Cat Biting But Not Applying Pressure?

[BinxandBlaze]

so I got a cat from outside about 2-3 months ago semi feral is the best way to describe her. She sounds pretty aggressive she hisses all the time but she’s never tried to bite in an aggressive way and has only ever scratched once. She’s started this weird thing where when I pet her and she’s purring and loooving it shell act like she wants to smell my finger and when I do she puts her mouth on my finger like she’s gonna bits but doesn’t apply pressure. She just kinda mouths my finger then I yank it away scared and she hisses and I go back to petting her. She started doing it to my jacket sleeve and for the first time she bit and pulled it back closer to her. Wasn’t sure if maybe she wanted to eat me so I gave her a fake mouse and she chewed on it for a minute and stoped. Any idea on what she’s doing and why she’s doing it?

 

[ArtNJ]

There are many kinds of cat biting, each with their own reason. This sounds like affectionate biting, aka love bites and isn't really any different than being licked/groomed. Its just a thing some of em do. Some allow it thinking its cute, and its probably fine to do so for the most part. Fine to not allow it if it feels weird to you too; your kitty will deal with not being allowed to do it just fine. There may be some risk of it transitioning to play biting, which can hurt and is not something to allow, but you can probably deal with that if it crops up. Up to you basically.

Some cats use hissing to communicate. Stop that, don't like. Didn't give you permission to stop that! Let me do that! Etc. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Maria Bayote]

How old is your cat?

Agree with the above. It could be most probably a love bite only, but I kindly do suggest that you do not encourage it. When she does it you try to hiss at her, then you can also tell her firmly "STOP!" immediately after the hiss.

My kitten does that to me at times, and when I hiss at her she stops and backs down.

 

[di and bob]

it may be a case of overstimulation too. Some cats, especially females, will lovingly enjoy petting and stroking, to a point. And when that point is reached, they have had enough and tell you in no uncertain terms. There are subtle warnings, like a swishing of the tail, raised hair on the tail or back, low growling, or a 'love bite', like you are receiving. she has reached her point and has had enough. My Chrissy would bite/scratch hard enough to draw blood, her point was after three strokes and she definitely had had enough. There is not much you can do about it, just learn where her point of enough is, after 1,2,3, etc. strokes and simply stop. Warn others who may pet her too, they often do not believe you, but will when they reach her limit!
Your little girl is still learning to accept she has a home now too, two - three months is not long at all for change in a cat's life. They take quite a while to accept change. Her true personality most likely won't show for months yet, maybe even a year, and I would venture to say that right now she is still very uncertain of all the change and new experiences in her life right now and is overstimulated quickly because she is already agitated and uncertain. She is trying to tell you, like she would a kitten, to leave her alone right then. The mouthing is what a mama cat would do. When you react too quickly, pulling back and giving off scared, agitated 'vibes' she becomes agitated too. It is highly probable that she will be much more loving and tolerant in the future. Allowing you to touch her at all at this stage is very encouraging, a true feral takes months and months to come to that stage. She trusts you, so just enjoy her, remain calm and soothing around her, give her yummy treats and she will come around! All the luck and keep us posted!

 

[Purr-fect]

Its common amongst cats.

Arnold did it to me this morning.

He was on the bed. I was peting him, he was purring. Suddenly he grabbed my arm with his front paws, brought his back legs up to shred my arm and firmly latched on to my finger with two huge teeth. Any attempt for me to quickly pull away would have resulted in bleeding. But all I had to do was say "HEY" and he relaxed his grip and went back to his peaceful self.

I know him well, it was 7am and he wanted to get up and start his busy day. He was impatiently waiting for me to get up and was getting playful.

Most cats know the difference between hurting us and playing and know when to stop.

 

[Purr-fect]

Hmmmmmm...seems the big guy did draw blood today.

Tried to step from the dining doom table into my lap. My tablet was in his way, he stepped on it and it shifted....he dug in to my leg for traction...... and here we are......but not intentional.

 

[ArtNJ]

Hmmmmmm...seems the big guy did draw blood today.

Tried to step from the dining doom table into my lap. My tablet was in his way, he stepped on it and it shifted....he dug in to my leg for traction...... and here we are......but not intentional.

