DEAR JOAN: Two years ago we adopted a kitten and immediately bonded together. We call her a kitty-doggy because she is a bit needy.

She follows me around the house as I move from one room to another, as well as up the stairs and back down again. Additionally, she fetches.

In the last several months she has adopted a new behavior. Whether I am standing and holding her while she gets her required pets, or if I am sitting and giving her pets, she will begin to bite me. Specifically, my hands and forearms.

When she indicates that she wants to be free I immediately put her down. Still, she will stalk me, leap at an available leg, and bite. Ouch! When this happens I put her in her room and close the door. She promptly goes to her princess kitty tower and watches the world go by through the window.

Most all of a kitten&#8217;s play is centered around honing hunting skills.
Most all of a kitten's play is centered around honing hunting skills. (Jaime Green/Wichita Eagle)

This method of punishment doesn't seem to be working. Neither does squirting her with the spray bottle of water. I believe she likes being chased up the stairs, and the water is only an annoyance in a fun game. Argh!

Kitty regularly goes to the vet and she gets quite a bit of praise for being such a docile and, frankly, cute-as-a-button cat. The vet sees nothing physically wrong and suggests a pet psychologist. We're not so much on board with that. Might you -- or perhaps your readers -- have another answer to our otherwise sweet-natured 2-year-old?




DEAR KATHERINE: Here's a realization that may cause a few sleepless nights. Kitty sees you as prey. There's nothing unusual with that. Cats view pretty much everything that way. They aren't planning -- at least not overtly -- to kill us, but cats love to play and all of their play is centered on honing their hunting skills.

I don't think Kitty needs to see a shrink -- she just needs to learn some boundaries, and so do you.

Kittens usually start learning about what's suitable and what's not when they are very young. If they play too rough with their littermates or their mom, they get rebuffed, but sometimes kittens are removed from the litter before the lesson sinks in.

We are guilty, too, of encouraging aggressive behavior by using our hands to wrestle and play.

The good news is you should be able to break Kitty of her habit. When you play with her, never use your hands directly. You can toss toys for her to chase and bring back to you, or you can use a toy on the end of a string. But don't let Kitty use your hands as toy.

Get Kitty a stuffed toy that she can wrestle with. It should be large enough that she can wrap her front paws around it and use her hind legs to scratch at it. If she shows no interest in the toy, rub some fresh catnip over it, or use it to roll her gently on her back and rub the toy against her tummy. That should get something going.

Now for the hardest part. When she acts up, you've got to turn your back on all that cuteness and ignore her.

You have the right idea, but it's you that needs to go in another room, not her. When you pick her up, she views your touch as a reward, not punishment. Stopping petting or simply walking into another room and closing the door behind you will make her realize that acting too aggressively means she is separated from you, who she obviously loves.

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