Biting kitty

[catlady76paws]

I have a biting kitty. Now I don't mind but I'm trying to figure out why. Because she wants to be petted, she comes up for attention. I do think she was badly socialized(these people had a lot of litters of different ages and some where friendly but Binti and her big sister from another mother were the most timid, plus Binti was only about 600 grams at 7-8 weeks according to them) plus I have had to manhandle her for medication because she had coccidia for the longest time ever.

Biting Binti

She did draw blood


And yesterday on my other arm.

 

[Alldara]

Has she been to the vet? Arthritis and tooth pain can both cause a cat to lash out when touched as it makes them generally grumpy. Both need x-rays to confirm.

How are you trying to pet her? What's the process?

 

[catlady76paws]

I have not been to the vet, she has shown no other signs of pain, eats great, plays with the others. You'll see in the video(the link->Biting Binti) how I'm petting her and you can hear her breathe as she bites. It's my arm in the vid but sometimes she'll just have a go at my leg when I straighten up after petting her a few times.
Binti is almost a year old, not spayed(yet, she will be soon, hopefully before I have to deal with heats, eurgh) and strictly indoor

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. From the video it looks like she is getting overstimulated. I can't tell if the overstimulation is just from too much petting at once, or if there is a particular spot that you touch that causes it. Keep track of where on her body you are petting her right before she 'attacks'. If you can identify that, then you can stay away from that area. Otherwise, only give her a few pets at a time and see if that helps quell the overstimulation. If you have to for now, cover your legs with a towel or blanket. You could also use grooming gloves for your hands and arms.

You can also try saying 'ouch' when she bites and then stop petting her, even ignoring her, until later. To make this effective, you have to do it each and every time she tries to bite. She should eventually learn that if she bites the attention/petting stops.

She is still relatively young and not spayed, both of which could attribute to her being easily over stimulated. So, once she is spayed and as she matures more, the biting habit will likely become gentler, or slow down if not stop, as long as you attempt to correct it as needed.

 

[Alldara]

Many cats don't like fully body rubs like on the video. The scratching you're doing down the body while running her whole body is just adding to the overstimulation. (I know there are cats that really like this but I haven't ever owned one like that)

 

[catlady76paws]

All my cats have different ways of petting. Some like it when I pat them on the back by the base of the tail, others love a little pat-pat on the head, then you have the pick-me-up-and-cuddle-cats and the let me pet you cats with full blown headbutt. I have one cat with a crooked tail which also causes her back to be a little sore. I can stroke her, but no patting between back and base of the tail.
With Binti it doesn't really matter how I pet, just on the head, shoulders, a little stroke. It was a bit hard petting her and filming so it might look clumsy. When I look back at the video, it seems the overstimulation comes when I stroke her tail all the way to the tip. I've dealt with overstimulation from petting but with Binti it looked different and so angry like tearing into a prey.

The spaying will be done as soon as possible but with the coccidia and her small frame I really wanted to let her grow a little bit, before submitting her to an operation. Thankfully everybody else is fixed.

Thanks for your insights so far

 

[Caspers Human]

I think she's playing with you.

It might be over stimulation. Surely, that's part of it but I think the stimulation you are giving her is triggering her to play.

I agree with others that humans need to be more gentle when petting and pay attention to the way their cat likes to be petted so as to avoid over stimulation but I also think you need to decide whether you want to let your cats play with your hands.

I don't think 'playing hands' is bad but, when we let cats play hands, we open up a proverbial can of worms. Once a cat learns that playing hands is okay, it will think that it's ALWAYS okay to play hands, whether humans want to or not. If you have young kids, that's probably a bad idea because they'll get scratched or hurt and wind up being afraid of cats. If you have visitors who don't understand that you let your cats wrestle with humans, you could find yourself in an acrimonious situation when some other person gets scratched.

I use an analogy that playing hands with a cat is like stepping onto a rugby pitch. When you play rugby, you should EXPECT to walk away with bumps and bruises and, maybe even broken bones. That's just the way rugby is played. When you play rugby, you assume that there are certain risks. If you don't like the risks, don't play the game.

If you play hands with a cat, you're basically playing rugby. If you don't like getting scratched, don't play rugby with a cat.

I'm not saying that you are wrong for playing hands. Maybe it's as simple a thing as she was never taught that playing hands is not allowed. Maybe somebody else in your house has been playing hands without you knowing. Maybe she's just a rambunctious cat!

Those little spots of blood and scratches on your arm are de rigeeur for playing hands with cats. (AKA: "Cat rugby.")

