Theo Bites

[LisaT.]

Hi Everybody,
I've been having trouble with my almost 1 year old with biting. He bites when I play with him. Even if I'm extra gentle, he always gets a bite in. The bites are mostly on my hands, but he's dug his teeth in on my forearm or the upper under part of my arm. And Ouch!!
I told my friend about it and she recommended that I tweak his nose within 3 seconds after the biting. I feel funny about that because I don't want Theo to ever feel pain.
He is aggressive with my 5 year old, and jumps on her, and lays in wait for her to make a move before springing into action. I'm not sure if he bites her or not. I know she has whacked him hard after fighting, and this will usually make him retreat to the bedroom, or another room to get away from her.
Should I actually tweak his nose? I would appreciate any help with this situation. There is nothing wrong with his teeth, per the vet.
Thanks in advance!

 

[duckpond]

I would not tweak his nose, even if done right at the time of the bite i dont think he would understand why you are hurting him?
If you are playing with him with your hands that needs to stop. Use toys that are long enough, such as a kicker, feathers on a stick, or da bird, so that he is not close enough to your hands to bite. When cats play and wrestle with each other, or us its instinct and natural that they bite.
If you have ever seen two cats together they do lay in wait for each other to play and play fight. This may be what he is doing with her. You may want to show her how to play with him as well? We dont want her getting bitten, even if its play on his part. But i think if he had bitten her you would know, as it would be easy to see?

 

[Shane Kent]

There is an article on this site about cats biting.

How To Deal With Cat "love Bites"?

You can click or touch the article title to go to the article.

My cat Kitty used to be feral and I socialized her at work and kept her there for a year. She used to bite me while petting her as she was stressed out by the loud noise during the day at work. Petting-induced aggression. I have since taken her home to live with my other two cats and it is a quiet neighborhood. She no longer bites me as she is no longer stressed out.

There is this article on the net about petting induced aggression.
Five Steps to keep your Cat from biting when Petting

 

[tabbytom]

LisaT. , here’s an article for you to read :- How To Stop Playtime Aggression In Cats

 

[LisaT.]

Thank you, Duckpond, Shane Kent and tabbytom! All of these articles are very helpful. I will definitely pay better attention to Theo's body language and signals. I have noticed a difference already as I didn't put my hands in front of his face or body last night and this morning. He also doesn't seem to like his back petted in the morning. When Theo bites, he immediately licks my hand, arm, etc directly after. And, he does give a lot of love bites, just placing his teeth against my hand and holding on gently. I will have to look into this more, but I so appreciate all the information you have passed along to me! Thank you all!

 

[rubysmama]

How old was Theo when you adopted him? Sometime if kittens are taken from their mom and siblings too young, they don't have time to learn cat manners. That, of course, may not be the case with Theo, but here's an article that might be helpful: Teach Your Kitten How to Play Nice : The Humane Society of the United States

 

[LisaT.]

I adopted him when he was 6 months old. I remember the attendant lady telling me that they got him and his brother and sister when they were 2 days old, and their mother was nowhere to be found. So he probably didn't learn cat manners. He didn't know how to clean himself until he saw my 5 yr old, Windy, doing that. Thank you, rubysmama, for the article!!

 

[basscat]

Mine bites.
Hands are NOT toys.
Don't let him get into a position where he can get you. OR, don't let yourself get into that position.
Hands are NOT toys.
Just a firm loud NO! and then walk away for awhile. Every time he bites or tries.

 

[himawari]

Yeah, I would not tweak his nose. You can tap it though... that's what I do with mine who is also a biter (but is older than yours). After you tap it, firmly and deeply say no immediately then move away from him. Ignore him for like five minutes, and repeat whenever he bites/is about to bite you. Also, I would suggest discouraging him from giving you love bites. Mine did that too but then would immediately go to a full on bite so it was easier to teach him no biting at all/period.

 

[LisaT.]

Thank you, basscat and himawari! Not letting him get into a position where he can bite me has worked great! And, I'm way more aware of his body language now, so I can tell when to back off before a bite comes. Himawari, I'm going to follow duckpond's advice to not tweak his nose. But when he does bite, I will definitely ignore him for a little while! Again, thanks!

 

[catlover73]

I agree about not tweaking his nose but a gentle tap is safe. I adopted my now 12 year old Starbuck when she was a 6 week old baby. She was under-socialized for kitty manners. She would communicate with her humans by nose nipping. I started to gently tap her nose. I would say "no biting" and gently place her on the floor. I would then walk away for a minute or two to give her time to settle down. I would not interact with her for a minute or two even if she followed me around complaining. It took her 2-3 weeks to realize she would not get attention for biting noses. She has always loved grooming our faces but does not nose bite anymore. The odd thing was she only did this to us. We had friends come over that interacted with her and she never bit their noses. We did make our friends aware of the situation and told them how we were handling it. Our company never had their noses nipped. The gentle tap was just enough to get her attention so she would stop what she was doing. I would give extra attention when she was not biting. She liked to shoulder surf and I would let her ride around on my shoulder when I was doing things around the house if she was behaving. The extra shoulder time was her reward.

She would also communicate play with my adult cats by biting their head. One of my adult males Tegato decided this was going to stop. He pinned her to the floor with one paw without using his nails until she calmed down. She would scream her head off when he did this. He would ignore her screaming until she calmed down and stopped trying to bite him. Once she calmed down he would play with her. He would also do this to her when she would bite his brother. Claude would run away from her instead of standing up for himself. Tegato taught her to stop communicating by biting in about 3-4 weeks. Once she stopped biting Claude started playing with her too. Starbuck is a munchkin with short little legs and is not a jumper. My adult cats could get away from her easily when they needed to.

 

[LisaT.]

Thank you, catlover73! I wish I had said no and ignored him for a little while when I first got him. I would like to report that I haven't had a single bite from him since this thread!