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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To want to know how to stop my kitten leaping on us?!

50 replies

superstarheartbreaker · 09/01/2014 23:24

He's so cute and tiny but he just leaps on dd and I whenever we go in the kitchen! It is playful but he digs his claws in and dd is scared. The other day when a friend came round he leaped on me whilst I was having a cup of tea thus spilling it everywhere. Any ideas?

OP posts:

AbbeyBartlet · 10/01/2014 08:31

sash That just made me laugh - we had a cat who used to go and visit next door's dog because he was put behind a gate - the cat just used to stare at her! It got to the point that whenever the dog heard the cat's name, she would bark!

TheDoctorsNewKidneys · 10/01/2014 08:34

Thanks Abbey!

Gluezilla · 10/01/2014 08:40

Get another kitten - they will play together.
Mine are grown up kittys now and they still "bundle" each other if one walks past !
Cue huffing from the bundled cat

Latara · 10/01/2014 08:42

The only idea that might work is - don't give him any attention when he's naughty. Cats love it if you squeal when they claw you - so don't squeal or make a fuss just pick him up, hold him away from you and put him down further away.

WitchWay · 10/01/2014 08:47

Show your DD (if she's old enough) how to stay calm & unhook his claws rather than snatching her hand away & getting scratched more. You & she could sit on the floor with a blanket on your knees & let him swarm all over that - much less scratchy. Boy kittens are a bit full on but they calm down. Is he neutered yet?

SeaSickSal · 10/01/2014 10:02

It is what kittens do, it's playing. What I would suggest is buying several well padded oven gloves and distract him with them so that he plays with the glove while your hand is protected rather than clawing unprotected bits.

Also socks filled with newspaper will distract him. You can put socks on your hands too but they're not as good as oven gloves.

SeaSickSal · 10/01/2014 10:03

Oh, and you can 'remove' them when they are clawing you more easily with an oven glove.

Gluezilla · 10/01/2014 10:26

Whoever said cats cant be trained is wrong.
Kittens are reprimanded by their mothers if they step out of line- yes really!
My vet gave me a few tips to ensure my kittens grow up nicely
She is Swedish and eccentric so maybe its the norm over there !
Don't allow them to "play" with your hands/bite your hands- this playing is the prey instinct and you don't want your kitten to think its ok to bite humans.
So they can play with/bite toys/each other but if they bite/scratch at your hands/leg remove them and give a small psst sound and look at him.
They will look at you like this .
Lots of toys and regular playtime - they really need it especially single kttens
Its preferable to have 2 kittens to play together.

Joysmum · 10/01/2014 10:41

I can't believe nobody knows how to shape a kittens behaviour

Kittens learn from their mothers. Yes they will play and are learning through play so they behaviour is natural. However, just as a mother cat does, you are able to reprimand and let the kitten know when it is acceptable and where.

Mother cats wave their paw in the air and will bop the kitten on the top of the head when needed. So you can show a hand and give a stern 'NO' then push the kitten off. If the kitten doesn't big off, you can do the same again but tap the kitten on the top of the head (not beat the shit out if it or hit to hurt) and repeat the word 'no' as you do so.

Your kitten should quickly then learn the word 'no' means stop and the addition of the visual clue helps with that. You must be consistent in your approach so the kitten learns to predict what comes next and realises it's better to react to the verbal cue than to need to go through the cycle of reprimand.

Animals do not speak human so we need to initially communicate in their basic way and pair their naturally understood cues and behaviour a with our human ones so that they then understand us.

brightnearly · 10/01/2014 10:42

Yes, please no cutting of claws!!! You could try and tire him out with play, my cat looooved chasing a bit of string attached to a twig (with me holding the twig) at that point. He would run so much he'd pant!

I want a kitten....

Gluezilla · 10/01/2014 10:44

Phew thank god you posted that Joysmum
My cats are well behaved waits for smug cat owner accusations

mrsjay · 10/01/2014 10:44

jaycat once pounced on me from the top of a cupboard door she was 8 at the time cats will do that they do like a pounce

Gluezilla · 10/01/2014 10:44

They do puke on my cream carpet though

AbbeyBartlet · 10/01/2014 10:47

In my case, it's not so much that I don't know how to deal with it - just that I have never bothered, tbh. I have had cats all my life and have never done more than told them off (more for my benefit than theirs!).

