Playing, Assertive, Or Just A Brat?

[loftusrn]

Hi everyone -

I have a female kitten at home who is ~6-7 months old (her age at adoption was uncertain). She is very pleasant, intelligent, confident, friendly, and overall a great pet and buddy to us. HOWEVER.

Her confidence and intelligence has been coming with some drawbacks - namely, that she knows exactly what she wants and will let you know as well. With her teeth. It started with play biting, which we’ve been trying to curb as much as we can by redirecting with toys and, if that doesn’t work, just stopping playing with her so she learns that biting = end of playtime.

She also has started this thing where, if she doesn’t get her way (such as if she tries to chew on a phone charger and I take it away from her, or if I move her out of the bedroom when my husband is asleep from night shift), she will grab a part of your body in her paws and give it a pissed-off chomp. Never hard enough to break the skin, never any hissing or aggressive posturing - just, to me, very clear that she’s frustrated and annoyed.

Is this just a bratty teen cat phase, or is this the start of another behavior I need to be addressing? I’m trying to make sure I yell and make a lot of noise and then ignore her when she bites (and especially don’t give her what she wants), but I don’t know what to do beyond that.

 

[ArtNJ]

Cat are very much creatures of habit. Redirecting play biting with toys may actually encourage the play biting by positive reinforcement. Ignoring the cat for a bit is good, but I don't think its enough. This is why we traditionally recommend a loud "No!" and then disengaging and ignoring. (Some forum users recommend a "hiss" sound rather than a "No!" which makes me laugh a little, since I don't think the human hiss sounds much like a cat hiss. Still, a "hiss" seems to work, so who knows?)

I think the "pissed-off chomp" is different, and while you can still do the "No!" approach, you should also address it via the underlying behavior. For example, your husband can say "sleepy time" and make a shooing motion with the hands, followed by moving the cat. After a time or three of getting chomped, hopefully a linkage is formed and the cat voluntarily leaves. This is what I've done with cats that get surly if evicted from the lap -- I train them that two very gentle taps on the rump means its time to get up. I have a more general cue, snapping my fingers, that I use to mean "move from where your at or I'll evict you". Of course, one of my two cats ignores it, so YMMV -- training cats isn't the easiest.

 

[rubysmama]

It may be a "bratty teen cat phase", but at the same time you don't want it to turn into a life-long habit.

Definitely say "no" and "owwww" when she bites. The "owwww" should be in a high-pitched tone, similar to a cat's meow, as that is how kittens let their siblings know the play is getting too rough. It's possible your kitten was taken from her mom and siblings too young, and didn't learn cat etiquette.

TCS has a few articles with more info, that may be helpful:
How To Deal With Cat "love Bites"?
How To Stop Playtime Aggression In Cats
Cat Bites - What Every Cat Owner Needs To Know

Plus here's one on Teach Your Kitten How to Play Nice : The Humane Society of the United States