Kitten Help

[chickie]

I know this isn't Disney-related, but I thought you could give me a little help. My mom and dad recently became kitten owners. He was a barn cat at their farm, and my DD kept bringing him in the house. He had worms really bad, but he was so cute, my dad ended up falling for him. They got him treated at the vet and they ended up keeping him in the house.

Anyway, my question is this - Are kittens always nuts???

If he's sleeping, he's pretty calm. But all of a sudden he'll start biting and pawing at you for no reason. And, if he's wound up at all, you can't hardly touch him. He's really cute, but please tell me he's gonna settle down a little as he gets a little older! We are long time dog people and don't really know what to expect from a cat!! By the way, my dd named him Charlie. There used to be two of them, and she named them Charlie and Lola from the Disney Channel show!
Any help or advice would be really helpful!
Thanks!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Yup kittens are NUTS. When he gets a little older he should calm down, but for the first few months it can be like having Taz in your house. They are so cute and snuggly when they sleep, but they go from 0 to 60 in no time. Try to handle the cat as much as possible, petting, holding gently, snuggling when it is calm, this will help him get used to humans. As soon as he is big/old enough have him "fixed" this will also help calm him. Keep lots of cat toys around and just be patient, this to shall pass.

 

[chickie]

Thanks for the quick reply. We were afraid we just got ourselves a crazy cat!!!

 

[kacaju]

As I read this my first thought was aww.... I miss the kitten stage (we have 3 cats) then I quickly remembered those sharp kitten teeth that attack you as you sleep and how my hands were always torn up... Yes, normal and then they settle down and sleep all day!!

 

[tomorrowland]

I remember those days when it was a daily routine of getting a kitten unstuck from the top of my curtains.

 

[pixiewings71]

Yup, kittens are nuts but he will calm down soon!! Congrats on the new member of the family!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I remember those days when it was a daily routine of getting a kitten unstuck from the top of my curtains.

Velcro kitty on the screen door

 

[chickie]

I'm so glad that you all had your turns with "crazy kitten" stages!! Charlie did the kitty stuck on the screen the other day!!! That cracks me up!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I'm so glad that you all had your turns with "crazy kitten" stages!! Charlie did the kitty stuck on the screen the other day!!! That cracks me up!

The kitty on the screen is pretty funny, until you see all the holes he has left in the screen. Try using a spray bottle filled with water as a training tool. When he starts climbing things ha shouldn't, squirt a little water at his backside. This also works for clawing and just about any behavior you need to correct.
My crazy still has a habit of eating things he shouldn't(he is 18months old) his favorite no no to eat is cotton fabrics, t-shirts, socks, bedsheets.....

 

[disney_me]

My sister had a cat that was all over the place as a kitten. She ( Weezie)would never let anyone hold her till one day I got a nice and fuzzy small blanket and I wrapped her up like a little baby!! All you could see was her head and she would calm down really quick. Not sure if that and any thing to do but it always worked on making her calm.

good luck!!

 

[CastleCreations]

One thing I wanted to mention is grooming. Make sure you groom them frequently when they are young. So when they're older, they don't mind the toe nail clippings, brushings, ear cleanings, teeth cleanings and baths. All 3 of my cats get baths every 2 weeks. We have a family member that's allergic and it's really helped and the cats don't mind since they've had it since birth.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Very good advice on the blanket(we use a fluffy towel) and the grooming. I didn't train dd's cat to have her nails done, so it is very tough to do. I trained the youngest one(the cotton eater) and I can trim his nails anytime with no problems at all.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Umm, I don't wanna be a wet blanket but the truth is that some kitties are more feral than others. Cats are generally more independent than dogs and just like with dogs(and us humans) there are huge variations in personality. Many cats like to run around outside all day and then come home at night for dinner and a warm bed... just like many of our human children Its my guess that you are in a fairly rural area because you mention a farm so I'm guessing being hit by a car is not particularly likely, otherwise I wouldn't dream of mentioning the indoor outdoor possibility.

I've had cats my whole life and all of them have been rescued from lives outdoors. My cat as a child was an outdoors all day, inside at night sort of cat while the 2 I have had as an adult were strictly indoor kitties. All of my cats have been the smushy, snuggly, lazy sit in the sun all day sorts of cats. But my brothers cat, who was a sibling to my 2, was always a crazy nip at you & scratch at you & back you into a corner sort of kittie, but since my brother & his wife were ok with that they kept him. These 3 cats were rescued from beneath the same porch at the same exact time and none were ever mistreated. The 3 just had very different personalities and that's all there is to it. When my DH was a kid they had a cat that would attack people... the cat actually cornered the babysitter in the kitchen from on top of the fridge one time and my in-laws had to be called back from a party to rescue the sitter.

The reason I'm writing this is because I am a little worried that you and your family might end up feeling you are doing something wrong if you cat doesn't settle down. Some do and some don't . Having an indoor/outdoor cat is no problem as long as you don't keep the kittie inside long enough to forget the outdoor skills it needs to survive out there.... All the kittie needs is to be let in at night with food and water, to be fixed, have a yearly checkup with shots and some worming medicine snuck into their food.. at least that's what my childhood kittie had and she lived to 22

 

[Shagley]

My cat Sneaky Pete was one WILD kitty. When he was little, I used to have to sleep with a pillow over my head because he would wait for me to fall asleep, climb up on my headboard and dive bomb my head. Also as a kitten one minute he would be chasing and trying to bite and scratch Tucker the dog, and the next minute he wouldn't understand why Tucker growled at him when he tried to cuddle with him. Also, we tried to use the spray bottle but he would close his eyes and try to hit the spray bottle out of our hands and if I would try to (lightly) smack his butt, he would turn around and slap my hand twice as hard as I would smack him.

