Cat Won't Stop Biting

[sailon]

(First let me say that I have reviewed prior threads on the subject and didn't see a direct fit, so here goes.,)

I just got a new shelter cat about 4 weeks ago. Her name is Boo, is about 3, and only has one eye.

With one major exception she is a delight. She loves to snuggle, romp, play with her toys, etc. She is also very good with her litter box and food. I have taken her to the vet twice and been assured she is in great shape including her good eye, and is in no pain.

The problem is she bites everything, all the time. It seems to be as natural to her as grooming. When I say everything I mean people, clothes, rugs, bedding, toys, ... You get the point. And I'm not just talking nips, but real bites.

Some of it is understandable - when she doesn't want to be petted or handled, when she gets too excited playing, or when she is being territorial. This is somewhat normal cat behavior, though I'm still trying to get her to stop.

What is not normal or acceptable, at least for me, is when she bites for no apparent reason. She will jump into my lap, lay there purring for several minutes without my touching her in any way and all of a sudden she will turn and sink her teeth into my arm. Or, I'll be reading a book in my chair, she will be laying quietly on the bed, casually jump down and come over and bite my leg. And this is an every day occurance. It makes for a difficult coexistence.

As said before, the vet has said she's fine, and she has lots of interactive toys. And yes, I've tried Feliway and made sure none of her toys have catnip in them.

I have no intention of ever taking her back to the shelter. I'll somehow make this work, but I'm running out of ideas.

 

[sunny578]

I had a one-eyed cat before!

It sounds like she is super playful!

I had a foster cat who bit for no reason, and what worked with him was for me to quietly but immediately end whatever interaction we were having as soon as he bit me. He was older though.

Wondering if any of these are ever more like love bites, like when she casually bites your leg as he's passing by? Or are they always very very hard? Do they break the skin?

It sounds like you are playing with her a lot. You mention that you have a lot of toys--wondering if any of them are more like chew toys. She sounds very interactive. Hope you get some good advice here!

 

[kakers]

Good news! You aren't alone and it will likely improve.

This sounds almost exactly like my cat, minus biting bedding (other than when he's making biscuits!) He's also 3. Same thing as far as biting randomly. He will also be snuggling and purring and then just turn his head and BITES! Sometimes hard enough to break the skin even. Or will just calmly walk over and bite. If I was standing he'd jump and bite my leg.

He tries to chew apart his toys, biting and ripping at the fabric ones. Chews the wand on the window blinds. Chews the wands for wand toys!

Ours is one of 4 and is new and not yet integrated in the home. We got him at the end of July for a time frame (he's just very playful and the other 3 are senior cats so we're going slow introducing!) I mention this because the biggest difference in our scenario is that the majority of the biting has occurred in his room, giving us a much more controlled situation.

At first when he would do it I would redirect him to toys and play with him. The sudden biting didn't stop though. So I started to say "no!" And leave his room. If he was swapped with the other cats and out in the rest of the house I'd say "no!" And put him in a bathroom for a few minutes. Any time he gets that look or seems playful I grab a toy and we play. We play in general too a couple times a day. We also got him a chew toy to redirect him to and make sure he has a couple toys that are safe for him to really chomp down on.

It's made a BIG difference. He still bites but the vast majority of the times he doesn't bite hard or will go to bite but stops before making contact (which is often when we will just put his chew toy right in his mouth.) I think the vast majority of the bites are trying to play and love bites. I was pretty scared of him early on but now we're good. I can only think of once or twice in the last two weeks I felt the need to remove myself and the last time he bit my sleeve while I was holding him so a much different scenario. This compared to once every couple days removing myself from being bit when I was simply sitting minding my own business.

So yeah definitely try when she bites putting either her or yourself behind a closed door after saying "no!" or "ow!" Just for a couple minutes. No need to yell etc you're not punishing just putting a barrier to prevent it happening again and communicating "this doesn't get what you want." Also look into a cat chew toy so she has something appropriate to bite! Ours is a worm shaped firm rubbery thing. He wasn't sure about it at first cause it's smell (says catnip infused but smelled straight up minty) but he really took to it after a day or two.

 

[sailon]

I had a one-eyed cat before!

It sounds like she is super playful!

I had a foster cat who bit for no reason, and what worked with him was for me to quietly but immediately end whatever interaction we were having as soon as he bit me. He was older though.

Wondering if any of these are ever more like love bites, like when she casually bites your leg as he's passing by? Or are they always very very hard? Do they break the skin?

It sounds like you are playing with her a lot. You mention that you have a lot of toys--wondering if any of them are more like chew toys. She sounds very interactive. Hope you get some good advice here!

Thanks Sunny. I'd say about a third of her bites actually break the skin, and yes, she has several chew toys. You were dead on about playing with her. I initially tried to but not any more. When she jumps in my lap I move my arms out of the way and try to remain still. I don't want to give her any reason to bite me, but she does sometimes anyway. She doesn't seem angry, just that it's second nature to her.

