Play Biting For Attention

[haiitsvi]

Hello! I adopted a 5 year old lynx point Siamese who came from a hoarding circumstance about a month ago. While he was taking some time to get used to his new home, he is now comfortable and constantly seeking attention. Recently he's been increasingly play biting for attention. It does not seem aggressive to me. Usually I am sitting, doing my own thing and if I am not paying attention to him he will gently bite my leg or arm. After reading some advice online, I tried to ignore it so he doesn't get the attention reward, but after biting me a few times today with no reaction, he bit harder. I'm wondering if the spray bottle will be a better technique.

Other things about him: he's quite a meower, which I understand is from his Siamese heritage. He also follows me around everywhere. If I get up and move to the other side of the room, he gets up and runs to me. I've accidentally kicked him a few times because he does this and runs right into my walking path without me realizing it.

I thought by adopting a cat at this age, he would be more accustomed to not having so much attention, but he acts like a kitten sometimes. I'm also worried that I am at work too long for him to be alone all day. My work sometimes requires me to be out until 9pm so feeding schedule is a bit inconsistent, but he also refuses to eat dry food...

Any advice here? I've tried Googling everything!

 

[ArtNJ]

Many here are very against spray bottle in any circumstances. I personally have used one for important issues, like a cat that refuses to listen re: the food prep counter. However, it doesn't usually work terribly well, and not at all with many cats. If it is going to work, its because the bottle is immediately handy in the spot in question, like the food prep counter, so it is a non-starter for biting unless you want to carry it around all the time. So lets put that aside.

There seems to be agreement here that a loud noise and ignoring the cat is best. I recommend a loud "No!" -- loud enough to get the attention and perhaps startle, but not enough to send fleeing in terror. Any noise should be fine -- some here recommend a "hiss" which should also work, but I find too silly to actually use Should work to reduce the biting, in time, but of course some cats are stubborn.

 

[Furballsmom]

HI!
Awww baby meezer

The hiss actually does work, it's cat language to them that says stop

You can leave canned food out for up to 12 hours. If you're not comfortable with that, you could do a set-up where there's an ice pack underneath the food dish. He might be trying to say he's hungry sometimes with that behavior.

Also can you put up a camera so you can see what he does while you're gone?

You could get some food puzzles, a lickimat, a platter style chase-it toy or two, bird and squirrel streaming videos.

The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

Can you try music? There's an app called Relax My Cat, or Kusc . org.

Can you train your furbaby to go for walks with a harness and leash?

 

[haiitsvi]

Oh really? I read that wet food shouldn't be left out for more than 2 hours. The LickiMat looks great! I've been looking for a wet food puzzle.

I'm working on training to get on a leash. I think that would be great to get his energy out.

 

[haiitsvi]

Many here are very against spray bottle in any circumstances. I personally have used one for important issues, like a cat that refuses to listen re: the food prep counter. However, it doesn't usually work terribly well, and not at all with many cats. If it is going to work, its because the bottle is immediately handy in the spot in question, like the food prep counter, so it is a non-starter for biting unless you want to carry it around all the time. So lets put that aside.

There seems to be agreement here that a loud noise and ignoring the cat is best. I recommend a loud "No!" -- loud enough to get the attention and perhaps startle, but not enough to send fleeing in terror. Any noise should be fine -- some here recommend a "hiss" which should also work, but I find too silly to actually use Should work to reduce the biting, in time, but of course some cats are stubborn.

Seems like I will have to endure biting for a while until he gets it..

 

[Furballsmom]

The ice pack underneath should help, for instance one dish without it that you'll know he'll finish within a short time, and the iced one that he can then eat later, including one for overnight unless he's a good sleeper.

Dr Lisa Pierson in her extensive cat nutrition website catinfo . com talks about being able to leave wet food out for hours. I don't know if she considers locations where it's really hot with no air conditioning.

Dry food that's been moistened definitely can't be left out for very long at all, the extra bacteria growth with the kibble, due to how it's made is too risky.

...try the hiss, I can get the neighbors dog to back off into his yard and stop barking at my cat in my yard. It really works (plus the neighbor gets a lot less bothered than by me hollering at her dog).

 

[haiitsvi]

I'll give those ideas a try. I'm also going to get rid of toys filled with catnip to see if that helps. I don't see him every getting calmed by them.