Non agressive Biting- what does it mean?

pwardy

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Thank you for taking the time to share all that!  Isn't hard to solve the mysteries of cats!  We need all the evidence we can get to compare our own situations to.  My new shelter cat, 3 years old, supposedly was a one family cat and they had to give him up.  He does view biting as a way to deal with things, I think.  He was neutered the day before I got him. He's male, and this is not his first home. I wonder if they get insecure when they are re-homed and the biting is their way to say—"You had better not abandon me like those other people did!!!"   He would not let me touch him at all at first. First, I couldn't even get to him, he'd be way under the furniture. Then gradually I worked my way up to four strokes, over his little head and down, but not onto his back,  and then, be prepared.  I definitely can pat him more now.  Also around his muzzle and chin. I feel some underground emotional stuff being touched in both of us as we get closer.  I WILL NOT allow him to bite me. 

Today we'd been having a pretty nice day and I was standing in the bathroom doing something, using the ironing board as a table, and I was talking to him a little, and as I watched, he gently but sharply bit my leg, where it is flat, hard and smooth. How could he get his teeth around anything??  I get emotionally shocked when I am attacked and I made a loud noise and shoved him away with my foot, went into my bedroom and slammed the door. People say that you are supposed to just accept that he bit you and move away from him, but I want him to get the message. NO BITE!  It's not a punishment, it is just "what happens when I bite my person."  I mostly avoid getting bitten by watching carefully when I'm patting him and withdrawing my hand as soon as I can tell.  It's not that I'm pushing him to the limit—he often just is not in the mood.  He adores PLAY! Toys on fishing poles, every day!  And he is the most creative cat playing solitary with little toy mice that I have ever seen! Tearing around the house!!  I have the feeling that he hadn't had much love in his life. Maybe he didn't get touched by humans early enough during that window from one to what is it? weeks.  The window closes in the cat's brain and from then on, they can't develop into a cuddly cat.  He will NOT sit in my lap, although he will lie beside me, touching me. He is very tall and might not feel comfortable confined to a lap area.  Anyway, isn't this just like a doting cat mama? I want to tell you all the details of my new boy, my very first OWN cat at the Age of 74.  Me, not him. He is really special!  lol.  In the shelter, his name WAS "Special" That's what the family that brought him in said his name was.  Boy, I'd love to know more about what his life was life before.   Oh so you want to know what he looks like!?  Tall, long legs, long body, faint tabby markings with striped legs, light pinkish-buff-orange-and-white, silky fur with a puffed out tail that has fur-hairs that are twice as long as the fur hairs on his body. Bright pink paw pads, nose and tongue, green eyes, a nose with white on it, so it looks big, nice modest ears. LONG whiskers, and such a pretty face!  Meow!!

Anyway, for me, because of my PTSD (maybe that's what it is) it is g
 

pwardy

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Wendalore: that's the same psychology I use with my students. I work for DCF. They say children that experience neglect in the very beginning of life don't develope they way they should. If they don't learn certain skills in the early months of life then they never will. I'm learning about cats for the first time too. I rescued a cat about 5 years ago then weeks later rescued another so they could have someone to talk to during the day. They both started off very standoffish. Over time they have gott n more and more cuddly. Even after years they still make progressions. Nither one ever shjows any aggression towards me. I know they don't fear me in anyway but I just don't think they will ever be lap cats. Some people are huggers and some are not. It is fun to learn about them though. I am and always will be a dog guy but I find the cats personality awesome. My dog is predictable, he wants food, and to please me! The cats are on their own schedule!
 

solicitorpirate

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Mythal likes giving love bites. One day, I decided to bite her back. the tasted gross.
 

elainag

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Clementine (7.5 month old) likes to nip at me when we're doing our petting/playing sessions. But she's a bratty adolescent right now, so it's to be expected.

