Nippy Cat

Hello everyone,

I adopted a cat about 6 months ago. He really is a great cat, very loving, affectionate and always wants to be by your side. The only reason he had to be brought to the adoption center was because his previous owners had a baby and the cat was constantly jumping into the babies crib. (He was 1.5 years old then, so thats not at all abnormal for a cat that young.)

He has a draw back though.

ALL the time you can pick him up, or go up to him while he is on a window sill or even when he approachs you.... he will rub his face all over yours (a typical cat thing) and after 30 second or so of him rubbing all over your he will nip you on the ear, forehead, chin, etc.

The nip isn't very hard and he never trys to hurt you, but I can't see why he does this. It really is 100% unprovoked and he does it to all the people in the house.

Anyone have any insight as to why the cat seems to always finish off signs of affection with a nip? I can understand if he only did it when I picked him up or appraoched him, but I could be laying in bed and he will jump up, purr loudly, rub his face all over me and give me a nip.

I thank you for any help,
EAD

No one has any advice, comments, anything?

He's probably grooming you. It's a complement really! Seti bites the tip of my nose when he's rubbing on my face. You can stop it fairly easily if you pull away and make a loud noise when you do it. He'll learn you don't like to be gnawed on. I let Seti do it because I think it's funny and like your kitty, he's not trying to hurt or act ugly.

Poppy does about the same thing. He'll be licking my nose or lips and then bite me...but he actually does it fairly hard, or it's just his sharp tiny teeth that hurt so much. I hope he grows out of it.

Thank you for your replies.

I am glad I am not the only one this happens to.

I mean its not too bothersome, but it's just not apprioprate, and definently can't be done when we have kids. He really is a great cat but I have a feeling there will be a need for a screen door the infants room whenever I do have kids.

He is too clever for the spray bottle too. (I don't try to spray him when he does the face nip because techinally he is not doing anything wrong, just aggressive lovin'). But when he is doing something wrong, like trying to get at the hampster, or clawing the door moldings, as soon as he sees the bottle he, or sees you walking to where the bottle is, he takes off. LOL

Thank you again for the replies. Hopefully a stern no will work but I am not sure. Like I said, hes a great cat but the few things he does do wrong nothing has helped to fix. Thank goodness he's cute.

EAD

If I read your post right, your cat is two. That's still fairly young for a cat. In all likelihood, he'll grow out of it as he gets older, especially if you discourage him. I bet by the time you have kids it's just a memory.

Those are "love nips". Many cats do this. Some while grooming you, others if they are overstimulated. Cats have different levels of touch tolerance.

I can pet Daphne for hours with no problem. Sebastian is okay for perhaps 2 minutes before he cannot take anymore and nips. He is just overstimulated. I have learned to pet for a couple minutes and then be content with just being close

He does love to cuddle, its the stroking that is too much.