I have two 6 week old kittens, both female. They were abandoned by their mother at two weeks and I took them in and cared for them.
Now they are at the stage where they are in everything and they are particularly bad at chewing on shoes, cables, books, anything they can get their teeth on. How can I get them to quit chewing on things?
Answers:
Something I find that works really well and it won't take you more than a few times of doing it to get results: keep a squirt gun handy, maybe several (you can usually find them at a dollar store) and when the kitten(s) are into something they shouldn't be just squirt them (try not to hit them in the face). Most cats HATE water. They don't associate it with you, at first, so you won't make them afraid of you. My cats got to the place where all I have to do is touch the squirt gun %26 they immediately stop their bad behavior. It's far better than yelling at them as they will learn to tune you out just like kids do.
They'll grow out of it, nothing you can do about it.
It's a phase they are going through. For now, the best thing you can do is to keep them confined to an area where they can't get into things. It won't last forever.
wrap a paper up, and smack it next to them when you see them doing something you don't want them to do. It doesn't hurt them, but it scares the begebees out of them, they will stop the bad habits.
Think of them as toddlers. You'll have to baby proof your home because you can't really discipline a 6 week old kitten. You can begin training them with positive reinforcement or redirecting their attention when they're about to get into something. But it's hard to watch them all the time. That's why it's better to just get everything out of their reach. If that's not feasible, maybe you could find a safe room to keep them when you can't be with them.
pick them up by their fur and if they are inside cats put them in a small room with a litter box and if they are outside cats pick them up by their fur and put them away from you
They're behaving like normal kittens. Kittens spend most of their waking hours pouncing and stalking and chasing and, especially, chewing on things. It's instinctive.
The thing to do is to prevent them from chewing on inappropriate things such as cables and cords by keeping them away from such things or watching them when they are around them. Give them more appropriate things to chew on -- lots of toys, especially toys that move. There are wind-up and battery-operated toys, and you can drag things around on a string or wave a feather on a stick. One very good and very cheap toy that cats love is called a Cat Dancer. It costs about $3 at pet stores. It's a bundle of cardboard pieces on the end of a piece of piano wire. You can attach the other end to a wall or table and it leaps and swoop as if it's alive.
You're fortunate that you have two kittens who can play with each other. Imagine if you had only one, and all that energy was directed at you, your furniture, and your drapes!
As for disciplining them -- you can't. Trying to punish a cat just makes it fearful of you. Just try to to direct their (normal) behavior.
Get a small spray bottle and fill it with water. Whenever they do something you don't want them to do (and they are kittens so they will be into everything) tell them No and spray them once. It will take a while but eventually they will learn.
They're probably teething. Like human babies, kittens have baby teeth and permanent teeth. Your two are at the right age to be losing the baby teeth, which is why they're chewing on everything. Good news is that there should be less chewing as they get their grown-up teeth in, and there isn't anything you need to do about it.
"Disciplining a young kitten may be necessary but harsh punishment should be avoided. Hand clapping and using shaker cans or horns can be intimidating enough to inhibit undesirable behavior. However, remote punishment is preferred. Remote punishment consists of using something that appears unconnected to the punisher to stop the problem behavior. Examples include using spray bottles, throwing objects in the direction of the kitten to startle (but not hit) it, and making loud noises. Remote punishment is preferred because the kitten associates punishment with the undesirable act and not with you. "
http://www.homevet.com/petcare/kittens.h...
See what you can cover with tin foil that they like to chew, and move out of their way. As you yourself recognise, it's just a phase.
You cannot train cats to do things they do not want to do.
squirt them with a squirt gun. but do not let them see you or the gig is up and then not effective.
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