Majorly regretting buying a kitten

[obviouslyneedsupernanny]

I had cats when I was younger and thought it'd be nice to have one again. She is ten weeks old and very playful but keeps accidentally scratching my three year old. He is really upset and the things it a major stress and I feel worried!

maybe just have to separate and supervise play until kitty learns her manners (won't take too long - water spray at the ready!), our cat is 5 and very lovely with my 3yo but still occasionally forgets himself and is put in disgrace for a while (he is a very sociable cat so easy to train). What about getting your 3yo some sturdy gloves for cat playing so he won't get scratched so easily? Also make sure kitten has a scratching post and use catnip to help her learn to use it. In 6 months time she will be all grown and may not want to talk to anyone let alone children, depends what nature she has! Good luck.

I wouldn't spray water, I find that horrible tbh.
I think you need to recalibrate the relationship between kitten & child. Devise different rules of interaction. The kitten is scared of him so he needs to be gentle and most of all, not handle her when you're not able to supervise closely.

i wouldnt spray water at a ten week old kitten either unless you want a kit that never comes out from under the sofa, what you need to do ismake sure your son is calm with the kitten (hard i know being only 3) and he dosent chase the kit or grab wothout warning as this will startle kit, try to get him to sit still without looking at the kit as then the kit will come to him and not scratch so much, she is only a baby and will get less scratchy as she gets a bit older

Oh crap that came across all wrong then!!

Sorry I didn't make clear I meant water spray and time outs as general training tools over time (as opposed to smacking or running away which a 3yo may be tempted to do and I have seen some adults do ) but you are right 10 weeks is a very baby creature and too young to be strict with. I am not a mean pet owner!

Common sense would dictate that these are only used very occasionally or would lose their affect and I recommend praise as the first and best training tool with all animals (and people for that matter ). My cat (very outgoing personality) used to frequently treat my leg as a tree and run up it as a tiny kitten and I did resort to a drip of water to back up 'NO' to deter him because I was worried he would get hurt if he did it to someone and they jumped causing him to fall. This was purely for deterrent and if it had scared him I would not have done it, same for time-outs (but they came much much later)!

I think the most important thing with a kitten is to have them feel safe and loved so they grow into themselves and their family happily. The worry in this case is that op is going to have her hands full with 3yo and kitten and it would be very unfortunate if this meant the kitten didn't have the chance to socialise properly and they end up with a grumpy cat! Kittens are small for such a short time and I am sure with a bit of encouragement op will have a happy cat and happy 3yo soon.

OP there are loads of really good cat and kitten care books in the children's section of our library (my ds loves cat books), maybe helpful? Please don't regret, you'll have a lovely big cat sooner than you think, take lots of photos now! Are you going to let the cat outside later on or is it a housecat?

The easiest way to allow a kitten and 3 year old to interact without scratching is to have them play together with something like a teaser toy or even a piece of scrunched up paper tied to a piece of string,
They are both learning to be calm and well behaved and just at the moment can not learn this if left together unsupervised,

It will get easier. Our kitten is was the naughtiest creature ever but he has calmed down a lot. I got scratched to buggery when I was little and got too enthusiastic with my mum's cats. It's character-building.

Thanks for the replies. We are all getting more used to each other now! I think I was just shocked at how playful and active she is as the last time I had a cat, he was quite old! It's hard I supervise the kitten and my son non stop but I'm trying!

It is a shock, isn't it? You now have two naughty toddlers and not just one! The good news is that the kitten will calm down a lot quicker.

I also got scratched constantly as a child. in the end the child will learn to be gentle - you ned to keep talking about how cats communicate - we do this with our four year old. she knows if the cat starts struggling she has to put her down, she knows if the tail starts lashing the cat wants her to stop. And if she gets scratched it's her own fault.

I have never tried to train a cat!

OP.we got a kitten 10 weeks ago and it was 7 weeks old-I found her-and I too thought the same...the madness,and biting and scratching etc but she has really calmed down the last 2 weeks and we honestly couldnt be without her now.But I too thought I would be rehoming her and felt I had made a big mistake.Stick with it!.