Help! My cat BIT my nose while I was sleeping...ongoing problems

Hello All,

It's been so since I posted here.

I have 5 strictly indoor cats. 3 are older females (13-15 yrs old), the other 2 are once I adopted from the Humane Society over the past 2 years (after each of my dear oldest cats passed, Tigger and Taco). There's sweet little Bitsy, she's about 2-3 yrs old - a precious, sweet, playful little ball of joy. Then there's Hobee (he's about 3 yrs old), my problem child.

All cats are spayed/neutered. All very healthy. All get along wonderfully. Hobee loves all of them and they love him. Him and Bitsy are the closest because they're both young and love to play (I adopted her so that he'd have a playmate as the old girls don't have his spunk).

He was so sweet and nice at the Humane Society.....they had him in an area called "Mew-Topia"....in which he was in a large room with other cats because he was so friendly and sociable. He let me pick him up immediately. That day I took him to my own Vet on the way home, just to have them give his rabies shot, a proper dewormer and a good check-over. The Vet Techs couldn't believe how friendly he was, giving them nose rubs while holding him. A real doll.

I kept him in my spare bedroom for one night, just to let him get acclimated to my home. The introduction to the other cats went very very well.

About 4 days after having him, I had to take him into the big city overnight vet clinic (he was having some issues related to his neutering; kept licking himself 'down there' a lot and was a little red). The exam room they put us in was dirty (ugh) and obviously the previous cat in that room had peed on the exam table and nobody had cleaned it (niiiice) so I held him in my arms for about 30 minutes until the Vet came in. He let me hold him, rubbed noses, no problem.

A couple days after that, it all changed. I'd see him sitting on the window sill and i'd try to pet him, his tail would be thrashing a little.....it was like he didn't want to be pet. He would try to claw/nip at me.

This has become an ongoing problem. He's got a thing for hands. As he was a stray, I wondered if maybe his previous own abused him with their hands so that was his issue with hands. You can only pet him for 15 seconds and then when he sees your hands, he'll bite at them. Not angry/serious enough to break the skin but it's annoying enough. I have NEVER had a cat who wasn't a sweet, friendly cat.

I did try Feliway a long time ago, wondering if maybe he was just stressed? I tried that for 3-4 months, made no difference.

He's very playful, does his own thing, likes to play with Bitsy, is very curious.

Strangely enough, it seems the only day he's "nice" to me is Sunday. LOL. I'll be on the couch watching TV and he'll jump up, try to give me head butts, purring.....he'll be staring at my face and I fear he'll try to bite it...so I am careful. He'll let me scratch his chin and such but then he'll try to bite my hands.

One time, shortly after I got him, I was holding him and scratching under his chin. Never expecting him to be a dink, I turned him so that his face was opposite mine and he tried to bite my face! I learned then never to pick him up such that his face is facing mine. I was shocked!

At night, he insists on sleeping on my bed (as 2 of the others do). Sometimes he'll lay across my pillow like he's the King, so I'll just lay on the other pillow. Sometimes he'll be curled up against my legs and then I'll feel him 'creeping' across the bed toward me. Almost like he's on a hunt. He'll be staring directly at my face. I'll cover my face with the blankets and try to sleep that way because I'm scared he'll attack my face. Well last night he DID.

I woke about 3am to pain....he'd bitten my NOSE while I was asleep!! Never before has he broken the skin when he's bitten me, but this time he did......one fang punctured the skin on the right side of my nose! I got up immediately, cleaned it with peroxide and put on some Polysporin. He was still on the bed when I got back into bed. I was p*ssed at him, I pushed him off the bed, raised my voice and chased him out of my room, letting him know I was NOT impressed.

Keeping him out of my room at night is not really an option because 2 of my oldies love to sleep on the bed and I am not going to begrudge them that; they've been doing it for years.

I wish I could talk to a Cat Whisperer or Pet Psychic (a real one LOL)...and find out what the heck his problem is. He should be in heaven here....off the street, nice big house with good friends, good food, lots of toys, lots of windows to sit and look out of, total run of the house (he's good about not jumping on countertops and such), every rescued cat's dream life. He's an ungrateful little sh*t.

