hi all.
my partner and i rescued a 3 month old kitten that a friend of ours found on the street. we named him harvey. he is now 7 months old.
harvey is a bit wild, to say the least. he has been rambunctious since day one with lots of spirit and personality. he nurses on us when we're wearing t-shirts (issue related to being weened to early or not at all). he plays fetch. he sleeps on his back. he pants like a dog (which i've also researched endlessly...and he does not have asthma...i think). he's got spunk. and that's why we like him...but we're having some issues now. he never really knew the line that separates play from injury. he has an incredibly huge hang up over food...always begging and trying to get what he can...only seems happy right after a meal, and that full-happy never seems to last long enough. he bites when we pick him up or try and pet him....not the kind with hissing and growling but the kind of biting that just allows you to look and not touch. harvey has also developed this habit of attacking us randomly by launching at our legs...especially when bare. sometimes i think it's because he's hungry, sometimes its because he's riled up, sometimes i have no idea why. usually he hits hard enough to draw blood.
i've tried spray bottles, i've tried covering myself in citrus, we did a small bout of yelling no and tapping him on the nose...which i regret because it made the situation worse. we have a cat behaviorist coming next month (first available date). i've been reading endlessly, looking for tips on how to coach him into relaxing or letting go of the food psychosis, not attacking us.
i'm a cat lover. i love cats. my family always had them growing up. i'm stumped. i'm frustrated. i'm sad. i'm looking for help.
my partner and i rescued a 3 month old kitten that a friend of ours found on the street. we named him harvey. he is now 7 months old.
harvey is a bit wild, to say the least. he has been rambunctious since day one with lots of spirit and personality. he nurses on us when we're wearing t-shirts (issue related to being weened to early or not at all). he plays fetch. he sleeps on his back. he pants like a dog (which i've also researched endlessly...and he does not have asthma...i think). he's got spunk. and that's why we like him...but we're having some issues now. he never really knew the line that separates play from injury. he has an incredibly huge hang up over food...always begging and trying to get what he can...only seems happy right after a meal, and that full-happy never seems to last long enough. he bites when we pick him up or try and pet him....not the kind with hissing and growling but the kind of biting that just allows you to look and not touch. harvey has also developed this habit of attacking us randomly by launching at our legs...especially when bare. sometimes i think it's because he's hungry, sometimes its because he's riled up, sometimes i have no idea why. usually he hits hard enough to draw blood.
i've tried spray bottles, i've tried covering myself in citrus, we did a small bout of yelling no and tapping him on the nose...which i regret because it made the situation worse. we have a cat behaviorist coming next month (first available date). i've been reading endlessly, looking for tips on how to coach him into relaxing or letting go of the food psychosis, not attacking us.
i'm a cat lover. i love cats. my family always had them growing up. i'm stumped. i'm frustrated. i'm sad. i'm looking for help.
Comments
thanks for writing. i too hope that our behavioralist can help us out.
there are very few moments when harvey will let us pet him. usually if he's very tired he won't put up too much of a fuss, but even then, after several strokes his tail starts to twitch rapidly. he has no problem with touching while he is nursing on us as well....once or twice a day.
my partner has a much more irregular schedule than i do and is home often during the day. this month, unfortunately/fortunately, we are both very busy and away from the house most of the day. when i'm home during the weekends, harvey doesn't do much more than sleep. we have talked about getting a second kitten as harvey is still young, but i'm hesitant as i couldn't handle having a nightmare situation on our hands with harvey attacking a little kitten. should we get an older cat or would that end up similarly?
we recently got a laser pointer which has helped a lot as he's wild about it. i feel a bit bad using it as it feels kind like cheating but it get's the job done.