scratching and biting kitten

Question
My kitten is about seven weeks old. He was abandoned by his mother and i have become a surogate mommy to him. He is a very happy and active boy, but he bites and scratches too much. How can i make him stop. It is becoming quite a problem.

Answer
Linda,

Bless you, you are an angel for rescuing this kitten!!!!!

If you have ever watched how little kittens play with their siblings and mama, there is lots of scratching and biting.  Cat skin is very, very tough (watch your vet have to punch a hyperdermic through the skin).  So, cats do not mind this kind of play.  Unfortunately, human skin is not nearly that tough, and so, kittens need to be socialized to playing with us poor soft skinned humans.

What we do, is to hold, stroke, cuddle, and speak softly to our kittens.  They really like this "game".  If they begin the biting, scratching behavior put the kitten down and walk away.  The younger the kitten, the more quickly they respond.  However, at 7 weeks, the kitten should respond well to this socialization.  You will need patience and persistence, but the kitten should get the idea. You must be absolutely conistent for this technique to work!!!!!  In fact, rather than play with your kitten with teases and toys, I would play the holding, stroking, cuddling, talking softly game until it gets the idea.  Once your kitten is socialized, then it is time to play with teases and toys.

I am assuming the litter pan habits are in pretty good shape.  7 weeks is a very tender age for the kitten to have to adjust to a new home.  What kind of vaccination regimen does your vet have the kitten on?  Be very careful as vets have a tendency to overvaccinate a kitten with too much too quickly.  You will want to have the normal 3-in-1 shots (for panleukopenia, calici, rhinotracheitis).  Avoid the 4-in-1 (the forth illness is chlamydia, which is, now, eqasily treatable in cats).  If the kittern is indoors only (highly recommended), then there is no need for a Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) or Feline Immunodefficiency Virus (FIV) vaccine.  Rabies wiull not be effective until 6 months of age, so I would wait until then.  Also, vaccinations should always be at least 3 weeks apart.  At 8 weeks, I would get your kitten its 3-in-1 shot and at 12 weeks, its 3-in-1 booster.

Please let me know how it goes

Best regards... Norm.