Biting my nose

catlover

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My 1yr old spayed female Domestic cat likes to lick the end of my nose & then bites it quite hard. I'd like to know why she has to bite it too. It really hurts & makes me not want her around my face. I enjoy our bonding sessions since she seems to enjoy it & purrs ever so loudly while looking into my eyes. She is almost all white with blue eyes & has two strokes of brown fur around the crown of her head around her ears. Like a van gene would have. Any advise on this behavior would be appreciated my me & my sore nose.
 

dodo

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When the cats don't get socialized well during the first 6 month of their lives (by being with their mothers & playing with her & with their littermates etc.), they don't know how much biting will hurt ! That's the case with Minnosh; she can't adjust her biting even if she doesn't mean bad !

Yumosh never ever bites us. Mavish on the other hand first looks constantly into your face & if you make an eye contact with him (even with the tip of your eye) he'll give love bites to your nose & will be all over your face
They are soft bites actually but our noses are sensitive I guess & it hurts a little bit


I don't know what you can do about it. You can keep her away from your nose I guess
That's what I do
 

sunlion

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Blackie bites my nose sometimes and I can kind of tell what he means by how hard it is.

If he bites pretty hard - hard enough to bring tears to my eyes but of course he doesn't break the skin - it usually means "You are invading my space and I am biting your nose because it sticks out of your face so I can grab it easily."

If he bites rather softly and makes a smacking noise at the same time, it's a kiss. I often rub my cheek along his cheek and kiss him, and he seems to imitate that sound.
 

lotsocats

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Try blowing a puff of air in the cat's face when she bites. The puff of air is aversive, but not so much that it will scare her away from you. If you puff each time she bites, she will stop doing it pretty soon.
 

des11147

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My cat Lacey has bitten me bofore. The first time it was my finger and it got infected and I had to go to the hospital, once or twice she has bitten my nose and her favorite thing to do is when I am sitting on the toilet, she bites my butt. I am pretty sure it is because she wants attention. I scold her and withdraw from her for a little while.
Dawn
 

tigger

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Fluffy is a biter, too. I think it's because she gets over-stimulated. The other day, I was petting her after I took a shower, and she went after my arm a few times. I kept telling her no, but she wouldn't listen. Finally, she jumped off the bed. Fluffy likes to bite at my husband's nose, too... or, atleast she tries to!

I've noticed after I use shower gel, the cats go nuts over me! Shampoo has the same affect on them, too!
 
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catlover

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Thanks for all the advise. I will try the blowing into the face technique. I think my cat gets over stimulated too. She has bitten my nose so hard that her teeth dug into my skin, as I pried her teeth open off my nose, a noticable scratch was left. I threw her off & she came right back on my lap purring & went to sleep. I don't feel it is an aggressive act at all.:whitecat
 

jojo

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I read somewhere that if you make a cat-like sound (as if you are a wounded cat), your cat will treat you as it would another cat and be more gentle. This seemed to work with Dani. She used to bite rather hard and when she did, I'd try to imitate a wounded cat. Well she'd back off and now she never bites me hard. Same with scratching. I only get scratched when I'm trying to steal the paper ball from her otherwise, she's careful to retract her claws.
 

Anne

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If the cat purrs while biting and keeps sort of looking around your face for your nose, chin and ear lobes, she is probably looking for a place to suckle from. This often happens with cats that are seperated from their mom at a young age. She really wants to suck of your nose but it's not really shaped in the best way and she ends up biting it (I don't mean there's anything wrong with the shape of your nose
it's just not very like a cat's nipple
)

Does she suck on clothes or on your thumb? I have a kitten here with exactly the same problem. He gets so much joy from sucking I don't have the heart not to let him so to save my nose, chin and earlobes I'm giving him my thumb to suck on. He got used to it fairly quickly and can go on sucking forever, closing his eyes and purring contentedly.
 

sunlion

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I'm sorry, but that just made me laugh! Of all the things I have thought about my nose - and lots of them are not terribly flattering! - I have never before found myself thinking, "Well, at least my nost isn't shaped like a cat's nipple . . ."
 

krazy kat2

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My 13 year old dsh nibbles on my nose to wake me if I have slept past his breakfast time. He has almost no front teeth, so it feels really weird. Those 4 big teeth are really unnerving! I am afraid he will get excited and sink those in.
 

midors

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When my cat comes by to say hi after I wake up, he's generally quite affectionate. He's also hungry. So he licks me, purrs and is quite physical. It's an important part of our relationship, if you may call it that, and he seems to miss it when we skip it. But a few times he has suddenly bitten my nose or chin extremely hard, to the point that it has bled! I suspect this is very unlike other times, when I'm petting him and he suddenly bites my hand a bit, because he's become oversensitive and wants to stop. This is much more passionate! He's done this about once a year. Once he bit me right above the eye and under the eyebrow, so hard that he wouldn't let go for a second or two! I scolded him and we didn't talk to each other all day. Normally, however, he's very sweet and friendly and I wouldn't describe him as an aggressive cat except, for those few, yet all too frequent occasions. I think it may have something to do with the morning hunger.
 

hermesthegod

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 When they nibble your nose or toes, or drop toys on your head. They are trying to wake you up or get you to play with them/ feed them/ let them out

It depends on their mood
 

robert mauro

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Try blowing a puff of air in the cat's face when she bites. The puff of air is aversive, but not so much that it will scare her away from you. If you puff each time she bites, she will stop doing it pretty soon.
LOL, that only works if I want my kitten's whole snout (nose, mouth and all) in my mouth. 
 

DrHannibalLedford

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Thank you so much for starting this thread! My husband and I are proud parents of a now 14-month-old Ragdoll boy named Simon. He is the sweetest cat I've ever had or known, and his only "negative" behavior is that he seems to love biting my nose and chin when we go to bed. He will actually wake me up out of a sound sleep by doing this. He never does this to anyone else, just me. Your thread has provided me with some insight as to what his possible motivations are so again, thank you so much for starting this thread.
 

marianc

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I used to have a neutered Tabby whom I adored. He would wake me every day by biting my nose gently. I thought of it as mating behavior and was flattered. I sympathize with the people whose noses and other body parts are getting crunched.
 
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