Cat/Kitten Help

[CatalystiCam]

Yeah, bit of an unusual question to ask here but I can't seem to find something specifically relating to my problem.

So we got a kitten about 3 weeks ago. I've never had a cat before, so this is why I don't really know. The Kitten is A Tabby, cross with a Siamese, and Russian blue I think is the third one. It's been a great cat, extremely playful, not shy at all and overall friendly. There is just one problem I can't seem to find the answer to.

So, she likes cheese a lot, usually I'll go in the kitchen, and she'll jump onto the ground from her tower thing and come sit on the floor while I make breakfast/lunch/supper/etc. (she's confined to the kitchen at her current age in case your wondering). She'll beg for food on the floor and if I have something she likes, then I'll usually give it to her. This is where the problem strikes, if I bring the food towards her face she does a little hiss and will sometimes swat my hand viciously. No Idea why, it's the same thing with everyone too. If you give her food you got to like place it a few inches in front of her, and then she'll be fine.

This is strange behavior I don't really know about and it's confusing. She wants food, we give her food and she gets mad? I can't answer it myself, so I'm hoping someone here can. I know enough to know that cats can't be disciplined at all, at least by hitting or scolding so I'm really not sure. I'm used to dogs, so this is all new to me.

Anyone have an answer, it would be greatly appreciated, should we just continue to place the food in front of her? Or is that just going to make her a bad cat of some sort? Thanks for the help.

[Dudebro]

Sounds like it's just her personality. She wants to eat it on her own without you guys handling it. Maybe it's a scent thing, cats have a great sense of smell and maybe you guys all stink and it's ruining her meal? No offense but you have to see it from her angle.

Btw I wouldn't give it too much dairy. Cats love it usually but it's not good for them. Not all cats are lactose intolerant but the majority are. Kittens need milk but you wanna be careful about it. If it gets diarrhea then it's intolerant, buy lactose free milk.

[CatalystiCam]

well, i'm not going to worry about the dairy thing for now. The cat is only 8 weeks and well, if you want to be potentially grossed out by what our dog is doing then read the spoiler:

The dogs actually going through a false pregnancy right now and has been giving the cat milk. Most of us think it's messed up but my mom is dead set on the fact that it's all cute and fine. she's been told it's just nature since we got the cat so early (5 weeks) and it'll stop when it's old enough... I know how messed up this sounds, I personally just think the dog is stupid by thinking a cat is her baby... lol

Thanks for the dairy tip though, I'll probably stop after a while, she likes other people food too that isn't dairy.

Sounds like it's just her personality. She wants to eat it on her own without you guys handling it. Maybe it's a scent thing, cats have a great sense of smell and maybe you guys all stink and it's ruining her meal? No offense but you have to see it from her angle.

I guess, I've read that cats are just weird over some things sometimes, and that they all have their little pet peeves (pun intended).

[Dudebro]

I agree with your mom about the dog breastfeeding thing. I've heard of animals raising other species babies before and giving them milk. There was even a human who raised a baby chimp that way, milk and all. I think the problem is cow milk from stores since it's not really natural.

But, still be careful about dairy. If the litterbox looks like a bomb went off then stop giving her dairy even if she loves it. Besides upsetting the stomach it can really hurt her long term and cause her pain.

[CatalystiCam]

Every time I've cleaned the litter box, it's been fine. Are you saying that she will be lactose intolerant or that it's just likely? I mean you implied that earlier but is it fine if everything seems to be going alright with dairy when she's older?

[Demon-Mask]

About the food problem, your cat wants to eat the food, not just watch you hold it in front of her face. She wants to eat on her own terms, not yours. How would you like it if someone literally held food in front of your face, and wouldn't let go of it, especially with the implication that you are supposed to eat the food from their hands? Also, it may be sort of frightening to her, seeing as how small a kitten is compared to a human.

[jim5cents]

How would you like it if someone literally held food in front of your face, and wouldn't let go of it,

http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/56678908.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=EDF6F2F4F969CEBDB74228E71E408D2859FC1419599665A9 B52584016CC4FBA3E30A760B0D811297

Nom Nom Nom

[CatalystiCam]

How would you like it if someone literally held food in front of your face, and wouldn't let go of it, especially with the implication that you are supposed to eat the food from their hands?

That makes a lot more sense when put that way, but it's not like we don't let go of the food, guess she may not think of it that way.

Also, it may be sort of frightening to her, seeing as how small a kitten is compared to a human.

Don't think it's this. She's insanely confident in herself and has no trouble playfully attacking our shoelaces, socks, jeans, etc. lol. She also attacks the dogs ears (labrador/retreiver), and the dog just lets her pretty much.

