Kitten Biting

[Sugardroid]

Hi, yet another post from me asking about my new kitten lol.

So my kitten is about 4/4 and a half months old and she's getting more and more wild, which is fine. I play with her most of the day and it's great.

However, she's biting a LOT. biting my fingers and toes. it seems like it's playful biting but is that normal? I'm afraid she's going to grow up aggressive. I'm not sure how to discipline her because I don't want her to be afraid of me and I also don't want her thinking touching and being held is bad.

I want her to know being pet and held is good so I don't want to send her the wrong message by discipling her when she bites.

she's extremely affectionate when she's tired lol. when she's done being crazy she likes to snuggle and be pet and is ok being held. she doesn't bite at all and enjoys affection. it's just before she takes her naps she's wild and is constantly biting us and kicking us.

should I be worried that she's growing up aggressive? or is it normal for kittens to constantly bite fingers when you try to touch them? how do I make her stop but at the same time still make her comfortable enough to snuggle and want to be touched? she likes being touched when she wants to lay down next to you.

 

[She's a witch]

You won’t go far disciplining her, it hardly works on cats. You just need to let her know that she hurts you, in my case loud exaggerated Aww worked the best, the kitten looked really surprised every time I did that, he simply didn’t realize he was biting too hard. Never play with a kitten with your hand and don’t try to touch her when she’s playful.

In the ideal world your kitten would still be with her siblings and that’s how they would play, biting each other among others and letting each other know what is too hurtful. That’s how cats learn the boundaries.
You may consider getting another kitten for your cat. Kittens shouldn’t grow up alone.
Single-Kitten Syndrome - MEOW Cat Rescue

 

[Sugardroid]

You won’t go far disciplining her, it hardly works on cats. You just need to let her know that she hurts you, in my case loud exaggerated Aww worked the best, the kitten looked really surprised every time I did that, he simply didn’t realize he was biting too hard. Never play with a kitten with your hand and don’t try to touch her when she’s playful.

In the ideal world your kitten would still be with her siblings and that’s how they would play, biting each other among others and letting each other know what is too hurtful. That’s how cats learn the boundaries.
You may consider getting another kitten for your cat. Kittens shouldn’t grow up alone.
Single-Kitten Syndrome - MEOW Cat Rescue

thanks for replying! she's not alone, we have a dog and our dog loves her and they play together all day. they're very comfortable with each other, my kitten enjoys being around her. I unfortunately cannot get another kitten so I'll try to just let her know that she's hurting me! I just don't want her to be afraid of me or be afraid of being touched or getting close to people since she's very affectionate when she's not playing. I don't want her growing up with aggression or affection issues.

 

[lucicat]

Hi, yet another post from me asking about my new kitten lol.

So my kitten is about 4/4 and a half months old and she's getting more and more wild, which is fine. I play with her most of the day and it's great.

However, she's biting a LOT. biting my fingers and toes. it seems like it's playful biting but is that normal? I'm afraid she's going to grow up aggressive. I'm not sure how to discipline her because I don't want her to be afraid of me and I also don't want her thinking touching and being held is bad.

I want her to know being pet and held is good so I don't want to send her the wrong message by discipling her when she bites.

she's extremely affectionate when she's tired lol. when she's done being crazy she likes to snuggle and be pet and is ok being held. she doesn't bite at all and enjoys affection. it's just before she takes her naps she's wild and is constantly biting us and kicking us.

should I be worried that she's growing up aggressive? or is it normal for kittens to constantly bite fingers when you try to touch them? how do I make her stop but at the same time still make her comfortable enough to snuggle and want to be touched? she likes being touched when she wants to lay down next to you.

My shelter kitten was like this and it really worried me too! We wound up adopting a second kitten (when she was 5 months old) and it was like magic, the biting stopped! I think 1) she hadn't been well socialized as a tiny kitten and hadn't had good feedback from other cats of what was too much/too hard 2) she needed way more energy out-put than we could give her. I mean you should see the two of them racing through the house at 6am!! No way was I going to be doing that! ha

I see you are not able to adopt another kitten, but I wanted to share my recent experience anyway. I was worried that she wasn't getting trained right or that her personality was aggressive. . .but I was able to see that all she needed was a bigger energy outlet (and maybe a fellow cat to let her know when the biting was too rough!!). Perhaps that can just help your perspective on your kitten. . .looking back, I think our kitten biting was her way of saying "I need to play!!" It wasn't aggressive really, she just had so much energy and no other way of telling me that.

 

[Sidewinder]

I firmly believe that kittens should be rescued or adopted in pairs, trios, or however many you can take... young kittens need exercise, and they'll get it when they're in pairs or groups, which will save you the trouble and aggravation of dealing with the scenario you described. Besides, what cat lover wouldn't want extra kitties around, aye?

 

[lucicat]

I firmly believe that kittens should be rescued or adopted in pairs, trios, or however many you can take... young kittens need exercise, and they'll get it when they're in pairs or groups, which will save you the trouble and aggravation of dealing with the scenario you described. Besides, what cat lover wouldn't want extra kitties around, aye?

I soooo wish someone had told me that before we adopted!!! I mean it all worked out great for us in the end. . .but when we adopted the first kitten, I even asked at the shelter if she;d do better with another kitten (one of her litter mates) and they said no! grrrrrr. I don't get that at all! Why would someone who works at a shelter not try and talk me into adopting 2??? I know plenty of rescue groups only adopt pairs though and now I know why!

 

[Sidewinder]

I'm just happy I get to hang out with three kitty cats tonight, and they all offer unconditional love (as long as I feed them in a timely manner, LOL). Kitty cats make the best bed warmers, and the weather is getting rather chilly at night... I might even run the heater awhile before crashing, just so the kitties don't feel too exploited, yeah? I don't need some kitty-hired ambulance chaser showing up on my doorstep with a "Cease & Desist" order outta the nearest kangaroo court, LOL.