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i dont thinks its just strays my kitten that i didnt rescue nor a stary sits there for hourse and just nibbles on my finger
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Non agressive Biting- what does it mean?
- Thread starter rotobay
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I don't think it's just strays, either. My 13 year old female cat, Salem, that I've had since she was about 4 months old, just started the love bites a couple years ago. My family and I got her from a neighbor and ever since then, she was "mine", although she was all of ours. I was 12 years old then. She had 3 litters of kittens. The first litter of 2 kittens only lived for 2 weeks due to a premature birth. The other 2 litters lived happily and healthily for many years. After 3 litters, we finally got around to spaying her. And here she is, 13 years old, outliving all of her children! After I moved out of my parents house 6 years ago, I took her with me. I lived in a couple different places with her and my boyfriend. He was a loud, energetic person, and I had to constantly remind him not to scare her. Other than that, she was very happy and seemed to love him almost as much as she loved me. After a few years, I left my boyfriend and moved out to live with a couple female roommates. No love bites yet. But then I met my current boyfriend. He's calm, quiet, and loving. I moved in with him and after a few months of her adjusting to him and the move, the love bites started. She bites my hand and fingers if I AM petting her or if my other hand is petting her and that one is not. Sometimes it doesn't hurt, but sometimes it's pretty hard. I only tell her to stop if it's too hard. I've decided this means she is the most happy she has ever been in her entire life. She doesn't bite my boyfriend, only me, but she loves him, too. I think she actually lays in his lap more than mine!
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Welcome to TCS. The thread you are posting to is an older thread. I invite you to introduce yourself and your cat in New Cats on the Block. That said, all my cats give me love bites from time to time. They never bite hard enough for it to hurt. Did you use your hands to play with her when she was young? That is the reason most cats bite harder than just a light nip.
My 3 yr old cat does this but I think it's kind of a dominant behavior. The shelter I adopted her from said she was a stray but I found out by accident she is clicker trained and anything but a stray. In fact she is a diva! She nips whenever she acts affectionate, which is only about once a day (she's grouchy), whether I pet her or not she will rub up against me and find my hand and bite down. I take it to mean, "I like you, but I'm still the boss". She also used to nibble my toes to wake me up but my husband put a stop to that when we married by pushing her off the edge.
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My Schmitty is a stray, well... a rescue really. She was left, or misplaced from her family (several blocks up) across the street from us as a very tiny kitten. Now she will come to my face and very lightly place her teeth on my cheek! It's adorable, I've not come across a cat that will do it this way before. Biting lightly in play as if pulling a punch is one thing, but this is entirely different. She's completely relaxed and enjoying the company, cuddling with my neck and she'll do this lol too cute!
Mine both give love nibbles! My 4yr old boy Lou is definitely dominate over my 2 yr old (smaller) female but they're absolutely in love! They both nibble then groom then nibble then groom .. Lou only love nibbles me when I have been petting him and I stop, he pulls my hand back in nibbles licks then purrs curls his toes and rolls around when I start petting again .. Ellie rubs and love nibbles my knees when I am cooking or not giving my full attention to her (or when I want to finish what I am doing before I turn the sink on for her) .. Better than Lou who mountain climbs my legs to demand attention.. They know I'm weak lol [emoji]128571[/emoji]
My Louie nibbles me sometimes, it seems like it's more to get my attention than showing affection though. His favorite time is when I get up in the middle of the night to pee. Why my cats parade in after me is a mystery. They must think I'm having a party in there. Anyway, I'll be sitting there half asleep and Louie will come in, purring extremely loud, and bite the side of my butt!
Little stinker!!
Little stinker!!
This is my first post & this was the exact reason I joined this site! But, I adopted a special needs kitten last year, in fact it will be exactly a year tomorrow, from our local SPCA. My daughter & myself had been going down there for 3weeks straight, when one of the employees approached me, asked me many questions & then told me she was trying to find a home for an unadoptable kitten. Him & his brother had been sealed in an oil recycling bucket ro drowned & die. The brother apparently had recovered better than my "Babers". It took time to show him we would never hurt him , a year later we are great! But, he was a stray kitten, male & since he started trusting us, hes done something my 2 females have never done. When im petting him, he will gently bite my hand, I will pull it away, he will bring my hand back by grabbing it with his paw & I will continue to pet. As I keep petting he will lick, bite or bite then lick! At this point I dont know if hes screwing with me & trying to send me mixed signals or if hes just confused? Dazed ~ Confused
Cherokee! Its love bites, no doubt. He is enjoying so intense, he barely knows what he is doing. This means also, the bites may sometimes get a triffle to hard. You may ouch then of course, so he notices you got too much of the good.
