Biting behavior...I'm confused?

Lusa is my female kitty, about 7 months old. I think she loves me since she follows me from room to room, initiates play, and...I feed her She's always been mouthy since I found her when she was about 1 month old. I was hoping that she'd outgrow the mouthiness, or that she was just teething, etc.

She's so fickle about it though. Sometimes it's OK to pet her and sometimes not. I know not to even try to pet her when she's in hyper play mode. But there are times when she seems relaxed and I'll go to pet her and she bites. It's not ever hard enough to break the skin or even really hurt. Also, she never growls or tries to scratch me, so I don't think she necessarily angry or scared. Even when she's in my lap purring and asking for pets, she'll sometimes nip me. The worst part is she used to kiss my chin, but she then started giving my face or neck a nip and I stopped letting her near my face except for a sniff

So, what's up with her? Do you think she'll calm down after she's spayed (in a couple of weeks)? What can I do?

It sounds like petting and biting syndrome to me. One of mine was like that as a kitten but he grew out of it. It sounds like she's getting over stimulated. If she goes for your hand when you're petting her try to keep your hand very still and break eye contact and/or try to distract her with a toy. If she goes for your face try hissing at her or blowing in her face.

If you look at this link (scroll down to the bit headed petting anxiety) there is some good advice about petting and biting syndrome and how to deal with it

http://www.messybeast.com/nervous.htm

My Vinny has a biting thing too -- you don't even have to be petting him for him to nip, either. He'll just come up to you while purring, sniff, then give a little nip -- mostly elbows, arms, or my face. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he'll crawl under the covers and nip my calves or ankles with no notice at all. It's not overstimulation from petting for my Vinny, just little "love nips" to let me know he loves me. Sometimes it's precursed by a few little licks then a bite, but either way it's like saying "Hey Ma, I'm here, I love ya, pet me."

I read after the fact that this could be due to getting the kitten when it was too young; that is, before its mother had it fully trained. From what I read over and over on this forum, this sounds true also. My kitty was only 7 weeks when I got him, that was far too soon according to almost every expert I have ever heard and this is one of the symptoms that they say is a result. Mine was the same way but we have eventually managed to get it under control. When he starts to bite, quit playing with him, that is what we did and he did get a lot better.

Hi. Please read a post I made in here recently. Here is the link to it:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=109494