Help! My cat is almost 2 months old and started having very agressive behaviour at night /early morning?

Question

yesterday he played with a toy with catnip and he was crazy and scratched me pretty badly! What can I do? I'm thinking of giving him back to the humane society!

I did not buy the toy, it was a gift from a friend!
I threw the toy away yesterday, could it still have traces of catnip on the carpet?

Answer 1

the catnip toy may be your problem. Catnip can cause radical behavior in some cats, most times seen in un-neutered males. Cats also are night owls..the are the most stimulated after hours. Kittens can get playful when young and that type of play is the same type they would do with another cat.....you may think of getting him a buddy...just remember they have to be trained too...when the cat does this...Hiss at them and say no...use water guns...and firm words of discipline......they will stop the behabior as they grow up......My two cats..at 1030 evey night become elephants with those tiny feet ...up and down..over and under..lol...but in the day..they are out. You may want to take the catnip away...and see if attitude changes..My adult female rubs all over and purrrrrs with catnip, but my 3 month old girl will eat the coach after a few good sniffs. The age may be a reason, the type of catniip you used...and what the catnip was mixed with in that product...you can buy seeds on line or plants and use your own in future..to be sure you have pure safe amount...

Answer 2

Totally typical 2month old cat behavior. Don't give your cat toys with catnip if it gets him all riled up, give him toys that are free of catnip. The other thing you can do is trim his claws. BE SURE you do it properly -- there are cat claw trimmers available at pet stores and target in the cat section. You have to do it ABOVE the quick so not hurt him - you can tell by looking closely at the claw where it is, or just take him to a vet or someplace where you can get it done.

Cats get riled up at night and early morning because they have some kind of hunting instinct then. I remember my cat going nuts and thinking i'd never get through it and would certainly never have another cat. she's nineteen now! No more feistyness, just pure love.

If you have the option, put the kitty in another room at night so you can sleep and play with him with toys that are on strings so he isn't close enough to you to scratch you.
He'll out grow this and mellow out...be patient.

Answer 3

He sounds like a typical, healthy, happy 2 month old cat. I have had a cat every day of my entire life (46 years), and have found them to be most active in the early morning and in the evening...as you mentioned. This is what occurs in nature with big cats (lions, leopards) as well. I doubt you'll change his behavior, but I would cut back on the catnip....it can make them even more frantic.

I hope you don't feel you must return him. Perhaps the two of you will find a way to co-exist. I feel the benefits of owning a cat (though I shouldn't call it "owning"...they're so independent) far outweigh the scratching and attacking.

Answer 4

Don't give the cat back, unless for some reason you plan to get violent with the animal and hurt it.

Kittens that age don't normally respond to catnip, but there are always exceptions. My guess is that your cat is playing with you, as it would if you were another cat. Sometimes they play pretty aggressively, and it's up to you to teach him what is ok and what's not ok. You must learn how to be firm without harming him.

First, figure out what you are doing when he scratches you, then either stop it or work around it. One of my cats would always attack my hand as if it were another kitten - she would bite and claw at it, but she was just learning to be the huntress she was born to be. I changed my own behavior by only playing with her with a sock or a glove on my hand. She learned that my bare hand pets and touches her, and the "glove monster" is what she is allowed to play and get rough with. She's over a year old now and is a happy, well-adjusted cat.

Answer 5

NO! Do not give him back.

First of all, catnip is the culprit here. Some cats have a reaction to it that makes them highly aggressive. My cat is just like this. If you give her catnip she will seem mellow but will turn on a dime and attack viciously. Catnip has the same effect on the cat brain as cocaine does on the human brain. Simply take it away.

And you should know this, kittens have a LOT of energy, so they tend to play rough. Its something you have to deal with until they're older and mellow out.

Don't send your cat back because he scratched you ONCE. I have an arm full of scars from playing rough with my cat. Scratches are endurable, euthanasia is not.

Answer 6

He is in play mode topped off with catnip. The cat is behaving with instinct and you doped him up. Way to go. In play mode, he went for the catnip, which intensified his mode. There is nothing wrong with the cat, the owner needs to have more patience and do more research when becoming a cat owner.

Answer 7

I wouldn't give him back. He is probably lonely. You may want to consider adopting another kitten. The aggressiveness should decrease because the kitten will have someone that it can play with naturally and get the energy out of his system. I doubt that catnip is really effecting the behavior as usually it doesn't effect young kittens or old cats.

Answer 8

Cut back on the catnip, It makes cats hyper-aggressive at times. Could also be excited at the prospect of feeding time?

Answer 9

It's a normal phase of kitten development. If he was living in the wild he'd be learning to stalk and kill prey at this age.

Give him lots of play time with toys he can chase and attack, remove breakable objects, and let time do its work. By the time he is five or six months old he will settle down remarkably. especially if you get him neutered.

The scratches will heal and someday when he's old and arthritic and losing his eyesight you'll fondly remember these days when he was wild and funny.

Answer 10

Catnip affects cats differently and it is possible that he just had a 'bad' trip or maybe you shouldn't give him catnip anymore.

Please give him a chance, has he not done anything to be worthy of your home?

You may want to consider having him declawed, I don't endorse declawing but I would rather see him not able to defend himself and in a home than be in shelter where he may be put down.