male kitens

[HarHer]

This is just a general interest question. My friend has got two 12 week old male kittens. They are adorable creatures, but always fighting, springing, hunting and so on. I know this is normal kitten behaviour, but these two are completely wired.

In other's experience, are male kittens more boisterous than female kittens (a bit like boys tend to be in comparison to girls) and how can my friend stop them from becoming unmanageable before they are old enough be neutered?

[NeedACleverNN]

I've had both male and female and my female has been more nutty than the male!

[iloveeverykindofcat]

I think its more personality than gender. The cats I know who have been mental kittens have grown up into very full-on characters, while the reserved ones turned out a bit more quiet and gentle.

[WeirdAndPissedOff]

Our craziest kitten by far was female, but what you describe sounds just like our two boys when they were little.
They were always running about, climbing, fighting etc. But they grew out of it over time - now one plays occasionally with our nutty female, the other can barely be bothered to get up unless it's for food.

[Costacoffeeplease]

They'll probably grow out of it in a few months, sounds like normal kitten play fighting to me

[cozietoesie]

And if they're healthy and of the right weight they can be neutered at 4 months so they should just start to calm down a little with some age on them at the same time as the hormones are prevented.

[DiscordiaVanDiemen]

All the most boisterous cats I've known have been female, the most docile/timid have been male.
I don't know if that's just a coincidence though.

[MrPony]

Definitely down to personality and breed. I've got a moggie who is very old and calm now but when he was a kitten he was a nightmare!

We've got another who is half persian and has always been very chilled and loves cuddles

[MrPony]

P's I'm not sure what your friend can do, cats don't tend to take well to training!

[cozietoesie]

Our family once had two male Siamese kittens, littermates, who used to chase each other across the curtains in the sitting room - ie horizontally.

OK, they were heavy and solidly-connected drapes but it was still something I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

I reckon there's something about littermate behaviour. They seem to continue with their original ways but with more strength to them.

[RubbishMantra]

IME, at that age, sex of kitten doesn't seem to matter. They're all nutter-butters.

But again, IME, males tend to be more sweet natured and less huffy than females.