 

[sailon]

Good news! You aren't alone and it will likely improve.

This sounds almost exactly like my cat, minus biting bedding (other than when he's making biscuits!) He's also 3. Same thing as far as biting randomly. He will also be snuggling and purring and then just turn his head and BITES! Sometimes hard enough to break the skin even. Or will just calmly walk over and bite. If I was standing he'd jump and bite my leg.

He tries to chew apart his toys, biting and ripping at the fabric ones. Chews the wand on the window blinds. Chews the wands for wand toys!

Ours is one of 4 and is new and not yet integrated in the home. We got him at the end of July for a time frame (he's just very playful and the other 3 are senior cats so we're going slow introducing!) I mention this because the biggest difference in our scenario is that the majority of the biting has occurred in his room, giving us a much more controlled situation.

At first when he would do it I would redirect him to toys and play with him. The sudden biting didn't stop though. So I started to say "no!" And leave his room. If he was swapped with the other cats and out in the rest of the house I'd say "no!" And put him in a bathroom for a few minutes. Any time he gets that look or seems playful I grab a toy and we play. We play in general too a couple times a day. We also got him a chew toy to redirect him to and make sure he has a couple toys that are safe for him to really chomp down on.

It's made a BIG difference. He still bites but the vast majority of the times he doesn't bite hard or will go to bite but stops before making contact (which is often when we will just put his chew toy right in his mouth.) I think the vast majority of the bites are trying to play and love bites. I was pretty scared of him early on but now we're good. I can only think of once or twice in the last two weeks I felt the need to remove myself and the last time he bit my sleeve while I was holding him so a much different scenario. This compared to once every couple days removing myself from being bit when I was simply sitting minding my own business.

So yeah definitely try when she bites putting either her or yourself behind a closed door after saying "no!" or "ow!" Just for a couple minutes. No need to yell etc you're not punishing just putting a barrier to prevent it happening again and communicating "this doesn't get what you want." Also look into a cat chew toy so she has something appropriate to bite! Ours is a worm shaped firm rubbery thing. He wasn't sure about it at first cause it's smell (says catnip infused but smelled straight up minty) but he really took to it after a day or two.

Thanks Kakers. I think our cats must be related. I've taken the same preventive measures you have, but maybe I just haven't given it enough time yet. I also appreciate your suggestions regarding chew toys. I definitely need to get her more substantial ones.

 

[__caitlin]

We had a cat that did exactly this -- but in our case, we knew it was because of prior trauma from his previous home. He was declawed and had been in a household where we think people were aggressive toward him -- and so, having no other way to defend himself, learned to bite. But also learned to respond to any type of minor discomfort or perceived discomfort with biting.

My sister did wonders with this cat -- honestly, I think patience and consistent positive reinforcement is most of what you can do. She may have an overactive defense mechanism (humans get like this too!), so biting is her response to protecting herself, but she might also be conflating small itches or discomfort while sitting on you as danger too. Our cat would bite while sitting on us when in reality, he just needed to adjust his leg or something -- but he was so traumatized that any discomfort went straight to the bite reflex. Again, humans also do this!

It's going to take her a lot of time to eventually learn what safety is like, but I think you're doing the right thing in slowly teaching her that settling down on your lap is safe and not handling her too much at first. Let her get used to it.

Every cat is different, but unless you're really able to do it in a calm, positive way, I would suggest holding off on any scolding + putting her in the bathroom -- at least for now. I think this could be an okay response to playing inappropriately (which seemed to work for kakers!), but I wouldn't want to use it as a response to biting due to discomfort or perceived discomfort (including the "random" ones while just sitting on your lap). Cats don't tend to respond well to negative reinforcement, and if the biting is a reaction to stress (or perceived stress), then adding to that stress might just reinforce the behavior.

 

[sailon]

Thanks Caitlin. Good point about the "perceived" stress.

 

[kakers]

It is definitely possible in some situations it's a reaction to some sort of sensation you aren't aware of. It's absolutely worth considering especially if you notice any other signs of trauma or fear responses. What makes me question that as a general theory (for both your cat and mine) is the calmly walking over and biting you when you weren't even interacting at all. It doesn't make much sense for them to calmly walk over then bite, if it was a fear or stress response they would not appear calm leading up to the bite they would appear agitated. It's possible I'm missing a trauma response in your cat because mine doesn't seem to fit that profile, so I may just be missing if yours does.

