Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I just got Menzo from the local shelter a couple of weeks ago. He's 6 months old approximately and neutered. He'd lived at the shelter since he was 6-8 weeks old. He's very affectionate and loves people but he seems to need constant attention. If I'm working on the computer and not paying attention to him he will claw and bite my legs or get in my lap and bite my hands and/or any other part he can reach. I have bites on my sides, back thighs, legs...you see where it's going. I have read that if he bites I should say ouch loudly and then put him down and ignore him for a while but he just gets back up and does it again or tries to get on my keyboard or desk. This is all the time...he hardly ever plays by himself with his toys he has to be with me constantly and have my full attention.
Our other problem just happened last night. We had been keeping him in an upstairs room at night with his litterbox and bed and everything and that was working fine but we are ready to move his box into a room that we aren't in as much and put it where our dog can't get her nose in it to get "snacks". This means leaving him free all night. We close our bedroom door because our dog sleeps in our room and she acts up if left to roam all night. We thought Menzo would do fine but every couple of hours he would come sit outside our door and meow very loudly for about 5 minutes. Then he'd stop and come back later all night long. My husband was very angry this morning when he hadto go to work with hardly any sleep. Is there anything I can do to stop this behaviour?

Thanks!

Lesli

Sounds like you have a very human needy cat. Have you tried playing with him with an interactive toy (like a wand with feathers?). This will help tire him out and give you some peace.
He is still a kitten is going to want lots of attention for at least another year before settling down.
-----
Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker

If you are still having trouble with him biting, I found a site on line that really helped me. My 6 month old was biting me all the time. I couldn't pet her without being bitten.

It is called Scruffing. I tried all the other methods, and this is the one that worked.

http://www.wvcats.com/biting_cat.htm

Oh that's a good site, lots of good info. Thanks! He's not biting so much as sticking his claws in my leg when he wants in my lap now. He pokes his claws into my thigh and hangs all his bodyweight on them which hurts really bad. He must not have been with his littermates long, he had been in a shelter since birth I think.

Thanks again!