How do I stop the biting

[animallover9]

I have three cats Tyson, Ellie and Oliver. Oliver started biting me about 6 months ago when he was about 5 months old he is very picky and only likes the top of his head behind his ears pet if you pet him anywhere else look out because you will end up with teeth in your hand. My other never even attempted to bite me. Tyson started first after Oliver maybe a month ago when I pet him it is almost like he suddenly gets excited wraps his arms around my arm and bites at first it was gently and then he would look at me and start licking where he bit me almost like he was sorry for doing it. Ellie has now started in the last few weeks I have no idea what sets her off I can be petting her and suddenly she bites me then rubs up against my hand like she wants me to keep petting her they are always random. Most the time when they bite I swat there nose and either put them off the bed or I walk away depending on where I am but that doesnt stop anything. They have a huge box full of toys and of course each other I dont think they are teething since they are 1 and a half, 1 and 3 months and 1 and a month. They are very spoiled and very dependent on me they wont go to anyone else only me. So why is it me that they bite? and why do they even do it? 

 

[zandi]

 I am keenly waiting for a reply to your post as I have the same problem with my Siamese, Sugar. She started not long after I brought her home from the breeder and it seemed to be playful at first. She still does it though and sometimes it's not playing at all. It can just happen out of the blue while I'm petting her and she has often drawn blood. I deal with it by walking away as well but that's obviously not a fix. She doesn't want me to stop petting, she just wants to get her teeth in there.

She's 13 months old now. It's worse if we're playing so I wear gloves then.

I hope we both get some answers. Thanks for the post.

 

[Geoffrey]

I believe that it may be a form of affection.  I have a 17 month old blue/white crossbreed whom we brought up from 8 weeks.  All her life she has behaved exactly the same as @Zandi has described, responding to petting with sudden mouthing and biting, following by licking.  I have managed to train Sukie inasmuch as when she bites me and grasps me in her fore legs she changes from biting my hand to licking when I say "Don't eat me."  I have never been able to stop her from biting me, but she has improved from actually hurting me and drawing blood to gentle biting and grasping my hand with sheathed claws as she has grown older.

Her mother belongs to my daughter (or vice-versa) aged two and a half and she lived with my daughter from 18 months.  She has similar biting behaviour, but has improved as she has grown older. 

Regards,

Geoffrey

 

[diverdawne]

I recently adopted a couple rescue kittens (2- 3 months old) to enrich the lives of my older cats...  Not sure the older cats see it that way, but I digress...  I think Finnegan is going to be a nibbler/attacker cat - I have holes in my toes already, but he's been acting like he may be teething at the moment  

I've seen cats bite for many reasons - fear/stress, pain or illness, anger, just playing, over-stimulation, and my favorite...because they like you a lot. 

It sounds like this isn't a new behavior for either of your kitties and I assume they are healthy, so I'd rule out pain or illness.  Since the cats are approaching you, it doesn't seem like fear, stress, or anger.  You both mentioned that kitty bites when you are petting him/her.  Sounds to me like s/he is over-excited by the attention or just wants to show affection.  Either way, s/he needs to learn that biting her human isn't acceptable behavior.

Personally, I am not a fan of swatting or hitting an animal - the goal is to encourage a different behavior rather than teach fear of their human's hands.  Walking away can sometimes work, but only IF they can figure out WHY it happened...

What worked well with Trouble when he went through a biting stage was to say 'Ow.  That hurts!' rather loudly in a disappointed (not mean or angry) tone and pull my hand, head, collar bone, etc. away and stop petting or playing.  (It should be loud enough to get the cat's attention, but not loud enough to terrify him.)  If he drew blood, I'd show him and sadly say 'Look what you did - I'm bleeding.'

After a few moments, I'd go back to petting or playing and say calmly in a Disney princess tone, 'That's a good boy.." (Don't laugh - they like the happy voice and actually do learn some of the words.)  Don't wait too long to resume the attention or the cat won't link the behaviors and learning won't occur. (Yes, I am an educator by day. )

It didn't take long before Trouble figured it out - bite = jump and yowl; no bite = attention.   I've also learned to pick up on the signs he's getting over-stimulated and have figured out about how how long to pet him in each area and when to just pause with my hand on him to let him relax a bit.

