Hello! I have a three/four month old ginger kitten and he is the sweetest little boy ever--except for when he is hungry. He keeps biting my toes to get food (and the bites are gradually becoming harder), so ignoring him is really hard for me because it hurts so much TT _____ TT I don't want him to get used to this as he becomes older... Is there another way to discipline him? I always try to ignore him when he does it but I always give in because he just comes running with me when I walk away and it's super adorable TT _____ TT Any help is appreciated!!
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Kitten biting feet to get food! Please help!
- Thread starter fandin
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How much are you feeding per day, and what are you feeding? He's probably hungry and in need of more food!
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- #3
I feed him four times a day which totals to two sachets of Whiskas kitten wet food (half of a sachet each time). Whenever I give him the full packet, he leaves little bits behind and I don't want to waste food. Is that too little? D:
The recommended amount for a 4-month-old is 3 sachets a day. You might try spreading that over 4 - 5 meals per day or finding a more nutritious food. Whiskas doesn't have a good reputation.
in my experience with GINGER cats they are voracious eaters. They grow larger than most and usually are very vocal.
His biting may be saying "I'M SO HUNGRY I COULD EAT THE WHOLE PACK!"
so give him the whole thing and see if he eats it in one sitting.
(Another thing you could try is get him another kind of wet food.) expensive or not.. Arnt your toes worth it?
If he does eat or all, he may eat less next feeding time...
Good luck. Keep us posted
His biting may be saying "I'M SO HUNGRY I COULD EAT THE WHOLE PACK!"
so give him the whole thing and see if he eats it in one sitting.
(Another thing you could try is get him another kind of wet food.) expensive or not.. Arnt your toes worth it?
If he does eat or all, he may eat less next feeding time...
Good luck. Keep us posted
Once I was trying to call my black cat out to the door so I stepped out to my backyard and yelled "Come and get some kitten treats!" Usually this was guaranteed to get results with my cat, but instead a few seconds later an adorable ginger kitty I'd never met before was in my yard, rubbing at my legs.
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Stuff a toy in his mouth when he bites your toes. Give him something else to bite and play with.
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Kittens tend to need a lot of food during the first year or two of their lives at least, so you want to make sure, first of all, that they are getting enough good calories/good food daily.
But it's also possible that some of your own body behaviors during your encounters could be encouraging him to keep up his biting-at-your-feet.
Some things you could do (after you make sure he is eating more per day):-
- - Wear shoes during the times of day he regularly seems to want to nip at your feet. Shoes are much less "results oriented" for him than your bare foot or stocking foot!
- - Don't walk or run away from him while he is biting or trying to bite you -- your walking away resembles "prey behavior" and he will simply chase after you.
- - You never want to discipline a cat or kitten by striking it (I know you didn't suggest that! I'm just bringing it up) -- but many times a stern look, or a certain stern word with your voice raised a bit louder to show you mean business, can help during the "confrontation" -- if he knows you mean business and you are looking at him sternly in the eye, he'll likely learn to back off. Right now he might be learning that if he nips at you and you walk away, then you both are headed to the kitchen to get him some food!
- - Distract with a stuffed animal toy, so he can get his aggression out on that.
- - Sometimes you can keep a lightweight dishtowel handy, and just float it in the air down on top of him (to land on his head & cover him) when he is biting you -- this is distracting and doesn't hurt him, and it allows you to walk away without him chasing you (if it's on his head, he can't see you temporarily). Pretty soon, if he sees you pull out a dishtowel, he has come to learn what that means, & he'll likely find other things to do since having a dishtowel ruin his view isn't the experience he wants at that time.
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- #9
Hi everyone! I've read all of your replies and they have been very helpful, thank you! I will be sure to feed him more times a day and try to find better wet food. It's too bad that they are expensive where I am. I'll keep you all posted!!
