Kitten Behavior
- Details
- Category: Preventive Home Care
Inappropriate Perches: Kittens, from a very young age, are capable of high vertical jumps and great acrobatics! They like to explore their environment by perching on high surfaces. To discourage this behavior you should try:
1. Provide alternative vertical perches. Try placing a scratching post or shelving near off-limits surfaces. Encourage your kitten to use them by placing treats on them and plenty of praise.
2. Make unacceptable perches undesirable. Negative consequences such as a squirt bottle can discourage this behavior. Also try placing double-stick tape or a motion-detector alarm on the undesired location. Do not tempt your kitten onto counters or tables by leaving attractive items on them such as food, flowers or plants.
Nighttime Frenzies: Kittens tend to have a burst of nighttime energy and activity leaving you with little sleep! Kittens don’t get a lot of exercise during the day since they spend the day sleeping. Thus all the energy explodes in the early hours of the morning! To manage this problem try:
1. Channel your kitten’s energy while you are awake. A kitten kept awake all evening playing is less likely to get into mischief at night.
2. Do not shout or chase your kitten when he/she acts up. This will only fuel the fire! Consistent disregard on your part will eventually stop the behavior.
Destructive Behavior: Although your kitten may be small they can inflict a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Their front claws can be very destructive. Scratching is normal and has many benefits to cats. It stretches their muscles and grooms their nail beds. Cat’s can also chew things, which can become dangerous to them as well. To discourage mass destruction encourage appropriate locations, try:
1. Provide scratching posts either horizontal or vertical made from materials your kitten likes.
2. Make unacceptable surfaces unpleasant with double-stick tape or foil placed on them.
3. Trim your kitten’s nails weekly to keep them blunt.
4. Childproof your house! Keep plants out of reach and electrical cords unplugged.
5. Provide appropriate chewable items such as a small pot of wheat grass or even a rawhide chew bone!
Cats need playtime. If this need is not met cats will sometimes use their owners as a target. Over excitement can cause injuries to you such as scratches or bites. Play-related aggression can be addressed by:
1. Provide remote toys such as a fishing pole-type toy.
2. Try to anticipate attacks! Redirect the attack onto a toy i.e. Carry a ball to toss.
3. Avoid rewarding play-aggression – running or shouting only encourages the behavior. It may also induce fear or defensive aggression.
4. Leave the room if your kitten instigates inappropriate play. Ignoring them is very effective.
Litter Box Training: Housetraining is typically easier in cats than dogs. However if the box is inaccessible or dirty the kitten may find alternative places to eliminate. Be sure to:
1. Use finely particulate material such as clumping-type litters.
2. Use unscented kitty litter.
3. Clean the litter box daily.
4. Use an uncovered litter box to avoid trapping odors.
5. In a multicat household there should be one more box than there are cats.
6. Make sure the box is fully accessible, not too big, or too near your kittens core living area.
Having a cat is a wonderful experience! However, raising a kitten into a good cat has its trial and tribulations. Please feel free to contact us with any health or behavioral related questions.