If the biting occurs during play, I use a similar approach.

After saying 'Ow. That hurts!' and extricating my body part from the needle teeth, I'd tell him in a stern (not angry) tone, 'I'm not going to play with you when you bite me.' and stop playing for a moment.  When play resumed, I'd tell him in the happy voice how happy I am to play when he's not biting.

During each play session, I extended the 'timeout' duration before I returned to playing by a few seconds after each nip.  Always end on a good note - stop playing while you're both engaged or when the cat is done. Don't just disappear.  Eventually, they seem to get it.  Some faster than others. 

I've started this with Finnegan, but he's only been home a couple weeks and I'm currently running an infirmary for one cat with pancreatitis and a pseudomonas infection and another cat with an upper respiratory infection so it has been slow going... 

Hope this helps!

 

[talkingpeanut]

 
I have three cats Tyson, Ellie and Oliver. Oliver started biting me about 6 months ago when he was about 5 months old he is very picky and only likes the top of his head behind his ears pet if you pet him anywhere else look out because you will end up with teeth in your hand. My other never even attempted to bite me. Tyson started first after Oliver maybe a month ago when I pet him it is almost like he suddenly gets excited wraps his arms around my arm and bites at first it was gently and then he would look at me and start licking where he bit me almost like he was sorry for doing it. Ellie has now started in the last few weeks I have no idea what sets her off I can be petting her and suddenly she bites me then rubs up against my hand like she wants me to keep petting her they are always random. Most the time when they bite I swat there nose and either put them off the bed or I walk away depending on where I am but that doesnt stop anything. They have a huge box full of toys and of course each other I dont think they are teething since they are 1 and a half, 1 and 3 months and 1 and a month. They are very spoiled and very dependent on me they wont go to anyone else only me. So why is it me that they bite? and why do they even do it? 

I just saw in another one of your posts that all of your cats are declawed.  I'm sorry to say that this is a very common reason for biting.  You should continue to try to redirect with toys and play and to walk away when things get too aggressive, but this may be a problem that you have to deal with to a certain extent.  Claws are the first line of defense and many cats communicate by using them.  Once they are gone, they resort to other methods.

 

[Geoffrey]

 
I recently adopted a couple rescue kittens (2- 3 months old) to enrich the lives of my older cats...  Not sure the older cats see it that way, but I digress...  I think Finnegan is going to be a nibbler/attacker cat - I have holes in my toes already, but he's been acting like he may be teething at the moment  

I've seen cats bite for many reasons - fear/stress, pain or illness, anger, just playing, over-stimulation, and my favorite...because they like you a lot. 

It sounds like this isn't a new behavior for either of your kitties and I assume they are healthy, so I'd rule out pain or illness.  Since the cats are approaching you, it doesn't seem like fear, stress, or anger.  You both mentioned that kitty bites when you are petting him/her.  Sounds to me like s/he is over-excited by the attention or just wants to show affection.  Either way, s/he needs to learn that biting her human isn't acceptable behavior.

Personally, I am not a fan of swatting or hitting an animal - the goal is to encourage a different behavior rather than teach fear of their human's hands.  Walking away can sometimes work, but only IF they can figure out WHY it happened...

What worked well with Trouble when he went through a biting stage was to say 'Ow.  That hurts!' rather loudly in a disappointed (not mean or angry) tone and pull my hand, head, collar bone, etc. away and stop petting or playing.  (It should be loud enough to get the cat's attention, but not loud enough to terrify him.)  If he drew blood, I'd show him and sadly say 'Look what you did - I'm bleeding.'

After a few moments, I'd go back to petting or playing and say calmly in a Disney princess tone, 'That's a good boy.." (Don't laugh - they like the happy voice and actually do learn some of the words.)  Don't wait too long to resume the attention or the cat won't link the behaviors and learning won't occur. (Yes, I am an educator by day. )

It didn't take long before Trouble figured it out - bite = jump and yowl; no bite = attention.   I've also learned to pick up on the signs he's getting over-stimulated and have figured out about how how long to pet him in each area and when to just pause with my hand on him to let him relax a bit.

If the biting occurs during play, I use a similar approach.

