Kitten drawing blood, leaving scars

... I know there's a ton of literature on kittens biting, and I've already looked through the forums for an answer to this...

Alas, here I am, still at a loss. My Annikki is three months old, and she's very energetic; every moment of every day is about play and attention, especially ambushing mother and father's legs, hands, etc... and that's okay! It's perfectly normal kitten behavior.

The real problem is... I often feel as if my kitten is NOT playing any longer. When she starts biting and chewing, scratching me, I don't really mind it--she's a baby, and she's teething too. But sometimes, she backs up, arches her back, and flattens her ears... she makes an unpleasant little noise in the back of her throat, not exactly growling, just a quiet sort of groan, and attacks my hand or arm full force, biting hard enough to break skin and draw blood. I have puncture wounds all over my hands and wrists, one on my index finger nearly penetrated to the bone! I have done everything I can to try and curb this behavior. Usually, when she gets that rough, I put her in her cat carrier for about ten minutes--before anyone finds this mean, my cat is actually pretty fond of her pet taxi and plays in it sometimes... it just calms her down sitting in there, and lets her know that play time is definitely suspended.

But I can't have her doing this forever, and I'm not sure what else to do. Is she still playing when she does this? Because I've socialized her with other cats, and she's never THAT aggressive toward them. My kitten has no other aggression issues--she is fine with other cats, she doesn't mind sharing her food, she can eat from my hand, etc... What can I do?

A few things...

Kittens definitely are more playful than older cats...

I hear you should not "play" with a kitten with your hands. They get the wrong idea (and will attack your hands and feet for years if you allow it) - so you can use other types of interactive toys, or they also sell a special glove you can play with kittens with.

I think the carrier is a pretty good idea. Time outs with kittens work well, as well as with kids!

Kittens (and cats) can become overstimulated, and that's usually when the biting starts. Try and notice the clues that she gives right before it happens and stop the play period before it gets out of hand. Also I find that saying "NO!" sternly and tapping their nose usually gets their attention. Then ignore them - they hate that!

Best of luck!

I don't know, she hasn't responded to "No!" very well in the past--though said finger penetrating bite resulted in a very loud yowl on my part--that upset her! She quit biting after that one, at least.

I suppose I will have to suspend my impulses to be so affectionate with her--she clearly prefers biting to petting! I will start trying to ignore her more when she's acting up...

Thank you for the suggestions!! My poor, scarred-up arms thank you too.

Toys! She needs more toys, especially interactive ones like Da Bird, that you can play with with her and she can attack it to her heart's content and no one gets wounded.

Cats NEED to hunt, going after prey is instinctive. If you can provide her with better ways to channel that innate need, you'll both be better off for it.

Pick her up and bite her back. My wife and I think Juniper may be getting his adult teeth in, since he's been more nibbly lately. As in, taking my entire finger into his mouth! He's never bit hard, more like he rubs his teeth on my finger or knuckle, but it is a little uncomfortable to have your finger in a cat's mouth like that.

Anyway, the last two nights he's gotten snuggly and then just reaches over and "glomp" onto a finger. Once is OK, but he kept doing it. So I said "No!" and reached over and bit him around the scruff of his neck.

And he stopped and laid calmly for the next 30 minutes or so. Thankfully his fur is quite short and he barely sheds, but I was surprised when I first tried it and it actually worked. Not hard so it hurts, of course, but enough so they know you're biting them (and not just putting your mouth on them).

Although, I might be a little worried that your cat would think you're really, really playing with her and try to attack your face, since it was up close. When did you get this kitten? If she's only 3 months old now, she may not have had enough time playing with her littermates to learn how to play without being too rough. We hung out at a breeder's house when picking out Cat #2 just last weekend, and it was very entertaining to see how much each kitten attacked and bit each other. When they got too rough the other kitten would meow and bite back, which was very effective!

My cat has a lot of toys, but she's extremely picky. Every other week I'm looking for something to hold her interest, I have a CatDancer teaser ribbon, she's crazy about, fish on an elasticated string, a variety of cat balls, with bells, without bells, chewy, plastic, things with catnip that she couldn't care less about... and I've started taking her out for walks, since I'm afraid that she's getting bored! She stills bites as badly as ever. My DH has tried biting the kitten back, mostly on her ears... hasn't helped.

I don't know how cats construct their owners in their own minds, but for some reason she doesn't appear to like me as much as him. He's home a little more often than I am, and he probably feeds her more often, but I interact with her, pet her, play with her and give her treats more. If I pick her up and pet her, she cries, scratches, wants down. If he picks her up, she purrs, rubs on him, will curl up on his lap and sleep... he has started referring to me as the kitten's "big, beautiful chewtoy".

Blargh. I appreciate all the suggestions, but I am still unsure what to do with my little bugger cat.

Originally Posted by EggyToast

When did you get this kitten? If she's only 3 months old now, she may not have had enough time playing with her littermates to learn how to play without being too rough. We hung out at a breeder's house when picking out Cat #2 just last weekend, and it was very entertaining to see how much each kitten attacked and bit each other. When they got too rough the other kitten would meow and bite back, which was very effective!

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I know that one of the biting issues involves removal from her littermates and mother too early. She was a stray, from a pregnant cat in our apartment complex. Our neighbors took the kittens away from their mother before they were old enough to be weaned (!!!!), my fellow and I were furious! There were only two surviving kittens from that litter, and her sister kitten ran off when she was only a few weeks old... lucky really, they almost killed them both. The neighbors turned the other kitten over to me so they could get a second dog instead; poor thing had the worst ringworm I'd ever seen, fleas, malnutrition--the NEXT DAY I had to rush her to the vet, she collapsed and seized up. It's a horrible story. Those people almost killed both animals...

Anyway, I couldn't socialize her a lot at first, because of the ringworm. I've just now gotten her to socialize with other cats, and she plays with them okay... but she bites me a lot harder than the other cats I think. I've just never seen her get so ferocious, not even with other people--only me. I know she has issues from being removed from mom early on... she gnawed on my man's finger awfully today--and started suckling, even though she's three months old.

Maybe I should just keep encouraging her to play with other cats. I don't really know. I've taken up the policy of putting her down and ignoring her when she bites, and that has helped a little for the past couple of days.

Again, I appreciate everyone's suggestions!