Oliver (now 6 years) used to bite me HARD when he was a teenager, around when he was a year old or so. And for no reason! He was just a giant jerk cat. Thankfully he grew out of it and is basically a big ole lazy love bug now.
 

bornamissfit

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My cat is 5 years old a d while I'm petting her she will just randomly start bitting me gently like a kitten would do when there teething. I'm really confused
 

ceuoro

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I was very curious about these little nips too! It's so sweet to find out they are just little love bites. I recently got a female kitten, 8 months, who does this. I bought her from a shelter about 2 weeks ago, and her background information was just that her owner could no longer take care of her and her litter-mates due to an upcoming pregnancy. She had already been fixed as a very young kitten, and was very set in her indoor ways. From what I know she was never outside and lived with many other animals. She constantly purrs and is very affectionate towards me, even when she stands or is on her own she is kneading the ground. She gets so into head butting and rubbing against me that sometimes she tries to meow and will rub her teeth against me! When I'm walking by, petting her cheek, or really any chance she gets, she gives me a tiny nip where ever she can and then doesn't do it again until she sees me all over again. It's strange though how she's not feral or outdoor and most people think those are the cats who do the love biting. She may have learned from her mother or other cats in the home or shelter though, who knows. It's so precious though, and I love her and all of her quirky ways. The shelter who had her actually had given her many vaccines and flea treatments right before I received her, so I ended up harness training her since it seemed like a good time. No sure if that has changed anything though, with taking her outside gave to the love bites?
 

daones

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Our new cat does this too that we rescued from outside, but he bites hard sometimes...but I have a feeling that is from the ongoing bullying he had from another feral male... He was beating up a lot before we rescued him. I learned to wear long pants more often just from this, it is kind of like he over stimulates himself by constantly rubbing my leg then suddenly he will bite my leg... He basically follows me around for 5 minutes when he hasnt seen me for an hour, so now If im walking somewhere in the house I can expect him to be at my feet.

The difference between him and our older female cat is day and night, he is very affectionate and always wants to sit or sleep with us when we watch tv, our female cat Sticker on the other hand is kind of like a loner and sleeps alone in her bed and doesnt like to be touched much (we had her from a kitten)... But she does like to play more than the male.
 

hbunny

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I just posted a minute ago on another thread about my Shortstack doing the nips....I mean I just hit submit and went back to new posts and saw this!  He was a complete, utter feral...I don't think a single human had ever made any contact with him (other than maybe being mean to him and running him away from their house or something) before me.  It was very interesting to see others posting that they had only seen the behavior in ferals/strays!  He doesn't hurt me, just does it to get my attention!
 

pegleg

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One of our old boys used to do that too. Just a nip, almost like a taste, there was no malice in it, and he was as far from a feral as you can get. My little boy kitty does this too, and he was a feral/stray taken off the streets. He just does it a little hard, probably youthful exuberance. He also touches my face. He likes to pat my nose but because I haven't managed to trim all their claws yet it's a bit scratchy.
 

hbunny

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Our new cat does this too that we rescued from outside, but he bites hard sometimes...but I have a feeling that is from the ongoing bullying he had from another feral male... He was beating up a lot before we rescued him. I learned to wear long pants more often just from this, it is kind of like he over stimulates himself by constantly rubbing my leg then suddenly he will bite my leg... He basically follows me around for 5 minutes when he hasnt seen me for an hour, so now If im walking somewhere in the house I can expect him to be at my feet.

The difference between him and our older female cat is day and night, he is very affectionate and always wants to sit or sleep with us when we watch tv, our female cat Sticker on the other hand is kind of like a loner and sleeps alone in her bed and doesnt like to be touched much (we had her from a kitten)... But she does like to play more than the male.
Sounds like my house!  Shortstack (the former feral) is lovey-dovey and used to be up my butt constantly, but did the bitey-scratchy thing to me (no longer does thank goodness), while Wurp is a loner...only wants touching or to be near when HE desires, not us!

I've joked on this site that if I could get him to fit comfortably in an infant Snuggli thing, I could strap him on me and he'd be happy all the time.  He wants to be as close as he possibly can, and I do feed that obsession a bit.  I'm trying to break myself. But he is just a big fat furry ball of sunshine and love all the time, he's hard to resist picking him up and snuggling/cuddling him!!
 
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lumberjunkie30

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I took in a stray cat several months ago, and she does something that I've never seen a cat do before: she bites. Not aggressively at all. Here are a few examples:


-I'll let her inside and she'll bite my ankle. Not hard and she doesn't break the skin, but she does it gently and leaves little teeth marks. It's almost like a greeting.


-I'll be holding her and petting her, then she'll lean over and bite my arm.


-I'll be standing in the kitchen, cooking or something, and she'll come over and bite my leg.


-Right after I got her spayed, she was recuperating on her little bed and I was petting her....she grabbed my hand with her paw and bit my wrist.


