My 6 month old kitten. What is normal?

[RantAndDec]

We adopted her a few months ago. I WFH so am here all the time, my 2 DC have just gone back to school. I had cats as a child/teen, but can't remember this phase.
She is really challenging and can be quite aggressive at times. Will settle on me to sleep, but will bite anyone who tries to stroke her. Seems happy and content, but she has mad half hours where she pounces on anything that moves, climbs curtains, scratches the wallpaper, etc etc. She has loads of toys, a scratching post, and is played with regularly.

She's had all of her jabs, and am going to book her in to be spayed soon. I do think freedom will be good for her, but am reluctant to let her out too soon as she's still quite small (she was the runt of the litter- she's growing very well, but still looks far more kitten than cat! Vet is happy with her size.)

When she bites, we distract her with a toy or move away and ignore her.

Please please tell me that this is normal, that she'll grow out of it soon! What can I do?

She needs to be taught some manners! Which is what a mummy cat and litter mates would normally do. So you have to be the mummy cat. For example a mother cat would hiss at a kitten that was getting out of line, and she would be pinned or batted away by bigger cats if she got too big for her boots.
The mad kitten hour is totally normal, they do calm down as they get older.

She’ll be a lot calmer after neutering. They grow out of the mad half hours sometimes.

Are you sure there’s no signal before biting? Dilated pupils or a twitch of the tail or turning her head to look at the area being touched?.

Are you sure there’s no signal before biting? Dilated pupils or a twitch of the tail or turning her head to look at the area being touched
No but the dilated pupils are definitely there in the mad half hour! It seems like her instinct is to bite straight away. My ankles are ribbons!

A very firm "No" is required. Cat's can absolutely be trained, they are very intelligent, as well as willful. I have a part Bengal, who does bite, but if I see the signs, I will stand tall over him, say "No" loudly and firmly, and he will roll on his side. You have to be boss. Same with other behaviours, we had to use a water spray for a while with scratching, but that sorted out it out very quickly. He is now a lovely 5 year old lap cat.

Sounds like a 3 strokes and that’s it kind of cat then. Or maybe 2 if she’s on a short fuse that day.

I read somewhere that a sharp ‘ow’ (Like ‘that hurt’) and moving away helps.

They can be trained not to hurt. I trained a cat to do "soft paws" when she was making puddings on me - and it worked.

The "zoomies" are entirely normal and last for about 1.5 years, after which they calm down.

My kitten is 5 months and zooms. He bit for the first week. Every time he bit one of us we all pulled a sad face and left the room. Comical with all the humans standing in the hallway with the kitten left in the room but we did this consistently and biting has stopped completely. Also we all got better at recognising the kitten’s needs and now wait to be invited to touch him. His day goes in a pattern on repeat: sleep, eat, play, zoom, cuddle sleep. He does not like to be touched during eat or zoom so we don’t.

Oh and never use fingers or toes as toys. I’ve watched my DF dangle and wiggle his fingers to attract the kitten’s attention and given him a fishing rod toy to use instead. Luckily my parents are happy to be slaves too!

Possibly teething? Think everyone has covered all other aspects with fab advice!