Help – now George is biting

Unfortunately, George doesn’t know any better ’cause he’s been biting hands for a while with no repercussions. There’s a toy you can buy that’s a glove with long fingers and toys on the end of each one. I’ve seen it in pet stores as well as online. Maybe if you got your husband one he could play with George without getting bit.

It’s hard to train a cat, but not impossible. Cats just don’t think like dogs or people. On top of which, George is probably picking up your stress levels.

It sounds like you really want to be a good cat mommy, but you just don’t have the experience yet. It takes patience and more patience to train a cat. When he does something right, you need to lavish him with praise (treats help, too.) It just isn’t very effective to try and punish a cat after the fact; they don’t know what they are getting in trouble for. Like people, they react a lot better to praise.

When you are at the pet store, buy some sticky strips that you can put on your furniture to discourage scratching. When you see him eying the furniture, pick him up and carry him to his post. When he scratches it, act like you never saw a more amazing thing in your life.

Ditto with the hand biting. If he bites, pull the hand away immediately and say “NO”. Then replace it with something he can play rough with and tell him how cute and good he is.

It won’t happen overnight, but if you are patience and constant, he will learn.

And please, if he does become more than you can handle, let your TDK friends know. We will try really hard to find him another home.

Kilroy, from the number of different issues you’ve mentioned over the past several weeks, and the levels of stress you’re still experiencing, it may well be in George’s best interests to be placed through the local cat rescue group. I know you must feel disappointed, but I know you will do what is best for George and for your family.

I think you and your family may wish to think long and hard before you decide to get another pet. It’s a good idea to figure out what you want from a pet before you decide upon a species, let alone an individual animal. Please keep in mind that, regarding cats and dogs, kittens and puppies require higher maintenance and have much, much higher energy levels than adults.

George is mostly just being a kitten. As others here have mentioned, kittens and cats don’t think like people, and don’t respond the same way to the same situation as we would. You have learned many important things, however, and you are wise to learn from your experiences with George (such as the playing-with-hands-with-George leading to undesirable behavior such biting and clawing).

I wish you the best of luck as your family makes the best decision possible.