Cat Scratches

[pilli_pala]

Hey

I've had Harley just over a week and up until now he's been friendly and purry and cuddly with everyone in my family. Of course, he's got his claws out to play with his scratchy toys and post, but today, when my mum picked him up to move him out of the bedroom he turned around and scratched her, drawing blood. He was also growling a bit this morning.
How can I discourage this behaviour so that he doesnt do it again??

[KatBudz]

When he scratches or bites make a loud OUCH! or a sharp intake of breath so they know they hurt you, I did that with my older cat when she was a kitten and now she doesnt scratch or bite at all. Also, just keep his nails trimmed so it doesnt hurt if he does accidently scratch. Your mom probably just startled him and thats why he scratched.

[pilli_pala]

Okay, thank you so much
I'll try that, because I really would like to discourage this behaviour before he starts scratching everyone who tries to take his toys, or pick him up.

[BroganMc]

Keeping the nails trimmed really helps. Sometimes kitties do reach out with sharp claws without realizing. It'll save you from mishaps. Once my kittes were trimmed, they were even easier to handle and play with.

Another thing when Harley does get aggressive in his play and scratches or bites is to ignore him for a while. That's how cats teach each other boundaries. If one sibling gets too rough with the other in play, the offended squeals and walks away to ignore their offender. Mine will run off about 10 feet and make a big production out of cleaning themselves, with their back turned to their offender. If the offender comes over to them to reinitiate, they walk off even further. The message is "You hurt me and I don't want to be with you when you do that."

You mentioned taking toys away from Harley. It's not a good idea to snatch a rprey toy out of an animal's mouth. Their instincts kick in and they can get very aggressive. You're better off distracting them to get a dangerous toy away.

[faithless]

Also, never use hands as toys. I followed that rule with my lil gal and now she gets confused when I experimentally offer my hands as playthings, as confused as if I was offering my face, and won't scratch them. The other day I was playing with her and putting toys on the top shelf of her climbing tree. She zooms up it and hangs alternately from the claws on one paw while batting away at the toy with the other paw. I was stupid enough to get my hand in the way of her clawed swatting yet when her paw slapped my hand by mistake, she still had time to realize and draw in her claws and all I got was a velvety tap from her paw instead. To me that tells me that she avoids scratching my hands as much as my face.