Conference misery::feline_v1

    First, kitten teeth are like miniature needles; naturally, they'll
    hurt.  He'll soon outgrow these, however.
    
    Karamaneh, my four _year_ old Siamese, also likes to "walk around,"
    especially in the early morning. In her case, though, a quick
    application of food, and she'll snooze.
    
    Merlin, the Manx/Siamese halfbreed, _licks_ me at about that hour.
    It's less painful than kittenbiting, but it gets me up just as
    thoroughly. 
    
    Oh, well, I'm a morning person...
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    Hang in there!
    
    He will outgrow those bad habits, but until then, you can try a
    few things I did with my Billie.  I found her (well, she found 
    ME) on a street corner when she was about 7-8 months old, and I
    discovered that she, too, liked biting and EMC (Early Morning Crying).
    Whenever she bit me (she still does this VERY occasionally), I held
    her firmly at the back of the neck (tho while she was sitting or
    lying--not dangling) to pry her jaws loose, looked her in the eyes
    and said "NO!".  If this didn't work, I followed it up with a tap
    on the backside.  She soon got the idea that biting was NOT the
    way to my heart.
    
    Re: the crying at early hours--Billie does it because she wants
    me to get up and feed her.  On weekends, I give her a bit of food
    right before I go to bed, and then she usually "sleeps in" the next
    day.  Or, I would tell her loudly (right in her face) "Billie,
    SHADDAP!"  Again, she would usually get the message.
    
    Good luck--time will help the most, however, tho it's not too early
    to get the kitten used to some simple commands.
    
    Somehow "shaddap" seems politer than "shut up"--at least Billie
    thinks so!
    
    ;-)
    
    Jane

	 I agree  with  .1  as far as the food. When Josh and Becky were
     little,  I used to bring a small amount of food to bed (leave it in
     the  night-table)  and  when  they  got hungry around 2 or 3 in the
     morning,  I  just rolled over, took the lid off the can, and put it
     on the floor.  It seemed to work pretty well. 

	 I also  used  this trick for my 19 year old who began to prefer
     lots of tiny meals and was always up before me.


		    kathy

    I definitely agree about feeding him.  That worked for me.  That,
    and patience, until my cat, Claude, outgrew it.
                                                                     
    About biting,  one thing that may help is when he bites you, never
    pull your hand away.  That will excite him and make him want to
    attack more.  Just hold your hand still, and slap his behind just
    hard enough to sting a bit and firmly say NO!  If that doesn't work,
    I know that hot pepper sauce keeps cats from chewing electrical
    wires.  Try dabbing some on your finger (not the real hot stuff
    that may irritate your skin) and invite him to bite.  See what happens.
    It won't hurt him, it'll just be uncomfortable for a few minutes.

    I don't know about the biting, but I do know about the crying.
    
    Snuggles would wake my husband and I up at around 5am.  My husband
    isn't crazy about the kitten to begin with and listening to him
    b*tch was getting to be worse than the kitten crying.
    
    So, unfortunately, to keep Snuggles from being thrown out of the
    house I have to put him in the bathroom at night (with his box,
    food, and toys).  He doesn't seem to mind it much.  He certainly
    quiets down when I put him in there.  I've been doing this now for
    a couple of months.  Just a few weeks ago, when my husband works
    nights, I've let him stay out of the bathroom and in the morning
    he's been fine.  He's only cried a couple of times and I just 
    put him outside my bedroom and closed the door.  He just goes off
    and sleeps now until I get up.

    I can help you with the biting.  When your kitten bites you, press
    your finger either on the roof of his mouth or down on his tongue.
    His automatic reaction will be to open his mouth and spit out your
    finger.  I always tell the cat "DON'T BITE" while I do this.
    
    Works for me,
    
    Jo Ann

    
    About the biting.... holding them by the scruff of the neck and
    firmly saying "no" seems to work for ours - they still bite every
    once in a while, but much less than what they used to!
    
