Our cat gives me "love" bites

[jimanuel12]

Our cat, delilha, is a turkish van mix, she is very loving and intellegent, but likes to give me love bites, especially on my feet.
i guess this is my fault, because when she was a kitten, i used to play rough with her, she loved to play attack and run, then i would attack her and run, then she would chase me.
she does not bite hard, just little nibbles.
she also likes to give me "head butts" but never hard, just a little love head butt.
i don't mind these behaviors but my wife thinks i have make her mean.
she is good natured and i don't think the little love bites are bad.
any comments?

[zephyer78]

my cat does that too, I don't really mind either

..but my boyfriend does, I just try to explain that she is not really trying to be mean, just playing (an in her case, I think she is marking too..she got seprated from her mother way too young, and I don't know if she learned how to do it the "right" way..she just opends her mouth and tries to run whatever she is marking through it)

How hard are her bites?

[icklemiss21]

You just need to redirect her aggression. Every time she goes to bite, place a stuffed toy between you and let her bite that instead. Eventually they 'get it'

[jimanuel12]

Originally Posted by zephyer78

my cat does that too, I don't really mind either

..but my boyfriend does, I just try to explain that she is not really trying to be mean, just playing (an in her case, I think she is marking too..she got seprated from her mother way too young, and I don't know if she learned how to do it the "right" way..she just opends her mouth and tries to run whatever she is marking through it)

How hard are her bites?

not bad, just nimmbles, but if i get rough with her, she bites harder.
but as i said, i don't mind this, i think she is just playing since she does not have any sibblings or other cats to play with.

[c1atsite]

Hi jimanuel12.

My cat Penny started giving love bites as a kitten and still does. When she was a kitten I let her know love biting is great, but not hard ones. I guess my suggestion is: Set a level that's unacceptable to you (let's say a level 6) and then begin to train the cat "1 level early" (in this example, level 5). Doing this helps prevent it from ever becoming a problem. (my opinion because it worked for me) My other cat doesn't love bite.

[stephanietx]

My cat gives me those when she's overstimulted. I sternly tell her no, then take my hand away until she calms down.

[Trouts mom]

Originally Posted by stephanietx

My cat gives me those when she's overstimulted. I sternly tell her no, then take my hand away until she calms down.

Trout still bites too..I just push her away from me or off my lap. But she has been biting for her whole life.

[stephanietx]

Callie's bit like this for the entire time I've had her. I've learned when she's had enough and usually stop before she gets to the biting point, but sometimes when I'm half asleep I miss the signs.