New Kitten Crying A Lot/ Being Violent!

[seraphex]

Hey!

So my partner and I got a new kitten on Friday, a very cute british blue called Arnie. He was very affectionate to start with and had been properly litter trained by his breeder - no issues at all there. We do however keep him in the kitchen at night and when we are at work, as he has become very boisterous and attacks any cable/ foot/ arm/ vase he can see. Unfortunately he cries incessantly when he is not been played with especially when he is shut into the kitchen. He also seems to be a lot less affectionate now than he was 5 days ago.

Is there anything I can do to:
a) Calm him down a bit/ make him less dependent on being played with 24/7
b) Stop him crying

I do feel bad about shutting him in the kitchen but if we don't he ends up breaking stuff and pouncing on us all night.

Thanks for any advice!

I think you need to actually up the allowing him in your bedroom, not reduce. I have two rescue kittens, now 6/7 months. One of them came to me at 6/7 weeks because his mum had been killed and the rescue couldn't give him enough 1-1. He's always been a needy puss, he cries if ignored. Both kittens had free range of the whole house from the off. At night kittens are more active anyway, and Pumpkin would cry several times a night. I quickly figured out though that he was scared, not being a pest and shutting him downstairs actually made him more needy during the day. So here's what I did - I let him have run of the whole house at night. If he cried at night I half woke up, and dozed off again cuddling him. Within a few weeks he had stopped being so noisy at night and now at 6 months the great twit will get actually in bed (under the covers) with me and share my pillow when he feels insecure at night.

You don't mention how old he is but a lot of kittens adopted out before 12 weeks are very needy because they really should stay with mum until 12 weeks. Then some kittens are just more high needs in general. But I'd put any money on him being lonely, and needing a cuddle just like a small child does alone in a dark room at night, so try giving him cuddles when he cries at night?

The biting and claws are normal I'm afraid, holding tiny paws and firmly saying "no" works. The Christmas tree? Let it go!! Mine have pulled ours over 5 times and smashed several baubles. I went to Poundland and bought some jingle bell tree decorations and hung them on the lower branches and since then our cats have put all their energy into "hunting" these bells and hooking them off the tree and so it hasn't been pulled over again.

Oh and yes, kittens want to either play or sleep, he WONT calm down until he's older. When you have two they charge about the house chasing each other, do mental chase up the curtains, whizz along the backs of the sofa. They sound like a huge great big elephant thundering up and down the stairs! It's all very normal, and without another playmate to chase he's going to be looking at you and thinking "play with meeee" all the time.

Cats are pack animals. They love to bundle and fall asleep in pile of other cats. He needs a cat companion.

14 weeks is still so little, he'd be with mum and siblings for another few weeks in the "wild".

This is the deal with pets. They cause mess, damage & keep you awake at night.

It's not really normal for him to be crying for hours at night either.

I also agree with just having to accept disturbed sleep for a bit. My new cat was a ferocious hunter (allegedly, I have yet to see any sign of this) and was out all night with his previous owner. I'm a big believer in keeping them in at night - he's a very dark tabby - and the first week or so involved constant moaning to get out, jumping on the bed/my face in the hope I would get up and let him out, crying at the back door and basically wanting out

It's now a couple of weeks later and he is just a snuggly ball of fluff on my bed (on my face) at nights and has completely calmed down.. you're going to have to suck it up until she is used to it and understands night = sleep, which she will eventually...

Hopefully bit more time snuggled at night might mean less sadness of being alone all day..

I disagree with you CatCushion about cats being pack animals. Dogs are, cats are not. They like to snuggle up in a heap to sleep when they are kittens, but they are basically solitary animals.

The best thing you could do is get another the same-ish age. He will have company when you're not there and they can rough and tumble play with each other which helps them learn boundaries with biting and scratching.

Yes, as I wrote that I knew that was the wrong word...but my cat must think she's a dog.

I'd also disagree with CC. Cats dislike other cats as a rule. They're solitary although of course if they grow up together as kittens then they tolerate each other once the mad playing thing has worn off

Admittedly, I was thinking of sand cats all growing up together i the wild. But out moggy thinks we are her family of big cats and she loves company and is very unhappy if she has to spend much time alone. When she was a kitten, she showed our other cat (who was a year older) and a neighbour's cat to work together to bring down the bigger garden birds.

I have a kitten, I lock her in her carrier at bedtime and loose in my sons room when I am going to be out for a few hours, but 9 - 5.30? Really?
That's practically the whole day. Alone. :(
At least if you had another kitten he would have some company.

And with the tree and the wires, that's what kittens do.
I am surprised that the breeder sold you the kitten if she knew it would be alone all day and I am surprised she didn't tell you about typical kitten behaviour.
They are nuts!
My kitten climbs right to the top of my tree, she has pulled off almost all the baubles, she chews every wire she can find, she bites the Christmas lights, she throws cat litter out the box and pings it all over my house..
Completely normal.