I've had cats before and none of them have ever done this. Does anyone know what it means? I am not looking for ways to stop the behavior...I think it's cute. But I'm very curious....what is she saying to me?


She does occasionally bite other family members, but mostly she bites me. I am her primary caretaker (I am usually the one who feeds her, brushes her, takes her to the vet, etc). SO does anyone know what this means?
 

lumberjunkie30

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My cat does the same thing. He gnaws on my knee though. It felt funny the first time he did it. I wondered the same as you did. I've never met a more affectionate and needy cat in my life. He follows me everywhere and he always has to be petted. His name is Tiger.
 

ckeehn

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My cat, now almost 2, does this when I pet him. He was not a stray or feral cat. He was part of a litter my sisters cat had. He doesn't bite hard, it's gentle and he will lick, bite, lick, bite, lick, bite. Its actually pretty entertaining [emoji]128516[/emoji]. He's a good cat and he does it to say "I love you!" :)
 

becky45

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I have a cat that had a litter of kittens. I raised the kittens from birth. one of the female kittens is extremely close to me. I can't even to to the bathroom without Lily (the kitten) in my lap. when I lay down she will lay on my stomach and gently bite my chin or my neck. never hurts me. I get love bites daily from her. it's very much an affectionate gesture from kittys
 

quilo

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My cat was given to me at 4 years old and we are best friends with a unique bond sometimes when he is on the table ill bunch over n he will step onto my back sometime just lay there n chill while i even walk around n sometimes ill hunch over and he use me as a bridge even once he was stuck n my hubby couldnt get him down he was scared but when i went over i just hunched down like we usually do and he quickly went to jump on me and was no longer stuck he chose me over the table which was the same level n distance but he didnt trust it till he saw my back now heres the reason for all that during these times we play and he gets on my back he always takes a little nibble or soft bite on my butt and when hes laying on the table and im just walking by to go to kitchen or wherever he will sometimes grab my arm n take a nibble or just nibble me n run away he only does it with me sometimes it hurts but it feels good at the same time is this really him loving on me hes not upset or anything i mean if he didnt wanna walk on my back he dont have to but he seems to love it will even lay down for awhile while o stand there hunched over getting little nibbles sometimes on my arm or butt or back but he jumps down when he wants just wondering is this just a special bond we have n he trusts me so much that teaching him to walk on my back is something special n cute between us ive never seen or had a cat put so much trust in me before but he follows me around like a dog n when im gone for awhile he so ecstatic when i come.home.but if i step outside to smoke as i sont smoke in the house he will cry the whole time till im back in n if he sees me through the sliding vlass door he sits there watching me whole time n when i start to get closer n he knows im bout to come in he will start meowing over n over n over till i walk in than he will nip my ankle n sometimes run around the house back n forth just curious cause my hubby feeds him but i change his litter n cuddle.n pet n he loves to sleep between my legs on top of my minions blankie where he will start to knead and lick the blabket till he falls asleep n if i cuddle with my hubby he sits in front of us staring till i call him over whicb than he will find his comfy spot on me n my blanky n knead than sleep during r movie time so i wanna hear it from someone else me n my cat have a special bond right n once i was very sad n layed in bed all day n when my hubby tried to feed bom he wouldnt leave the bed to go eat which is wierd but when my hubby put the bowel of his soft food on the bed with us he than began to eat what was that about cause he goes crazy for his feeding time every 7am and 7pm he knows when we r late n wont let us forget but that day he didnt jump down or even meow even when he heard the soft can of food open n his dry food shake what was that about is r bond really that strong he knew i was so sad that he didnt wanna leave the bed either
 

quilo

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this is just one of the many pictures i could find so if u read my post u can see the unique bond we have where quilo will walk onto my back either use it as a bridge to the next spot or just to lay and like i stated earlier when he was stuck up high n scared my hubby couldnt get him n he wouldnt use the table which was the same height it is when i bend over for gim to walk on but when i walked over n bent over he immediately jumped onto my back to floor no longer frightened so me n quilo do have a unigue bond right cause he will nibble my arm or butt sometimes when we do this hes not mad right cause cats dont do what they dont wanna do so he must be happy rightn he only does it with me no one else weve tried but with me i dont even say anything he just knows he can walk onto my back n either lay or get to another counter or couch or higher spot
 
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