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Parenting

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Original poster

Kids being cruel to new kittens

188 replies

maggiethemagpie · 26/05/2017 23:47

We've just got two kittens and our children, 6 and 3 keep manhandling them and on two occasions have trapped them in enclosed spaces deliberately. I'm not sure of the best way to deal with this as we've told them a million times to be gentle, and used naughty step when we've caught them being rough.
Eg - throwing the kitten, holding/lifting by paws, putting in laundry basket and closing lid.

Final straw was tonight when one kitten went missing and i heard it mewing and found it in a box in the kids room with the lid on, in quite an enclosed space and it had been there at least an hour.

Don't know how to get them to stop- wwyd?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

FreeNiki · 27/05/2017 00:28

OP has a long history of posts. Think this one is real.

5OBalesofHay · 27/05/2017 00:28

Or rehome your children?

Broken11Girl · 27/05/2017 00:31

Poor kittens
Yes, I can understand, especially the 3yo, being a bit rough unintentionally but this isn't that. It's being deliberately nasty and is deeply worrying. The naughty step?! FGS. Discipline your children. I would come down like several tonnes of bricks. Actually, this behaviour is so concerning, you really need some help. I'd advise going to your GP and asking for a full psychological assessment.
And yes, please rehome the kittens.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Cats Families General parenting

MistySparrow · 27/05/2017 00:33

Thanks FreeNicki, sorry OP.

Keep them away from each other. I don't know how old your children are, but we used stair gates for a long time with puppies/children.

ExplodedCloud · 27/05/2017 00:34

I don't think you should have the kittens, sorry. We didn't consider kittens (rehomed at 5 months from a rescue) until our youngest was nearly 6 and we drummed it into him about frightening them.
We had old cats when the dc were little and they stayed away from the dc but kittens are too trusting.

Empireoftheclouds · 27/05/2017 00:34

The children are too young for the kittens I would rehome the kittens before they end up injured, suffocated or dead.. This is not because the children are 'too young' plenty of young children have pets and manage not to torture them

I echo the advice to get rid of the kittens asap, and agree that I would be seeing the GP to try and find out what was going on in their heads. Completely abnormal behaviour

TheMysteriousJackelope · 27/05/2017 00:41

I hope you are a troll but just in case you are not find a good home for those kittens as soon as possible.

In the meantime you do not leave your children alone with them ever. A three year old is much too young to be left to handle an animal without supervision. Apart from the kittens ending up with amputations due to broken legs, your child could get an eye clawed open or a nastily infected scratch.

I didn't leave my DC alone with our cats until they were around 5 because I was worried the cats would attack them. If I can manage that with two three year olds and three active and curious adult cats, you can manage it with a three year old, a six year old and two kittens.

I am truly disgusted that you would put your children and pets at risk like this. Was it the six year old that shut the kitten in the box? That level of lack of empathy is concerning to me. The three year old might have done so from ignorance, but the six year old should know better.

ilovesooty · 27/05/2017 00:41

The kittens need to be out of your house in a place of safety. How on earth have your children even begun to behave like this? It's very concerning.

IrregularCommentary · 27/05/2017 00:42

Rehome the kittens. Get psychological help for your children. Seriously.

ohfourfoxache · 27/05/2017 00:43

Please re home them immediately. Your dc cannot be trusted with them at all.

I agree wholeheartedly with pp's that you should pursue psychological assessments- their behaviour is worryingly abnormal

MotherOfBleach · 27/05/2017 00:44

This is not because the children are 'too young' plenty of young children have pets and manage not to torture them

Yup only yesterday my three year old nephew who is suspected of having Asperger's and his less than two year old sister were hand feeding chicks just out of the nest.

Under supervision

Whilst they were all watched like hawks, no-one suspected they'd harm the birds. They know better.

RiseToday · 27/05/2017 00:53

You deserve to be reported to the RSPCA for allowing this cruelty to go on.

Bloody disgusting. For gods sake, do the right thing and re-home those poor kittens.

StarryCorpulentCunt · 27/05/2017 00:56

Yes, I can understand, especially the 3yo, being a bit rough unintentionally but this isn't that. It's being deliberately nasty and is deeply worrying. The naughty step?! FGS. Discipline your children.

