Kitten persistently biting face

[littlecatt]

Hi guys! I have three cats, Finn (5 years), Anya (3 years), and Jonathan (almost 9 months) and they all get along great, I feel very lucky. So this isn't a huge issue but I'm just more curious about it because it's SO persistent! Ever since I got Jonathan at 4 months, he's loved sitting up on my shoulder and sleeping near my face. No problem, I'm a cat person through and through, he can snuggle wherever he wants. But for all the time I've had him, he LOVES licking and biting my face. It's not a hard bite, it's just like pinching the skin, but I've tried to discourage it through putting him down when he does it, telling him 'No", hissing, tapping his nose, and gently blowing on his face. When I put him down he just comes right back and does it again (usually with a protesting meow) and with the other discouragements he seems to know it's wrong but just keep doing it? He'll nibble lighter or more hesitantly but will not stop. He's usually purring away while he does it so it's obviously not aggressive. Is it just playful or attention-seeking?

Any advice would be super appreciated! He's an absolute sweetheart but I'd love to be able to stop guarding my face when he's snuggling on my chest!

Picture of the big baby himself:

 

[di and bob]

It will be hard to discourage them because they are love bites, Cats often, while grooming each other, nibble and softly bite the other. The problem is, sometimes they get carried away. The only way to totally break him of this is to not allow it at all, even when he is biting softly. You are exactly right in what you are doing to discourage it, say NO loudly, and hiss at him. Otherwise if you let him do it, even occaisonally, he will get confusing messages from you and will become bewildered. Beautiful tabby!

 

[littlecatt]

It will be hard to discourage them because they are love bites, Cats often, while grooming each other, nibble and softly bite the other. The problem is, sometimes they get carried away. The only way to totally break him of this is to not allow it at all, even when he is biting softly. You are exactly right in what you are doing to discourage it, say NO loudly, and hiss at him. Otherwise if you let him do it, even occaisonally, he will get confusing messages from you and will become bewildered. Beautiful tabby!

Thank you so much for the reply! Aw I feel so bad knowing it's love bites, I wish I could tell him that human face skin is very sensitive! I'll work on being consistent. So it's not just a kitten behavior and something he'll continue to do as an adult?

Oh and thank you! He's my first tabby, he's got full stripes on his left side and broken stripes on his right, it's super cute!

 

[Mr. Meow]

Maybe you can put something non-toxic to cats on your face, so when he tries, he gets a yucky taste in his mouth.
Lemon juice is a possible solution.
Or, just nibble him back like this

 

[littlecatt]

Maybe you can put something non-toxic to cats on your face, so when he tries, he gets a yucky taste in his mouth.
Lemon juice is a possible solution.
Or, just nibble him back like this
View attachment 365966

Cracking up at both of your expressions, what a perfect picture! I'll give the lemon juice or something citrusy a try! Someone should market a face mask and cat-nibble-deterrent in one.

 

[Mr. Meow]

He's only got one eye, so I thought I'd mimic him

 

[di and bob]

He may outgrow it, but will most likely get worse if you don't set limits. I have had several cats that bite to get attention, especially stockinged feet, and it did lessen as they got older. But they did get sneakier giving them to you because they knew you would scream. I had one that bit hard and take off running!