When do kittens calm down?

Question

So we have a 5 month old kitten, we adopted her about 3 1/2 months ago. She is into EVERYTHING, all the time. You want to put up a Christmas tree? Nope, she took off almost all the ornaments, unplugged the lights and finally toppled tree (in a 2 day period). I put it back up without the ornaments,woke up to find the tree on the ground again. You have projects and homework due? I'm going to rip it up (these were for my senior level engineering courses, which I had to re do last minute). You have nice expensive leather bound books? Not anymore. You have a nice couch? Nope, going to destroy that too.

She has a scratching post/ kitty condo, tons of toys, we spend time with her. She has bitten and scratched me severely, more times than I can count. One of the scratches was so bad, I had hives on my entire arm for weeks and the actual hives left scars. We have tried calming collars (the aromatherapy ones). spending more time with her, nothing works. Please tell me she will grow out of this phase soon! What age is normal for kittens to be more relaxed and less bitey and fidgety? Please don't suggest getting another cat, I am too scared to.

Frank · Answer

I've had lots of cats in my life and none of mine really calmed down till they were around two or three years old they are babies even a year is young they still want to play but if you don't like the scratches you should get them declawed you might have to search through different vet clinics cause some don't declaw cats anymore

? · Answer

You spend time with her, but during that time are you playing with her? My cat gets very destructive if he doesn't get his two 15 min play sessions a day, but he usually requires more than that because he is very high energy. My vet told me I can expect him to be this way until he's 5 years old, but I took that with a grain of salt because each cat is different. You can't really predict when or if they will calm down. I've known some cats well into their teens that still had lots of spunk. If you aren't playing hard enough with her to wear her out, she will take that excess energy out on other things. Sounds like she needs to be exercised more, because she's still got energy to ruin your things. If she were wore out, she would be sleeping not tearing up your stuff.

Mircat · Answer

I have no idea what aromatherapy collars are.  The ONLY one I am familiar with is made by Feliway and was recommended by my vet.  It has a pheromone in it that only the cat can smell and it is a calmative.  It is only good for 1 month then it MUST be replaced because it stops working.

http://www.feliway.com/us

Welcome to the world of kittens!  It's doing exactly what kittens do and what you should have expected.  Their job is to get into mischief and destroy everything because they practice stalking and killing and it was no doubt "killing" the Christmas ornaments.  The kitten's DNA doesn't know that it lives indoors with bowls of food in the next room.  It's telling the kitten to learn to stalk and take down food to survive.  It's telling the kitten to learn to fight to protect it's life and survive.

If that scratching post is not at least 5 feet tall then it was a waste of money.  Short ones are not weighted enough and if it tips or leans it scares the animal and it won't use it.  You need one that is solid to the floor and you can sprinkle or spray catnip on it to draw the kitten to it though younger kittens don't always respond to catnip until they are a bit older.

http://www.petco.com/N_146/Scratchers.aspx?fromsearch=true&CoreCat=LookAhead

Learn to trim the kitten's nails at the beginning of every month when you flip the calendar over!  Or take it to a groomer or the vet's office and let a vet tech do it.  They know how to trim shorter than we do and therefore you should only need to do it every other month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YLDQMvskH8 - video instruction for nail trimming.

I don't know where you got the kitten from but it sounds as if it was never socialized.  That's your job!

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/bonding-with-your-new-kitten
http://cattime.com/cat-facts/kittens/82-kitten-socialization

Go to the pet supply store and buy:  kitty teaser, laser light, kitty treats.  Establish one or two play times each day.  Play with both toys, exhaust the kitten then feed it the morning or evening meal.  There's nothing like a tired, kitty with a full tummy who will want to lay down and rest for awhile.

You should find at least one or two of these sites helping for behavior training:

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/aggressive-kitten.htm

https://www.petfinder.com/cats/cat-problems/stop-kitten-biting/

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/kitten_play.html

http://www.ask.com/youtube?q=How+to+stop+my+cat+from+attacking+my+feet%3F&v=oqdnhtMYJ7Q&qsrc=472

I'm thinking you never knew what you were getting into by getting a kitten.  It sounds like a normal kitten to me.  If you don't want the kitten attacking something put it away until it's wild kitty time is over.

As for Christmas tree, my friend's husband had to go to a hardware store and buy a 5 feet long piece of chicken wire about 4 feet tall and they wrapped it around the Christmas tree and put gifts inside the fence to keep their kitten out of the packages and the tree!  I think they used it 2 or 3 times!  Overdecorate the tree with lights and call it good.  If you put ornaments on it don't let any dangle at the bottom!

Good luck!

Nobody · Answer

my kitty was like this too,he is one years old now,he became more calm and nice ,but FORGET about that your cat is not going to ruin the X-mas tree when they grow older ,they Love doing this ,my cat already ruined the Whole tree ! they just love it ! my cat is sitting on the keyboard right now ,this always happens ,and he wakes me up at 5 AM and likes to drop stuff ,he sit on my face when i try to read or sleep ,he likes to sit in the kitchen sink  and sleep in my bed ,and many other things but still i love that little brat !

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When do kittens calm down?

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