in your household and if so she may be missing a playmate that she can rough-house with. Give her pretty of attention and lots of toys to play with. You probably should ask a vet to show you how to start trimming her claws since it's best to start early and since trimmed claws do a lot less damage.

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Elijah Lil- Tweet

1198215

Purred: Wed Dec 14, '11 5:10pm PST


	You adopted her when she was only 6 weeks? Even at 8 she is still young and growing. She sounds very normal to me. I have had Elijah since he was about 2 1/2 weeks old and at first when he started playing he was gentle and then as he got older he got more active. Elijah did have our two dogs and my sons cat to play with but he still like attacking me and my hands. I have so many scratches it is not funny. Most of them are from he wanting to be on my lap or on my shoulders. But some are from play fighting. Just make sure you have something to offer her in exchange for your hands.

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CK Angel R.- Knowles

I'm a Carolina- Kitten in New- York!

Purred: Thu Dec 15, '11 9:18am PST


	Yep! Wanna borrow CK? He's alternately adorable and sweet, reaching up to be picked up and petted and then turns into a biting, scraching wild playing wild guy! All par for the course in the world of kittendom! My cats are fed up with it. Poor Smokie yells alot and I have to get on CK with the water sprayer becuase he doesn't stop til someone is protesting. He plays rough! Kittens are like little children only they have sharper teeth and claws. They also have instincts that make them regard most things that move as 'prey' when they are playing. I always yell 'OW' loud when CK bites or scratches. I do not use my hand to play with him. He has little toys to drag around and carry around and I try to play with 'da bird' at least once a day with him and with Prinny. When he gets too rough with the others I put in him the bathroom for 10 minutes to calm down. It seems to work. Good luck...and yes, they do teethe! MOL

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Mimi the- hurricane.

a real stud!

Purred: Thu Dec 15, '11 10:22am PST


	as kittens get older they get more energized and playtime gets more agressive. remember cats are pretators from instinct and they have a fase in the childhood were they practice that behavior. so they get agressive,will use the claws more and ofcorse the teeth must be used on yore softest tissue as good as they can lol. they also want to match their strenght with te momma or poppa. i always had more than one cat,and they always have a very very wild playhour every evening,where they use eichother as hunter/pray and to see who is strongest. so the behavior is normal. keep you way of playing soft. if it ges to rough stop playing. in time the kitten will learn you don't like rough behavior and because you play softly youreself,they learn to play soft when they grow up

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Rocky Balboa- - ADOPTED!

where's my- mouse?!

Purred: Thu Dec 15, '11 6:24pm PST


	Sounds like my Rocky! He went from clam to crazy pratically overnight! I think it's pretty much normal. If Rocky gets uncontrollable, I shut him in my room with the light off to get him to calm down. Unfortunately for me, he's a people cat, he absolutely adores being around people so he'll start crying for attention almost immediately! Once his cries have settled a bit I let him out and just hold him and pet very slowly giving as little stimulis as possible. That usually works. The wide eyed crazy puffed up look usually signals that Rocky is overstimulated and that's about when I stop the play, especially when the dogs or Lady(our old grouchy cat) are in the room.

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Hunter

Master of- Disaster!

Purred: Fri Dec 16, '11 5:13am PST


	This has happened to Hunter as well. Although him being crazy has yet to stop and he will be 2 next month. He was about 8 months old when he started getting crazy. I was lucky, he seemed to be really calm and docile as a kitten. I remember it was August and he started running around like a lunatic. Hunter is crazy, no doubt about it! He will run from my bedroom into the livingroom, jump over the couch and fly into the livingroom window. He'll shake it off, then run back over the couch and fly over the loveseat and whoever happens to be sitting there. From the hallway, he will run into the kitchen and slide into the sliding glass door and hide behind the blinds, hoping that no one seems him. If you happen to scare him from behind the blinds, then he back tracks. Runs from the kitchen down the hall, over the person on the loveseat, back through the livingroom, into the bedroom and he will run up his cat tree until it bangs against the wall. This is a daily occurance. I have a feeling Hunter thinks he can fly! Hunter is an extremely active cat. Does not stop, ever. Wanna trade for a day? j/k I think every kitten goes through this stage. I'm just waiting for Hunter to get out of it!

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Kimba

1219468

Purred: Tue Dec 20, '11 12:57pm PST


	Thank you all for the advice!

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Member Since
12/21/2011

Purred: Wed Dec 21, '11 1:30pm PST


	My cat just stared doing that today! so yeah this was really helpful to know its normal and all. I hope it gets over soon because shes starting to hug my fingers with her claws out!

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Kishi

Mommy said my- name means Bow- of God :)

Purred: Thu Dec 22, '11 9:08am PST


	Well, cats take a while to get used to the people and the new environment. Perhaps your little one has gotten comfortable and already felt safe with the environment hence, the craziness. Also, most breeders do not let go of kittens until they are about 12 weeks old, because a younger kitten needs to learn socialization from the catmom and fellow catlings [cat siblings lol]. If weaned younger than 9-12 weeks old, they may act all crazy because they did not 'complete' their 'playtime' stage with siblings, this could often lead to behavioral issues. But don't worry, it's very normal for them to play. Playtime is a cat's thing. Also happened to my Kishi when I got her 4 days after she turned 3 months. She's still a ball of fire when she's in the mood. As with scratching, have the nails clipped. Then you won't have to worry about bruises, it would feel as if scratching a mosquito bite... no pain at all. And with the biting, I have two suggestions: First: When the kitten bites, yowl in a high pitched voice. Cats make that sound when they're hurt. And ignore her for a while. Do not continue playing after an undesirable behavior is made, or else the kitten will associate biting with 'good act' because it still gets reinforcement after. Second: When the kitten starts biting, distract her. Always keep a toy in hand that when the teeth start digging, distract her attention to the toy - that will make it stop.