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AIBU?

The fucking kitten has my legs in shreds..

83 replies

WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:10

A girl who lives near us recently 'adopted' a cat. I say 'adopted' because the previous owners moved house and just left her in the shed and she seemed ill and didn't seem to leave the shed for any reason and neighbour was feeding her as obviously noone else would. She phoned the RSPCA who suggested she take the cat in. She did. Turned out cat was pregnant. Long story short, cat had 7 kittens and this woman didn't know what to do with them, tried advertising them free, no interest.

We have been considering getting a cat for a while now. DD keeps asking for one and we love animals. So we adopted one of the kittens. To help out the girl and because we wanted one (though I could have gone for waiting a year or so tbh)

She has fit in really well. We picked her up on Friday night, by Saturday afternoon she was happily playing with the kids (DSC were over too), eating fine, using litter tray fine, everything. I honestly thought she would be hiding for the first few days at least due to being in a strange house and all that.

Anyway to my problem. She keeps fucking climing up my legs. She can jump up onto my knee but chooses to dig her claws in and climb up. She also seems to have a thing for standing on the power off button on my computer Angry Literally 12 times in the past few hours. She is not wanting attention or anything, just keeps doing it. the computer part I can deal with, though annoying as hell. But the leg climbing thing...its really starting to hurt. She gets her needle claws into the same spots each time, and sometimes slips a bit so its scratches instead of pinpricks. Luckily she does not do this to the kids. She doesn't do it to DH either. DH reckons its coz she sees me as her mum and all that, which is lovely but still, it bloody well hurts.

Any ideas for getting her to stop this? I tried clapping when she did it (apparently you can train cats by clapping loudly when they do something they shouldn't?) but all that did was make her dig her claws in even more.

Please please please tell me I am not going to have months/years of this. My shredded tissue paper legs simply cannot cope...

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:11

For gods sake...the KITTEN has my legs in shreds..obviously. Not mittens involved. Though putting little mittens on her paws is a solution thats just came to me due to that title Grin

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GiraffesAndButterflies · 11/04/2017 00:14

I don't have tips, but she will get heavier and less clingy, and her claws will get thicker and blunter, so less like lethal needles. So you won't have years of it you might have months

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FanSpamTastic · 11/04/2017 00:15

It's a kitten thing - we have had kittens in the past that have shredded the curtains, a leather jacket, dressing gowns. They grow out of it.

Not sure if others would agree but I have found good deterrent to be a water pistol or water spritz bottle. If they do something you do not want then give them a quick spritz,

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fuzzywuzzy · 11/04/2017 00:16

Ours used to do that when they were tiny, usually screams of surprised pain scared them and made them dig their claws in deeper.

Maybe unhook kitten immediately put her down and say 'no'... they won't pay the blindest bit of notice but ours have thankfully grown out of it, unless I wear anything with dangly bits on it then they try and climb up to get to the dangling item...

OK sorry no help.

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DancingGoose · 11/04/2017 00:17

Mine did this but again only when tiny. They do grow out of it.

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Piehunter · 11/04/2017 00:18

I thought this was going to be about those smooth legs sandpaper things... They have your legs in shreds too.

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NotOneThingButAnother · 11/04/2017 00:20

You need to ask for this to be moved to the Litter Tray thread but I too suspect this is normal.

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:24

I am scared the water bottle thing will make her dig in more like the clapping did. I also for some reason feel its a bit cruel to do training with a squirt gun. I don't know why because deep down I know it won't hurt them or anything but I kinda imagine a water cannon going off in my face because I did something wrong. Exaggeration with the cannon bit but a squirt gun is bigger to a kitten than it seems to us, if that makes sense Grin

I guess maybe we should consider ourselves lucky...she does not climb the curtains or the sofa or anything. Just my legs. So this habit won't cost us any money, just health instead Confused

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EffinElle · 11/04/2017 00:24

2 of my 4 cats used to do this and eventually stopped (thank fuck!)

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fortheloveofcats · 11/04/2017 00:24

I work at a cat rescue. Totally normal. Just remove firmly (but gently). When kitten is not using your leg as a climbing apparatus, play with it with a wand toy (never your hands!) to get some energy out.

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:25

2 of my 4 cats used to do this and eventually stopped (thank fuck!)

How long did it take for them to grow out of it? Please say a day or two...lol

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smallchanceofrain · 11/04/2017 00:31

I thought this was going to be about hair removal or exfoliation.
However, now that I'm here, I can say that they are little sods when kittens but do usually grow out of it. Sometimes it just depends on the cat. I've got one that only uses his claws on his scratching post and another, at the grand old age of 22, has never used a scratching post. He prefers leather sofas.
A quick squirt of water is a useful deterrent and won't do any harm but you might risk your cat growing up learning to give you a wide berth. Another idea is quick removal from your legs by grabbing the scruff of the neck, mother cat style, but supporting its bottom so you don't hurt it. I used to do this with one of mine and set him down in another room, closing the door and leaving him for a few minutes. It takes lightening reactions but eventually he got fed up of being got rid of and calmed down a lot.