I'm my opinion, you are at a fork in the road. Either teach the cat that playing hands is against 'House Rules' or expect a few scratches and punctures... Whichever way you want to go is okay with me.

 

[segelkatt]

I wish it were as easy with my cat. He is 8 years old, I adopted him from a sanctuary 7 months ago and everything went well, he bonded with me practically overnight. After several month after lights out he snuggled up close to my head with his head on my shoulder, I was almost asleep. Suddenly he rose up on his hind legs, bopped me on top of my head with both front paws, claws out and bailed off the bed and out of the room. Got up to inspect the damage, it really hurt, found one puncture mark on my hairline and applied antibiotics. After I settled back down he came and settled on my feet for the rest of the night. Several weeks later he did it again, pouncing on my head, the part that was sticking out from under the covers, this time with his mouth wide open, again pricking my scalp, I could see where all 4 of his fangs had connected, and yes they were bleeding, and ran like hell just to return after a while and sleeping next to my feet. This has happened 2 more times, once he landed on my head with all 4 paws and then ran. I do not let him near my head at lights out anymore after sustaining several more scratches. Once he grabbed my arm with the covers on and tried to bite me, really hung on when I told him firmly but calmly "no".. Another time he got me after I had settled down but lights were still on and he put 5 scratches or bite-scratches on my arm. The last one was last night and lights were still on, he walked all over me as if looking for a cozy spot, then settled on my chest looking at me. I saw his pupils dilate until they were almost round, he looked really evil, and sure enough he rose up on his hind legs to pounce on me but I shoved him off before he could connect. I saw his claws out and his mouth was wide open. This cat weighs 16 lbs, he is a very large, not fat longhair domestic, grey tuxedo, he is connected to me by the hip, always with me or on me, goes gaga over catnip which he eats but does not roll in, loves belly rubs and can't get enough of getting petted but never ever plays with anything, I've tried everything: laser pointer, rolling balls, Da Bird, string, any kind of toy that has come across my path or that I already had. He is an only indoor-only cat. He sits on the balcony watching birds and bunnies or on the other side where people walk their dogs. I am the only person living here and he is curious about visitors including workmen..
When he attacks me like that there has been no stimulation for at least 1/2 hour, I am usually almost asleep and he has been purring away, there has been no movement at all but him leaving his cozy spot on my feet and then settling down closer to my head. So what could be bringing on this behavior which is totally random and out of the blue. Kind of scary really, those claws and teeth could do some real damage to me.

 

[FeebysOwner]

segelkatt - if this is occurring around the same general time at night - lights on or not - is there any possibility that there is a semi-consistent culprit - like straying/roaming cats/animals outside your home, somebody who walks their pet around that time, a neighbor who plays music or makes other noises, etc. that he can sense and triggers a reaction? I'd look into that aspect first and see what you can find out. There are ways to help depending on what you might find out. Calming products/cat music/heartbeat toys/and on and on and on.

 

[Caspers Human]

I wish it were as easy with my cat. ...

Yes, I understand what you're saying. I still get the distinct impression that the cat thinks she's playing, wrestling or whatever you want to call it. She thinks she's having fun even though you don't think it's fun.

Try to understand that my comments are meant to be objective in nature. For one reason or another, she thinks it's okay to play hands when, clearly, you think it's against 'House Rules." I don't mean to sound accusative but I get the distinct impression that somebody has been playing hands with her because she seems to be so comfortable doing it.

I also want to make it clear that I don't think that playing hands with cats is necessarily a bad thing. It depends on what the humans think is the right way to play. If the human doesn't buy into the "rugby" analogy, that's perfectly within rights. The last time I checked, we still live in a free country. Right?

The whys and wherefores aren't so important. Are they? If you have decided that House Rules forbid cats playing hands then so be it. The cat thinks she's playing but House Rules say otherwise. That's the thing we have to change.

The question is: How do we teach a cat that this isn't the right way to play?

Just for perspective, our newest cat, Elliot is about a year old and has just been neutered, four weeks ago. He LOVES to sit on my lap and get pets but he's only got a limited tolerance. I can pet him from the tip of he nose to the end of his tail. I can put my finger on his nose, glide it up his face, over the back of his head, along his spine and all the way down to the tip of his tail. He purrs and leans into it when I do. However, I can only do it once or twice before he gets overstimulated and starts tussling with me.

