Hi All,

My kitten Benny is a 18 weeks old. I got him from a previous owner at 8 weeks and I pretty much had to train him on litter tray and feeding times. At the beginning he was very shy yet very affectionate, kneading, quiet.
He still is when he is calm, i give him love and affection, bought him a scratching post and lots of toys - but he doesnt play with them - just with me!

He follows me around (bless) wherever I go. however recently he has started to attack me. His claws are so sharp (indoor cat) yesterday he jumped onto my leg and severly cut me, bled everywhere - and I was in tears. I punished him by locking him out of my bedroom with a loud no. I think he got the message because he usually meows to get back in my bedroom - but this time he did not. This has not been the first time. In recent weeks he has been attacking my feet and hands, scracthing my arms - for no reason. I went online and people say kittens love to play with anything that moves - including humans and the solution is to give them toys - which I have done with benny but he ignores them and still wants to play with me.

I know (and hope!) this is something they grow out of, but I feel like I have been attacked by freddy Krueger every day. I love him dearly, and do not mean to be selfish but I cannot help but wonder if its just him? I grew up with cats and none of my cats (even as kittens) have been this aggressive nor have they followed my every step. Its almost bittersweet lol.

advice?

My cat Jaffa is 6 months old & we got him at 8 weeks. He too turned into a little horror. He has attacked me, my husband & my son countless times. Especially my son, he clawed him & bit loads.

I have some scars on my arm where he badly clawed me. After i have him neutered he calmed down a little but is still crazy. He doesn't attack my son as much but he still does bomb around the place like a loony. Like your cat, he stays indoors as well (very unlikely he'll ever go out, due to where i live). He has also got loads of stuff to play with & scratching posts.

I think it's because they are males & are still really young. Sorry not got any advice but at least you know it's not just your cat being naughty

You can play with him without making claw contact! I like those rods with a fluffy spider or whatever on the end of a rope. Seing it about and let him chase it. Great fun - you're playing together - no one gets hurt.

I have an aggressive cat and can only tell you it gets a lot better with age. Amy is now 4 and although she does bite us occasionally it is not as deep and painful as before!! LOL!! For no reason and with no warning she had bitten me badly on the hand and arm! She grabbed me by the arm, rolled on her back and bit away!! Now she will occasionally scratch us but the bites are NIPS not savage bites that bleed all over the place. Interestingly when she is outside or at the VET she is very nervous and timid but Attila the Hun at home!! I have an enclosed garden which she only uses if I am sitting with her, as soon as I go into the house, she follows, no matter how lovely the weather is. She too follows me around the house like a dog. I am extra careful when children are visiting us as she is an English Shorthair Blue, extremely beautiful, looks like butter would not melt in her mouth but has killer instincts!!!!! I am not as frightened of her as I was when she was around 2 years old!! I could not give her to anyone and could not put her down but I am glad I stuck with her. She is a lot better, more affectionate etc. Perhaps we have got through the teenage years!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck.

At home, we named this the "springy stage". We had got two kittens at 8 weeks too, and after they'd been litter trained and everything, they started behaving similarly. They loved to jump onto our legs without warning and claw their way up as far as they could. It hurt so much, but we couldn't really stop it from happening. We'd also bought toys for them but they weren't interested at all. Every time one of us got up to leave the room the kittens would run at us and pounce! It did go on for a little while, but it was just a phase. It wasn't malicious or anything, it was just part of them growing up.

You're having these problems because he has been taken away from the litter too early. He's missed out on learning how to play with others withought hurting them so now you have to teach him. We got our cat young too (7 weeks cause his mum had died ) and had the same issues. Making a really sharp 'ow' noise when he clawed or bit us quickly taught him not and lots of praise and treats when he played withough hurting us.

I sometimes wonder if this kind of aggressive play can be because it's how they would play with their siblings, so it's worse with kittens who are the only one in the house?
Where as if you have 2 kittens they play with each other & you don't become a human scratching post?
That's the way i kind of see it, although whether there's any actual real truth in that i don't know.

i know kittens we've had in the past have gone through phases of climbing up our legs and sticking their claws in, but overall they haven't been *too* bad, and i wonder if this is because we've always gotten 2 at a time so they play fight with each other.

I would just keep trying to get him to play with the toys, the long dangly stick toys with feathers they can chase are usually a hit with most kittens. (although my 2 girls are terrified of them for some reason!) .

I have two kittens at the moment from the same litter, both males. They show their aggressive side to each other, not really to us on the whole. Once or twice they have scratched my fiancé when he has been playing with them and they get a bit carried away.

The thing to do as someone else said is let out a yelp whenever it happens so the cat learns. A vet also recommended to stop playing with the cat or when it does it tell it no very firmly and walk away but I think the yelp works better. After all that's how they would learn from their litter mates.