My little nephew is 5 years old and has grown a constant pleasure of terrorizing my cat and his own cat. I, as well as my mother and my sister have been telling him not to do this. He terrorizes my cat by chasing her until she goes upstairs. With his own cat however he is much worse. His kitten is only about I'd say 3 months old. He'll think of ways to even hurt the cat by trying to step on the cat on it's stomache area, it's tail area. And when we teach him how to hold her, he'll practically squeeze her until one of us catches him in the act and take the kitten away from him. The kitten does try to defend it'self by clawing at him or biting him but even then he still won't stop. And yet he thinks it's funny when he inflicts pain onto that poor kitten. He'll hold her up by the neck and choke her. And I've talked to my sister constantly about either take the cat and give the kitten a new home or take her son to councelling or something yet she hasn't done a thing about it. I am worried for my nephew about his crude acts of violence towards others and animals. Someone please help me!
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Why won't my nephew stop terrorizing my Cat and his own cat?
Replies (10)
At the risk of alienating your sister, you need to get the kitten out of the home immediately and then tell her that you will report her for allowing animal cruelty if she gets another kitten or pet. Under no circumstances should you allow any contact with your own pet. This is one area where you have absolute authority.
I am not a child development expert by a long-shot, however in my thirty-one years of teaching elementary school I have come across a number of children with problems great and small. At five it is not unreasonable to expect a child to emphathize with other living things and to treat all living things with respect. However, at five it is also possible that the problem is not as serious as it would be if the child were a little older. Some immaturity could be coming into play here. But, any child who repeatedly hurts a pet, or seems to take pleasure from inflicting pain on a pet does need a psychiatric evaluation to determine the extent of the problem and explore possible causes and cures. All too many times children start with animals and work up to humans. For the sake of the child and in the long run for the sake of your sister and society at large you will need to try to get him this needed evaluation. If he attends public school, your sister can go through channels to have this done through the system if money is an issue.
Best wishes and thanks for caring about both the kitten and your nephew.
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ok Thank you so much, PHMadameAlto
Madame gave you great advice. I personally work with a child that did kill his family cat at the age of 5 (he used a steak knife). Please talk to your sister and family. I think your nephew would really benefit from therepy. A lot of times the child does not understand (even at that age) that he is hurting the cat. We had a child developmental therepist come to give us a conference a week ago. She told us about a boy who was about 9 that kept killing cats. He would cut them open. He did this because he wanted to refeed the cat the food it ate.He thought he could just feed it the same food over and over and the cat would be fine. He wasn't doing it to hurt the cat. There is something going on emotionally with your nephew. A therapist would help you all figure out what is goin on.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker
I agree with what the others have written. First the cat needs to be rehomed or at least removed from the childs reach. Could you perhaps keep the kitten for them until they figure out what is going on if your sister refuses to get rid of the kitten. Second, your nephew needs evaluated by professionals to see if there is a psychological reason for his cruelty. I am a nurse in an acute psychiatric hospital for children. I can tell you that in many cases this sort of behaviour gets worse. Studies have shown that children who are cruel to animals grow up to be cruel to people and many serial killers were animal killers first. The child needs help now, while he is small. I would also lock your cat upstairs when the child comes to visit and tell him to stay downstairs. Tell him he is not allowed up there and enforce it. Your cat should not be terrified in her own home by a child. Let us know how things are going.
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PHWildCat/Tessa and 18 cats, 1 dog and even a hamster
Cat Board Monitor and Chat Host
Pet Hobbyist
I was assuming your nephew lived with you. Is this the case? Or Does your sister live in her own home?
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker
My nephew lives with his mother in their apartment. And thanks for all of your advice, I appreciate it.
As much as I'd love to take her in wit me, I have a 2 year old cat but I have noticed that my cat doesn't seem to get along with the kitten.
I figured that was the case since my mom had watched a talk show saying that this 9 year old child abuses his pets and sometimes even kills them. And the psychiatrist stated that he had 9 possible characteristics of a serial killer since he had a desructive behavior. My nephew does have a destructive behavior, he'd find certain items lying around and destroy them. He's been going to kindergarden for atleast 2 months now and his teacher says that he's not paying attention very well. And he's grown a liking to kicking people. I've brought this subject to my sister many times before and yet she always states that the only problem she hasn't taken him to be examined is because of money issues.
Either your nephew's teacher or his pediatrician should be able to help your sister find some help for this child. Some places have a sliding scale fee or will do an assessment for free. There should also be a school psychiatrist or psychologist that will examine the child. He needs some help and fast. Your sister needs to tell the teacher and the pediatrician what is going on at home and what she sees in her child. That should raise some red flags to someone and get some help going for them.
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PHWildCat/Tessa and 18 cats, 1 dog and even a hamster
Cat Board Monitor and Chat Host
Pet Hobbyist
The school where you nephew goes should have a psychiatrist that is either there full time or part time. Ask your sister to talk to the teacher. There are some papers she would need to sign to give her consent for the evaluation. Then the school will set up a PET (pupil evaluation team). This would include your sister, the teacher, principal, psychologist and any one else who tests your nephew. None of this costs the parent money. If your sisters wants she could have you or your mother go to the PET with her. Your nephew really needs to be on a behavior plan at school. This will help make his day more enjoyable and it will give the teacher some help. A lot of times the school will assign a one on one aid to help work with a child who is having these types of problems.
I don't know the laws for other states but in Maine if a parent requests a evaluation on their child the school has to comply.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker
>>I don't know the laws for other states but in Maine if a parent requests a evaluation on their child the school has to comply.
I think this is a federal requirement. Almost all special education issues are under the fed umbrella. They are strict and tend to favor the parent so the sister probably could get a free evaluation for the child at her request.
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