Advise

[Sassybot]

Thanks for the advice and support guys
We've been home all weekend (much needed rest) and frankenstein has been a little love.
We had a little scare last night as his bottom was stupidly swollen but it seems OK today.... Very odd
He also ate his first full meal since his shot and is now nomming everything  in sight. Am more than happy to give him treats to make up for it. Well, just for today

Fingers crossed with the both of us around more we can carry on knocking the bad habits on the head.

[KittyNic]

It just sounds like he needs teaching a bit more. Sorry to hear that you were misinformed about his age.

When we got our Munchkin that lady was happy if we picked him up at 7 weeks old, but I told her that I wanted to wait until 8 weeks even though it was so hard to leave him there. Him and Chutney play fight and run around like crazy things, but they are so cute. Munchkin is a naughty boy, but only in that he does tend to jump up on counter tops where he's not supposed to go and plays with the wooden blind pull.

I'm sure you'll soon have Frankie in line and if not, he's cute enough he'll get away with any naughtiness. :-)

[Sassybot]

Hopefully he'll stop when he gets bigger lol

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My Kocka used to sit on my shoulder and I loved it 

[Sassybot]

Frankenstein loves Cuddles. My Oh only has to touch him and he purrs *jealous*  lupin sounds quite well named :D

I had stopped using this dangle string thing as he seemed to get more excited by it but might try and use it again to wear him out especially before bed tonight. I've had a proper long week and really need a good 6hrs kip.

I've come home and he seems a lot calmer. Fingers crossed he's just been a little stressed from the vet trip or something.
I'm confident that, as long as this isn't him telling me he's hurt or upset, it's just a phase. My main concern was he wasn't well. He's currently sat on my shoulder (why do they do that?!) purring like a loon playing with my hair.... Not the worst Valentine's day I've had hehehe

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I didnt realize he was so young and my Lupin is a little monster cat and have had him since 10 months and nothings changed!

He doesnt like being stroked cos it spoils his hairstyle or his suit, he goes for the bite. He goes for my eyes when he is angry, he wont play, chases and fights big  Misa............sounds like him and Frank would get along fine 

[emmmy_lou]

I would also have suggested trying to expend some more of his energy playing. Its a shame you were misled about his date of birth... 

I think our new kitty Evie was taken away too young as well (she is one and we have only recently aquired her) as she doesn't know how to read my other cats very well 

As for the food, Denzel & Dexter who we got as kittens were on dried food at 8 weeks when they came to us. But Denzel who I think was the runt of the litter had trouble eating 'normal' kitten food, so we got some Royal Canin Babycat which I think you can only really get online nowadays. It has tiny little pellets which are much easier to cope with!

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q%3Dbabycat

[Rosella moggy]

Good for you    Homing a cat from a rescue is an excellent idea.  There are far too many cats in rescues 

8 weeks is purrfectly "OK".  It's just that 12 weeks can be better; for any cat, not just pedigrees.  I understand mom uses the time between 8 and 12 weeks to teach a bit of discipline. 

Our Groucho was found alongside a canal by our window cleaners aged about 7 or 8 weeks so not an option with him.  Millie and Ruby came to us from rescue with their mom Dinah as OH fell for her when we went to collect them.  Even though they were 11 weeks at the time, she certainly kept them in check.  Worried us a bit to be honest at how rough she was with them but they were much better behaved than Groucho.

I have no explanation for Boris as he was with his mom until he was about 3 1/2 months    I guess some are just plain naughty 

Da Bird rocks!  Fantastic fishing rod toy but as Dawn said, move all breakables 

[Sassybot]

I figured because the vet said it was ok and the RSPCA leaflet I got said 8 was acceptable that it was ok. Oh well. Didn't want a pedigree as there are too many unloved moggys out there. Plus we couldn't afford the price tag.  Our neighbour has one which she paid £200 for and wont let out resulting in the poor love going abit crazy. Plus she said she wanted a fluffy one and I think Frankenstein is going to have a longer coat- woops!

My OH is on the late shift this week and even evil Frankenstein has made coming home much funner. Despite being a naughty monster he comes flying down the stairs to see me purring and wanting loves. He does this really cute/weird thing were when I sit down for the first time he sits on my shoulder and puts his paw on my cheek until I turn around, then he puts his nose on mine and glares at me for ages :p

[Dawn F]

da bird is great but move all breakables!!

tbh even 8 weeks is young, breeders of pedigree cats have a code of conduct which doesn't let them go before 13 weeks

anyway he is with you now!

[Sassybot]

Da bird? will check it out.

Ideally we would have got two but our landlady wasn't so keen, which is why I got the ducky. it's a little bit bigger than him but he can wrap himself around it. he especially loves it when you put it to his tummy and he rolls onto his back nibbling it then licking hehehe 

When one of us is home we pretty much play with him all the time ('i'm sorry i didn't do the dishes huni I had to look after the baby' :D ) but maybe this week we've been away a little too often for his liking, especially if going the vet wasn't the nicest experience for him.

[Sassybot]

Oh wow! :D Is it odd how that has perked me up?

