Baby Kitten Biting, How To Teach Her Not To?

[Kid Indie]

Hey, I recently adopted a 6 month Kittie from the local shelter. She's precious and we'll behaved but she has had a habit of the past two days of biting. I'm not certain if her mother or litter thought her to inhabit this behavior as her background was rather vague from what I was told from her Foster Mother. My question is how can I help teach her this behavior is not good?

 

[KyaraRose]

I was just about to post this very thing, although my kitten is only 3 months. I've researched this problem extensively. Things I have found: hiss back. It does not work for my kitten. Scream for an older kitten. I can't scream, I'm not comfortable. Lock her in another room for 5 minutes; this one is not working too well yet. Longer times, maybe? Get up and leave the room; I'll admit, I've never tried this one, as I'm lazy, but seeing as how the only other rooms are the bedroom and bathroom and i like my couch... Also, distract her with toys; this works to an extent. My boyfriend's mom suggested flicking her when she does this. I tried that tonight but it only caused her to bite harder. She is now starting to bite my face. I'd really like to nip this in the bud. I hope these suggestions work better for you.

 

[Kid Indie]

Hey yeah the second time she acted as if she would bite but did not. I found picking her up by the scruff a few seconds and telling her NO in a authoritative voice seemed to calm her. I also placed her in a kitty timeout for 15 minutes after. The thing about kittens is it takes patience. They know no better but can be disciplined. Try staring yours directly in the eyes when you tell them NO, it shows you are the dominant one.

I also ignored her after her time out for a few minutes after. She meowed and rubbed against my leg after where then I gave her the normal affection. Again this is my first kitty and all are differant personality wise but maybe it may work for you. I placed a plush toy on her scratching post now. In hopes she will attack it. She did, then I gave her a treat afterwards.

 

[KyaraRose]

Okay, i so I'll try the holding her up and saying no authoritatively while looking her in the eye, then try a 15 minute timeout. As well as treats when she attacks a toy. Grandma and grandpa (my parents) got her a fish on a fishing pole that she LOVES. I'll give it a try.

This is also my first cat. First fur baby in general. I grew up with dogs but they were my parent's. Its funny, i don't like cats very much, but my boyfriend's sister brought this little girl home and i fell madly in love...

 

[Pjg8r]

Is she biting your hands and arms? Do you use your hands to play with her? Toys that are arms length away help a lot. Those can be feather toys or something like the cat dancer. At six months she is teething and biting helps her. Mine loved to chew on plastic straws at that age. They are cheap and I replaced them every day. They never bit them into small pieces they could swallow.

 

[Kid Indie]

Plastic straws, what a great idea. No I haven't tried those yet but I am now. Yeah unfortunately I showed her my hands almost immediately. Through petting her face and also allowed her to sniff my hands while I'm eating to give her a scent of my food. This was my mistake lol. I am guessing she thought my hand access meant they were fair game. I have a feather stick and laser point w works pretty well. I've now began to pet her w my hands only on her backside and have avoided putting them near her face.

 

[Wenda]

My kitten, Ares, tried biting too. He'd go after my legs and feet during playtime (I use a string). So I would say "Ow!" and stop the play session. He never bit hard, but I didn't want him to think it was okay to use his teeth on people. It seems to be working. Now he doesn't do it very often and when he starts to you'll see him change his mind and start to lick my toes instead (his poor little tastebuds lol). I also try to read him and if I see he's looking to bite something I give him his teddy bear. That way he can chew and claw to his hearts content.

I also would move my foot or hand into his bite when he use to do it. That way he'd move his head back and stop biting, rather than pull my hand away.

 

[Kid Indie]

If she decides to take a nip I will put my hand towards her mouth, I have drew away each time. Her little lion fangs are so sharp, your Orange kitty is very pretty btw. Thank you guys for all the advice so far!

 

[KyaraRose]

Also, my little girl is starting to go for our faces

 

[Wenda]

If she decides to take a nip I will put my hand towards her mouth, I have drew away each time. Her little lion fangs are so sharp, your Orange kitty is very pretty btw. Thank you guys for all the advice so far!

Thank you. His name is Ares I hope that trick works for your girl. It worked every time with my little stinker.

 

[Kid Indie]

Also, my little girl is starting to go for our faces

Just did a bit of reading on some past forums about the face nibbling. Helpful stuff, have you tried giving your kitty girl a small space of her own. Even setting up a blanket she is familiar w and toys in a closet (door halfway open) to help give her a safe zone to resort to. It sounds as if she may be overly anxious in close proximity, still learning to fully trust possibly. If they are playful nips it could be her needing more one on one time w you. However if aggression is shown she quite possibly could be dealing w anxiety. Try allowing her some space from you, show less affection but be in her presence and she may lose the anxiousness.

These are just my thoughts however.