After saying 'Ow. That hurts!' and extricating my body part from the needle teeth, I'd tell him in a stern (not angry) tone, 'I'm not going to play with you when you bite me.' and stop playing for a moment.  When play resumed, I'd tell him in the happy voice how happy I am to play when he's not biting.

During each play session, I extended the 'timeout' duration before I returned to playing by a few seconds after each nip.  Always end on a good note - stop playing while you're both engaged or when the cat is done. Don't just disappear.  Eventually, they seem to get it.  Some faster than others. 

I've started this with Finnegan, but he's only been home a couple weeks and I'm currently running an infirmary for one cat with pancreatitis and a pseudomonas infection and another cat with an upper respiratory infection so it has been slow going... 

Hope this helps!

Thank you, it has improved Sukie's behaviour although she still bites me as a love bite.  She also bites me to tell me that it is now time to stop petting her or to stop doing whatever I am currently doing.  (She has a very determined personality, I have never been able to put her on my lap without being bitten - and I have owned her for 18 months! )

I do hope your sick cats have improved.  Pancreatitis can be painful.

With regards,

Geoffrey

 

[jennifer26]

On a similar behavior - I have a six month old kitten, Mr. Johnny Cash, and he does the same thing where he will bite at my arm or hand and then wrap his body around my arm and start kicking with his hind legs. I feel like he does this when he wants attention and to play. What's hard is that he ALWAYS wants to play and there's only so much play time that I can give him a day. (On a side note, I am still searching for a brother/sister for him but for now, it's just him.) I will say "no" or "ow" to him and do the little head bop thing - the little finger on the head literally agitates him and he just gets more aggressive. One time he actually jumped at my face. I do walk away as well but when I come back to where I was or what I was doing, he might just start back at it again with me.

Will he outgrow this? Or, is he just a feisty guy? 

 

[yogakitty]

My little guy used to bite and lick before. I would yelp "ouch" and then put him in a separate room and close the door for about a minute or two. Or, I would yelp and walk away into another room myself. He learned that it was not something enjoyable for me and he would lose my attention if he did it. So he stopped.

 

[foxden]

I rescued Tipper from her owner who had decided to buy 2 Large dogs and didn't want the cat she had raised from a kitten.
Tipper was obviuosly traumatised when she came to us and was an only cat for some time. She relaxed a lot, but she was always a "pet, pet, bite" kitty. She just got overstimulated way too easily when she was held and petted. We had to learn to watch her excitement level and let her alone when her eyes started to dilate. She never got over this, but we learned to manage the behavior

 

[foxden]

jennifer26
Something I just remembered --
One of my first kitties had an "attack mode". We saw she liked worm-shaped toys, and we wanted to control the attacks on us. We took a tube sock or long sports sock and stuffed it with fiberfill. Just knot over the top of the sock. If he starts to shred it, just put it inside a second sock. We sized it so she could tackle and wrestle it. I think it was 8-10" long and about 3" across. She was able to bite it and use her rear claws on it and it gave her something other than us for her to attack. You can use old nylons to stuff the sock, roll up a tshirt, or cut up an old bed pillow that is fiberfill to stuff it. The fiberfill is nice because it's flexible and is lightweight enough that he can "overpower" the toy. It's washable, and easy to duplicate if needed. When Mr Johnny Cash starts to attack you, stick this toy in between you, and play with it to encourage him to attack the sock instead of your hand. Catnip can help get him attracted to this, but won't last through the wash. By then, he should be addicted to his new wrestling partner.
My current two kittens wrestle with each other, so there's an instinctive behavior that this can address.

 

[edie56]

tassee is doing alot of bitting and scraching now she mainly when we move her after she lays down and not sleeping

 

[danteshuman]

My punk Dante was a biter. For years all of his toys came on a wand, with a LONG ribbon tied to it or were thrown away from me. He could not be trusted around hands. So I would suggest making your hands for affection only. I can now play with him holding a toy in my hand if he is in a calm mood. Every time he bit or scratched me I would wail "ow OW ow" and if he drew blood I would show him while whispering ow ... and the play stopped every time he hurt me. I did have to establish that I was the dominate cat/not someone to be jumped when he was about 6 months old, with scuffing if he attacked me/my legs. If he bit my fingers or hand I would shove them a little bit into his mouth & he got the message quickly to not bite my hands.