    Crying in the morning or during the night.... I'm part of the school
    that believes if they are crying to get food and you feed them,
    you are just re-enforcing the bad behavior. So when Merlin tried
    that as a kitten, not only did I NOT get up and feed him, but he
    would get yelled out, swatted lightly (if in range) or had a rolled
    up sock thrown at him (if out of range). They have learned that
    waking us up doesn't do a bit of good, that they have to wait until
    we are up (and during the week) showered and dressed before they
    get food.
    
    Of course, now with the good weather coming on and the windows open,
    when the birds start chirping at the start of dawn, Merlin jumps
    from one window to another, doing his own chirping and crying, to
    try to get out..... every spring we have gone through this and I'm
    getting ready to start rolling socks again! 
    
    And yes, having a spouse that wasn't too keen on the idea to begin
    with makes it all that much more difficult.... luckily I didn't
    have that problem! 
    
    janet b.

    I had a problem with biting with I first got Underfoot.  She was
    8 weeks old and had the sharp teeth to prove it.  I solved the problem
    a little differently.....when she'd bite me, I'd bite her back!
    I'd just slightly nip the end of her ear, or her paw, or the tip
    of her tail to let her know that biting hurts.  I know that's pretty
    unconventional, but it sure worked.  
    
    Now she's a full grown (10 lbs.) cat and she still uses her teeth
    when she plays, but I think she remembers being "bitten as a kitten",
    so she just nibbles.
    
    --K

    Nebula likes to nip my thumb when she is playing with me - usually
    when she is butting her head against my hand while I am busy doing
    something, trying to get me to rub her under her chin.  I usually
    think this is "cute" behavior (how can you NOT love a slinky black,
    cross-eyed, half-Siamese kitty??), but it gets less cute when she
    tries to bite the buttons off of one of my favorite sweaters - for
    some reason only one sweater has buttons that she is interssted
    in!
    
    The Fickle is too much of a lady to nip humans.  She will BITE,
    though, if you try to rub her tummy when she rolls over in front
    of you - she hasn't liked to have her tummy touched since she was
    spayed (many years ago - sh is almost 10 now).

    I was away over the long weekend - and convinced my usual cat-sitter
    to stay with the kitties.  One of them didn't appreciate it apparently.
    She bit the cat-sitter twice!  She has gotten into the habit of
    biting when playing - and I think that when the human conterpart
    of the play doesn't know how to play, they get some scratches.
    I have started clapping my hands at her when she does it now. Hope
    I am not too late to get rid of the behavior.
    
    \sally

    
    Kittens, like babies, go through a period of cutting teeth (this
    is how mom cats know it's time to stop nursing!).  Consider that
    your kitty's gums may itch or hurt due to teething, and he is possibly
    chewing to get some relief.  For our most recent kitten, we bought
    teething ointment (Oragel, and so forth) which is intended for babies
    who are teething.  Read the labels on the packages, and try to get
    one that doesn't have alcohol.  It will probably have oil of clove
    and other things to cause a numbness.
    
    When Basil chewed us in the night, we grabbed the ointment from
    the bedside and rubbed a little bit on his gums.  This had a couple
    of good effects.  First, it did numb his gums and seemed to make
    him want to chew less, and second it tastes awful (I tried it) and
    he really hated the flavour.  Same effect here as liquid hot pepper
    seasoning, but also provides teething relief.
    
    Rita
    

    Kyrielle has a very odd habit of biting my nose!  At a show, she
    has to bite my nose once after every ring or she is not happy. 
    Of course if she is up in any finals, she gets to bite once for
    each of those.  (Boy, those two day, 12 ring TICA shows are tough
    on me!!)  By the end of the weekend I am missing skin!  She is very
    much orally fixated!  Always liking or biting me, but I think that
    is part of her charm.  I have never had a cat be this "attached"
    (pun intended) to me.
    
    Jo Ann