Play-motivated aggressive behaviours are common in young, active cats less than two years old, and in cats that live in one-cat households. Playtime for cats is a time to work on exploratory, investigative, and predatory behaviours. Play provides young cats with opportunities to practice the skills they would normally need for survival. Kittens like to explore new areas and investigate anything that moves, and may bat at, pounce on, and bite objects that resemble prey to them.

Kittens usually learn bite inhibition (how hard to bite during play versus how hard to bite when they feel threatened) from their littermates and their mother. A kitten that is separated from her family too early may play more roughly than a kitten that has had more valuable family time. If you play with a young kitten using your hands or feet instead of toys, the kitten is liable to learn that rough play with people is okay. In most cases, it’s possible to teach your kitten or young adult cat that rough play isn’t acceptable behaviour.

Encourage acceptable behaviour.

Redirect your kitten’s aggressive behaviour onto acceptable objects like toys. Drag a toy along the floor to encourage your kitten to pounce on it or throw a toy away from your kitten to give her even more exercise chasing the toy down. Some kittens will even bring the toy back to be thrown again! Another good toy for a kitten is one that they can wrestle with, like a soft stuffed toy that’s about the size of your kitten. They will be able to grab it with both front feet, bite it, and kick it with their back feet. This is one of the natural ways kittens play with each other, especially when they’re young. It is also one of the ways they try to play with human feet and hands, so it’s important to provide this type of alternative play target. Encourage play with a “wrestling toy” by rubbing it against your kitten’s belly when they want to play rough – but be sure to get your hand out of the way as soon as they accept the toy!

Since kittens need a lot of playtime, try to set up three or four consistent times during the day to initiate play with your kitten. This will help her understand that she doesn’t have to be the one to initiate play by pouncing on you. Here are some great cat toys for interactive or independent play:

• Fishing poles. Who would have thought a plastic pole with a string attached could be so great? These toys come with feathers, balls and other items attached to the end of the string. The idea is to drag or dangle the target in front of your cat, so she can practice her attack skills without attacking you. Kitty feather dusters offer the same kind of play. The only difference is the end of the plastic stick has a wad of fluffy feathers instead of a string and toy.
• Toy mice or balls. Balls, toy mice and other small toys work best for games of chase, fetch and other hunting games for cats. Your kitten also appreciates small, furry toys that make noise to resemble prey and stimulate her predatory instincts.

Discourage unacceptable behavior.

You need to set the rules for your kitten’s behaviour, and every person your cat meets should reinforce these rules. Your kitten can’t be expected to learn that it’s okay to play rough with adults, but not with baby.

Withdraw attention when your kitten starts to play too roughly. If the distraction and redirection techniques don’t seem to be working, the most drastic thing you can do to discourage your cat from rough play is to withdraw all attention when they start playing too roughly. They want to play with you, so eventually they’ll figure out how far they can go if you keep this limit consistent. The best way to withdraw your attention is to walk away to another room and close the door long enough for them to calm down. If you pick them up to put THEM in another room, then you’re rewarding your kitten by touching them. YOU should be the one to leave the room.

What NOT to do:

• Attempts to tap, flick or hit your kitten for rough play are guaranteed to backfire. Your kitten will become afraid of your hands, or they could interpret those flicks as playful moves by you and play even more roughly as a result.
• Picking up your kitten to put her into a “timeout” could reinforce her behaviour – she may enjoy the physical contact of being picked up! By the time you get her to the timeout room and close the door, she has probably already forgotten what she did to be put in the situation.