---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 PM ----------

http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/56678908.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=EDF6F2F4F969CEBDB74228E71E408D2859FC1419599665A9 B52584016CC4FBA3E30A760B0D811297

Nom Nom Nom

Links broken.

[jim5cents]

Works fine for me...I blame Canadian dial-up.

[CatalystiCam]

Works fine for me...I blame Canadian dial-up.

Good one lol.

Kind of curious where this blame Canada quote is coming from though. I hear it said a lot so it's obviously a meme or probably a south park joke. Link? Or is it just a general thing lol.

[Dudebro]

YouTube - ‪South Park The Movie - Blame Canada‬‏

And yes cam most cats are lactose intolerant but yours might be ok.

[Tails]

It also could be an issue of getting used to you as well.

[joz]

I wouldn't feed it any "human" food. Stick to giving it cat food and change it up. If you spoil the cat with moist foods, then you'll be having problem getting your cat to eat regular cat food. Moist cat food is expensive. The hissing at you while trying to feed it is like the rest say.


YouTube - ‪My Cat From Hell- How to Read a Cat's Body Language‬‏

[CatalystiCam]

man cats are complicated lol.

Still though, I really enjoy having one. I'm probably the one who wanted the cat the most.

[joz]

Human Foods to Avoid for Cats - Toxic Foods (http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/humanfood.htm)

[Dudebro]

Cats aren't that complicated cam. Just feed it cat food, change it's litter box and give it attention and you'll be fine.

[jim5cents]

@joz...I saw that dude on tv the other night. I can't decide if that dude is cool or really, really weird.

[DrunkN]

man cats are complicated lol.
Nothing a little microwave therapy doesn't cure.

[Dudebro]

Are you fishing for a rate down? I knew someone who did that, it's not funny at all.

[DrunkN]

Are you fishing for a rate down? I knew someone who did that, it's not funny at all.
Nah, I was passing for a quick and lame joke. It's only disturbing when you know a real instance in which it happened.

To really put a cat into a microwave is awful, but I am curious as to whether or not the cat that you heard about survived.

[Dudebro]

I wasn't there but I heard it did survive, at least for a while. I don't wanna go into detail because it's horrible but I'll just say that it was very wrong and the person thought it was pretty funny. She wasn't right in the head.

[Kong]

You know someone that did that!? Wow. That is so horrible it made me delete my joke response to Ninja.

[Dudebro]

To clarify she wasn't really someone I'd call a friend, I just knew her through other people. She's obese and living in a trailer in Maine. She's one of those people.

[RU Joe]

Obese trailer ladies need love too.
:kiss:

ON TOPIC:
I've owned a few cats over the years and they do each have their own individual purrsonality quirks, so when it comes to this hissing when she gets cheese I think this is normal, and not to take it personally.
I once had two cats that would growl loudly at each other while they were eating, but got along otherwise and even curled up and slept together.

My friend has a cat that will come up to you meaowing and rubbing your leg, and then start hissing at you a minute later for apparently nothing.
Even though it does seem odd and sometimes makes me wonder if the cat is plotting something evil, she is in fact the sweetest little animal and loves loads of attention.
So why hiss when there is no apparent reason for it?
Only the cat can tell.

[joz]

I submitted my wife's cat because he would always try to scratch and bite me. After a few weeks of constant dominance, the cat stopped biting me and listens to me when I say NO! BAD! GET DOWN NOW!

[DrunkN]

So, she likes cheese a lot, usually I'll go in the kitchen, and she'll jump onto the ground from her tower thing and come sit on the floor while I make breakfast/lunch/supper/etc. (she's confined to the kitchen at her current age in case your wondering). She'll beg for food on the floor and if I have something she likes, then I'll usually give it to her. This is where the problem strikes, if I bring the food towards her face she does a little hiss and will sometimes swat my hand viciously. No Idea why, it's the same thing with everyone too. If you give her food you got to like place it a few inches in front of her, and then she'll be fine.

This is strange behavior I don't really know about and it's confusing. She wants food, we give her food and she gets mad? I can't answer it myself, so I'm hoping someone here can. I know enough to know that cats can't be disciplined at all, at least by hitting or scolding so I'm really not sure. I'm used to dogs, so this is all new to me.

Anyone have an answer, it would be greatly appreciated, should we just continue to place the food in front of her? Or is that just going to make her a bad cat of some sort? Thanks for the help.
Have you tried just letting the cat come to you and afterwards just dropping the food where you stand?

