teething?

Our kitten, Silver, is now about 8 months old and has recently started to chew (and eat) shoe strings, blankets, the sleeves of my shirts, and things of this nature. I'm assuming she needs a teething toy, so my two questions are:

1. could there be something else causing this new behaviour?
2. what kind of chew toy do I buy a cat??

[PrettyKitty1]

Hi Jester,

I think any chew toy can do the trick. It really depends on your cat and whether or not she will like it. See, some cats go crazy over catnip toys. My Dillan completely ignores catnip and catnip toys. So you’d have to go over to the pet shop and look around and see which ones would be fit for your kitty.

As to what could be causing this behavior. Hmm…I don’t want to think that your cat’s behavior is health related. She is very young so it seems to me this is more of a ‘momma needs to discipline the baby’ type of thing. But, if you’d like to take her to the vet to make sure nothing is wrong with her, that’d be fantastic. There are many ways to help the cat calm down, and no I don’t mean medicating the cat. I mean you as the owner setting boundaries so she understands what is and what isn’t allowed. A household pet should never act in a destructive manner unless she is sick. Do you have the proper tools to teach your cat? If not, we can help you with that :)

Let us know if you need tips and pointers :)

[Jester2005]

hey there, thx for the advice, greatly appreciated... I would like some additional tips on your last point, as you mentioned... I'm not sure what you mean by the "proper tools" to teach her? She just squints at the water bottle now, poor thing... we don't abuse it, I don't believe in it personally, but this silly kitty is so much more "trouble" than the last one, haha

thx again

[LissaKaye]

She probably is teething, needs to chew just like we humans need when we are teething.

Agree with Pretty.  Take her to the vet to make sure nothing else is going on with her.

If that is the case then some discipline may be necessary...I have found that cats respond very well to verbal discipline...  

Using a lower and stern voice... say "no" and remove the item immediately.  It is much like training a dog.  

Do not use physical discipline, this will only instill fear towards you and not the item to which you are trying to discourage.

[PrettyKitty1]

Jester,

I agree with Lissa. I am assuming you already know that disciplinary actions that involve physical (anything, slapping/ smacking, yelling etc) towards the cat does not work.

Like Lissa mentioned above, as soon as you catch her doing something wrong you can either:

1. Take the object away from her while telling her ‘No’ with a stern but low voice.
2. Take HER away from the object while saying ‘No’ with the same tone of voice. Grab her by the scruff of the neck only, one hand placed underneath to hold her in a safe way. Grabbing an adult cat just by the scruff of the neck may harm internal organs due to body weight. Use both hands to lift and hold her.
3. Another thing you could do is, as soon as you catch her biting something, hold her still on the floor for a few seconds and apply some force so she will not move. Small force – I mean enough to hold her still without harming her. Hold her by the scruff of the neck, against the floor, and say ‘No’; then take the object away. This tells her who the boss is; and it tells her you mean business. If you want to, HISS, just like momma cat would when she’s had enough lol.
4. Gently poking her in the mouth or nose may work. Be gentle, some cats have automatically died after hitting themselves hard on the nose.
5. You can also use cat repellents for now. Hmm….they HATE bitter apple. You may find other cat repellents online or at the local pet shop.
6. The last one is water. This one is tricky. Some people find it abusive. It worked for me when none of the above worked. Abby is a tough guy lol or perhaps I wasn’t patient enough. If you are going to use water, please be sure it is at room temperature, you spray just a little bit, and also, please make sure she doesn’t get scared of you.

My kitty never feared me with this method. However, he developed an instant hate towards bathing. We would have to have at least two people holding him, and then someone else bathing him. Why I had to bathe him so much? His IBD was pretty bad when he was younger. He’d walk around the house with a matted fur covered in diarrhea and blood. He wanted to sleep with us on the bed…..he had to be bathed. BUT, he learned and I haven’t had to use the water spray in a very long time. He knows what I don’t like. My solution after that? I got a shampoo for cats that does not require water LOL.

Lastly, don’t stress over the training. Training any animal requires a lot of patience and young cats are good at testing your patience. If you stress, she will notice, and guess what? She will most likely stop biting things in front of you. But what about when you turn your back on her? Lol  I honestly cannot explain why some cats react to stress and anxiety like this. I guess they too become stressed and anxious and cannot learn as efficiently as they would if the owner was calm, but consistent, all the time.

If I think of something else I will let you know. Hope this helps.