He went psycho biting me today....

Ok, I thought I had it all figured out. That we were down to gentle play biting that I was trying to discourage. (Everytime he bites, I say HEY! and clap my hands.)

Today we played for 2 hours. Then I went to his room to scoop the litter box. When I picked up his poop bag to go scoop he went crazy. The "hey/clap" command was not working and he wouldn't let me take a step without jumping my leg and biting. He finally went into another room, at which point, I closed the door and finished the litter box. I opened the door for him at that point (he was meowing to get in) and the first thing he did was attack. No hissing, but it was hunter-fever type of repeated attack. He was in the zone and just kept on coming.

I kept trying say Hey, knock it off!! **Clap!!** It worked for 2 seconds but he came around for another go immediately.

Argh DH doesn't want to start the introductions with our other cat until the biting is under control. I thought it was starting to get under control over the past 2 weeks, and now this.....

What should I do now? Did I do wrong by continuing to yell the command? Have I somehow totally messed this up???

I should add that I usually scoop his litter while he is otherwise engaged with dinner. He never gives me a problem then even though he's still nearby.

When he gets like that, pick him up and shut him in the bathroom. Leave him there for at least five minutes.

If it is playing, you could try carying a toy around with you and when he starts to attack distract his attention to the toy instead of you.

I do use this tactic frequently, and now I am wondering if he is not associating biting with play a little too much. Cause now he'll bite, and if we ignore him,he'll keep coming until he's stalking us like we're the target. So if he gives us a gentle nip we'll put a few minutes between the nip and the toy. If he does a repeated battery of bites that we can't distract him from with noise or commands, we'll hiss. That has been working so far, although it's a last resort used only if he is really going nuts. I've read about hissing so much on these forums, and we are totally in awe of you guys for thinking of it! (Although he looks so horrified that I feel bad. He gets over it real quick however.)

The biting really hasn't decreased in frequency over the month and a half we've had him. However, it's gone down a lot in intensity. He's not clamping down to the point where he's going through our clothes and puncturing skin. I have a wounds from a month ago that are still healing, but no fresh ones. That's progress, right? Right????

We're thinking of renaming him Santino. "I have a soft spot for my children. Santino, he bites when he should listen."