Kitten biting

[Luvyna]

I have a 10 month old kitten who has become a bit of a biter - he bites gently and doesn't draw blood, but I've noticed he is starting to bite harder and play more roughly and I want to avoid things escalating to the point where he actually hurts someone.

He seems to bite for different reasons, but mostly I believe for playing. Sometimes when he gets overstimulated while playing, he will go after my arm, hand, or ankles. There are also times when he will randomly come up to me when I am sitting or lying down and bite my arm. Sometimes, if he is on the couch with me and he sees my hand or arm moving, he seems to be drawn by the movement and his pupils will get huge and he will pounce and bite me. The other situation is when he is done with being pet or if he doesn't want to be picked up or touched, he will bite.

When this behaviour first started I got him kicker toys and redirected him to playing with those, but eventually he started ignoring the toy and he prefers going for my hand. I've tried yelping or hissing when he bites me and cutting off the play/interaction after it happens, and he will stop, but that doesn't deter him from doing it again later. This also seems to have encouraged him to bite me when I am clipping his claws or if he's done with being pet because he sees it as a way to end an interaction.

I try to give him as much play time as I can every day with wand toys and balls which help burn off energy but I feel like he also just has a need to wrestle and bite something - I just don't know how to give him an outlet for that without it escalating to him biting me because he definitely prefers that to any toys I have offered.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sounds like overstimulation and/or boredom - not to mention his age! Keep doing what you are doing but be sure to be consistent - as that is the difference between success and failure in getting a cat to finally recognize when he has 'overstepped his boundaries'. Knowing the signs that are leading toward overstimulation is key in those cases to stop doing whatever you are doing before the signs transition into 'action' mode. There is a degree of all this that will diminish as he ages a bit more.

Try feeding treats when he starts to get anxious about nail trimming - not when he has already bitten but before he does. Some folks give a treat or two every couple of nails, just to get the pattern going for their cats to know that trimming nails can bring treats. For distraction, cat food puzzles might be something to try in lieu of kicker toys, which for now seem to have lost their 'magic'.

Do you have cat trees, ideally with a view at windows? Cat shelving that he can climb?
How To Stop Playtime Aggression In Cats – TheCatSite Articles
Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips) – TheCatSite Articles

 

[susanm9006]

First be aware of his body language and attack pattern and end play before he bites. You can also keep a small pillow next to you that you can quickly put between the two of you if he starts to bite. If he does bite don’t pull away, instead push towards him which should startle him and cause him to let go. You can also put you hand on his scruff to control him for a minute while you extract yourself.

 

[game misconduct]

I have a 10 month old kitten who has become a bit of a biter - he bites gently and doesn't draw blood, but I've noticed he is starting to bite harder and play more roughly and I want to avoid things escalating to the point where he actually hurts someone.

He seems to bite for different reasons, but mostly I believe for playing. Sometimes when he gets overstimulated while playing, he will go after my arm, hand, or ankles. There are also times when he will randomly come up to me when I am sitting or lying down and bite my arm. Sometimes, if he is on the couch with me and he sees my hand or arm moving, he seems to be drawn by the movement and his pupils will get huge and he will pounce and bite me. The other situation is when he is done with being pet or if he doesn't want to be picked up or touched, he will bite.

When this behaviour first started I got him kicker toys and redirected him to playing with those, but eventually he started ignoring the toy and he prefers going for my hand. I've tried yelping or hissing when he bites me and cutting off the play/interaction after it happens, and he will stop, but that doesn't deter him from doing it again later. This also seems to have encouraged him to bite me when I am clipping his claws or if he's done with being pet because he sees it as a way to end an interaction.

I try to give him as much play time as I can every day with wand toys and balls which help burn off energy but I feel like he also just has a need to wrestle and bite something - I just don't know how to give him an outlet for that without it escalating to him biting me because he definitely prefers that to any toys I have offered.

give him a dog chew toy one of the stuffed kind soon as he grabs/ bites it remove yourself away to let him beat up on the toymight want to use gabbapentine to medicate him before any nnail clippings cause it sounds like he already knows that all he has to do is beging biting to get you to leave him alone he knows you can be bullied the nail trim is important even if you can only get one nail at a time just get the one and then another later on.you already recognize his signs of impendening attack or attempt to get you to play depending on how you look at it thats when you use a loud no biting and ignore him or offer up the stuffed toy so he can play rough with it. will take a while along with patience but he doesnt know any better still right now but you can teach hime to play gentle in time. good luck you can manage it

 

[Luvyna]

Thanks for the input everyone! I would definitely agree that boredom is a big part of it. I live in a small one bedroom apartment and he has really settled in and explored the place thoroughly now. He has a 3-level cat tree at the window but I think he would benefit from more things to climb.

I've also been super busy with work and had less time to play with him than I did when he was 4-6 months old. I will continue to do what I'm doing to show he's overstepped boundaries and also look for signs he is overstimulated so I stop the play time before he starts biting.

I'm going to also get him a few automatic toys and hopefully those can help keep him occupied when he's restless until I can properly play with him.

For nail clipping what I've been doing is waiting until he's asleep and then clipping one paw at a time over a few days since he gets very excited about treats and won't sit still when he knows I have them. If he bites when nail clipping I don't react since he doesn't actually hurt me and just finish off the paw. I've been trying to keep the nail clipping sessions short and finish before he bites and I give him a treat each time.

Like everyone has mentioned, I think recognizing the signs is another big part of preventing bites - I know that he gets a certain look in his eyes before he bites so I'll just avoid interacting with him when he's in that state and wait until he's calmed down.