MTBMummy · 10/01/2014 10:47

When he does it just hiss at him, we also have a small tin with a few coins in for shaking when the daft bugger decides the kitchen counters are his property.

We've got two cats one almost 12 not and the other 8, the youngest was ferral and a real handful, but he learned without us resorting to "tapping" or cutting his claws (please never do that)

Depending on how old your DD is she may view your tapping as hitting and think it's ok, please don't do this

AbbeyBartlet · 10/01/2014 10:48

Glue

DragonPaws · 10/01/2014 11:00

I wouldn't use water or tap it - you don't want to scare the little thing.

When I had a kitten and it was naughty I used to say no in a stern voice and clap my hands. I'd read this on some animal website as a good way to discipline them. Half the time you do just get the look of distain, but they do soon know that its wrong (whether it stops them is another matter....)

But I agree with a lot of other posters that you do need to play regularly with the kitten too.

stardustoddity · 10/01/2014 11:01

Why are you all saying not to clip their claws? (I don't of course mean what the Americans call 'declawing' which is a cruel and horrible practice of surgically removing the claws -horrific and I hope illegal over here).

My family has bred pedigree cats in the past and have always clipped their claws. You just need to use nail clippers and do it from a kitten so they don't mind. You take a tiny bit off the end, and you make sure to never go down to the cuticle (or it will bleed).

Reduces scratching. Scratch post id needed too ( but this is what they use to sharpen as well as to keep nail length down).

Do tell me if there's some new thing that its a bad idea?

My kitten doesn't seem to mind. The DSs though are another matter....

TheDoctorsNewKidneys · 10/01/2014 11:06

I just feel it's wrong to clip their claws unless it's causing them problems. If they have enough scratching posts and enough places to scratch, then don't do it. They need their claws, especially if they go outside.

DragonPaws · 10/01/2014 11:36

A vet told me never to clip their claws as they need them and they wont like it so it reduces their trust in you.

Gluezilla · 10/01/2014 11:46

Scratching is very satisfying for a cat - mine don't scratch furniture because they have been told off at as kittens and have several scratching posts which they love.
I would never clip my cats claws - they go outside and its an essential part of their survival.
Imagine a cat jumping from one fence to another - no sharp claws to cling on...thud.

OTheHugeManatee · 10/01/2014 12:49

Play with it more! Tie something crackly eg a sweet wrapper to the end of some string - it will chase and mangle this happily for as long as you've got. Or throw half a Kinder egg shell down the hall for it to bat around. Our cats play football with a wine bottle cork too - if yours is tiny that might be too huge though. Or there's the Red Dot of Frustration laser pointer, which no cat can resist.

It's just doing what cats do! If it's pouncing on you, distract it with something else pouncable, and teach your DD to do the same (assuming she's more than a baby obvs). Or as a last resort get a second kitten, and they'll amuse each other.

ComposHat · 10/01/2014 12:57

ComposCat is a housecat (I'd prefer a free range cat but she was a housecat when we got her) so her claws do need to be clipped every so often as they don't wear down as if she went outside.

They get caught in fabrics if they are left and she panics trying to free herself. If they are left they can also curl over and dig into her paws.

Trimming them only blunts them slightly and believe me they are needle sharp again in less than a week.

She isn't mad keen on having it done, but I don't think she likes being held rather than the actual clipping. People who have done it to their cats from kittenhood can often do it when the cat is asleep.

Birdsgottafly · 10/01/2014 13:03

Mine used to launch herself at me when I came in, but it was like when a toddler gives a proper hug.

I took to wearing thick pj bottoms, in the house when she went through her climbing up me stage.

I agree to using noise to distract, but they quickly come out of that stage.

Binkyridesagain · 10/01/2014 13:07

One night my DSis watched Aliens with her cat. The film finished the cat disappeared and she took herself off to bed.

In her room there was a sofa which was tucked behind her bed.

She turned the light off, tucked herself in. Next thing there was an almighty scream from her room.

The cat had leapt from the sofa landed on her face, and gripped its claws around her head.

She thought one of the aliens had landed on her.

I loved that cat

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