6 month old kitten keeps attacking my face

Question
QUESTION: My kitten has just turned 6 months old and has recently started attacking my face and throat. He is a domestic cat, dopted him from a shelter when he was 9wks old so we brought him up. He is neutered as well.
He always attacked my hands and crawled up my body but now he is for no reason jumping into my face with his claws and biting my face. I am giving birth to my first baby in September & very worried that he will try to attack the baby as well.
He is usually very sweet and loves attacking hands and legs but the face attacks are becoming very frequent now and quite scary actually.
I raised 2 cats prior to him and they never attacked my face, only hands and legs so i am unsure what to do. Pushing him away only makes him more agressive.

ANSWER: Hi Sheree,

Unfortunately, it sounds as though you would up with a personality unlike your first two.  You have a highly active, dominant kitten on your hands, and when you don't know how to handle them and correct the subtle dominant behaviors when they're young, you wind up with an aggressive attacking kitten on your hands.  Not that you can't begin curbing the behavior with behavioral modification; it's just that it's going to take more time and effort than if you had began working with him early on.

That is why I inform people how imperative it is that they understand that any two kittens are as different as any two people, and you need to know their personality and if it's a good match for your home.  Unfortunately most people adopt based on age and looks (color) and not on if it's a good match for their lifestyle.  Seeing as how you only have about a month and a half until you give birth (congratulations by the way!), I'm not sure you can curb the behavior significantly by then.   It depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put into the behavioral modification, and if you are also willing to continue to work on it after the baby is born.  Obviously you will need to keep him separate from the baby until the behavior is almost completely extinct.

I am actually going thru the same process now with one of my fosters, Halo, who I have had since she was a week old.  It is difficult with her, and she's not even the hardest case as she is dominant, active, sensitive, making her much easier to work with.  Dominant, highly active, bold personalities are the hardest to deal with, and even for a pro who's been doing this and knows cat behavior.  That's the trouble with dominant kittens, and why I'm so anal about who I adopt them to.  You really have to know what you're getting into and how to handle them.  You must always be firm, but calm and consistent always.  I NEVER allow biting of any body part, chasing/attacking legs, or stalking anything other than a toy.  This helps the behavior become extinct usually around 12-16 weeks.

But what you really have to ask yourself is are you willing to commit to this kitten's rehabilitation, to do it calmly and consistently, for its whole life.  Because the older he gets, the harder he will be to place into an appropriate home who is willing to take on a kitten with those needs.

If you wish to go forward, begin by keeping him in a bedroom, preferably not your master bedroom.  Get him on a consistent schedule, always feeding him at a certain time in the morning and in the evening.  Always supervise any interaction he has with anyone.  Everyone he comes into contact with must follow these guidelines.  Always be calm.  After he eats, sit and play with him with some toys.  Have balls, stuffed mice, a cat dangler, and make sure he has a sisal rope scratch post, preferably upright at least 4 feet tall.  Any time he tries to attack your hands or feet, make a 'shhht' sound and freeze whatever body part he's attacking.  Basically, go stiff as cats read more from your tone and body language than anything.  As soon as he stops biting, even if his mouth is still on you, untense and praise him in a high-pitched calm tone.  Say something like, "Good boy, _his name_".  Always be positively calm, never excited.  Excitement will initiate the aggression.  You effectively need to teach him how to play and proper social behavior with people, always redirecting his aggression with feet, hands and faces to his toys.  A bigger stuffed mouse works best for this, and believe me, as simple as it sounds, this process works.  I have used it with many an unweaned lone kitten I have raised.  Remember you need to be patient because it will take him more time because you have months of reinforcement of aggression (by non-correction) to counteract.  Never go to continue to move until they are no longer focusing on the body part they were attacking.  Having the cat dangler is handy for that.  As far as him attacking your face, what they say is very true--aggression only begets more aggression.  Never EVER be aggressive, demanding, domineering, or physical in any way with a dominant cat, or you will only serve to accelerate the aggression and make it uncorrectable.  Cats are NOT like dogs--they base their relationships on TRUST and RESPECT, and if you do any of the aforementioned things with a dominant cat, you will lose his trust and/or respect.  The more you keep him to a routine and he learns that biting is not acceptable, the sooner it will stop.  NEVER scruff him, spray him with a water bottle, point in his face, yell, or do ANY correction when you're angry.  You will never achieve your desired result this way; you will only make it worse.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.  I wish you the best, and keep me apprised of his progress.

Best regards,

Holly Martin
Cat Care & Behavior Counselor
Texas A&M University
B.S. Animal Science
AboveBeyondPetCare@yahoo.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Holly. As mentioned he has just started this
behaviour. His vet thinks that he could be becoming slightly
jealous and over-protective as my pregnancy has developed
and therefore acting out to get my attention.

It's very weird, he can be sleeping one second, wake up,
look at me and just attack my face, even if i'm sitting dead
still.

I have tried some of your suggestions, as yet they are not
working but I will continue to do so as I understand it will
take some time. He also does not do this on a daily basis
but on the odd occasion.
I do find that locking him in a room for a few minutes calms
him down and rectifies his behaviour. Is this wrong?

I am more worried about him around the baby when it is born
than anything else - especially if the Nanny leaves the
babies door open and he gets into the room.

Answer
Hi Sheree,

I'm glad you have tried some of the suggestions.  It is important to realize and remember that you MUST continue this process for weeks sometimes months before you will see significant change.  The key is consistency, and also correcting when you see warning signs as opposed to waiting for it to happen.  As soon as you see his eyes becoming fixated, say 'shhht' in a calm, but loud stern tone.  Never get angry or physical with him, as you will set yourself back months.  Some physicality with certain kittens in these situations can make the behavior almost uncorrectable, so be sure to never be physical with him (this includes scruffing the neck, flicking the nose, tapping the head--anything at all).  

Certain cats/kittens respond to different techniques, which is why I emphasize each one is as different as any two people.  Most of my cats respond to tone alone, but Phoenix has to be locked in a bathroom for 10-15 minutes before you see a change in attitude.  Find what works best (that is either positive or neutral) and that will help tremendously.  Also take care to reward him and give him special attention when he's good.

As far as the vet's opinion, please take that with a grain of salt.  People mistakenly assume that vet's are taught about nutrition and behavior, and I can assure you they are NOT.  You need to keep in mind that he showed his dominant tendencies (by attacking your hands and crawling up you) almost from day one, and as this behavior was not addressed or addressed properly and redirected, he has now escalated to your face.  There is NO reason to think it has anything to do with your pregnancy.  Unfortunately 'I don't know' is not in a vet's vocabulary, and so they offer suggestions to questions they don't know the answers to.

It is true you need to take great care to prepare your pet to the new sights and sounds of a baby BEFORE they arrive, and also be sure to give them the same amount of attention, but the baby isn't even born yet.  The only situation you are dealing with is a dominant cat who has become somewhat aggressive because his bad behavior was not corrected from the beginning.  If you keep with the techniques, and remain consistent, positive, and calm, you WILL see the change.  Don't give up, and please feel free to contact me in the future with whatever questions you have.  I applaud you for finding ways to fix the problem before your child enters the picture.  Thank you for doing your best to be a responsible pet owner.

Best regards,

Holly Martin
Cat Care & Behavior Counselor
Texas A&M University
B.S. Animal Science