One of my residents does almost the same as yours. Grabbing with paws and trying to hold on, to prolong the biting and pleasure session.
Good luck!
One of my residents does almost the same as yours. Grabbing with paws and trying to hold on, to prolong the biting and pleasure session.
Good luck!
Ellie and Lou were both rescues and dothis too!! Lou does it more for attention and Ellie does it more more affection. Ellie was in extremely bad shape when we got her
.. Poor thing was 2.5 lbs at 7 months old! She had a really hard time showing and receiving affection from us At first but immediately fell in love with our then 2 year old boy Lou .. Now she loooooves me but for some reason only wants me not my fiancé! Is that normal?
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That sounds very normal. It may change over more time too. My first cat preferred my Mother over me all of her life (but then I was a toddler when we adopted her!). My 2nd cat came to us when I was 9 and she preferred only me. Mom was acceptable when I'd be away for summers and things; but she never got attached to my Step-dad or step-siblings. She was my "soul kitty." The 3rd cat we had during that time loved everyone and every thing she ever came into contact with. They really all have different personalities!
My current 2 and my mother's current 3 are mostly more accepting of others. One of Mom's prefers her over my step-dad; but will snuggle in whoever has a lap available too. One never snuggles and the other will wind around your ankles for pets; but never join you in your lap. Mooch will come out and check out our company after a bit when people are here; as long as it isn't too noisy. Noodles mostly keeps hidden.
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Yes, its fairly common like MoochNoodles witness. They often do have their favorite, their human they do attach to extra. Here we have too the possibility someone alike your fiancé was mean to her in her earlier part of life.
Say someone having a similiar voice.
Anyway, the receipt is fairly simple: let your fiancé take care of her as much as possible. Giving food, traits, even changing in the litter.
Very effective is, if you are away on a journey several days, and he is then the only caretaker and company - and first cuddler..
Soon enough he will find the cat is coming to his bed and sleeps between his knees, as he otherwise does just with you.
When you are back, you will be again Human nr 1, but after a couple of such sessions he will be Human nr 2, not just anybody.
I got my Homer when he was a tea-cup, sized sprite of an orange, furry furacious furball...approximately 2 months old. I also had an adult sized orange, furry furball named Henry, who I adopted as an adult, approximately 5-6 years old. Homer, now an adult himself, has always displayed the biting behavior to varying degrees. Sometimes "love" bites, other times, less loving "give me some space" bites. Henry, God bless his sweet kitty soul, passed away October 2013 as a result of advanced mouth cancer, which may be one of the reasons he was sans the biting behaviour...too painful. There is a very clear distinction between love bites, and bites meant to do harm. One of the best ways to help a cat determine the difference is to nay use one's hand as a play toy, and the other is to praise good behaviour predominantly more than bad behavior. Cats think we're part of thier "Cat den", and likewise treat us as such. Thier acknowledging our presence...in a good way. The best way to discourage the aggressive, biting behavior is to ignore them, as oppossed to reprimanding them. Ignoring them is really devastating to thier ego's...as we all know. I absolutely LOVE all you kitty lovers...CHOMP! CHOMP!
Only our older boy does it .. but they are love nips .. and occasionally it means get my food out of the cabinet nip
Any time of day that Si is being really affectionate, there will be a love nip or two involved. For me, it is primarily my cheekbone or jawbone while cuddling with him. And if you stand at the kitchen cabinet where the food is kept just before his mealtime -- sometimes I do it on purpose to see what he will do -- I will just stand there and within 2min of not opening the door, he will sit up on his hind legs and nip my kneecap. Silly boy.
