One of my fosters, Jake, often bites people. His favorite thing to do is pounce on a wrist and dig his teeth in. If you resist he just bites harder and hangs on.
While it is aggressive, none of his behavior is malicious. He purrs the whole time and clearly thinks it's all in good fun. I'm pretty sure his original owners played with him as a kitten with their hands and never taught him not to bite (then it seems they dumped him a local park, thanks a lot).
In the past when I've had a biter, I found redirection to be the best way to teach them to stop. If they start biting you give them a toy to grab and chew on instead. I have tried this with Jake but he seems to 'know' the toy isn't real, and won't go for it.
I suspect he goes for hands, wrists and ankles because they resemble prey to him (it's often noted that a wrist or ankle looks like the narrow neck of a rodent). Are there cat toys that really resemble 'the real thing' in appearance and weight? I feel like that would really get his attention instead of the large plush pumpkin I've been trying to use of late
Most cat toys are feathery, multi-colored, plastic doo-dads, but has anyone ever found any that closely resemble, say, a big rat? Something made out of heavy rubber that would 'feel' like flesh to him. Maybe what I need is some kind of dog chew toy? I'm going to the pet store later today to check out what they have.
If anybody has any other tips for getting an adult cat to not bite, I'm all ears.
While it is aggressive, none of his behavior is malicious. He purrs the whole time and clearly thinks it's all in good fun. I'm pretty sure his original owners played with him as a kitten with their hands and never taught him not to bite (then it seems they dumped him a local park, thanks a lot).
In the past when I've had a biter, I found redirection to be the best way to teach them to stop. If they start biting you give them a toy to grab and chew on instead. I have tried this with Jake but he seems to 'know' the toy isn't real, and won't go for it.
I suspect he goes for hands, wrists and ankles because they resemble prey to him (it's often noted that a wrist or ankle looks like the narrow neck of a rodent). Are there cat toys that really resemble 'the real thing' in appearance and weight? I feel like that would really get his attention instead of the large plush pumpkin I've been trying to use of late
Most cat toys are feathery, multi-colored, plastic doo-dads, but has anyone ever found any that closely resemble, say, a big rat? Something made out of heavy rubber that would 'feel' like flesh to him. Maybe what I need is some kind of dog chew toy? I'm going to the pet store later today to check out what they have.
If anybody has any other tips for getting an adult cat to not bite, I'm all ears.