New Cat -- Worrisome Behavior

[Poppysfirstfoster]

Hello! *Long Post Ahead*

As you can see by my username, I was fostering a cat named Poppy who came from Animal Control in my area. She was presumed to be a stray before that. She's only 1 year old, and she's a domestic shorthair. I decided to foster during COVID-19 because my roommate is displaced due to the virus back in her hometown and I am here alone. Long story short, I fell in love with Poppy after a week and decided to adopt her. It's now been 10 days and she has some behavior that really stresses me out. I've never owned a cat, so I'm hoping some of you wonderful cat lovers might have some tips.

The biggest issue at hand is that she bites. She's broken skin three times now, and other times she just leaves teeth marks. At first I thought it was petting aggression from overstimulation, but now it seems like she's biting whenever I stop petting her. It's kind of hard to tell at this point. This morning for example, she had been coming up and rubbing her face against mine while I was sleeping and meowing for attention. I ignored her until I was ready to get up (I read that this could discourage her from waking me up so much during the night). Once I started petting her, she seemed content, then when I stopped, she lunged at my forearm and bit me hard. I yelled "Ouch!" and she ran away, but then came back and bit me again with less force in the exact same place.

A smaller issue is that she gets up onto the stove and I don't want her there bc I don't want her to try this while I'm cooking. She doesn't respond to "no" and I can't pick her up without her latching her claws into me and biting. Tips for this?

I'm trying to be patient with her as I know that she had a rough life prior to this, and I've only had her 10 days, but the biting is very painful and extremely disheartening.

Please help!

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on your "foster fail". It happens a lot, BTW.

About Poppy's biting, it could be that she was separated from her mom and siblings too early, and didn't learn kitty manners, so doesn't realize biting you hurts. Saying "ouch" is one suggestion. So is "hissing". Both are ways another cat would let her know she's hurting them.

About her claws, "if" you are able to trim them, that will at least cut back their sharpness, well till they grow again.

TCS has some articles with more info on both subjects that might be helpful. Plus a couple for new cat "parents". Here are the links:

First-time Cat Owner’s Guide

How To Best Take Care Of Cat Claws

Teach your kitten how to play nice (this is from the Human Society. Please ignore their comments on water squirt bottle, as that is not recommended)

Cat Aggression Toward People | TheCatSite
Why Do Cats Attack? | TheCatSite
How To Stop Playtime Aggression In Cats | TheCatSite

Lastly, please keep an eye on any bites or scratches that break the skin, as they can become infected.
Ouch! More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Cat Bites

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

Thank you so much for the quick and helpful reply, rubysmama ! I will be sure to check out the links that you included.

That makes sense about the lack of kitty manners - I never feel like her bites are out of aggression as she doesn't show any other signs like hissing, raised fur, or growling.

I appreciate you welcoming me to TCS, I'm so happy to be here with the awesome resources that all of this cat knowledge provides new cat mamas like myself

 

[susanm9006]

In addition to reacting when she bites with a hiss or “ouch”, I would also tell her “no biting! In a very forceful way. She may eventually learn that if she bites she loses attention and the phrase serves as a warning to her. I also would try to get away from her biting trigger. That it as soon as you are done petting her you get up and leave her so that she doesn’t have the opportunity to bite.

As far as the countertop, clap your hands and tell her “down”. Cats usually respond and don’t require being physically removed. If she does, use a pillow or similar to gently push her off.

 

[susanm9006]

One thing about cat bites you should be aware of - they get infected very easily. So be sure if she does break the skin that you wash the wound very thoroughly and at the first sign of redness or swelling see your doctor immediately.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

Thank you, susanm9006 ! I have made sure to wash the wounds immediately after they happened and have been monitoring them. I appreciate the idea to get away from her biting trigger - I will try to incorporate that as well as the "ouch"/hiss methods.

 

[rubysmama]

As far as the countertop, clap your hands and tell her “down”. Cats usually respond and don’t require being physically removed. If she does, use a pillow or similar to gently push her off.

Oh, I forgot about Poppysfirstfoster 's concern about the counter top, so thank you, susanm9006 for commenting on that.

