Raven is not the most friendly cat, but lately in the mornings she comes purring into our bed, happy as can be to see us and wake us up with her friendly nibbles. Wait, I take that back, she is purring but instead of friendly nibbles it is more like she is trying to EAT us! She will bite anywhere she can and she bites hard. I feed them at night before I go to bed, so their dishes are not empty in the morning. Mybe she just wants us to get up. I just wish she would STOP biting!
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
please make it stop! (love bites)
- Thread starter mom2raven
- Start Date
Ideally you would simply ignore her attention-getting behavior and after awhile she would get the message and stop. But if she's biting very hard, I realize that ignoring her is next to impossible.
Would you be willing to keep the bedroom door closed? Or be prepared to toss a toy for her to play with whenever she starts biting? I realize that could be construed as rewarding "bad" behavior but at least you would be redirecting her energies to something more harmless.
How old is Raven? She looks very young in your signature. If so, hopefully this is something that she'll soon grow out of.
Would you be willing to keep the bedroom door closed? Or be prepared to toss a toy for her to play with whenever she starts biting? I realize that could be construed as rewarding "bad" behavior but at least you would be redirecting her energies to something more harmless.
How old is Raven? She looks very young in your signature. If so, hopefully this is something that she'll soon grow out of.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Shutting our door is not an option, our room is the cats room, the litterbox is in our room and their food is in our bathroom. (we live in an apartment, our bedroom used to be an efficiency apartment, if that makes sense).
Raven will be one year old next month.
Raven will be one year old next month.
When cats bite us, like yours is, it's their way of being affectionate and saying "you're mine, you belong to me" also when they give you little licks on the hands or fingers.
Personally, I love it when mine do it, but they don't bite too hard. Rascal can get a wee bit excited, but he knows by my reaction when he is biting too hard. It's the OW! OW's! that give it away!
Try that, OW! OW! when she's biting too hard, hopefully she will realize it and bite more gently. Or if you don't want her to bite at all, after you cry out fairly loudly in pain, and also say No! No! try to redirect her attention by petting her or holding her or something. Maybe that could become your bonding time with her in the morning.
Sorry it's all I can think of right now.
Personally, I love it when mine do it, but they don't bite too hard. Rascal can get a wee bit excited, but he knows by my reaction when he is biting too hard. It's the OW! OW's! that give it away!
Try that, OW! OW! when she's biting too hard, hopefully she will realize it and bite more gently. Or if you don't want her to bite at all, after you cry out fairly loudly in pain, and also say No! No! try to redirect her attention by petting her or holding her or something. Maybe that could become your bonding time with her in the morning.
Sorry it's all I can think of right now.
Well, Flowerbelle doesn't bite to get attention, but she's deaf, so she uses her paw to get attention. She used to use it in my face when asleep to get attention. I was annoyed with being woken up, so I spoke to her in "cat" language - and I blew a short, sharp puff of air directly in her face. She would pull her head back in surprise - then try again. It would take three or four puffs of air in her face before she'd stop trying and just leave me alone. And it took about a week before she stopped sticking her paw in my face while asleep. With Flowerbelle, I didn't bother with the "no" because she can't hear me, but with our other kitties, we accompany the puff of air in the face with the "no."
Of course, every six months or so she's back at it. But the week of puffing in her face is worth it to me for the 5 months and three weeks of sleeping through the night!
Laurie
Of course, every six months or so she's back at it. But the week of puffing in her face is worth it to me for the 5 months and three weeks of sleeping through the night!
Laurie
