posted 10-30-2003 11:29 AM         

On to my problem...

Just yesterday I adopted a new kitten fro my local Humane Society. For an hour or so she was very upset, running around, meowing loudly and sniffing everything, and avoiding me. That's to be expected.. Then she hopped onto my lap and can't get enough of me.

She has only taken a couple (literally) bites of food since she got here, i'm a litter concerned she isn't eating. I was using paper in her litter box, and she hadn't gone at all since I brought her home.. but I bought some litter today, and 30 seconds after that she went! So... alls pretty good.

Other then the food thing, I have one problem. She loves to curl up in my lap. And that's fine by me. The problem is when she starts pawing me, and chewing/licking my shirt or pants. When I say pawing I mean stretching her pawns, with claws out, first one, then the other, then the first one, then the second.. over and over with no stop in sight. And while doing this she chews on my shirt or on my pants, not only does it leave an annoying wet spot, but the sound is extremely aggravating when she is so close to me...

Does anyone know what this behavious is?? How to stop it? A friend on mine suggested putting pennys into a tin can, and shaking it hard when she did something bad, to make her stop. I didn't really want to, but nothing else aside from setting her on the floor would stop her. So I had my can ready and when she started this up and wouldn't stop, I gave it a small shake.. she was a bit freaked but calmed right down and started again... so I shook it very hard and she went scrambling across the floor and hid under my bed for 5-10 mins... then she finally creeped out and jumped up on the other chair in the room.. I set her on my lap, an she curled up and purred, but after about 2 mins she ran off to her little box to sleep. (I was trying to keep her awake so she would sleep tonight, but I feel HORRIBLE! about scaring her like that...)

posted 10-30-2003 01:22 PM         

Your cat has done nothing bad to deserve to be scared. What she is doing is called "kneading" and it is perfectly natural for a kitten to be doing that. They knead their mothers breasts while their nursing, to stimulate the milk. It's a natural instinct for cats, and some cats actually never grow out of it. I have a 8 month old cat that still does that, and I think it's cute. I find nothing bad or annoying about it.

My vet told me when a kitten does that to a human, they're actually calling you "Mom" and feel comfortable enough to get very close to you. So your kitten is trying to show you love, stop scaring her for giving affection!

posted 10-30-2003 01:27 PM         

exactly what Mandy said.

posted 10-30-2003 02:03 PM         

Kittens that are taken away from their mom too soon sometimes nurse on things like your kitty is doing. Try buying her a soft cuddlely stuffed animal about her size. She might start cuddling and nursing on it instead. When she starts nursing on you put the animal in front of her. The good news is she should grow out of it.

posted 10-30-2003 03:17 PM         

As for the can, I was simply trying what a trusted (and I thought intelligent) friend told me to do. I threw the can out after that horrible little episode.

My kitty is a brown tabby, 4 months old, and female. She seems pretty fine now, she slept on my lap for around 2 hours before I went to make supper. She slept another half hour, but I guess I was moving too much so she moved to her little box.

Thanks for all the info guys.. As long as it doesn't last forever! Hah. The smacking sound of her chewing on it was just sort of grating on the nerves. I can deal with it now that I know why, though. ^^;

posted 11-03-2003 03:29 PM         

I'm sorry, but that just hits a nerve with me. "Horrible" in no way descripes how I treat my new cat. I give her constant attention and love, and she loves me more then I can believe. As I write this she is curled up in my lap purring. I made a mistake, and I admit that - I was taking advise from a friend who I trusted, otherwise I'd never have used that 'can', and would have simply waited for some info on all this.

posted 11-03-2003 04:43 PM         

I found that advice too when I was doing a lot of cat reseach prior to adopting my kitten. I even tried it myself, but Footsie didn't ever seem to care about the noise so I gave up on it as a training tool.