Hi,
I wandered onto this forum because I've been having issues with my cat and nipping when he wants food.
I'm a college student and took this cat from a friend who couldn't keep him about 5 months ago. I'm guessing he's around a year old. I have brought him home to my parents house and they have agreed to keep him. He's relatively friendly and has never bitten in an aggressive way, but he is pretty stubborn/dominant compared to the two cats I have previously had.
Anyways, on to the problem. When I had him at school he never nipped but now if he is out of food he will come up to you, start rubbing all over you, just being annoying, and if you don't jump to it right away and get him more food he'll nip at you and keep nipping until he gets what he wants. My mom also feeds our dog canned wet food in the morning and started giving the cat a tiny bite of it. So now the cat expects the small bite of wet food and will nip at you until you give it to him. I've told her to leave the cat outside in the mornings but he throws himself against the glass sliding door and it drives her crazy so she lets him in.
Anyways what is the best way to deal with this whole nipping thing? Should we tell him no and then go feed him? Should we tell him no and ignore him for a while and then feed him? Should we just throw him outside and ignore him begging at the door? We have a spray bottle and have been trying to spray him with it but it's hard to constantly have it in your hand and get him right when he nips at you. My dad has been slapping at him, not hard, but enough to scare him off. My mom won't slap at him because she thinks it'll make him mean. Basically there's a whole lot of inconsistency at the moment, but I'd appreciate any opinions. I’m leaving for school again in a few weeks and would like to figure out a consistent way to deal with this, I don’t want him turning into a biter.
eta: this cat gets plenty of food and is actually starting to look a little plump lol
Thanks for reading through all this
Melissa
I wandered onto this forum because I've been having issues with my cat and nipping when he wants food.
I'm a college student and took this cat from a friend who couldn't keep him about 5 months ago. I'm guessing he's around a year old. I have brought him home to my parents house and they have agreed to keep him. He's relatively friendly and has never bitten in an aggressive way, but he is pretty stubborn/dominant compared to the two cats I have previously had.
Anyways, on to the problem. When I had him at school he never nipped but now if he is out of food he will come up to you, start rubbing all over you, just being annoying, and if you don't jump to it right away and get him more food he'll nip at you and keep nipping until he gets what he wants. My mom also feeds our dog canned wet food in the morning and started giving the cat a tiny bite of it. So now the cat expects the small bite of wet food and will nip at you until you give it to him. I've told her to leave the cat outside in the mornings but he throws himself against the glass sliding door and it drives her crazy so she lets him in.
Anyways what is the best way to deal with this whole nipping thing? Should we tell him no and then go feed him? Should we tell him no and ignore him for a while and then feed him? Should we just throw him outside and ignore him begging at the door? We have a spray bottle and have been trying to spray him with it but it's hard to constantly have it in your hand and get him right when he nips at you. My dad has been slapping at him, not hard, but enough to scare him off. My mom won't slap at him because she thinks it'll make him mean. Basically there's a whole lot of inconsistency at the moment, but I'd appreciate any opinions. I’m leaving for school again in a few weeks and would like to figure out a consistent way to deal with this, I don’t want him turning into a biter.
eta: this cat gets plenty of food and is actually starting to look a little plump lol
Thanks for reading through all this
Melissa