Is it possible to raise kittens to become feral? Honestly, these kittens are wild. Jack will come sit in my lap sometimes, but Maxie recoils almost everytime I try to pet her. Jack will chew up my hand and wrist almost everytime I try to pet him, lately.
Of course they've never been mistreated in anyway, except maybe Lovey chasing them around and now they've become mean. She doesn't hurt them just plays and doesn't bite or claw them. Is that what it is? They will jump on my bed when I'm trying to sleep and bite and claw my feet and toes to the point I have to get up and put them in the other room. They fight each other all the time also.
I don't know what's going on. I'm having to shut them in the back room to keep from getting clawed to pieces. I don't want it this way.
What am I doing wrong? Or is this a natural phase they go through?
VP your kittens are a couple of weeks older than mine. Do they do these things?
It's definitely normal. Actually, I just mentioned to Sarah earlier tonight that ours have gotten much less bite-y in the past week or so.
From what I've read, it's a normal part of socialization for them to fight each other, and to try to bite their people, things, etc. When they fight with each other, they learn how to fight and hunt, but they're also learning the difference between play and aggression. When one of them carries it too far, the other will yelp to let the aggressor know they've gone too far, and if they still persist, the one that's getting beaten up will run away, so the aggressor soon learns not to carry things too far, or they will lose their playmate. Also, when playfighting with their mom or another adult cat, the older cat will quickly and in no uncertain terms let them know when they've gone too far.
As for biting us, some of them did this much more than others. When they were very little and didn't know any better, it really hurt. As they got older and learned that they can hurt with their bites, I've found that they rarely ever bite hard enough to hurt us, they're more like nibbles. But in any case, what we read is that you should never let a kitten bite or nibble you (not even cute, playful nibbling), because then they learn it's okay, and they'll keep doing it into adulthood. Instead, what you should do is tell them "no!" in a stern voice, and if they continue, push them away while telling them no (as opposed to pulling your hand back quickly from a bite - if you do that, then they'll think your hand is something they're hunting, and they'll lunge at it even more aggressively). Like I said, it seems to have worked for us. Between that and them getting older, they rarely do it now. Mind you, there have been *plenty* of times I've gone in to play and snuggle with them, and they've been too rambunctious and bitey, so i just leave them for a while and go back after they've burned off some of their energy. Then they'd go back to being my snuggly babies.
With the one kitten recoiling, while I've never had that happen exactly, I've definitely noticed that there are vast personality differences between the six of them in terms of how much attention/affection they seem to want. Jack is clingy, he's an attention-whore.
That boy wants to be snuggled 24/7. Zoey is a bundle of energy who can hardly sit still long enough to be snuggled, but when she's tired she'll come to us on her own and curl up in our laps. Abby rarely seeks us out for attention, but if we go and pick her up, she loves it. The kitten that most likes to be left alone is not-so-stripey tabby (aka Dorky kitty - lol). He'll tolerate petting on occasion, but mostly he'd rather play with the other kittens. With yours, I'd keep trying. But if she seems to want to get away, I wouldn't force the issue. It could be just a phase she's going through, and she'll grow out of it. Also, you could try to bribe her with treats - mine LOVE Whiskas Temptations.
ETA - for the clawing, we still have to do their nails weekly, that helps a LOT. But if they still scratch despite that, I'd just do the same thing with them that I've suggested for biting. And make sure that they have a scratching post or something that they are allowed to scratch on. Mine were really bad for scratching for a while, but now they hardly ever extend their claws out with us.