Any time of day that Si is being really affectionate, there will be a love nip or two involved. For me, it is primarily my cheekbone or jawbone while cuddling with him. And if you stand at the kitchen cabinet where the food is kept just before his mealtime -- sometimes I do it on purpose to see what he will do -- I will just stand there and within 2min of not opening the door, he will sit up on his hind legs and nip my kneecap. Silly boy.
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I've had the same problem for the past year.But I've had my cat for 4 years now. I feel as though her "love" biting isn't really that innocent or it could deff escalate and I wouldn't advise people to encourage it. I noticed she used to be veryyyyy docile and maybe trusted us to much, she would let us pet her belly and so on without biting. Now I feel like my bf just takes it to far and overstimulates her and pets her more like a dog haha I gotta remind him shes a cat and he needs to be more gentle. But its hard to tell if that's the problem because she only really does these love bites towards me when I'm gently petting her. Usually its when I'm petting around her head or neck and she goes to head butt my hand and I kind of pull away or continue to pet her then her eyes dilate and she gets frisky then slowly goes in for the love bite, I do NOT encourage it and either move her away or I walk away because I don't want to escalate her behavior. So im really not sure how or why this all started but its good to hear Im not the only one. And it sounds like its a hard habit to break so I guess ill just keep doing what im doing and tell my bf about these things ive read.
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Emmylou, I don't think you're understanding the post. She wasn't angry at being petted or being overstimulated. She wasn't even being petted most of the time it occurred.
Rotobay, she really is just showing affection. Most likely, she was taken away from her litter too early as a kitten. A cat's mother and fellow litter mates would have taught the cat "proper manners," such as not biting, don't play too rough, back off when another cat hisses at you, etc. Cats who are taken away from their litters too early have a more difficult time getting along with other cats because they play too rough and don't pick up on the social cues from the other feline. This also extends to humans. Since you are the primary caretaker and have a bond with your kitty, she sees you as her "mother". Kittens bite their feline mothers when giving affection, until their mothers teach them not to by slapping them around. If your cat was never taught her manners, she won't know that biting is socially unacceptable.
I rescued my youngest cat from the shelter when she was 5 months old, and she always gives me affectionate bites. She either bites my toes/fingers when she wants to play, my ankles/calves when she's saying "hello" as she walks by, and my chin/nose when we're cuddling and she's especially happy (and purring).
Rotobay, she really is just showing affection. Most likely, she was taken away from her litter too early as a kitten. A cat's mother and fellow litter mates would have taught the cat "proper manners," such as not biting, don't play too rough, back off when another cat hisses at you, etc. Cats who are taken away from their litters too early have a more difficult time getting along with other cats because they play too rough and don't pick up on the social cues from the other feline. This also extends to humans. Since you are the primary caretaker and have a bond with your kitty, she sees you as her "mother". Kittens bite their feline mothers when giving affection, until their mothers teach them not to by slapping them around. If your cat was never taught her manners, she won't know that biting is socially unacceptable.
I rescued my youngest cat from the shelter when she was 5 months old, and she always gives me affectionate bites. She either bites my toes/fingers when she wants to play, my ankles/calves when she's saying "hello" as she walks by, and my chin/nose when we're cuddling and she's especially happy (and purring).
Lilith does this also. When she is sitting on my lap she will "nibble" on my hand or arm and when she's curled up with my daughter on her bed she will nibble on her fingers. she does it very gently. Sophie doesn't do it really but she's not a lap cat yet. she will curl up on the bed with Lilith and my daughter but not for long. All in good time. both were strays/rescues BTW.
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It could be. If she has learned that gets her attention she'll keep doing it. I would try to ignore her and certainly don't reward her with food. But sometimes with cats even negative attention can be a reward. You could try moving her dinner time closer to bedtime? Or splitting the evening meal into different times so she gets something to hold her through the night. It *might* help.
My kitty Zelda does this as well. She was a stray that walked right up to my front door once day basically saying, "Will you be my mommy?". She was spayed roughly 3 months ago and she still does this. I think it's darling.
My male cat, Senior Fur, does this VERY rarely as well. I've definitely picked up that it's a sign of affection. Because they always seem to be purring when they do it!
My male cat, Senior Fur, does this VERY rarely as well. I've definitely picked up that it's a sign of affection. Because they always seem to be purring when they do it!
