Adult cat biting hard

Petro

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Hey folks. I adopted my adult male cat about six months ago. According to the vet he was about 4-5 years old when I got him, and he's got a real set of fangs on him. I have trouble with him biting me at night. I used to feed him when I woke up, but if I was ever up late he would bite my legs very hard and also chase me into bed to bite me, hard enough to draw blood. I bought an auto feeder, and that has mostly stopped that.

Now, sometimes he'll come sit in my bed while I'm falling asleep, but a few minutes after I get settled most nights he'll walk up and bite my arm very hard, again enough to draw blood, and will continue to try to bite me through the covers until I shoo him out of the room. It doesn't feel like he's trying to play with me, he's not attacking my feet or anything. Sometimes he'll also bite me if I'm sleeping in too late.

He isn't very playful with me otherwise. Sometimes he'll claw my legs if I'm walking around and he wants attention, but he mostly just likes sitting in my lap.

I saw earlier posts suggesting that I should hiss at him when that happens, but that hasn't seemed to change anything. Is there anything else I can try or change, or should I just keep trying with the hissing?
 

di and bob

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Some cats, I have found especially with Siamese background, are very outgoing and can get stubborn and tend to get attention any way they can. Especially with biting. It gets a reaction and that is what they want. If hissing and saying NO loudly and then ignoring the behavior doesn't work, it means that as a kitten he was most likely separated too young from his family, before 12 weeks, and did not learn his manners and limits that siblings and mom teach between 6 and 12 weeks. The only method I have found that teaches them to mind is to grab the loose skin on the back of the neck immediately after he bites (during if you can) an holding him still to the ground while saying NO loudly. This is what a mama cat will do to discipline. Only until, he stops squirming and if he tries to bite while doing this, lift his front feet off the ground. They don't like it and learn quickly that their behavior is unacceptable. It is usually used as a last resort. NEVER lift a cat completely off the ground by the scruff, it can actually tear their skin loose from the muscle, even mama cats get a little more of the kitten in their mouth when they lift them completely up. You must do this every time, or they don't know what you want. I had a flame Siamese taht did this when he wantyed to go out, and he became sneaky, attacking your feet when you weren't expecting it, he was the one of teh only cats that did this, and it HURT!
 

ArtNJ

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I have trouble with him biting me at night. I used to feed him when I woke up
That is how your problem got bad, right there. This is goal-oriented biting. He wants you to get up and feed him and/or pay attention to him, and has learned that this works.

I'd just exclude him from the bedroom and ignore any protest noises he makes. May take a few weeks before he stops making a 3am racket (I know, sorry!). Or you can try Di and Bob's solution.

HOWEVER, there may be two components to this, perhaps actual hunger, and a habit. We must eliminate/rule out actual hunger before we move to tactically trying to squash the habit. How often are you feeding what?
 
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Petro

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Some cats, I have found especially with Siamese background, are very outgoing and can get stubborn and tend to get attention any way they can. Especially with biting. It gets a reaction and that is what they want. If hissing and saying NO loudly and then ignoring the behavior doesn't work, it means that as a kitten he was most likely separated too young from his family, before 12 weeks, and did not learn his manners and limits that siblings and mom teach between 6 and 12 weeks.
That makes sense, it could be it. I don't really know the breed, he's all black with a short tail. I might try that method as a last resort.

How often are you feeding what?
I use the auto-feeder to feed him once a day at 6AM, before I wake up. It seems like the goal directed part of the biting is gone, since he's no longer really pursuing me directly like he did when I fed him myself, but I can't be sure.
 

ArtNJ

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I don’t know how the auto feeder works. Your saying you fill it once a day. How often does it dispense food and at what times does it run out?
 

di and bob

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If it only puts out food once a day, he most likely runs out way before bedtime and is hungry. If there is food left in the feeder towards bedtime then it is enough, if not, he is pigging out in the morning and hungry at night. Have the dispenser give out half his daily amount twice a day, even three times a day with a third in the middle of the night. Most people are hungry by the end of the day, and so is he. Cats in the wild eat many times a day with small amounts (a mouse, bird, etc.) Cats use a tremendous amount of energy, running and leaping during the day and need food throughout the day. I feed mine canned food twice a day, in the morning and at night, and leave weight management dry out for them to snack on. They sleep all night.
 

ArtNJ

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If a bit of extra cost isn't an issue, a can of wet food before bed is good insurance the cat wont be hungry. Moist food has fewer calories in the same volume, so its a great way to get cats to feel full without getting them fat. That said, as Di and Bob mentioned, I'm sure the timed feeder will do the trick if you can get it to give feedings at the times he mentioned.

Not ignoring your conclusion that hunger isn't an issue, but its best to be extra sure, since trying to address the habit while there is still hunger going on isn't optimal.
 

CityCatMom

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If you have an automatic feeder, change it to feed him small portions multiple times a day. He is probably just hungry. Also, make sure you are feeding him enough. My cat used to wake me up at 3 am every day for food, so now she gets 3 meals a day - wet food twice a day and dry food just before bed. Never been woken up before 7am since!
 

JamesCalifornia

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~ Be careful you do not get an infection ! Use proper wound care on those bites.
Your cat is "The Boss" . I have one like that too . 😼
 

fionasmom

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I know that my Jamie was separated from his mom and litter too soon as I was his rescuer. He was a real biter, shredder, ripper but it was not food related but rather play related, so we solved it in a slightly different way by setting limits to what sort of play was allowed and immediately stopping all activity the minute he bit. It is similar to what A ArtNJ is suggesting with keeping him out of the bedroom.

I also agree with those who are saying to feed differently in case hunger is an issue. You have evidently taken this seriously or you would not have sought out The Cat Site for advice; absolutely biting in all pet animals has to be extinguished. Infections are possible even from a pet who does not go outside and has all his shots.
 
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Petro

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Thank you all for the advice! I started feeding him twice a day instead of all at once, and he hasn't bitten me in a while. It seems he was just hungry.

I'll still try to deal with the biting if it comes back in other situations, I get that that's a major issue.
 

Finka

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Hey folks. I adopted my adult male cat about six months ago. According to the vet he was about 4-5 years old when I got him, and he's got a real set of fangs on him. I have trouble with him biting me at night. I used to feed him when I woke up, but if I was ever up late he would bite my legs very hard and also chase me into bed to bite me, hard enough to draw blood. I bought an auto feeder, and that has mostly stopped that.

Now, sometimes he'll come sit in my bed while I'm falling asleep, but a few minutes after I get settled most nights he'll walk up and bite my arm very hard, again enough to draw blood, and will continue to try to bite me through the covers until I shoo him out of the room. It doesn't feel like he's trying to play with me, he's not attacking my feet or anything. Sometimes he'll also bite me if I'm sleeping in too late.

He isn't very playful with me otherwise. Sometimes he'll claw my legs if I'm walking around and he wants attention, but he mostly just likes sitting in my lap.

I saw earlier posts suggesting that I should hiss at him when that happens, but that hasn't seemed to change anything. Is there anything else I can try or change, or should I just keep trying with the hissing?
My cat Darky did the same, all of my family kinda scared of him. But not me lol. I have deep scar in my arm and it leaves mark.
I don't want he leaves more scars so I thought he needs to play. I play with him a lot, when he about to bite me, I gave him a toy. Since then, he stopped biting me.
Maybe he used to play with human hands before? I think that's his habits for being playful and he thought his human is fine with it
 
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