I know Frankie is a little too young to have left his mum. We saw him when we were told he was 4 weeks old and completely fell in love. The woman said we'd be picking him up when he was 9 weeks (checked with my local vets and they said over 8 was ok). In a conversation the woman revelled that the date we had agreed to pick him up he would have been 8 weeks old. She actually wanted us to get him a week earlier but I wasn't comfortable so exaggerated saying our weekend trip to Barcelona was actually for a week. Once we had him I actually asked about his D.O.B and she gave me the date of 5th December which I believe only makes him 11 weeks old. I'm pretty gutted that we we're lead to believe Frankie was older than he was as it seems quite obvious that most of the issues we have come down to him not being old enough. It's not like we wouldn't have waited for him.

He has loads of little toys (I've sewn him little birds and mice with bells in which he loves) and a teddy which is a similar size for him to role around in. Whenever he tries to rough play with our hands we get ducky out and he plays with it like he would another kitten. We have also dangled some of the small toys from the coffee table so he gets more lively 'prey'.

We've always wanted a kitty that keeps us on our toes and have had so much fun with him.  In fact we'd be pretty bored with a cat that just slept all the time. It's just this running up and biting us thing that's getting me down a bit. Just worried something is stressing him out.

thanks for listening and your advise!

[Mymblesdaughter]

I know everyone is sick of me saying this but it's one of the reasons I'm so keen on having two together. They really are a hand full when they are kittens and having another kitten to play with really helps. They can bite and kick each others heads to their heart content. Although my legs and arms were so scratched and bitten when they were kittens I was embarrassed to show them. 

If you are out quite a bit he is probably trying to get more of your attention which unfortunately can involve biting. Do you have a da bird? It's a great toy you can get in the Purrs shop. Cats really love it and it helps to tire them out more than any other toy I know.

[Rosella moggy]

Hi again ......... look what I found.  I posted this on 7 October 2010.  Groucho would have been about Frankie's age at the time 

OMG Sue  .  Are you hinting you want a kitten?  Have ya cleared it with Paddy yet? Groucho's little bag has been repacked in readiness for 2nd attempt travelling up' North  .  Honest,  he's really looking forward to it    You've experience and you'd be OK for a week you say?  This is great!  ......       


He is a demon monster cloaked in fluffy black fur  I've started putting him on Zylkene to try and lower his energy levels and try and tire him out with our completely battered Da Bird which he goes mental for.  Replacements on their way courtesy of Tan. 

I'm afraid I'm nearing the point when I will be happy to leave the furry foursome at Cramar and return home to a house where I can open the windows and doors and not fret that the peeing monsters  (for we now believe Ruby is joining in the fun) are on the prowl. 

I'm exhausted with it all It didn't help that OH gave Groucho some adult dry food which resulted in Groucho getting the trots late on Tues night and going skiing around floor of the bedroom  .  He howled twice poor little mite so of course I rang Vets Now who said to bring him in but he had calmed down and was cleaning himself within minutes so I decided to leave it till morning when he was back to normal.  Of course no sleep worrying.  Blimey I really didn't think he would cause so much upset but I wouldn't like being ambushed continually either so understand why Fred and the girls are upset.  Noni and Dinah just shrug their shoulders now and ignore him.

[Rosella moggy]

Hi there

I love your little man not least coz he so reminds me of our Grouchie Lad 

I had a quick read through your previous posts and see that Frankie is now about 11 or 12 weeks old and left his mom at about 7 weeks?  If that's right, I'd suggest perhaps moving him on to dry food now is a maybe a wee bit early   

I think you already know that 7 weeks was a bit young to leave his mom and that could explain some "bad" behaviour as he didn't have mom long enough teach him better manners.  He will also be teething which leads to biting and chewing....... anything and everything so need to keep him away from wiring.  Can be very dangerous and expensive.  Steer well clear of ever using hands and fingers as toys  , which again I think you know, but also might help if you blow into his face, short sharp blows when he is naughty.

Kittens are beautiful, adorable monsters 

Then again, I'm not sure it's worth listening to me as Boris was just trying to get up the chimney in here and every time I get up to stop him he runs to hide on the chair under the table so I can't get him.  He is almost 3 years old and very naughty so it didn't work with him 

[Sassybot]

I duno Dawn. He's always been playful and a bit naughty but now he seems a bit stressed.

I'm going to give it the weekend and see if his behaviour improves with both of us being around rather than in and out. We have both been very busy this week so maybe he's acting up because he doesn't know if we're coming or going. If it doesn't I'm going to call the vet.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Soory never heard of this before and think it worth speaking to vet now.........could be the vet visit and jab really freaked him

[Dawn F]

he is very young, this is normally stuff they do with siblings

[Sassybot]

Sorry for bugging you guys (again!!) but i was just wondering if I could get some advise on Frankensteins behaviour.

Since having his first shots he's been...well, a jerk. He wont stop bombing around and he keeps running up to us and biting. It's not hard and we're doing the high pitched 'ouch' and walking away but it's not doing anything. How he's stalking us has gone beyond cute kitten stalking like he used to before. His ears go flat and he looks quite agressive.

Just a bit worried about his behaviour really. He's also not eating so well although we are trying to introduce dry food. Also sometimes he seems scared of us even though when he's sleepy he still wants me. He also still cries when he cant see us.

Hopefully the shot thing is just coincidental and this behaviour change is to do with him hitting a new stage in his development- a stage he will grow out of.

Thought I'd see if anyone else has experienced this. I've had kittens when I lived with my family but they we're around 3 month old rescues so I'm not so sure about this early stage.

Will bring it up with the vet when we go for his second shot in 2 weeks.

Thanks in advance x