TCS actually has an article on the topic: How To Keep Cats Off Counters And Tables

When I first adopted my Ruby girl, she had "stray cat food obsession" and was constantly on the hunt for food. So that made cooking difficult. Therefore, out of fear that she'd burn her feet on the stove, I had no choice but to put her in another room when I was cooking.

Eventually she got past her food obsession, and insistence of jumping on the table, counter and stove. However, on the rare occasion she's leaped from the table to the stove (stove was not on thankfully) so even once they're "trained" you do have to keep an eye on them.

Just noticed your avatar, Poppysfirstfoster . Is that cutie pie, Miss Poppy?

 

[ArtNJ]

The best solution for countertops is to put the cat on the floor about 300 times over a few weeks and see what happens. Clapping can also be part of this. Many cats are highly stubborn about this though - YMMV with any technique. If the cat does not respond, a cat dangerously near the stove while you are cooking is about the only situation I would recommend a squirt gun/bottle for -- i.e. a single area, you can keep the squirter right there, and it is crucially important the cat stay away. The squirter part of my recommendation is controversial here, and I myself haven't used one in many years, but I personally believe they can be useful in the limited situation where you have a non-responsive cat and a single area that it is very important they stay away from. Where people go wrong is thinking they can run and get a squirt gun when the cat is scratching furniture or doing other naughty stuff in any random spot - that clearly doesn't work, the squirter has to be right in the spot you need to defend, ready to go.

I agree that for the biting a loud noise (I just use "no!") can work if you are consistent about it over a few weeks. It has to be loud enough to be a little startling though. If it doesn't work after a few weeks, we can recommend other steps.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

I trained my cat away from the counters and stove by putting plastic place mats with double sided tape on them. When she jumped up her paws got sticky so after a few weeks she stopped. I've heard some people use motion activated air cans but that seemed a bit too scary for a kitten.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

rubysmama - thank you, so good to know! And yes, that is little miss Poppy! I decided to close her in my bedroom while cooking for now which definitely gives me some peace of mind knowing she won't accidentally hop onto a hot stove.

A ArtNJ - I will keep at it with encouraging her not to get on the counter tops! If I allow her on a bar height table that I work at - do you think that could be confusing for her why she wouldn't be allowed on the counter? Just want to make sure I'm sending solid signals with no room for interpretation.

Neko-chan's mama - That's a great idea with the plastic mats! I'm trying to avoid the air cans as well for the time being because she is still a little jumpy.

 

[rubysmama]

Here's some more reading for you.

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat
Cats And Discipline Don't Mix | TheCatSite

 

[ArtNJ]

A ArtNJ -If I allow her on a bar height table that I work at - do you think that could be confusing for her why she wouldn't be allowed on the counter? Just want to make sure I'm sending solid signals with no room for interpretation.

Na. We all allow our cats on all kinds of surfaces. They are capable of distinguishing. Indeed, they often learn "I can't go on this table . . . when a human is watching".

They just like being near you, and if you add in the smell of something like fresh deli meat . . . its really hard for them! Plus cat=stubborn of course.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

rubysmama - Thank you for the reading! Finding TCS has been a life saver as a new cat mom!

A ArtNJ - Ha! That's good to know. Thank you.

 

[koolimy]

Poppy is a really pretty cat! I can see why you fell in love with her.
I also have a former stray who has a bit of a biting problem.
In the beginning where the biting problem was quite problematic, I tried to make sure to stop all interactions and go to a different room and close the door if my cat bit me. I would stay in the room for 3-5 minutes. The biting problem was quite bad, as he sometimes would use biting to get his way, and he sometimes had no boundaries (like trying to bite buttons on my shirt collar!). Consistently removing myself helped in reducing the aggression a bit. He still bites, but his bites have been soft, so they have been less of a problem.

I also found that my cat usually bit me when he has a ton of energy and wants to play. Once you remove yourself and Poppy gets a chance to cool down, you could try playing with her, with toys, of course. She is still young so maybe she has a ton of energy and wants to play. Setting scheduled play times could help reduce her biting behavior.