 

[ajh]

My problem is also biting but more severe biting. I adopted two part Siamese kittens last summer. Cocoa was born May 1. Crema was born in March, not sure what day. He was born to a feral mom under a shed in a friend's yard. Crema is an odd combination of timid, staying far away or hiding from visitors and confident or, at least, comfortable with me, my 92 yo Mom, our 14 yo Whippet and our 15 yo third cat. Crema has never bitten me although he does nip occasionally. Usually when I'm rubbing his belly and he decides I need to quit. However, a few days ago he bite my Mom pretty severely on the leg above the ankle while she was sitting on the toilet. Deep punctures from his canines with lots of blood. (she has seen a Dr.) She states the attack was unprovoked although he may have been attacking her nightgown. Mom now wants me to get rid of him but I have always felt pets are not something to discard when they displease you or become inconvenient in some way so I am trying to think of something I can do to keep Mom happy and to keep him from injuring us in future. Does anyone have an opinion on possibly having his canines removed? This would certainly prevent injury if he attacked again. All the cats are fed both canned and dry kibble (Proplan canned and Orijen dry), are given a handful of Greenie treats every day and all are indoor only cats.

 

[duckpond]

Kittens tend to bite, its how they play with each other, and they can get a bit rough. They will also bite if scared, or overstimulated by petting or playing. I would not get a cats Canines removed, but work with the cats so that he learns not to bite. Removing his teeth, to me seems a cruel thing to do to a cat. I would try to figure out why he bites, and work with that, or re-home him.

Never, play with a cat with your hands, so hard not to when they are little. but it teaches them that this is ok. play with feathers on a stick, kickers, wands with a feather, toy mice, you can pick a lot of different ones up at the pet store, cheap, keep a variety and mix it up. get one of those feather wands, and play hard a few times a day, it builds a cats confidence so they are not as aggressive, and also wears them out at a safe distance.

Try to find out what triggers the bites, overexcited when playing? petting a little too long, or the wrong spot on his body. I have an outside stray that i feed, one of several , he is a sweet cat, likes a little petting, only 1 or 2 pets or he bites, if you go to pick him up, he bites. if you pick up a food bowl that is sitting close to him he bites, if you make much eye contact, he bites. so i don't do these things.

 

[Tagrendy]

Just freeze ( if it hurts wear gloves ) and distract her with a toy. Remember changing behavior will take weeks, but consistency pays off.

 

[Shar371]

I tried a few things with my Midnight when she was a kitten (I adopted her at 4 months, she was a street kitten, and a scrapper to be sure). She bit HARD, and she liked to go for hands, feet and lower legs. I tried a few things (like the hissing back, withdrawal to another room, etc.) to pretty much an opposite effect. She'd attack harder the next time. At one point, she even clung onto my leg when I tried to leave the room because she didn't want to be alone. One piece of advice I read was to a get a toy "her size" and to "attack" her with it to distract her when she bit me for several weeks. By about 8 months old, she learned that "Geoffrey Giraffe" was her bitey-toy.

My process was that when she bit me, I would hiss at her, then "attack" her with the giraffe (bounce it up to her then lightly boop her forehead with it). She'd attack the giraffe with all the rage and indignation she could muster ("you DARE boop ME?! I shall unmake you!") and I'd praise her. If she attacked me, I'd hiss at her, drop the giraffe and walk away. The turning point was the second time we did this exercise, when she attacked the dropped giraffe while I was walking away to continue tearing at it. She very quickly learned that attacking the giraffe was a positive experience, and as long as she was attacking it, I'd play with her (controlling toy that was about 9-10 inches long safely from the "spine side" while she bit and kicked at neck and belly to her heart's content and I praised her). If she attacked me, I'd be upset with her, and would go away. Not so much fun.

 

[KyaraRose]

Hmm didn't think she was anxious, but she has been staying away from me more and more lately. I think I annoy her with my constant affection. I can't help it. She's my baby, she's adorable, and I love her to pieces.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Hmm didn't think she was anxious, but she has been staying away from me more and more lately. I think I annoy her with my constant affection. I can't help it. She's my baby, she's adorable, and I love her to pieces.

Is she spayed?

 

[KyaraRose]

Not yet. She has an appointment for April 6.

I think I do annoy her with my constant affection. Last night I left her alone and twice she came to me. First was in bed, she fell asleep at my foot, and she wakes me at 3 AM, purring, then starts to go to sleep on my shoulder/chest like she used to. I suddenly had an ice cream craving, so I got up and had some. Plus, since she's not as small as she was, where she was lying was hurting my neck lol. Anyway, she follows me out, plays a bit (her food and water dishes were all over the place. What in hell did she do? Lol) then settles on the chair behind the couch. Normally I'd get her and bring her to her bed on the couch next to me. Instead, I bent and petted her a bit, then went to lie down on the couch to read. My back was to where she was sitting. Not even a minute later I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder and I turn, say hi, and she jumps up. I'm not very good at leaving the ones I love alone, but I do love her coming to me, so I'll endeavor to do so

 

[danteshuman]

At 6 months they are teething & teens not babies. If it is a wee kitten (2-3 months) I just push my finger more into their mouth until it starts making them uncomfortable when they bite fingers. I also train them to get toys not hands from the moment I see them. When they are older I wail OWWWWWWWW like a banshee and act like they maimed me at the slightest hint of fang or claw ... then ignore them for 20-30 minutes. So claws or teeth = playtime over. Also you need wear them out mentally & physically. Our semi-feral was an adult nipper when he got over petted. I did try the tapping the side of his mouth with 2 fingers when he nipped. I also pay close attention to his body signals. The slightest tip of a tail twitch = keep petting me and I will attack. So now I stop with the slightest twitch.