Play time.

Whether your feline friend is a cat or a kitten, at some point, you need to accept that they are playful creatures and will need attention to keep them physically and intellectual stimulated. Just like children playing to develop their coordination and other problem solving skills, cats also need their play-time to hone their survival skills. Not only that, cats developt heir social skills through playing with each other. It might seem rough play at first, but it's actually practise for the real thing.

When a cat grows up to be mature and indpendent, it needs the skills to hunt and fend for itself which is developed as a kitten. Skills such as stalking, chasing, pouncing, scratching and biting. These come across as violent aggression when kittens accidently make you bleed, but it is all part of their development to being well rounded adults.

The two main types of play are the solitary play and social play. Solitary play is when the cat plays by itself, usually with a toy, or some object. Social play is when it engages with other cats or kittens. Sometimes the social play is engaged with humans and can end up in misunderstandings resulting in scratches, bleeding etc.

Here are a couple of things to help direct your cat's aggressive energy into the right avenues.

• Give your cat some time outs when things get rough. Instead of letting your cat feel that he/she did something wrong, just leave the room.

• Give your cat a playmate. Sometimes playing with other cats who are equally as playful can help with the over aggression. Just make sure the other cat is playful and non-aggressive as well.

• Use objects to take away the attention from your personal body. This directing of attention away from your body will reduce accidental harm during rough play.

• Give your cat many different toys to play with. Cat's are instinctual predators and need stimulation in all sorts of ways. Different variety of toys will help with this.

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• Don't encourage your cat to up their aggression by using your hands to play with them. Especially as the kitten grows up and their strength increases.

• Don't punish your cat for accidental scratches during rough play. It can cause psychological damage which will be detrimental to their domestication as they grow older. It also encourages them to increase their aggression which is not what we want!