How can I teach my kitten to play with his claws in?

Question

He is 8 weeks old and absolutely gorgeous, but when he plays he scratches - my hands are in shreds!

I'd like to teach him how to play gently but have no idea how.

I would never ever have him declawed, its horrible, he's a cat, he needs claws. And besides, how would he climb up my curtains/towells/washing without them?

I would love to get him a friend to play with but we just don't have the resources for two at the moment. But he gets a lot of attention and fuss and time. Maybe just not so much from my bare hands in future!

Answer 1

rough-playing should be discouraged, so you are in the right track. I trained my kitten not to rough-play (scratch, bite and kick with his hind legs) with me thorugh this simple method: when he rough plays with claws, teeth or hind legs and hurts me:
1) I immediately say "Yay-yay!"
2) I stop play immediately
3) I stand up and leave him and the room altogether - no more play time for now

The kitten soon got the notion that if he wants me to play with him, he has to behave.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Your kitten is going through his wild phase and it will be over in just a few months. Soon he'll be sleeping most of the day and ignoring most of the objects around him. But for now, he imagins himself a cheetah, and your hand, a gazelle.

Simply put, don't let him play with your hands. If he does happen to grab hold of some part of you (which he'll do from time to time until he calms down), give a kitten scream to let him know he's hurting you. If he still doesn't let gom, blow a puff of air in his face...cats hate that. Don't push him away because to him that says "you want a peice of me?!" and he'll take you up on it. Remeber though, he's just a baby and what he's doing is a natural part of a cat's development and is vital to their survival. This is akin to the rapid growth and development toddlers go through.

Last, make sure he gets enough attention and play time with things other than your hand, or, my favorite choice, run out and buy another kitten for him to play with! They're easier in pairs.

Answer 3

use your nail clippers to just take the sharp end off his claws, just the very end tip to blunt them a bit. Don't get into the pink area of the claw or they will have pain and bleed. This way your hands are not as cut up. Ask the vet or someone knowledgable to show you where to clip on the nail.
Anytime he gets rough and uses claws say something along the lines of "OUCH!" "NO".. I tell mine "No sharpies" "No claws"... and stop the play the second it brings out claws. He will make the connection that using claws means no play. May take a few days to sink in.

Answer 4

Well you have to teach him that hands are not toys. When you play with him, just use a toy of some kind. Never use your hands. If you don't break him of this, he may develop a habit that will carry over into his adult years.

Something that seemed to work well for me was saying "Owww!" in a strong loud voice. Let him know that he is hurting you. Or it will at least startle him enough to distract him into stopping. Be consistent with this.

Get a laser pointer! That will give him a workout that wear him out, so he (and you) can sleep at night.

Don't de-claw him, please!!!!!

Good Luck

Answer 5

Don't declaw - it's inhumane. If your kitten is only 8 weeks, it's likely until now he's only had his siblings to play with and kittens do get rough with one another. You are making the mistake of making your hand a toy. Try to encourage play with toys instead of your hands. You still need to be involved with this kind of play, but the object of clawing attention is now the toy and not your hand. When he gets it wrong and scratches you, stop play immediately and make a load noise. Use your hands for gentle stroking instead and eventually your kitten will learn to differentiate. I have 3 Siamese none of whom scratch me when I play with them. They play fetch with their toys and they enjoy loads of strokes and cuddles. So perseverence does pay off. Good luck and enjoy your kitten - they don't stay small for very long so make the most of him at this age.

Answer 6

Definitely don't consider declawing! I've taught my cats not to claw by pulling my hand away and saying "Ow!" loudly. It took a while for them to get the message but they seldom play rough now.

Answer 7

Hi Seja...young kittens are always learning so training them to use soft paw is difficult.

Consider learning how to trim your kitties nails as this will lessen the impact of the scratches. Also by beginning to trim the nails at this young age and doing this every couple weeks will get him used to having his paws touched to make nail trimming time easier for you as well. Here's a step-by-step video by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine to teach you how to properly trim a cat's claws: http://www.felinevideos.vet.cornell.edu/trimming_claws/

Also here's a website that shows photos and provide detailed instructions on this as well: http://www.catscratching.com/htmls/article.htm

Answer 8

I'm afraid this is just how kittens play. Wear a glove, play with a teddy for him to cling on to, or do not play roughly and incite him to play roughly. I have a 12 week old kitten here at present who is still with his mum and I rarely get scratched because he plays with his mum who is the one to teach him not to play too roughly. Usually if kittens are removed from their mothers too young, like under 8 weeks, they have not been given proper training by the mum before they get taken away. BTW, people shouldn't get a single kitten. 2 kittens get to play kitten style with each other and this too will save your hands.

Answer 9

Hi Seja
There's no way that you can teach your kitten to put his claws away. Get him a scratch post and it will help your kitten now to claw your, another way to play with him is to wear gloves. I have had to do that myself

Answer 10

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