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Kiroro · 11/04/2017 00:33

Lots and lots of playtime like with a da bird toy might help.

Also, have you given them anything they can climb like a cat tree? I run the wand toy up over the cat tree and kitten climbs that .

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:38

I work at a cat rescue. Totally normal. Just remove firmly (but gently).

I have been doing this and saying 'no' firmly. DH reckons cats cannot be trained though, is this right? Also is it normal for them to only do it to one person?! And is it likely she will stick to just doing it to me? I am a bit scared she will start doing it to the kids and it will hurt them a lot more than it hurts me...

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 00:40

Also, have you given them anything they can climb like a cat tree? I run the wand toy up over the cat tree and kitten climbs that

Not yet. DH plans on getting an apparatus thing to put in the corner with various shelves and such so she can climb up high. She seems rather content with climbing our cabinets and stuff though for now. She has one of her toys right up on the top cabinet and shes flying up and down them like mad this very minute. So hyper Smile

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EffinElle · 11/04/2017 00:42

Mine stopped after a couple of weeks. Roll up foil into balls, mine loved playing with them, it was a good distraction.

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DoloresTheRunawayTrain · 11/04/2017 01:01

This is your kitten attempting to train you to play with it.You haven't responded appropriately yet so it has increased the pain stimulus. Try cat treats (Dreamies), a catnip filled toy, or something at the end of some string it can chase (provided you are proficient in the appropriate movement sequence, or the pain stimulus training cycle will begin again).
I'm only half joking here Grin.

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BerylStreep · 11/04/2017 01:08

You can train using a water spray. You probably only need to actually spray once or twice (and only on the body, not in their face - it will be sufficient).

My very lively (and needy) now only needs to see the spray, and she slopes off. If she is being particularly persistent, just a tiny squirt (only enough to make the slightest noise) will do the trick.

But I agree with pp - training her to play with appropriate toys is the best strategy. They grow out of it in time - probably more likely a month than 3 days - perhaps wear jeans? Double jeans?

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tabbymog · 11/04/2017 01:18

Jeans. The thickest, toughest ones you can find. Otherwise, lots of toys. Kitten is looking for cuddles and/or entertainment. Absolutely the best thing for a kitten looking for toys and/or entertainment is... another kitten.

65 years of training as a cat slave speaking here. Honestly, your kitten needs a companion of her own. Two kittens are much more than twice the fun, laughter and love than one.

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GardenGeek · 11/04/2017 01:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Seeingadistance · 11/04/2017 01:26

She will grow out of it. While you're waiting for that happy day - thick denim jeans, or maybe leather chaps, like cowboys wear!

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 01:45

She already hunts my feet hen I walk. I see her hunker down and start wiggling her arse to pounce Grin

I did say we should get one of her sisters too to keep her company and let her use up her energy playing with her. The cost is a bit much though. Just the 'starting' cost where we have to do rounds of injections and chipping, neutering and that. Have been trying to work on DH but no luck so far. Was tempted to just go collect another one while he is out but I reckon if he did that I would be so mad and its not really fair as having a pet is not really trivial stuff even though it seems it at times.

Jeans tomorrow. Stupid me is wearing leggings today and never thought to change

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WankingMonkey · 11/04/2017 01:48

Try lying on the sofa and pretending to be asleep, I found mine used to come sleep too after 5 minutes then I could get up and leave him sleeping for a couple of hours before the 'go mad, eat, poop, sleep' cycle began again

OMG this is something I am finding so weird. I mean, shes still a baby right. But she goes from hyper playing and stuff, to if I turn off the light and lie down she is snoring instantly. I thought we might have a few disturbed nights but nope.

We have put her basket in our bedroom. I may regret that soon but it seemed best. We kept her in our room totally the first night (from about 1am til 8am) with her food drink litter basket, house and toys as we were scared she may venture into the kids' room and someone (her or them) would get hurt with the fright she got. They were asleep in bed already when we picked her up so she didn't know they existed.

But yeah, once we lie down, she lies down and sleeps instantly. Very strange. And great Grin

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GardenGeek · 11/04/2017 03:03

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echt · 11/04/2017 05:18

Another one who clicked on the thread thinking it was about some particularly purgatorial exfoliating/epilating device.:o

But yeah, once we lie down, she lies down and sleeps instantly. Very strange. And great I can imagine sleepless parents thinking, if only babies did that.Smile

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