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Helping my daughter cope with our playful kitten

5 replies

skgnome · Yesterday 14:23

My 15 year old daughter has asked for a cat for years
she’s generally very good with animals, she has lots of friends with pets and all the parents mention how good she is with pets
we did our research and decided to bring home a ragdoll kitty- 8 weeks old - family pet
he can be very sweet, but he’s also a ball of energy - he’s not shy at all
we play with him about 5 - 6 times per day, he has lots of toys for “independent play” which he has started to use, and a big cat tower (which he loves) plus lots of hiding spots - he has the run of the downstairs (not upstairs since the stairs landing is straight onto the main door and he has tried to make a run for the front door more than once) - we still let him go round the upstairs when we’re around
he knows I don’t like rough play, so he’s semi sweet with me, my husband loves to rough play, so he plays a lot with him…
however he’s been trying for the past couple of days to playful pounce on my daughter - to initiate play - she’s been playing with wands and other toys with him
so far she’s been either saying a strong no, and making herself uninteresting when he does that - but he’s still trying it - and just now she was having lunch, her leg was a bit hanging off the chair , she was mindlessly moving her leg and the kitty came to try to playfully pounce on the leg… he did not used his claws, but she got very upset since the kitten only wants to play rough and everytime he goes for pets he tries to start playing- again all normal kitten behaviour
ive noticed the same with me, but for some reason, with me, when he has enough pets he just squirms and I put him down (he’s an angel with my husband… he just looks fed up but stays there)
all of this has made my daughter (did I mentioned 15 & hormones) very upset… she understands but it’s finding it hard to cope with
how can I help her?
also congrats if you made it all the way

OP posts:
Jurassicparka · Yesterday 22:47

I don’t have experience with very young kittens but I gently wonder if your husband is giving some mixed messages by playing more roughly? It may not seem the same when the kitten grows up more and could do more damage with claws and teeth. The wand play etc sounds perfect to keep the pouncing directed to a toy. Could she watch some Jackson Galaxy or similar videos? Congrats on your kitten!

Pinkissmart · Yesterday 23:20

He’s being a cat. When cats see things dangle, they often leap.

Perhaps your daughter can research animal behaviour a bit more.

Any1ForTennis · Yesterday 23:24

Kittens pounce on things, it's natural behaviour you can't stop.

Ideally you get kittens in pairs so they pounce on each other not humans. Any chance of getting another from the same litter?

In the meantime, if he hurts you/DD hiss at him - basically replicating the sound a grumpy Mummy cat would make.

thecatneuterer · Yesterday 23:32

He needs a friend to play with. Get him a rescue kitten the same sort of age.

pinkandwhiteroses · Today 06:52

I’m sorry but at 15 your daughter needs to give her head a wobble. This is what kittens do - especially solo kittens with nobody else to play with.

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