The funniest was one time when he was a few months old I woke up hearing a really strange clunking noise coming out of the bathroom. Somehow Sneaky Pete had gotten into the bathtub AND had his head stuck in a kleenex box. The clunking was him trying to shake the kleenex box off of his head and hitting the sides of the tub as he would flail from side to side. THEN - when I pulled the box off of his head, he looked at me and then stuck his head right back in the box. To this day I don't know how he got in the tub with a kleenex box on his head. . Yep, I've got a smart one!!

So all this to say, yes, Kittens are wild and crazy and a little bit stupid too. The wild and crazy will calm down, but unfortunately if you get a stupid one, they tend to stay that way (yep, Sneaky hasn't gotten any smarter and he is about 7 years old now).

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

I know this isn't Disney-related, but I thought you could give me a little help. My mom and dad recently became kitten owners. He was a barn cat at their farm, and my DD kept bringing him in the house. He had worms really bad, but he was so cute, my dad ended up falling for him. They got him treated at the vet and they ended up keeping him in the house.

Anyway, my question is this - Are kittens always nuts???

If he's sleeping, he's pretty calm. But all of a sudden he'll start biting and pawing at you for no reason. And, if he's wound up at all, you can't hardly touch him. He's really cute, but please tell me he's gonna settle down a little as he gets a little older! We are long time dog people and don't really know what to expect from a cat!! By the way, my dd named him Charlie. There used to be two of them, and she named them Charlie and Lola from the Disney Channel show!
Any help or advice would be really helpful!
Thanks!

We affectionately call this CKS (Crazy Kitty Syndrome! ). Our little guy does the same thing. He can be sound asleep and wake up torment my other cats and fall asleep in the middle of playing.
All of my cats have had one form of it and they all have grown out it by the age of 2. Sometimes my 8 year old girl will get a little spry and chase her play mouse, but not to the extent my little guy does!

 

[elderfam]

Yes, as a rule they will calm down. My husband rigged the vanity in my daughters bathroom so that one door had a cat doorway cut into it, and the kitty box was behind the other door,(this was to keep the dogs out of the cat box) any way, Daget (kittys name) while doing his business in the cat box he learned to push the door open then it would bang shut, He also knew his name..so after about the 10th bang if you yelled from another room "dagget cut that out" he would stop. hee hee. Cats can be sooo smart.
enjoy his zest for life!

 

[chickie]

Thanks, everyone,
These are some funny stories! I love the "CKS"!

Charlie was a barn kitty to a very wild momma, but since he was sick and full of worms as a baby, my DD could catch him very easily. We visit the farm quite frequently so my DH can help my dad. So, the cat has gotten very used to being handled by people. In fact, the moment my dad fell in love with him was when Charlie crawled up on his shoulder and fell asleep while my dad was watching tv. My parents both have the softest hearts when it comes to animals!
They will be bringing him back and forth from home in the city to the country, just like the dog. They are afraid to let him out in the country now, so he's pretty much an inside kitty.
I know this is kind of a big issue, but they are trying to figure out whether to get him declawed when he gets neutered or not. Like I said, they, as well as myself, are not normally cat people, so all this stuff is new to us. The vet just trimmed his claws yesterday at a normal visit, but I know my mom can't do it by herself. What do you think about declawing?

 

[Janet Hill]

I know this is kind of a big issue, but they are trying to figure out whether to get him declawed when he gets neutered or not. Like I said, they, as well as myself, are not normally cat people, so all this stuff is new to us. The vet just trimmed his claws yesterday at a normal visit, but I know my mom can't do it by herself. What do you think about declawing?

You may very well have a feral cat that may never completely calm down. I know we had one. She was great with family, but remained an attack cat to strangers and our furniture. We had her declawed, because she would definately hurt others. Vets were even fearful of this cat and more than one refused to treat her. We could not trust this cat around strangers. She was our guard cat.

 

[NanasCustomCreations]

Thanks, everyone,
These are some funny stories! I love the "CKS"!

Charlie was a barn kitty to a very wild momma, but since he was sick and full of worms as a baby, my DD could catch him very easily. We visit the farm quite frequently so my DH can help my dad. So, the cat has gotten very used to being handled by people. In fact, the moment my dad fell in love with him was when Charlie crawled up on his shoulder and fell asleep while my dad was watching tv. My parents both have the softest hearts when it comes to animals!
They will be bringing him back and forth from home in the city to the country, just like the dog. They are afraid to let him out in the country now, so he's pretty much an inside kitty.
I know this is kind of a big issue, but they are trying to figure out whether to get him declawed when he gets neutered or not. Like I said, they, as well as myself, are not normally cat people, so all this stuff is new to us. The vet just trimmed his claws yesterday at a normal visit, but I know my mom can't do it by herself. What do you think about declawing?

I am definately a "Cat Person", have always had a least 2 cats/kittens in the house. Yes, Kittens are "Crazy" but they crack me up, We had one that would get spooked and would arch his back and hiss and then instead of leaping forward would end up doing multiple leaps backward on all fours with his ached back.... Most of my feline friends have been "rescues" but one of the things I do have done is FRONT ONLY declaw when they are neutered/spayed. The back claws are not used the way the front ones are and that way on the off chance they do get out they are able to defend themselves. Nana

 

[LuvOrlando]

When I had my cats fixed I had their fronts de-clawed. I grew up with sofa's, chairs and curtains & screens shredded so I definitely knew I didn't want that in my own home. Usually, only the front claws are used for destructive pawing as they stretch out. I kept their back claws in for climbing and protection. The cats never shredded anything.

Have fun with the new addition to your family