Biting

Kiki has started biting when we play with her. She grabs your hand with her paws and then bites. Sometimes she bites very hard. I have blown in her face and said a firm "No". It worked a couple of times, but now she just ignores it. I have also tried redirection...I give her a toy instead of my hand to attack. Most of the time I end up just leaving her alone until she calms down again. Is there anything else I can try?

I adopted her from the SPCA and they said she was a stray. She is almost 10 months old according to her paperwork.

She will also bat at your ankles when you walk by. Sometimes she will stand in the hallway and bat your head as your come up or down the stairs.

no suggestions?

Yes. Continue the puff of air in the face and saying No. Continue redirecting her. Praise her to heck when redirect works. Continue ignoring her when redirect does not work. If necessary, give her time-outs in a closed room with no stimulus. When 5 minutes or so are up, open the door without looking at her and walk away. When she learns that biting gets her no attention, and appropriate biting/playing/chewing get her praise and attention, she will stop biting. I don't know how long you've been at it, but it can takes weeks/months. Think of them as 2-year old children. Behavior doesn't change in a week or two, and while they understand "no" they'll push the limits and push your buttons to see how you react - and heaping praise on them for being good helps them understand what you do want - it is not enough for them to understand what you don't want.

Our cats sometimes bat at our heads when we walk by the cat trees. This is always a "I want to play" kind of thing, and it usually happens when we haven't been giving them enough attention - and they're reminding us we've been remiss. So perhaps your kitty is not properly stimulated. Make sure she gets dedicated play time every day - best is 15-20 minutes every morning and evening. Get her moving around. If she's alone during the day, leave treats hidden around for her to find. Put bird feeders up outside the windows - make sure she has window seats. But if she's bored, she'll do what she cat to get your attention.

Thank you for the info. Sadly I have no windows that I can put bird feeders outside of. All of my downstairs windows are blocked. I do have a harness for her and she doesn't mind wearing it...should I let her walk outside or will this encourage darting out the door behavior?

I don't have a problem with the batting behavior b/c I know she is just playing. The only issue is when I try to pet her she will literally attack my hand. She grab it with both front paws and bite, then scratch me with her back ones. I just wish I knew more about her prior life as that might explain a lot.

Does she enjoy being petted? All of our kitties were feral rescues, and most of them didn't like being petted much at first. With Tuxie - we could literally give him ONE STROKE on the cheek and that was it. He'd put his paw on our hand to say "enough." If we ignored that, he'd swat. It's seven years later, and we can pet him close to endlessly now.

Spooky liked pets more than any of the other kitties. She loves to lie inbetween us at night. I reach across her, she puts her head in my hand, and I just rub her nose and cheeks and mouth. She can do this for hours. She'll roll over on her back. If I make the mistake of letting my arm touch her tummy - or heaven forbid if I try to touch her tummy - she'll grab my arm - pull it in with her front feet, bite my hand (not drawing blood) - and rabbit kick with her back feet. This sounds like what your kitty is doing, and it is from over-stimulation. Of course - sometimes Spooky loves having her tummy rubbed. ....and that's the problem. You just don't know if she's going to enjoy it - or if she's going to pull, bite, and kick - or enjoy it.

What you're describing sounds exactly like over-stimulation.

If you are playing with her with your hands - absolutely stop it. Biting is something cats do when playing, and she needs to know your hands, arms, feet, legs & etc. are NOT toys and are NOT ok to play with or bite. If you play with your hands with her and she bites and you say no - it is just totally confusing!

If you are petting her and she's doing this, she is letting you know she is overstimulated and does not want to be petted. Just stop petting her. Going forward - try just giving her one pet and watching her reaction. If you're petting her tummy - just stop. Most cats do not like having their tummies petted. Many love rolling around on their backs - but it is NOT an invitation to pet the tummy.

I haven't even tried to pet her tummy. Normally the biting happens when I go to her and she meows so I think okay maybe she's saying "pet me". I do and I'll get one or two strokes on her head and then it's like Kujo in cat form.

She seems to be eating a lot now. I feed her Nutro Max Cat and I give her about 1/4 cup maybe a little more in the morning and then again at night, but sometimes I have to give her more during the day because she whines for it. She cries, I check her water, food, litter box, etc. I try to pet and normally it's a no go. I try to play with her with her toys: balls, fishing pole, etc.

I really think her favorite past time is taunting the dog She lays on the landing safely behind the baby gate as it to say "ha, ha look at me...you can't get me"

Squishy is probably around 18ish years old, I've had him for 2 years now. He's always been a biter & a licker. I know what his "signals" are before he goes over the edge & gets nippy/licky - so I stop petting him before he gets to that point.

You may have to just go, pet her twice, and walk away. Eventually you can slowly build up to more petting - so long as she doesn't bite.