Morning biting behavior...

zirkel

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Greetings,

My cat has developed a highly effective way of getting me out of bed in the morning to feed her -- she bites any exposed hand or foot while I am sleeping!

She will typically hop on the bed around six a.m., find an exposed appendage, sniff once, lick twice, then go for the kill. This is her way of expressing her impatience for my lack of concern for her morning meal.

Any suggestions on how to curb this behavior? Leaving dry food out all night is not an option.

Thanks, Dav
 

merlynn's mom

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Ahhh. They do like to do this, don't they. My Merlynn started biting my nose and/or chin. I just had to keep pushing her off the bed, gently, until she stopped waking me up/biting/meowing/whatever to wake me up for breakfast. Oh, and when I heard her lips smack open, getting ready for the kill, I'd push her away and roll over.

When I was good and ready, and she was not trying to get me up, I'd get up and feed her. She eventually got the point. She is not bothering me - too much - anymore. She is definitely not biting anymore.

You'll get some good advice from others soon, I'm sure...
 

strange_wings

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Cover your hands and feet and hope she doesn't move up to your face?
I'm guessing you'd stop the behavior if you were awake enough to do so.

I get morning kisses, except Tomas gets a little carried away and nips. Sometimes his nips hurt.
I don't want to shove him away because I love how snuggly and kissy he is, so I just have to keep him maneuvered away from my chin and cheeks when I think he's going to nip me.
On the days I have pushed him off the bed he's became a bit distant from me, probably pouting and thinking his 'momma cat' is pushing him out of the nest so to speak.
 

merlynn's mom

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Well this is a very interesting take on the kitty nibbles...

I'm currently reading a great book. The New Natural Cat. I love it!

The author talks about these kitty nibbles as hugs. She explains how cats try to express their love in a manner humans can understand. They see us expressing love and affection to them and to humans with hugs and touching. Because cats can't "hug us" they use their mouths to give us "mouth hugs" and show us how much they care. She goes on to say that sometimes the cats do get carried away and nip a little hard, but never intentionally to hurt, nor do they break the skin. In these cases she would never dream of pushing the cat away. If the cat loves you enough to give you a hug the only way he/she knows how, then we should accept this and welcome it.

When I brush Merlynn she LOVES LOVES LOVES to nibble my chin. And I love it too. She used to wake me up with nips, but now that she knows I will not give him to her whims, she waits until the alarm clock goes off and then begins with the morning nips...and I make sure I give her my chin b/c a nip on the nose can make one's eyes water.
 

empire

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thats so cute Merlynn. I was hoping that my himmie was giving love bites.
He gently nips my nose & plops down next to me. Some nights I barely get any sleep. I just bought that book too.
 

merlynn's mom

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Originally Posted by empire

thats so cute Merlynn. I was hoping that my himmie was giving love bites.
He gently nips my nose & plops down next to me. Some nights I barely get any sleep. I just bought that book too.
I absolutely love the book. Although when I tell people about what I'm reading, I feel like a kook. They just don't "get" the kitties. So at least on here....I'm not too off kilter. hahahahahaha.

Enjoy the book and the love from your himmie.
 
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