View attachment 300891

That is just being a cat owner. Have to be a little careful if your cat is afraid of another pet or generally edgy, but the random scratch will always happen ... randomly, careful or not.

 

[Caspers Human]

Don't forget that cats don't have hands.

Cats can't do things the way humans do because they have to use their mouths instead.

Look at your cat's behavior from that perspective.
What is she doing with her mouth that a human might do with their hands?

Is she holding hands with you?
Is she playing with you?
Is she saying, "I've had enough petting?"

Look at other clues to gain some context.

Does she have a "twitchy" tail or a "swishy" tail."
A gently swishing tail means she's probably happy but a twitching strongly waving tail means she's probably annoyed.

What about ears?
Are they up, down or pointed back?
Pointed back ears often means, "Peeved off," while pointed up ears often means, "Happy," or "Curious." Ears that are pointed down and to the sides might mean she's spoiling for a fight.

Does your cat's fur kind of "wrinkle" when you pet her?
That means that she's probably getting overstimulated, either because you're touching her in a sensitive spot or because she doesn't want to be petted.

So... When you pet your cat, if her ears are pointed back, her fur wrinkles and her tail is twitching, she's had enough and it's best to leave her alone. If she's lying still, her ears are relaxed, her fur doesn't wrinkle and her tail is swishing gently (or still) then she's happy.

If your cat is showing contented body language when she bites you, she's probably just giving you a love bite. If she had hands, she'd probably be holding hands with you but, since she doesn't have hands, she has to "hold hands" with her mouth.

If your cat is showing agitated body language when she bites you, she's probably done with petting. If she had hands, she'd probably pushing your hand away and saying, "Not now."

 

[BinxandBlaze]

We don’t know how old she is. On the younger side I think but the vet hasn’t been able to do a full exam on her. She gets upset at the vet and they tried to get the more important things like shots and treatment done for anything she had when she was outside done and by the end of that she’d be too stressed to be checked over too much. There are no signs of it about to happen ears don’t move, tail doesn’t move, no growling or hissing Just one second she’s purring the next she’s get her mouth around me. I thought maybe over stimulation even though she didn’t really show any signs for that but one time I had my hand near her and not petting her and she still did it. Maybe it’s just a love bite. I try to pull away when I see her start to open her mouth and she’s bitten my sleeve before. Are love bites normally softer bites or are those sometimes hard bites too?

 

[BinxandBlaze]

it may be a case of overstimulation too. Some cats, especially females, will lovingly enjoy petting and stroking, to a point. And when that point is reached, they have had enough and tell you in no uncertain terms. There are subtle warnings, like a swishing of the tail, raised hair on the tail or back, low growling, or a 'love bite', like you are receiving. she has reached her point and has had enough. My Chrissy would bite/scratch hard enough to draw blood, her point was after three strokes and she definitely had had enough. There is not much you can do about it, just learn where her point of enough is, after 1,2,3, etc. strokes and simply stop. Warn others who may pet her too, they often do not believe you, but will when they reach her limit!
Your little girl is still learning to accept she has a home now too, two - three months is not long at all for change in a cat's life. They take quite a while to accept change. Her true personality most likely won't show for months yet, maybe even a year, and I would venture to say that right now she is still very uncertain of all the change and new experiences in her life right now and is overstimulated quickly because she is already agitated and uncertain. She is trying to tell you, like she would a kitten, to leave her alone right then. The mouthing is what a mama cat would do. When you react too quickly, pulling back and giving off scared, agitated 'vibes' she becomes agitated too. It is highly probable that she will be much more loving and tolerant in the future. Allowing you to touch her at all at this stage is very encouraging, a true feral takes months and months to come to that stage. She trusts you, so just enjoy her, remain calm and soothing around her, give her yummy treats and she will come around! All the luck and keep us posted!

My vet was super shocked with how much progress I had made with her. They were dreading her coming in and literally said they didn’t want to come to work today when they saw she was on the list but we shocked with how well she did. I’ve spent hours and everyday just sitting in rooms with her trying to gain her trust. One thing you said that stuck out to me is when I pull back quick I give agitated vibes and she gets agitated... and I have noticed I can’t hesitate at all when I go to pet her or she gets mad and when I pull back quick she also hisses and gets mad. Definitely something I’m trying to work on. And I have to keep reminding myself I haven’t had her very long and it takes time