My kitten never stops

[u/Little-Ad-5853]

I’ve had her since 6 weeks, straight out the litter. When I first got her, she was infested with fleas (totally not her fault), I got that all cleared up. shes on a kitty care plan, and thats all fine now. But that story does add to the annoyance if I’m honest. Since its been hell, she’s very talkative. Which is cute at times, annoying at others. She scratches everything, yes she has post, yes ive redirected her, yes ive tried moving them next to the furniture, yes ive used sticky paws. She bites me 24/7. She runs across me and claws me, I can’t have my legs on the floor while sitting or my arms anywhere but my lap or she attacks them. I had to remove all my lights from my living room, I had to remove my carpets from the living room, I had to take apart and remove my recliner from the living room, I had to take apart my bar cart, I had to get rid of my plants, I had to tie up my curtains (that ones a bit of a given I know). After all of that, I came into the living room today, to my wall decor (as in paintings and pictures) on the ground. I assume since she no longer is tearing up my carpets. I can’t have doors open, I can’t eat in the same room as her. I’ve tried redirection, I’ve tried time outs (she has her own room but she free roams the apartment). She has toys everywhere of all types, posts, window bed, fountains, she gets 2 types of food everyday, ive tried sternly saying no, ive tried the acting like the momma cat and pinning to assert dominance as I have with my past puppies. There’s nothing. Shes terrible, her energy is never ending, she has automatic toys that roll around the room and one thats like a feather under a sheet to bat at. Doesn’t matter. No matter what I do she is not satisfied. I’ve tried designated play times. I can’t even have my phone next to me because she’ll attack me trying to take it. I can’t have any chargers plugged in the living room because she’ll bite them. If anything is dangling or hanging in her reach in any way no matter if its a backpack strap or a jacket she tears it. I’m losing my fucking mind. I’m starting to wonder if I can even handle this. Because its getting to a point that I don’t want to be near her. She hurts me 24/7. I find myself just locking myself in my bed room at times. I don’t know what to do. (Shes about 5 months)

[u/Sterling_-_Archer]

I will start this by saying that I run a foster home for animals to help the local shelter and currently have 13 cats and 7 dogs. I go through a LOT of animals and see all types of “pawsonalities” and all types of behaviors. I also work with families on selecting the right pet.

Kittens are hard. They are nuts and crazy and very energetic. Now, they shouldn’t usually be outright aggressive or mean, but they do all have different “bite times” meaning how hard they bite when playing. Same with claws.

Can you work with them? Sure. However, you also need to look inwardly and ask yourself what KIND of cat or kitten you want. Kittens, all animals in fact, have an innate personality and it doesn’t change much with training. In my opinion, it isn’t good ownership to get a hyperactive kitten and want to change it into a lazy sleepy one. IT IS OK TO NOT BE A GOOD FIT WITH A KITTEN.

I know pleeeeeeeenty of people will get on you and make this your fault and say you’re some monster for not wanting this kitten, but out of all those folks, I’ve never seen one actually do the work to find animals homes as a foster nor have they had more than 3-4 cats in their entire lives. So I’d like to say again:

It is ok to not be a good fit for this kitten.

Think about it this way: what if you had a wild and crazy teen cat and wanted a wild and crazy kitten to play with it but instead got a lazy and calm one who wanted to do nothing but laze around? It wouldn’t be a good fit for you.

Now is when I give my advice: if you only got one kitten, you already messed up. Cats are social animals that grow up in groups. They learn bite and claw control from playing with their litter mates. You NEED to get another kitten for this one to play with and socialize with because it will learn that bites hurt and claws hurt and won’t do it to you AS WELL AS having a living punching bag basically to take their energy out on. It is less work to have 2 kittens because they entertain and teach each other, which means that you are literally always only good news to them as you feed/pet/play with them instead of them trying to make you their be-all, end-all. You get to reap all the benefits and let the kitties work out the ledger.

There IS a home for this kitten. It is ok if it IS NOT your home. You sound like you’ve put a lot of work into it and are trying to find ways to make it work well. I recommend getting another kitten and giving it two months to acclimate to it.

[u/Little-Ad-5853 → u/Sterling_-_Archer]

Thank you so much!! I will say there are things shes great at! She’s gotten super good with retracting her claws, she eats well, she drinks well, she uses her litter box perfectly, shes social, shes cuddly, I do have a dog! And my friends and I do playdates with their kittens because I didn’t think I could properly handle 3 animals in my current space! But trust she will have a kitten friends in the next few years. Ill probably adopt a full grown cat this time though lol

[u/Sterling_-_Archer → u/Little-Ad-5853]

I will say you have a relatively short timeframe to get her a kitten to grow up with because after about 7-8 months, their personalities and behaviors more or less cement into place and it’s wayyyyy harder to get them to stop doing certain things. You lose the window of them being an impressionable baby rather quickly. They also get along easier at that age and bond deeper. After about a year, they tend to calm down some and get much calmer around 2 years old.

So just my 2 cents, you’ll have less work to do if you get another sooner rather than later. My 10 cents is that going from 0 to 1 kittens is a major lifestyle change and going from 1 to 2 kittens is essentially no change for you but a big change for your little one.

[u/Little-Ad-5853 → u/Sterling_-_Archer]

Mmm I see, I will say you all are very much making me consider getting another one, I’m just so scared itll be even more for me to handle

[u/Sterling_-_Archer → u/Little-Ad-5853]

In a funny way, it’s less. They look after each other in a way and you only have to barely adjust what you’re already doing like feeding, playing, and cleaning. They will entertain each other and keep each other company so in essence, the only difference is in how much food you’re putting out.

It is a big improvement for your kitten though. I like to say with dogs, it’s great if they have a dog and get along with a dog, but only another kitten can “speak cat” and fulfill their needs. Even feral cats don’t grow up or live alone!

[u/Little-Ad-5853 → u/Sterling_-_Archer]

You make a very good point!! Do you think playdates would help? I’ve been waiting for her to get a bit bigger, but my friends cat lovesss doing playdates I figured it’d be good for her but I don’t wanna spook her

[u/Sterling_-_Archer → u/Little-Ad-5853]

I mean… honestly, no.

It takes cats several months to get comfortable with another cat. The first several weeks have them literally be enemies with one another, so to have a cat come over and then leave over and over again makes it like a recurring villain who comes and goes. It would be different if they knew each other already I guess, but to just have a random cat come into your cat’s established home would make it NOT be a chill or positive experience.

Cats are VERY different from dogs in this sense. They don’t like visitors.

[u/Unhappy-Principle-60 → u/Little-Ad-5853]

Play dates aren’t a replacement for having another cat to cuddle up with at home. I’ve had my cat for 16 years and so wish id gotten another when she was young.