^ This.

The naughty step is not discipline. Come down on them like a tonne of bricks. They KNOW how to be gentle. They have been told over and over. They are choosing to be deliberately malicious towards their pets and I would punish them harshly. There are some things that you just cannot let them get away with and cruelty to animals is one of them.

There aren't many things that would earn my kids a spanking but this would qualify.

Rehome those poor kittens. Your children do not deserve any pets if this is how they treat them. Then I would be considering getting them to see a doctor or at least the six year old. The three year old may just be imitating their older sibling's behaviour but for a child as old as six, that is not normal. I have a DD under two years old and two dogs. She is sometimes a little over enthusiastic with them but even she shows empathy for them, strokes paws if she treads on them and cuddles it better etc. Having no empathy for a pet at all at age six isn't right.

NoSquirrels · 27/05/2017 01:01

Stressful, OP.

What do the DC say when you ask them why they did it?

We don't have tiny kittens, & my DC are older, but our cats are sometimes taken prisoner in a bedroom for a "game" - usually they're bit parts in an imaginary world rather than be forced to "do" anything. The cats are never distressed, but if I discover it I open the bedroom door, the cats bugger off and I remind the DC yet again that the cats are not to be held hostage and are not toys. Stern words are had.

The difference is that my cats are big enough to use their claws if they are displeased. They don't, but if they did, it would be an unpleasant and possibly disfiguring lesson for the DC to learn, and justified on the cats' behalf. Yours are tiny kittens - your DC could permanently damage them, or worse. If they are not treated well now they will be grumpy hissy scratchy arseholes when older - and it will be your fault for not supervising properly, I'm afraid.

Kittens and kids must stay separate unless supervised. Or you need to rehome if you can't commit to that.

I know that won't be what you want to hear, and a lot of these replies seem harsh. I don't think your DC are psychopaths or disturbed or anything like that. But you really will need to commit to close supervision as the DC cannot (yet) be trusted around the kitttens.

saladsmoothie · 27/05/2017 01:08

OP this is on you. Your children are behaving appallingly because you are letting them. You are leaving them unsupervised. You are not taking care of the kittens (one was missing for an hour without you noticing?!) You are responsible.

5OBalesofHay · 27/05/2017 01:08

What's your take OP?

CondensedMilkSarnies · 27/05/2017 01:11

What are you going to do Op ?

ilovesooty · 27/05/2017 01:15

I'd be interested to hear what the OP's partner thinks they should do to address this as well.

FreeNiki · 27/05/2017 01:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MotherOfBleach · 27/05/2017 01:26

I don't think that's fair, using past threads as fodder for this one.

What those kittens are being exposed to is horrific, no doubt, but for all we know previous issues were resolved prior to the kittens arrival. Maybe that turned out not to be the case, ultimately, or maybe OP is not parenting sufficiently.

I've never met a child NT or otherwise who would behave in such a way nor a parent who would allow it to happen more than once.

FreeNiki · 27/05/2017 01:38

You're right. I'll ask for.it to be deleted.

on the old forum i.used to use amalgamation of threads with similar issues was normal. they would search it for you and combine the threads. didnt know it wasn't the done thing here.

Original poster

maggiethemagpie · 27/05/2017 01:39

My son (6) is adamant that his sister did this (the 3 year old) and he was asleep. I think he is too young to lie so can only presume this was the case.

Given that she's 3 does that make any difference? obviously we will supervise her much more closely with them from now on

OP posts:

CondensedMilkSarnies · 27/05/2017 01:43

6 years old is not too young to lie

FreeNiki · 27/05/2017 01:45

Well no. One of my nephews is 3. He has a pet rabbit and had it since it was tiny. He pets it, feeds it a carrot, etc. He hasn't and wouldnt throw it and put it in a confined space deliberately.

Still very strange especially since you have repeatedly told both children.not to abuse the animals.amd 3 is plently.old enough to.understand. They dont care and.keep being nasty to them instead of playing with them.

AtticusCactus · 27/05/2017 01:46

A 6 year old is not too young to lie however a 6 year old is old enough to know ill treatment towards others.
It sounds like your family are not suited to living with animals at this stage.
Rehome the kittens asap.

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