Cat biting

[chriscamoreno]

Hi. My cat is about a year old and he has play aggression. I adopted him from someone when he was about 8 weeks and I assume that he was found on the streets as a lone kitten and may not have been raised by a mother cat. I regret not asking about this information now, because at the time I only knew the basics of taking care of a cat. He has many cat toys and I play with him for at least an hour a day. I take him out to the backyard a few hours a day so he can pretend to hunt prey. He also plays a lot with my dog and they both seem to mutually enjoy it. However, he still seems to enjoy biting people's ankles and arms regardless. I had thought that through time he would eventually stop but it hasn't and has remained as bad as it was when he was a kitten. His bites are extremely painful and everyone in the household is extremely fearful of him which probably worsens his behavior. I've tried walking away and ignoring him, redirecting his biting to a toy, and using a spray bottle, all of which work temporarily but he goes back to biting limbs right after. I've heard the spray bottling method does not work but I've become desperate trying to fix his behavior that I'm not really sure what else to do. I do love him regardless of this and he does love to be cuddled with and can be a sweet cat if he chooses to be. He also enjoys getting his belly rubbed which is extremely odd. Although he does have a limit and will strike at me when he's had enough. Sometimes he'll be lying down with me and he'll suddenly strike me even without me over stimulating him. I'm sure belly rubs cannot be accounted for this since he's been doing this well before I've figured out his love for them. I've considered getting another cat around his age so he has another buddy to play with and they can both tire each other out this way; however, I'd like to know if there's anything else that I could do aside from getting another cat that may potentially work since getting another cat may not actually be an option for me. I dorm in college and am unable to take my pets with me at the moment and so my parents won't be fond of me stuck taking care of two cats at home. I will be able to bring my pets next year once I get an apartment off campus so I could possibly adopt another cat at that point or maybe my cat's play aggression may not even exist at that point (hopefully). Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Ms. Freya]

Hi chriscamoreno, welcome to TCS!

It does sound like he likely wasn't completely socialized as a kitten, but the good part is you can still change that! I'll second the person who told you the spray bottle doesn't work long-term with cats - it just teaches them to check whether or not you have a spray bottle with you.

When we dealt with this with our first cat, we had the best luck with re-directing her to another toy as she pounced. It did mean keeping a eye on her and getting to read her "attack" signs, but to didn't take to long to redirect her to attack her kicker toy instead. 

Here's the link to ho to get yourself away and re-direct if your cats does get a bit too aggressive in play:
[article="22328"]How To Stop Playtime Aggression In Cats  [/article]
 Since you've already identified playtime as the culprit for your cat's aggression, a lot of this article may not apply, but it does have a good list of signs to look for that may indicate over-stimulation or that you cat is thinking of switching to aggression:
[article="29673"]Cat Aggression Toward People  [/article]
Good luck! I'm sure some of our other members will be along soon with more suggestions.

 

[chriscamoreno]

Hi chriscamoreno, welcome to TCS!

It does sound like he likely wasn't completely socialized as a kitten, but the good part is you can still change that! I'll second the person who told you the spray bottle doesn't work long-term with cats - it just teaches them to check whether or not you have a spray bottle with you.

When we dealt with this with our first cat, we had the best luck with re-directing her to another toy as she pounced. It did mean keeping a eye on her and getting to read her "attack" signs, but to didn't take to long to redirect her to attack her kicker toy instead. 

Here's the link to ho to get yourself away and re-direct if your cats does get a bit too aggressive in play:


[article="22328"] [/article]

 Since you've already identified playtime as the culprit for your cat's aggression, a lot of this article may not apply, but it does have a good list of signs to look for that may indicate over-stimulation or that you cat is thinking of switching to aggression:


[article="29673"] [/article]

Good luck! I'm sure some of our other members will be along soon with more suggestions.

Thank you so much! I will continue trying to redirect his biting to a toy. Hopefully it'll work out eventually. If I were to adopt another cat, would it be best to get a younger or older cat??

 

[nezumi]

It'll be fine. I would also say not to respond to his biting, just calmly take away the maimed limb and get out a fishing rod toy for him.

 

[chriscamoreno]

It'll be fine. I would also say not to respond to his biting, just calmly take away the maimed limb and get out a fishing rod toy for him.

Thank you! I would have to buy several toys so my family could all have one to use lol. Hopefully it works. My cat insists on biting people more than playing with toys.