Also, when you try to feed it, don't make a lot of continuous eye contact. What would probably work is to, if it sees you looking at it, look a way for a second or two and then look back at the cat. Do this a couple of times and hopefully the cat will mimic you, at which point I can't imagine it would give you a whole lot of trouble.

[Tails]

It's funny to watch my kitten Garfy eat cat food he gets very possessive of it often growling while eating. He shouldn't growl he's fed well.

[DrunkN]

It's funny to watch my kitten Garfy eat cat food he gets very possessive of it often growling while eating. He shouldn't growl he's fed well.
My guess is that he doesn't want to lose what he thinks is dominance.

[tanc24]

To clarify she wasn't really someone I'd call a friend, I just knew her through other people. She's obese and living in a trailer in Maine. She's one of those people.

It must be a Maine thing. When I was in about 6th grade (living in Maine) I watched my buddy's older brother take their cat and put it in the microwave to scare us. He turned the microwave on for like 1 or 2 seconds. Fortunately the cat was fine. Even at at that young age I knew how messed up it was to do that.

The weirdest thing was the cat went on to have 2 or 3 of the largest litters of kittens ever over the next several years. Seriously, I think the cat had like 10+ kittens each time. Not sure if it was the microwave or not, but it always freaked us out.

[DrunkN]

It must be a Maine thing. When I was in about 6th grade (living in Maine) I watched my buddy's older brother take their cat and put it in the microwave to scare us. He turned the microwave on for like 1 or 2 seconds. Fortunately the cat was fine. Even at at that young age I knew how messed up it was to do that.
Studies have shown that even mice can handle half a minute in the microwave, but they tend to have shorter life spans due to illness. I imagine that actually being microwaved would feel like an indescribable Hell.

[CatalystiCam]

I don't even want to think about animals being microwaved... that's just insane, nothing would scare me more since I tend to think of things like these from their perspective (by that I mean the victims) especially when it comes to things like drowning and microwaving, just scares me. Can't imagine...

[StarfoxFan2009]

well seeing as i'm taking care of a little tiger striped kitten that was abandoned in my dad's van, all i can say is that you need to be wary of any illnesses your kitten could catch

[Tails]

My guess is that he doesn't want to lose what he thinks is dominance.
Probably. Sweet kitten for sure.

[CatalystiCam]

Okay, I've got another question now.

We got the cat a laser pointer which is obviously amusing for us. Not sure the cat thinks the same way though. Whenever we get it out now she always starts... I think she cries at it, she makes little crackly meow noises at it and usually won't go after it as much as she used to. Not sure I should even use the laser pointer if it actually is upsetting her. Any ideas?

As for the other issue, she is mostly over the food thing, but I've seen her scratch my dad and my sister when they kept trying to give her food she didn't want.

[CrispyChicken]

@Cam- The laser pointer itself isn't too harmful as long as you don't shine it into their eyes or shine it at reflected objects (so the laser would be reflected in the cats eyes). But if your cat doesn't like it when you do it, you probably shouldn't do it anymore.

[CatalystiCam]

that's the thing, it's hard to tell, she goes after it easily enough if she's energetic, but not if she's tired. She still does the little crackly meow either way though.

[DrunkN]

that's the thing, it's hard to tell, she goes after it easily enough if she's energetic, but not if she's tired. She still does the little crackly meow either way though.

She probably is either bored of it or has realized that she doesn't have much of a chance of getting it. I would try it when the cat has a lot of energy, and if it doesn't chase after it, try something more physical, like a toy fish. Don't feel like you have to buy anything new though, cats tend to play with about any small object.

[CatalystiCam]

yeah, she has quite a few toys now. I don't know about the laser, but that does make sense.

[Tails]

Does your kitten kneed on you when you are sleeping, my kitten, Bubu-chan does. @_@

She loves me but her nails hurt. D:

[CatalystiCam]

Does your kitten kneed on you when you are sleeping, my kitten, Bubu-chan does. @_@

She loves me but her nails hurt. D:

nah, not really. She likes to sleep on peoples laps when shes tired and be patted a bit, but she rarely purrs or kneads like that. She's purred twice for me, and I hold the record at that number believe it or not. Unless we count the dog, she did both of those all the time for the dog until the dog weened her lol.

I'm hoping it's just a kitten thing and she'll purr more and stuff when she's older

[Tails]

Kittens are a known purrer when nursing, so is the Momma until she gets tired of it.

They were born here, 2 males and a female. So we've had em from birth and they are all loveable and purring. I have pictures of them on my 3DS.

[Dudebro]

I doubt your kitten will grow into purring. From my experience it's something they do or they don't. It's not impossible though.

