The Return of the Foot Monster & Our First Vet Visit

Apparently, playing with Duncan late at night to wear him out before bed does not always do the trick. I ran around the house, dangling the felt ribbon wand as he chased after me until we were both out of breath. I thought, this is gonna be great--he'll sleep the night away and wake up when we do.

So when I felt paws poking my back in bed, I figured he was settling in for the night, finding the perfect place to snuggle with us. Instead, he was saying, "Mama, I wanna play!" Shortly after I felt the poking sensation, I felt a pinch on my leg. He decided it would be a good idea to bite me in order to let me know he was not ready to go to sleep. "No biting!" I told him. He jumped off our bed and sat looking up towards me. As I peaked my head over the side of the bed, he flew into the air.

"Ahhh! He's right there!" I yelled to my boyfriend, Ricky. For some reason, he likes to pounce on me and not Ricky. He thinks I am his play buddy, and that if he wants to play he better let me know.

"I can't believe you're scared of such a little cat," Ricky said laughing at me.

Normally when he gets into his super-active play mode, I toss one of his favorite mice to him, which distracts him from pouncing on me. The two mice he loves had been sitting in a drawer in my parents' house for years and are already ratty. For the first week or so we had Duncan, he lost at least one of them every day, which I would find rolled under a doorway or cabinet. Lately, he has been hiding/losing them in more challenging places. So last night, we were without his favorite mice. None of the other twenty mice we've bought for him will suffice. (Luckily, I found some obscure website that sells these special mice and ordered six packs).

But last night we were without these mice, so I had to wake up at 3 AM to play with him so he would settle down. Kittens will be kittens, I guess. Fortunately, Ricky and I both had the day off today so we could sleep in. Then it was time to take Duncan for his first vet visit. He was due for his rabies vaccination.

After the vet gave it to him, she said, "He'll probably lose his appetite and be a bit sleepy tonight; that's normal. Just give us a call if he's not back to normal within 24 hours."

"Okay," I said, nodding. "Actually, that might be good because he kept us up late last night."

She laughed. "Well, we don't guarantee it."

The Foot Monster

When my boyfriend and I first brought Duncan home, he liked to attack our feet at various intervals throughout the night and early morning. We are both feet-movers in our sleep, so that only eggs him on. He's about five months old, so it's understandable that he just wants to play. Also, he was with his sister in the shelter we adopted him from for a while, so he was probably used to playing with her. If you ever watch two kittens play together, you'll see them tackling and biting each other. It's just normal kitten behavior. We realized he was treating us like fellow kittens--his feet attacks were not malicious but simply innocent playing to him.

We wanted to break his habit of biting though, so we would loudly say "no!" if he jumped on our feet and began biting. Now weeks later, he has a whole house to roam about at all hours of the day instead of being confined to our bedroom, so the feet attacks have stopped. Occasionally he'll pounce on my legs if he wants a play buddy, but he won't bite. Having a mouse or something they can play with solo comes in handy if you're trying to do something like sleep or cook and they're in a play mode.
I've observed many people that play with their cats with their bare hands and let their cat bite and scratch them. I think this too is normal cat behavior, but it should be a toy the cat is playing with, not a human hand. When you play with your cat in this way, it seems like you're sending them the message that it's okay to be aggressive with humans. Then they might play too rough with guests or little kids in your house. Also, we should be sources of comfort to our animals. But if they're used to us playing aggressively with our hands, then they might assume they need to protect themselves every time they see our hands reaching towards them. Many cats end up being returned to shelters because of behavior problems, and this seems like one problem that can easily be avoided. We're trying to teach Duncan that it's okay to be playful, bite, and scratch his toys, but not okay to do so to us. So far, he's learned quickly.

Another thing that has helped Duncan settle down at night is wearing him out before bed. I have a pole with a felt ribbon attached to it. I dangle it in front of his head and then begin to run, and he practically always comes running after me. I run all over the house with him chasing behind and let him get it once in awhile. This wears him out fast. It's also a good idea to have a variety of mice and other small toys around that he can play with while you're not around. For some reason, my kitty is very picky about his toys though. He'll only play with these two mice that my mom found in a drawer from years ago, and mostly neglects all the other toys I've bought for him.

His favorite game? Fetch.










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Cats, especially kittens, need to play, and if they don't, they'll probably end up attacking your feet.