I also wanted to clarify I'm not talking about "scolding" the cat. Just communicating "I don't like that" much like would happen if they got too rough with another cat. When they're learning to play if one gets too aggressive the other will vocalize their displeasure, that's how they learn to play safely. Sometimes the vocalizing cat will also run away (so, remove them self from the situation.) Which is effectively what I am suggesting however being human adults we have things we may be doing where we can't just up and leave the room, which is why putting the cat behind a door (again for just a few minutes. I'm talking like 3-5 minutes if that) may be the only option. (it doesn't have to be a bathroom that is quite simply the only door I can put him behind downstairs. If I were in my office, I would place him outside the office and close myself in for example.)

Plus, placing ourselves or the cat behind the door doesn't just function to remove the attention from the cat it also serves to reduce our OWN stress and fear response from having been hurt, so we aren't bringing a negative energy to the cat.

Also I'm just a bit nit picky about terminology. I don't believe "negative reinforcement" is what was meant. All reinforcement (positive and negative) by definition increases the behavior it follows. I suppose technically I'm this case it could be considered negative punishment because the goal is to decrease the biting (decrease=punishment) by taking away attention (remove=negative.)

You always want to include an alternative, if the function of the biting is truly for attention then literally everything else they are given attention for will serve as an alternative which is where redirecting *before* the bite comes in.

 

[sailon]

It is definitely possible in some situations it's a reaction to some sort of sensation you aren't aware of. It's absolutely worth considering especially if you notice any other signs of trauma or fear responses. What makes me question that as a general theory (for both your cat and mine) is the calmly walking over and biting you when you weren't even interacting at all. It doesn't make much sense for them to calmly walk over then bite, if it was a fear or stress response they would not appear calm leading up to the bite they would appear agitated. It's possible I'm missing a trauma response in your cat because mine doesn't seem to fit that profile, so I may just be missing if yours does.

I also wanted to clarify I'm not talking about "scolding" the cat. Just communicating "I don't like that" much like would happen if they got too rough with another cat. When they're learning to play if one gets too aggressive the other will vocalize their displeasure, that's how they learn to play safely. Sometimes the vocalizing cat will also run away (so, remove them self from the situation.) Which is effectively what I am suggesting however being human adults we have things we may be doing where we can't just up and leave the room, which is why putting the cat behind a door (again for just a few minutes. I'm talking like 3-5 minutes if that) may be the only option. (it doesn't have to be a bathroom that is quite simply the only door I can put him behind downstairs. If I were in my office, I would place him outside the office and close myself in for example.)

Plus, placing ourselves or the cat behind the door doesn't just function to remove the attention from the cat it also serves to reduce our OWN stress and fear response from having been hurt, so we aren't bringing a negative energy to the cat.

Also I'm just a bit nit picky about terminology. I don't believe "negative reinforcement" is what was meant. All reinforcement (positive and negative) by definition increases the behavior it follows. I suppose technically I'm this case it could be considered negative punishment because the goal is to decrease the biting (decrease=punishment) by taking away attention (remove=negative.)

You always want to include an alternative, if the function of the biting is truly for attention then literally everything else they are given attention for will serve as an alternative which is where redirecting *before* the bite comes in.

Thanks again for your input Kakers. You said something this time I hadn't really thought of. It seems obvious now, but maybe she just wants attention. She follows me everywhere, always jumps in my lap, always gets in bed with me, etc. Maybe she just fears being abandoned and for whatever reason has selected biting as a way to deal with it. I'm the only one in the household and there are no other pets so any insecurities would be focused on me. Though biting to promote trust and affection doesn't make a lot of sense to me, I know nothing about her former life and what she may have been subjected to.

The only disciplining if done so far is to say "no", and while that hasn't seemed to work particularly well so far, I'll be patient.

 

[di and bob]

Say NO very loudly, and you might try hissing at her, it is her own language. As a last resort, if you don't get anywhere and she continues to bite, that means she was never taught manners and limits by her siblings and own mother. Last resort, you might try to take her by the loose skin on the back of the neck (NOT roughly or hard), just firm enough to hold her to the ground firmly. She may squirm and get mad, but hold her still and say NO. This should only take seconds, and NEVER lift a cat with all four legs off the ground, it could hurt her badly. I have, when it is really bad, lifted the front feet off the ground, but make sure the back feet are supported. She should instinctively be quiet and get still. She may come right back at you, but do it every time to be effective, don't let her bite you. It teaches them quickly, especially if done mid-bite. Cats don't like this and it is what other cats do to dominate or to teach discipline. Mama cats do this when the kittens get too carried away and bite too hard. It is used as a last resort, but I have had a lot of success with it.

 

[sailon]

I will definitely try this. My patience is running thin! Not 10 minutes ago, while brushing my teeth, Boo pushed the door open slightly and bit my leg, drawing blood. She then turned around and casually walked away. If the scruff-of-the-neck gambit doesn't work I think I'll consider biting her back.

 

[di and bob]

I have often thought that, LOL. It doesn't work though, I told my 4 year old daughter to bite her 2 year old brother back when he wouldn't stop, I walked back in to BOTH of them crying and biting each other! Hissing and saying NO works better, maybe in both cases!

