Kitten troubles

[bzsim8]

I am the proud and happy owner of two loving kittens, brother and sister, Louey and Min, respectively, who are now about 7 months old. They've been fixed and have all their shots. Well, I have three questions/problems that hopefully someone can help me on:

1. My main concern is whenever we have guests over, they will hiss at them, especially Louey. They have never tried to bite or scratch at them, but just hiss. It's embarassing b/c they are so sweet to my boyfriend and I, but first impression from a stranger is that they're mean cats. I don't know why they're doing this or how to get them to stop.

2. Louey is affectionate, which is great, but he likes to nurse on me when he's settling down to sleep. I thought this behavior would soon stop, but it hasn't. My vet said to push him away or to tap him on the nose to get him to stop. Well he's very persistent. Is he ever going to grow out of this?

3. When should I switch to Cat chow instead of kitten chow? Aren't you supposed to mix the two together and gradually switch them over?

Thanks to anyone who can help!

[jason]

1. My main concern is whenever we have guests over, they will hiss at them, especially Louey.

sounds like routine time-outs (probably will take a few of these) would get the message through. allow the time-out to last at least 20 minutes and if over that, provide water/food/litter in their time-out room.

2. Louey is affectionate, which is great, but he likes to nurse on me when he's settling down to sleep.

i personally do not agree with the nose tapping, ive had to overcome (and others i know) some tough obstacles with cats and tapping or hitting was never used. again, immediate time-out, placing in time-out quickly is important...you want the offense (why they are in time-out) to be clear, no confusion.

3. When should I switch to Cat chow instead of kitten chow? Aren't you supposed to mix the two together and gradually switch them over?

i only use science diet and their kitten is for the first year, after that they have adult (1-6 years) and then around 6-7 years is the senior formula. best to check with the manufacture and see what they recommend. also, ive had problems with the mixing...perhaps it was the two foods in particular, not sure. you can certainly try to mix a small amount of the new kind in....adding a little more to the mix on every bowl fill-up.