I rescued a kitten from the streets last week.......?

Question

and he seems to have settled in pretty well. He is litter trained (So easy! Love it!) but I have 2 worries about him:

The first is that he often sucks on his own leg and purrs all the while. I understand this may be because he was taken from his mum too early and it's a comfort thing. But I'm worried that he will hurt his paw/leg?

The second thing is that while I managed to get him to not see my hands and ankles as toys, he won't leave my housemate alone! As soon as she comes in he goes crazy: racing around everywhere and jumping at her with claws and teeth. It doesn't seem intentionally violent, but if I can't sort this problem, she may make me get rid of him.

Help!

Thanks for your help, everyone!!

By the way, I live in Korea and cats are rarely pets here - taking it to the vet is only good for spaying/neutering as they really don't give a damn about cats....

Answer 1

i believe this is also from losing his mother too soon and you have stepped into the role as it were and he may think that he is going to loose you so is in its mind defending you from your house mate, to aleviate the stress of this from the cat and so your house mate can get round the house without being scratched you should hold the cat and make it comfortable and sit next to your house mate for a few set periods of time and it should eventually work and stop happening.

Answer 2

First of all: Great that you rescued this kitten!

This kitten was probably orphaned at an early age, both behaviors indicate that. You have to watch the sucking on the leg carefully, it can turn into a condition called self-mutilation. It has nothing to do with teething, it is a sign that the kitten was or still is emotionally traumatized. Play a lot with him, spend a lot of time with him and if he continues, take him to the vet. There is a medication to stop this behaviour.
Whenever he scratches or bites at your hands, express your pain! Most kittens will stop once they understand that their behaviour hurts you. Make sure that you never encourage playing with your hands. Your hands should only pet and feed, for playing he should have plenty of toys. All the best.

Answer 3

Arm your housemate with a spray bottle & try the distraction technique mentioned before. If kitty gets too agressive with your housmate spray kitty and say no. Enourage your housemate to play with the kitten every so often, once play is finished get her to throw around a couple of treats or dry food to end the game. (also let your housmate feed him food once a day) Kitty will get used to the fact that both of you hold the key to treats. Playtime with your housmate will also establish a bond between her and your kitten. My cat also suckles and used my jumpers & fleecy throws as well as her tail.Suckling is also characteristic of some oriental breeds like siamise, my cat is a tonkinese cross & was taken from her mother at 6 weeks. After speaking to my vets I decided against medication. Instead I've given her my houscoat, (the fibre on the material is strong & doesnt ooze fluff like my throws) I placed this on my bed as she likes to rest there, this got her used to the housecoat & once she had stopped suckling on everthing else I started to wean her off the housecoat. She only uses it through the night now, maybee this could work for you too. If you do choose to let him suckle choose something that wont be easily pulled and check it daily to ensure that it's still safe to use.

Answer 4

have you used flea treatment on the cat? and worming tablets? not supermarket crap though?! put a soft toy next to him instead?
the attacking your house mate, i wonder if this may be a bit of a territorial problem? she leaves you alone now, but attacks your housemate? do you feed the cat? do you empty the litter tray and other things for it? do you cuddle her? does your housemate do any of these things?
it may be that you need your housemate to feed her and cuddle her. when she attacks (a natural instinct im afraid) do you yell at her? any vocal or physical interaction is seen as a reinforcement, rather than detterent. a water pistol squirted at the cat when she does something naughty (ie attack your housemate, claw the sofa etc) is a negative reinforcement, something unpleasant, whilst you telling her off is giving her attention - positive! make any sense? try the water pistol becuase the more you shout at her the more she will think shes protecting you and getting attention! does she have toys? a toy on a string for hunting is great! as is a toy on a scratch post. good luck
try 'why does my cat?' book for best results (im studying animal pyschology and they use this book, its great!)

Answer 5

You both need to stop his actions...Kittens like children like to play, they also have their favourites, something you could try is to meet your housemate at the door holding your kitten...that way they get used to greeting calmly...

The other thing with him suckking his leg, it may be as well to check witha vet, cats don't just purr when they are happy...that said, you may find he may try to suckle on your flesh in order to get nourishment out of your skin...but the marching hurts...I know...

If you do take him to the vet they will let you know how old he is and may offer a better way to calm him down..

Answer 6

If your housemate hasn't taken the time to get to know the itten then he'll see her as a plaything and until she can teach him that her ankles etc aren't chew/scratch toys he won't learn. Also it is natural behaviour of a cat to pounce and if it had it's litter mates he'd practise on them instead! Get plenty of toys for your kitten,cat-nip filled,feather like,crunchy sounding, a scratch pole etc.He'll soon settle.

Answer 7

Your kitten is protecting you from your housemate. It needs to understand that they belong there. To do that your housemate needs to hold the kitten and talk to it so that the kitten becomes familiar with their smell, look, and sound.

The self-sucking is normal as long as it doesn't reach the point where it's taking it's fur off.

This site on the feed and care of found kittens by a veterinarian might interest you.

http://www.kittenrescue.org/handbook.htm

Answer 8

My friend trained his kitten by clapping!

If the kitten did something wrong he would clap then carry it to its bed, it eventually associated him clapping his hands as a noise when hes done something bad, and in turn realised what he was doing was wrong, it took some time but got there in the end!

I don't think him sucking his leg is anything to worry about, if your unsure take him to the vet!

Answer 9

Sammi, it is so sweet that you have rescued this kitten. How is your housemate with the cat? Maybe your roommate has mistreated this cat when you are not around and that is why it is acting that way. I would keep the cat in another room when the roommate is around.

Answer 10

Would you not be better to try to find the original owners. If the cat is already litter trained then someone has obviously looked after it.