In our house, cats are allowed to play hands. When Elliot tussles, it's not against House Rules. However, that puts the responsibility on the humans to be careful. Petting a cat, nose to tail, might be considered as solicitation to play. IF the human doesn't want to play hands, they shouldn't pet a cat like that. If humans pet the cat in a way that stimulates him to play, it's on the human. Either the human must indulge the cat in play or else, if he scratches us, I suck it up.

The first thing I would do is to try not to stimulate her too much. Be careful how you pet her and handle her so that she doesn't get so "uppity." All the advice, above, on "How to Pet Your Cat" is good. I agree.

Second, the way you handle misplaced 'play aggression' is important. All the things that people say, above, are good.
When she plays too hard, say "Ouch!" and scold her. If she doesn't listen, play (interaction) stops. Try to distract or redirect the unacceptable behavior toward something that is acceptable. If, after three strikes, the behavior still doesn't stop, 'time-outs' are in order.

Bottom line: For one reason or another, your cat has gotten the idea that her behavior is fun when the humans don't think so.

That's the thing we have to change.

 

[maggie101]

I have a biting kitty. Now I don't mind but I'm trying to figure out why. Because she wants to be petted, she comes up for attention. I do think she was badly socialized(these people had a lot of litters of different ages and some where friendly but Binti and her big sister from another mother were the most timid, plus Binti was only about 600 grams at 7-8 weeks according to them) plus I have had to manhandle her for medication because she had coccidia for the longest time ever.

Biting Binti

She did draw blood
View attachment 449511

And yesterday on my other arm.
View attachment 449512

My cat peaches is very sociable but does bite if she doesn't want to be petted. My very timid cat Coco is very loving. In 6 years she has not hissed or growled. Today was her second throwup in 6 years. Being around so many cats helped Binti socialize unless they were mean. cats have their own personality just like people

 

[cmshap]

I get the distinct impression that somebody has been playing hands with her because she seems to be so comfortable doing it.

I personally made this mistake with Willy when he was a young cat. I never owned a cat before, and it seemed fun to play with him using my hands, because he wasn't rough enough to cause bleeding or anything at the time.

But then it only escalated as he got a older, and started biting harder. He was definitely only playing, but he clearly felt comfortable doing it. It took a LONG time to break the behavior.

I only played with him with my hands for a very short time when he was between 1-2 years old, before I started reading up on cat care and best practices, and then immediately stopped doing that. But the memory stayed with him for a long, long time... he was at least age 5 before he stopped biting my hands in play-mode.

He still "bites" my hands now at almost age 10, but he doesn't apply pressure... just puts his teeth around my hand when he's in a playful mood. So I think he still hasn't fully let go of the behavior, but I've trained him enough to know if he applies pressure I'm going to react negatively.

BTW, the "training" I am referring to was that whenever he would bite and make me feel even the slightest pain, I'd say "OUCH!" and put him down off of my lap, and ignore him for the rest of the night. That meant repeatedly moving him to the floor after trying to jump back up into my lap. Made me a little sad to do so, but this training worked. He is still a lap cat so the training didn't decrease his affectionate behaviors at all. But I had to be firm and it took a long time.

 

[iPappy]

Hi, I agree that this looks like overstimulation. I had a cat that would do this after 3 or so pets, so I'd pet him exactly once and then stop. My other cat would do this if I pet his tail like you did in the video. She's a beautiful girl btw!!

 

[catlady76paws]

I'm avoiding stroking her from head to tail and had lovely cuddle with her this morning, just stroking around the face, shoulders. At one point I was duopetting another kitty and Binti was really affectionate. If I stopped she looked for more. As I went to leave the room and stood there, petting another kitty, Binti just came up and bit me in the calf I said ouch, turned her away, she came back looking to bite me on the ankle.

I'm telling you, this is one funny cat. Tortie attitude to the max! I wonder if something will change once she's spayed. Maybe have a little word with the vet to get it done soon.

 

[Caspers Human]

Elliot will sit on my lap while I stroke his face and chin. That's his favorite way to get pets. I bet he'd let me pet him like that for an hour! I can pet him, nose to tail, but only two or three times before he gets uppity.

Elliot also bites the feet when we leave the room. He's young and has separation anxiety so, as long as he doesn't bite hard, we just verbally scold him and keep moving. We don't want to give him the idea that his childish outbursts can get him more attention. That behavior is starting to fade, now.

I would LOVE to be able to pet both cats at the same time, like you! Right now, Elliot is still the "new cat" and the household situation hasn't settled enough. Casper, the "old cat," is still jealous while Elliot, the younger, still has to grow out of his kitten energy.

It will be a red letter day when we can duopet both kitties at the same time!