 

[kakers]

Another thing that may work if it is purely for attention is to simply not react at all when she does it. Definitely easier said than done, bites hurt! But any reaction is attention to ignoring completely with a LOT of love and attention for everything good she does can also work.

Have some patience, nothing will work overnight, but I'm optimistic it WILL improve significantly.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

I have a 16 month old kitty that is going through a biting phase. Different cause, of course, since she was gentler when I adopted her as a kitten and I don't think she has a history of trauma, but perhaps it's not a coincidence that she is also an "only" kitty with just me as her person. I've started thinking it's for attention and () removing her or myself from the situation, calmly, seems to be helping. When I can, I literally pick up my laptop and move into my bedroom and close the door. When that's not practical, I move her to a nearby box (because there are no doors to close near my open office).

I did try hissing and it didn't seem to work. So too with not reacting-- that just causes her to bite harder to get my attention....

We're still a work in progress so I'll be following this thread to see how things things go for Boo (which happens to be my kitty's nickname).

 

[sailon]

I have often thought that, LOL. It doesn't work though, I told my 4 year old daughter to bite her 2 year old brother back when he wouldn't stop, I walked back in to BOTH of them crying and biting each other! Hissing and saying NO works better, maybe in both cases!

Lol

 

[sailon]

I have a 16 month old kitty that is going through a biting phase. Different cause, of course, since she was gentler when I adopted her as a kitten and I don't think she has a history of trauma, but perhaps it's not a coincidence that she is also an "only" kitty with just me as her person. I've started thinking it's for attention and () removing her or myself from the situation, calmly, seems to be helping. When I can, I literally pick up my laptop and move into my bedroom and close the door. When that's not practical, I move her to a nearby box (because there are no doors to close near my open office).

I did try hissing and it didn't seem to work. So too with not reacting-- that just causes her to bite harder to get my attention....

We're still a work in progress so I'll be following this thread to see how things things go for Boo (which happens to be my kitty's nickname).

Thanks Juniper. I hope this actually turns out to be a relatively short thread and I find a solution soon.

 

[walli]

What di and bob said works! I did this with my Joey and it really worked
he was really bad constantly biting drawing blood, I had to do all of what di and bob said
down to the scruffing, I was hissing a lot! ha ha, sheesh this just reminded me how much
Joey is NOT biting now.
so there is Hope!!
thanks di and bob!

 

[sailon]

It's been a while and I thought I should follow up. It's not a happy story.

I tried everything suggested by the kind replys that everyone has given, but nothing has worked. Boo continued to bite several times a day, almost always drawing blood. There were weeks when I was covered with bandaids.

I took her back twice more to the vet, convinced the root cause was some kind of physical distress. The exam and lab work were always negative. The vet then suggested I talk to a specialist vet on their staff, a "cat behaviorist". I confess my initial reaction was, are you serious. But apparently there is such a thing and they are legitimate. At this point I felt I had nothing to lose.

The specialist was very professional and questioned me in great detail about Boo's behavior. She also examined Boo and got bitten for her troubles. Her conclusion was that Boo was probably bipolar. Once again my skeptical reaction was, gimme a break. But she convinced me that cats too, like humans, could have serious mental issues, though the sources were in fact usually physical. She said the next definitive step was a brain scan. At this point my vet bill was rivaling my mortage but I was not going to give up on Boo.

The sad end to the story was that the scan showed a large brain tumor that was borderline inoperable. They got a second opinion on the scan and this vet agreed that the humane thing to do was to put Boo down.

Right or wrong, I'm simply not capable of doing that. I told them to at least try an operation. They were reluctant, but agreed if I would sign a consent form. I didn't think this was unreasonable as I was fully informed and going against medical advice.

I spent the entire day prior to the operation with Boo. We played and snuggled and she only bite me three times.

As I had been cautioned, Boo did not survive the operation. The tumor was just too invasive.

I still struggle with wether or not I made the right decision, but I'm still convinced that it was better than the alternatives - dying a painful death as the tumor progressed or simply putting her down. I hope I was right.

As brief as our relationship was, Boo had more personality than any pet I've ever owned. I miss her.

 

[di and bob]

I'm so very, very sorry.....my thoughts and prayers are with you both. You tried everything you could have with what you had. You even gave her another chance with the surgery. She passed without waking up, a painless alternative to what was in her future. I pray one day you will have some good memories of her and not the tragic end. May God bless you both, RIP sweet Boo......

 

[sailon]

I'm so very, very sorry.....my thoughts and prayers are with you both. You tried everything you could have with what you had. You even gave her another chance with the surgery. She passed without waking up, a painless alternative to what was in her future. I pray one day you will have some good memories of her and not the tragic end. May God bless you both, RIP sweet Boo......

Thanks Di and Bob.