posted 10-07-2003 08:58 PM         

Marty what you have is a very physical playful young cat. No doubt he has bonded well with you and proberly thinks you can play as rough as he can. Normally when you raise a kitten you should teach it not to be so rough with human skin. The main reason is that some people can't take the punishment so well (children, elderly), but also some others don't like bleeding. However, I think its too late to do the young kitten teaching so even if you're willing to try you might not totally take the tiger out of your young friend.

I suggest you buy some thick gloves (weilding gloves are good) and let him get agressive with you only while you wear them. He might not like them, or he might love how you are able to 'hack the pain' suddenly. Try cat nip spray on the gloves to see if that helps. The point here is to allow him some asscociation of how and when his agressive behaviour is allowed, and also still letting him have an outpoint for all that energy. If he obviously enjoys this contact then you should make it a normal routine. I had a cat once that played like a nut with all sorts of toys, but still loved 'scagging' me every few days (a glove was my saving grace).

When you introduce the gloves, be gentle. Remember the cat wants to play rough, but you are not allowed to. The cat is actually showing a lot of trust in playing with you like this, as it could easily get badly hurt if it played with another cat this way.

At the same time, you must teach your cat that playing rough isn't ok without the glove. If he stalks you without the glove, yell 'no' and clap your hands to surprise him. Then give him a pat if it worked. If he attacks you then don't fight back. Relax, get yourself out of his grasp, screech like a kittn in pain, and then ignore him for a few minutes. Remember to give lots of pats when you think the moment has passed as he will need reassuring that you haven't gone mad.

posted 10-09-2003 03:31 PM         

I have tried a lot of things, and have gotten very frusterated. Recently I read (I believe here, but I'm not sure) to get him a stuffed animal that is bigger than a normal cat toy. I got him a stuffed duck (from the toy, not pet department) that is roughly as big as he is, but thin enough that he can get his mouth around it. At first he didn't really seem interested, but now I think its starting to help. Whenever he starts attacking me I put the duck between us and taunt him with it. His ears go back and he has a great time biting, shaking and kicking at it. At first he got bored with it when he realized that it wasn't fighting back, but yesterday he actally dragged it around the house with him for a good 20 minutes, then he fell asleep on it!

posted 10-09-2003 03:35 PM         

I have tried a lot of things, and have gotten very frusterated. Recently I read (I believe here, but I'm not sure) to get him a stuffed animal that is bigger than a normal cat toy. I got him a stuffed duck (from the toy, not pet department) that is roughly as big as he is, but thin enough that he can get his mouth around it. At first he didn't really seem interested, but now I think its starting to help. Whenever he starts attacking me I put the duck between us and taunt him with it. His ears go back and he has a great time biting, shaking and kicking at it. At first he got bored with it when he realized that it wasn't fighting back, but yesterday he actally dragged it around the house with him for a good 20 minutes, then he fell asleep on it!