What on earth would possess a cat to bite their owner's nose in the middle of the night? Now I'm creeped out. I've seen him creep up toward my face when I'm just going off to sleep and I'll usually just push him off the bed....never really thought he'd DO SOMETHING but didn't want to take a chance and find out. Well last night I found out.

He never seems angry..never hisses....when he's biting at my hands or scratching them (i keep his claws clipped..he lets me do that, go figure), it's never an angry bite.....more like a really intense playful bite because it doesn't break the skin.

I don't know what his problem is. I've had cats for 25 yrs and I've never had one like this. He sure put on a good "act" at the Humane Society. Had I known he was like this, I'd have NEVER adopted him.

And again, he loves the other cats, they love him. He grooms them, plays with them (particularly Bitsy)..they groom him.....no fights....one big happy cat family.

Any thoughts? I don't know where else to turn to figure this out. I'll be danged if i'm going to let a cat bite my face in the night, that's just unacceptable.

Thanks
Lisa

Here's a picture of him. Looks are deceiving. He looks so cute and sweet, doesn't he? LOL

He couldn't possibly be hungry, ever. There's 3 dishes of dry food out at all times (2 different varieties).

It's almost, I think, like he's hunting me. I've seen him do this thing where he'll be curled up against my legs in bed.....then he slowly gets up and walks slowly on top of me.....heading toward my face....almost like he's hunting me. He's staring very intently at my face. It's rather unnerving. If I reach out and try to stop him (because he's getting a little too close to my face for my liking), he'll try to bite my hands). He creeps me out when he does this. Eventually I'll just shoo him off of the bed because I need to get some sleep. Never did I think he'd do this while I was sleeping, to the point of attacking my nose. It wasn't just a nibble, either......he really chomped down on it. I've got the puncture mark in the side of my nose to prove it. I've never been bit in the nose before but dang, it hurt a lot. I just don't understand him. He creeps me out now.

Yes, he doesn't like to be pet for too long. Why, I have no idea. Sometimes he really enjoys it...lets me scratch under his chin......but then there comes a point where he sees my hands and he'll bite them.

Perhaps whoever owned him before he was out on the street, they played rough with him as a kitten and they encouraged him to bite and play rough, I have no idea.

What on earth would possess a cat to attack their owner's nose in the middle of the night. Maybe my snoring p*ssed him off? LOL

Thanks, Robin, for the time you took to give such thoughtful advice. Will give it a shot.

The thing is, "something changed" with him, within a few days of being here....because like I explained, he was so affectionate and mild-mannered for the first few days I had him, then it's like a switch went off. Perhaps I unknowingly did something to p*ss him off and he's never gotten over it? He's so sweet to my other 4 cats, it's just with me he has the issue.

I haven't talked to my Vet about this because he'll suggest we spend hundreds of dollars doing all kinds of bloodwork and such to rule out physical things and I have had cats long enough to know this issue is not related to anything physical. He's healthy, great appetite, eats good quality food, coat is sleek and shiny (like silk), bright eyes, lots of energy, frisky, pees and poops good, a picture of health.

Maybe he sees me as a large mouse. LOL. When he does that "stalking" behavior at night, when he's on my bed.....that's what it's like, it's like he's stalking me, and I'm the prey....and he slowly and intently creeps on top of me and i can see him heading for my face.....it's not an angry thing.....it's like a cat going after prey. Why I am the prey, I have no idea :-)

The fact that he insists on sleeping on my bed every night, generally starting off by being snuggled up against my legs has led me to believe he likes me.....some nights he's slept the whole night on my pillow and no problems.

He follows me a lot but that's mostly just cat curiosity. He's talkative to me at times. He'll often rub noses with me for a few seconds but I know then that if I keep my face there any longer, he'll have a snack :-)

I don't want to begrudge my dear old girl cats from being able to sleep with me at night, they'd be very upset....so yes, confining him to his own room is the only alternative yet he gets VERY upset when off in a room by himself....cries and carries on, tries to dug his way out from under the door (great for my carpet; not). Not sure how well that will go over.

I guess I could also buy a Goalie's mask and where that to bed :-)