[CatalystiCam]

I hope so, it's really cute when she does. I'm just thinking she won't right now, because she's constantly hyper whenever we see her and all she wants to do is play and paw at you. You can't pick her up when she's like that really since she whines the whole time. It's rare to catch her sleeping at the moment. That's why I think she'll grow into it. cats sleep a lot when they're older from what I've been told.

[Tails]

How was the home you got her from?

[CatalystiCam]

...Honestly, her old home was some girl living at a trailer park... that's what my mom and my sis said, but we got the kitten young at 5 weeks.

[Tails]

Even then, it could effect her personality. I see a difference between Tango who we got and probably 3 months compared to her babies.

[CatalystiCam]

maybe, but the cat still thought our dog was her mother, so I think that kind of fixed the whole "getting the cat too early" thing. Besides, she had a good personality when we got her otherwise my mom would not have bought her.

[Tails]

Is your mom an expert on pets? For one I feel selling any kind of pet to be utterly lame. Two you can't judge someones personality with only what 5 minutes with them, three is just do what we did and adopt a homeless pet. We did that with Octi and she had 22 Kittens, I just feel the first owner didn't "love" the kitten enough and didn't spend time in it's early years and was just looking for profit. I've been blessed with 5 great cats, Had 31 Kittens, 2 males and 3 females. The two males older SUCKED. One female was sweet but was constantly badgered by the horny male cat. X_X

Then we got Octi, best cat ever. It took her years but she finally opened up after having a car accident and being ran over. She's like my best buddy. Tango we got as I said young as well, probably older than your cat but she must've came from a nice home because she was a sweetheart.

Chester my god I hated him, he'd rip your arm, he was a lost cause who disappeared.

I guess my point is this: I just dislike the selling of pets and to just adopt around the neighborhood where one truly needs it, they can turn into your best friend.

[CrispyChicken]

Damn Tails, you're like a cat lady! XD

[CatalystiCam]

Actually, I misspoke what I meant, the lady was giving away the kittens. We still had to pay for all the shots and all that.

We didn't adopt from the SPCA if that's what you meant, since it was like all the way in Vancouver, and they were only giving away like 4 year old cats. We wanted to raise the kitten from a young age.

Edit: they say you're supposed to pick the confident dogs/cats when you go to get them since they become the friendliest. If you pick the dog/cat cowering in the corner like a lot of people do, then they grow up timid and not friendly at all. It's a general rule we were told from one of my folks friends in Edmonton that was experienced as a police dog trainer, and adopted many pets. It was also what our vet at the time told us. so that's what I meant when I said they picked the cat for its personality. It was the confident one rushing up to my mom and brushing against her leg and all that stuff.

[Tails]

That's still dangerous. On her end it could be giving it to someone who'd kill it, or on your end she coulda did something to hurt it.

I actually meant outside. Give them a home too. Tango and her 3 siblings were abandoned outside, one got ran over, one got taken by a maintenance guy and one roams around still. Give them a home.

Maybe I'm just lucky, the kittens are all sweet and not like yours scared-wise. Is anyone in your family treating it bad? It might just dislike to purr as well.

[CatalystiCam]

no, not really. My sister gets mad at it for trying to play with her and pawing her feet, but it's not even loud enough that the kitten could be scared of it. I wouldn't even call it getting mad really. She mostly just complains to us that the kitten pawing her feet annoys her.

Actually though, that cat that got hit by a car that you have. My mom did that years ago as well. It was so many years ago though, she felt bad on the highway, and she got out and brought the cat in the car. We all helped the cat get better, and luckily nothing was too permanent to harm it. In the end though, my Aunt wanted the cat and my dad didn't not want to keep it, and so it still lives with my aunt, my cousin and my uncle today. It's about 14 now, and we found it ten years ago. Just thought you might like to hear that, and it's true. I Just often forget since it was so long ago and I hardly see the cat. He still has bad scars on his face, but he's happy with my relatives. Dexter is his name.

Edit: Didn't phrase my one sentence well enough there. My mom saw the cat get hit by another car while we were driving, and went to help it.

[Tails]

Yeah I'd say that's fine. Bubu kneeds on me and it hurts/annoys me due to sleeping. @_@

That's cool! It's strange, Octi had the "Charizard" effect, she was alone then she got ran over and we nursed her to health. By the Charizard effect is Ash nursed his back to health and it trusted him ever since.

[CatalystiCam]

This cat has like a big giant bubble of flesh attached to it's face and a scar I believe. It looks kind of scary, but the cat is very friendly.