Reassure me about kitten biting, please!

My kitten is 5 months old and an absolute tornado. Teeth and claws--reminds me of the Tasmanian Devil. He has plenty of interaction and toys, and we have many toys that are wand-type. We discourage him from thinking our hands are toys, but he seems to have a hand fetish. He will randomly stalk and attack our hands, arms, ankles, at all times. Sometimes we will try to pet him and he will bite. Now, these bites are not breaking the skin, but they are hard enough to really hurt! We have said "NO!" and removed him from the situation, tried hissing at him or growling like a mom cat, which he usually gives a withering look to, as if he is thinking "OH, Pluuueeezzz!". We don't want to squirt him with a water bottle.

Will he grow out of this? We are afraid to have friends over due to "Bitey McBitesAlot", as my boyfriend likes to call him. Any suggestions that we are not already doing? He's fantastic when he's not being a dork!

Thanks!

Forrest had a biting stage at that age too. I'd always keep chew toys close at hand and when he would start to bite I'd then divert his mouth from my hand/arm to the toy. He grew out of that phase at about 7-8 months of age.

At 5 months your kitten is probably teething and will have a great desire to chew on something. Forrest liked plastic drinking straws and would carry them around the house and chew on them. I'd give him a new straw every day and throw the old one away. There are also chew toys you can pick up at PetSmart, Petco or most pet stores.

Hope this helps.

I agree with AudioCat. He's probably teething. I just tossed 1/2 dozen or so of the big fat plastic straws down for Bijou to play with and bite on. When one got chewed up I'd trash it and give some fresh ones.

If he has his teeth on you, don't move that part of your body. Stop moving and then do the hissing, or blowing in his face part. Sometimes I found if I also loudly said OW that worked too.