kitty tearing furniture

[ganime]

My 3 month old male kitten just loves tearing my sofas and armchairs. Their upholstery is just the thing he loves. And I realized he is doing it on purpose to make me angry. This is how i realized this: Istarted keeping the door of the sitting room closed. But sometimes when i am inside and he just sits outside the door i can't stand leaving him alone there and i let him go in. Then he goes directly to the sofa and looks back at me, just stretches out his paw, looking at me all the time, makes the claw out, scratches the sofa and immediately runs under it for cover. To teach him that i don't like this, i tried following him and putting him outside of the room as soon as he does this. But it doesn't help. Then i got a climbing rope for him. I even tried scratching it myself to show him, and put his paws on it but no hope. He prefers my precious sofas. Is there a way to get around this problem because although he couldn't give real harm to them yet he will be in a short time.

Also he is very aggressive. As soon as we try to touch him (unless he is very sleepy and prefers sleeping on our lap) he starts biting our hands. He also bites my feet if i am not wearing socks.

Can you help me solve these problems?

[NoahsMommy]

1st problem:
Get a product called "Sticky Paws" at a larger petstore, like Petsmart or Petco. It is double sided, clear tape strips (you can't see it) that cats HATE to put their paws on. My cat tends to try to eat them, but no longer claws the furnature. You can also use a squirt bottle to spray your kitten as soon as she nears the sofa/arm chair. (If you want her to be able to go on the furnature, only spray her when in the act of scratching/clawing) Pick her up after you spray her (if she doesn't run away) and drop her to the floor and say "NO!" in a loud voice. It takes time to correct behaivor, just be consistant and it'll work out.

2nd problem:
Get toys your cat can attack and bite. When she bites you, either let your hand go limp until she's done (she'll lose interest in a limp hand) or divert her attention to a toy. If she still bites you, do NOT play with your hands with her. Use long toys such as feathers on the stick or bungee type toyes or laser pointers when you play with her. The squirt bottle and loud "NO!" works here too. Again, be consistant and these problems with eventually stop.

Noah, our 8 month old, attacked my hands ALL THE TIME, it not only hurt, but made me sad that my kitty did that. Once we got Noel, our 5 month old, he totally stopped and is gentle with me.

Good luck!!

[Maresche]

Could you make a scratching post for him out of similar fabric as that which covers your couch? Kittens do need something safe to scratch and a good post sounds like a possibility for you. Once you have one, put catnip on it and that should attract his attention. If you catch him scratching somewhere he shouldn't be, take him to the post and "help" him scratch there. The sticky tape is a great idea to discourage him from the sofa but he'll still need a place to scratch (part of cat nature )

NoahsMom's ideas about dealing with his aggression are right on.

Good luck to you. Please let us know how you make out.

[K & L]

Keep his nails trimmed. If you don't know how to trim them, take him to your vet and have them teach you. This will help with the furniture and yourself.

[yorkster]

There is also a product called "No Scrach Spray". It worked well for me. Also putting aluminum foil where you don't want him to scratch.
And as ALWAYS, a water spray bottle is the best thing for teaching a cat NO! (don't over use it though). Punishing a cat just does not work like it does for a dog.

[ganime]

Well, i got a water spray bottle as everyone suggested. It really scares him to death and makes him run like a bullet and even before using it, as soon as he sees the bottle he starts running. But i am not sure if he understands i am spraying him with water when he does things i don't want him to do! Also sometimes before i could get hold of the bottle he just runs away and afterwards even if i spray him, he will not know the reason.

I wonder if i am making him aggressive. Because sometimes, to retaliate i chase him around and grab him harshly off the floor and sometimes think he may get aggressive because of my behaviour. Because now when i am sitting at the computer, he jumps between my legs and tries to bite or scracth my hands. It really hurts!!!

Another thing is, he is very curious about the rooms that he is forbidden to enter. When i open the bedroom door he immediately makes for it and i have to prevent him by putting my foot in front of him. And when i leave the room he darts out of it himself and runs like a bullet. He seems hyperactive. When i am doing housework he follows me around, when we sit at the table he wants to climb on it, he even jumps to the table from the backs of sofas. My husband says it's because of his age (3.5 months) and he will slow down when he is grown up but i am not so sure. It's almost impossible to play with him because all he does is bite and scratch. My hands are covered with scratches!!!

[NoahsMommy]

HI!

It sounds like its working, if all you have to do is show it to him or shake the water bottle, it's working.

As far as him being hyperactive, your hubby is correct, he is a kitten and will calm down when he is older.

Regarding the scratching and biting, does he have a scratching post he is using? When he goes for your hands, redirect his attention to a toy.

All cats are curious, you've heard of the phrase "Curiousity killed the cat"? My cats HATE when any door is closed, so does my neighbors cat. I think its just a "cat thing".

Like I said before, it takes A LOT of time for them to learn. It will happen.