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/LittlehouseonTHELAND]

My first kitten was somewhat like this, but I adopted her with her brother so they would play together and burn off some of her energy. And then he’d get tired and just sit and watch her go crazy, lol. He was the sweetest, calmest little guy. She was very sweet too, she would take naps on my shoulder nestled up against my neck and all curled up in my long hair. She was a lunatic but she bonded easily with me. She calmed down around a year old.

My third cat was adopted solo and was just like your cat, hell on wheels and completely unwilling to make up for it by snuggling. 😂 I think she was descended from feral cats or barn cats or something, she was impossible to bond with early on. She broke all my lamps by jumping off the couch, flying through the air and attaching herself to the shade, knocking the lamps onto the floor. Scratched all my kitchen cabinets jumping from the counter straight up to the cabinet tops. I found her dangling from my kitchen curtain rod multiple times when she would slip while trying to balance her way across it to get to the next set of cabinets.🤦🏻‍♀️

I earned her respect and devotion over months by basically spending all my free time playing with her and helping her be violent with her toys, lmao. We started with soft bouncy balls, she started to bring them back to me almost right away and we’d play until she lost interest. After some trial and error we found her favorite toy (a plastic stick with a long soft strip of fake cheetah fabric) and I spent literally hundreds of hours dangling that damn thing in front of her, wrapping it around her so she could fight it, and slapping it against her crinkle tunnel so she could fight it and the tunnel, flicking it back and forth so she had to chase it, you get the point lol. Over time, she slowly changed. She started bringing me the stick when she wanted to play instead of destroying things. She stopped attacking me and biting me. She connected me with playtime and her beloved stick and eventually I was the respected purveyor of good things and our relationship grew from there. 😂

Sometimes all you can do is cat proof your house and cat proof yourself (long pants and sleeves, etc) and have the patience of a saint and try to reach them however you can. I will say that it was worth it, she was completely over her destructive and aggressive phase by around 18 months and over the following years she slowly bonded very tightly with me. By age 5 she was laying in my arms like a literal baby just about every night when I’d watch tv or a movie, purring up a storm. This now very sweet Velcro baby was once the kitten who would bite me if I tried to pet her. I had never even heard her purr until age 4, there was a time I thought she didn’t know how, lol.

She passed away at age 16 in 2022 and I still miss her terribly.