A final thing that helped me, although this might not apply in your situation, is training my cat. My cat had a problem of being unruly and using biting to try to get his way. To solve this problem, I tried to make it so that he got nothing for free. That means, he would have to follow a command (such as "sit") before he got his food. You don't have to incorporate this, but you could try to teach your cat some simple tricks, such as "come," "sit," "stay," "high five," etc. I don't know if these training sessions were responsible for mellowing out my cat, but he is a lot less unruly and generally does not try to use his teeth unless he is super hyper and needs to get his energy out. It also is a great bonding opportunity and probably the high point of my day. Even if it doesn't help in curbing the biting behavior, I would still recommend training your cat!

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

K koolimy - It's nice to know that it gets better! I think Poppy definitely bites when she wants something, it never feels intentionally aggressive. I haven't thought about training her, to be quite honest, I didn't even realize that you could train cats. I'll look into it! Thank you for the tips and for sharing your experiences.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

Hello all -

I wanted to circle back as it feels as if Poppy's behavior problems have only worsened. Now in addition to biting, she scratches whenever I am doing things in her vicinity. For example, today I was working on my laptop and she jumped onto the table and then bat/scratched my hand quite forcefully. I cried out "ouch!" and left the room immediately after and closed the door behind me. This is the third attack of the day, and I've reacted the same way each time. It's hard not to feel extremely discouraged. I've had her for 3.5 weeks at this point. Any additional advice would be much appreciated!

 

[ArtNJ]

Ok, lets work through this. You are saying "ouch!" How does the cat react to that? Some people have trouble being loud enough, and some cats just dont care. We may or may not need to change your approach, or you might just need more time.

Someone is going to ask you about how and how often you play with the cat. I don't actually know its too relevant, but lets get info.

If you can't make a loud noise work (ouch is fine, I've used "no!" but it shouldn't matter), then I'd move to holding the cat down by the scruff and hindquarters until it calms. That is basically how older cats deal with younger cats that are being a PITA. But I'd be sure you are being loud enough and have given the "ouch!" enough time.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

Thank you for working with me on this - cannot say how much I appreciate it!

It usually happens like this - I will be either moving something, typing, brushing my hair etc. and she swiftly goes in for a bite or scratch. I cry out "ouch!" and she retreats and I immediately leave the room. She doesn't really persist beyond that, but I do feel like the force behind each of these swift bites/scratches has gotten stronger. Now she always draws blood whereas when I first got her sometimes claws wouldn't be drawn, or the bites wouldn't break the skin. The only time that she has latched on was when she was in my lap sleeping and I tried to stand up slowly to move her. She is only 1 year old, so I'm not sure how much of this is young cat behavior or feral cat behavior from being a stray before she got taken to the shelter.

For play, I try to play with wand toys with her and laser pointers to keep my hands out of the equation. We do this for 5-10 min intervals 2 or 3 times a day. I just ordered a "da bird" toy from amazon so I'm hoping that helps get some energy out. She also enjoys her little mice toys and does a fair amount of chasing those around on her own.

I have not tried holding her down or scruffing her as she is only 5 pounds and I am terrified of hurting her. I'm not sure how long to give the "ouch" method before I can tell if it is or isn't working.

 

[ArtNJ]

In my experience, a loud "no!" can take weeks to work, if it is going to. But lets go back to whether this is actually play biting. This cat is not stalking you or wiggling its butt first, but you just described situations where your hands are moving. Is the cat watching you intently first? Does bored cat watching your hands make any sense to you given what happens?

I am not one of those people that thinks you can normally play the problems away, BUT two to three 5-10 minute sessions is not a lot for a one year old cat. I would certainly try to increase that, as well as to find toys the cat will play with on its own, even if only for a bit. Often by a year they won't play much solo, but every little bit helps. For free toys, I'd try crinkling up a 1/3 of a sheet of paper into a ball and tossing it. If it goes where they can't recover it, make another one. Who cares if you have 5 of them under chairs. A ping pong ball also works. Glad you are using a laser pointer; they tend to be great at getting energy out. I haven't often used fancier toys, so I'd suggest another thread with an appropriate title for ideas.

 

[Poppysfirstfoster]

A ArtNJ Bored cat watching my hands honestly could be what's happening here! I'm going to up the play time by a lot and will report back in a few days. Thank you so much for the tips!