Kitten bites only MY face??

[CatEars]

I’m my kitten’s primary caregiver (feeds, plays, and cleans her). We’ve grown very close and are often together. She always comes running when called, tail high up, and purring. When she reaches me, she climbs up by my face, purring loudly, and rubs her face on mine. (Unsanitary but whatever. Can’t stop her)

After a couple face rubs, she starts biting my face while purring still. These aren’t gentle love bites either. I’m talking GNAWING. She leaves marks on my face more often than not. And when I pull away from her or say “No.” (which she knows means she’s doing something wrong), she starts biting HARDER.

I can’t figure out why she would possibly do this. She only does this with me. She’s never even come close to biting anyone else’s face.

I love when my cat cuddles with me and gives me attention but I’m getting sick on having red bite marks all over my face. Any advice on how I can stop this/why she’s doing this?

Thank you. ^-^

 

[Dana_And_Monster]

First, not unsanitary.
Second, I recommend watching these by Jackson galaxy, a cat behaviorist.

 

[susanm9006]

It’s a game and one that you definitely want to stop. So, most importantly, keep her away from your face and just set her down in the floor every time she tries. Keep a few stuffed toys nearby and try to divert her attention to them rather than you.

 

[FeebysOwner]

You say she doesn't bite anyone else's face? Does she get close up into other people's faces the way she does yours? If so, then it might be a facial lotion or makeup that she likes (or possibly hates) that is causing her to bite you. Just another angle to consider...

 

[fionasmom]

Keep her away from your face. You might have to reconfigure cuddles or affection, but it is important that she not bite you. Don't even try to train her out of this; just stop the behavior now. If she was separated from her mom and siblings at an early age, she did not have time to learn all the manners that they would have taught her.

I had a wonderful black cat years ago who was very affectionate and always around my face. One day she was startled and took her paw and shoved off very hard against my eye, giving me a huge black eye and slitting the skin of the lower eyelid right below the lashes. Just missed my eye.

 

[CatEars]

Does she get close up into other people's faces the way she does yours?

Yes she does get close to my mother’s face (the only other person she actually likes besides me). I don’t wear makeup often or around the house. I’m thinking it might be because she sees me as a play buddy? She’s a very hyper cat and I’m the only one who plays with her. I’m thinking this is also the reason why she loves laying by/cuddling with my mother but not with me.

 

[CatEars]

Keep her away from your face. You might have to reconfigure cuddles or affection, but it is important that she not bite you. Don't even try to train her out of this; just stop the behavior now.

So keep her away from my face entirely? Those face rubs are the only type of cuddling/affection I receive from her.

If she was separated from her mom and siblings at an early age, she did not have time to learn all the manners that they would have taught her.

I found her and adopted her at 6 weeks. Is this too young? The man giving her away said that they were old enough.

 

[susanm9006]

Yes, keep her way from your face entirely. You are getting bites along with those face rubs so it’s not worth it. She will over time come to like pets and cuddling.

 

[fionasmom]

I would and I don't mean to be harsh. 6 weeks is on the too young side to have left their mom and siblings, but the other option was that she might not have survived, not gotten a home. There is nothing wrong with you having her at that young age, but I have found that the socialization is just not there. I rescued Jamie at about 4 weeks from a woodpile...no family in sight ever...and he was incredibly affectionate and also the biggest biter, shredder, scratcher, ripper imaginable. I was going to work with shredded arms and people were asking what happened. He was unshakable in his quest to "play rough" which is what it really was....he is a loving and lovable cat.

Can you get her to cuddle into a pillow that you hold, or a shirt that will prevent scratches? But, yes, the face biting has to stop.

 

[Dana_And_Monster]

C CatEars Watch those videos I linked. They're very informative.

 

[KittyCatCove]

I would and I don't mean to be harsh. 6 weeks is on the too young side to have left their mom and siblings, but the other option was that she might not have survived, not gotten a home. There is nothing wrong with you having her at that young age, but I have found that the socialization is just not there. I rescued Jamie at about 4 weeks from a woodpile...no family in sight ever...and he was incredibly affectionate and also the biggest biter, shredder, scratcher, ripper imaginable. I was going to work with shredded arms and people were asking what happened. He was unshakable in his quest to "play rough" which is what it really was....he is a loving and lovable cat.

Can you get her to cuddle into a pillow that you hold, or a shirt that will prevent scratches? But, yes, the face biting has to stop.

My recent rescue Teddy is exactly like your Jamie. Teddy is about 18 months old. He had an infected leg and abscess when I took him off the street. After he was treated and fully healed he turned into a terror! He friendly, affectionate, has TONS of energy and VERY playful. He sometimes takes things too far, especially when over-stimulated... he bites me like hell, but he doesn't scratch me. When I'm on the couch Teddy jumps up on my chest and rubs his face/jaw on my glasses while I'm wearing them. I'm afraid he will bite my face one of these days. I am trying very hard to train him not to do these things. It's a lot of work, but I take it day by day.

 

[fionasmom]

Most of my friends who saw Jamie felt that he probably had about a day or two before he would have died if I had not found him. But once he got his health back, he did become a little terror. Your Teddy sounds like a doll and is so lucky that you rescued him. Really make a point of not allowing the biting by moving him away, making a noise like it hurts, not really punishing him as that will go the other direction, but don't allow anything that could be dangerous to you. For Jamie we actually substituted a pair of rose pruning gloves that he was allowed to fight with and that at least retrained him in the interim that I had to have the gloves on before he could kick it into high gear. It is not preferrable to do that, but it worked in his case.

 

[catlover73]

I went through the same thing many years ago when my senior gal Starbuck was adopted as a 6 week old baby. She loved to groom our faces but was a nose biter. She never bit hard enough to break the skin but it was definitely not a habit I wanted to encourage. When she would bite my nose I would move her away from my face. I would then very gently tap her nose with one finger and say no biting. Then I would put her on the floor and walk away briefly. I decided to use this technique after watching one of my other cats gently smack her with his paw when she would bite him to ask for play time. He also pinned her to the floor with one paw until she calmed down. I decided that would be way too much if I did it. It did not take her long at all to make the association that nose biting stops attention from us. She did stop nose biting and still to this day grooms our faces. This may be helpful to you but you want to be very gentle. Watch her body language to and see if there are any noticeable changes before the biting happens. It took me a few weeks to catch it but I noticed Starbuck would start keading my face without her nails right before she was getting ready to bite my nose. I also started moving her away from my face as soon as the kneading started. I would re-direct her grooming to my wrist instead since she was only biting my nose. Starbuck is almost 14 years old now and never bites noses anymore. She also does not bite my other cats. Starbuck had no concept of kitty communication when she was a baby. She thought biting was communication. Having another cat to teach boundaries and manners was a big help.