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.
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.