Lick, lick, gentle bite. Newby question on play aggression (I think)

[Berner]

I adopted a 2 year old orange shorthair cat 4 weeks ago. Mostly very calm/docile. When I brought him home from shelter he didn't hide al all and was immediately friendly.

Sometimes he'll lick me a couple times then nibble on my hand. Other times out of the blue he's come find me and nibble on me. His pupils are usually dilated when he does this.

When this happens I just walk away and stop paying him attention. Is the answer just to play with him more e.g. fishing line toy?

Thanks for your time.

Scott

PS he wags his tail in a friendly manner and he always seems happy as he does this.

 

[ArtNJ]

If its not accompanied by grabbing your hand, arm or leg and kicking, it might be love bites. Some young love biters do suffer from the tootsie roll effect -- lick, lick, can't help it gotta bite. If your careful with them, it doesn't turn into full play biting. True play biting tends to be a bit more vigorous. Stalking, pouncing or grabbing is often involved.

You can try playing more, cant hurt, but some two year olds still have enough kitten in them that its like using a bigger bucket to try to drain the ocean with.

 

[Alldara]

I'm just here to agree with A ArtNJ

Go ahead and walk away or remove your hand if you don't like it.

You can try grooming him back by using a damp cloth and sticking it over a single finger and using that finger to groom him. You can try moving your hand away after the second lick.

Cats sometimes nibble into their own fur to get themselves really clean. That could be what he's trying to do for you!

 

[Kris107]

Some cats do "bitey kisses" so if you don't think it's about play/aggression/etc then it might be okay. It's still important to teach boundaries though. Maybe hand is okay but not face. Or if too hard, yelp high/loud so he knows it was too much. I think you're on the right track about removing yourself too so he doesn't get attention. The dilated pupils and tail wagging makes me think it's about play more than a cat coming to give you loves.

 

[r-kins]

If your cat loves to play with the fishing line, play with him for sure! Even without the play aggression, it's beneficial to both of you!

My cat does the grab nibble bite a bit, but he also has play aggression so it's a fine line because I want to make sure I'm not encouraging my hands are delicious chewable lumps. Typically if he grabs my hand while getting a belly rub because he's just so excited, I'll remove the hand for a second and then go back to petting. It gives him a second to calm down. If he does it again, I'll stop.

His play aggression seems to be unrelated but you never know. Since I had a cat with horrible play aggression, I'm very careful with it.