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Rescue cat "nipping" when trying to stroke and ankles!

post #1 of 5
4/3/11 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
Hi
ely
We rescued a 1 yr old cat a week ago. She appears to have a lovely nature, seems v laid back. Household noise doesnt appear to bother her and she usually follows us around the house, finds a little spot nearby and has a sleep/watches us. At first was more than happy to be stroked (we waited for her to approach us first) but a couple of days in when stroking her she suddenly "nipped" at me. She has done this now about 3 times and also to my husband. She has also grabbed my ankles twice when I have walked past.

I assumed maybe the stroking was too much too soon and have been pretty much leaving her alone, over the last few days when she has approached I have just stroked her briefly and gradually tried to increase the time over a few days but it has just happened again! She does not seem agressive with it and she is happy enough to come and rub along side me and purr.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. We have a 2 yr old so I am keeping them well apart at the moment just to be safe but I am hoping this cat behavior wont continue!
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post #2 of 5
4/3/11 at 1:22pm
That is how cats say "I've had enough." Even though cats do love to be pet, they get overstimulated rather quickly and if you don't take note of the warning behavior (ears pinned back in the "airplane ears" position, tail flicking annoyedly) then the cat has little recourse beyond biting and clawing. I had the same problem with my one and a half year old shelter cat for the first few months after I got him. He would only let me pet his head, and even then he would bite or swat at me within a couple minutes.

If my experience was at all normal, I can say your situation should get better over time. Now I can pet my cat's head, body, legs, and tail, and he won't bite or claw or even look annoyed for at least 20 minutes, and by then we're both all petted out. It is best to look for the early signs I mentioned and just stop petting her the when you see that. That will prevent her from biting, and it will build trust on her part as you learn to read her body language and respond appropriately.
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post #3 of 5
4/3/11 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rad65 View Post
That is how cats say "I've had enough." Even though cats do love to be pet, they get overstimulated rather quickly and if you don't take note of the warning behavior (ears pinned back in the "airplane ears" position, tail flicking annoyedly) then the cat has little recourse beyond biting and clawing. I had the same problem with my one and a half year old shelter cat for the first few months after I got him. He would only let me pet his head, and even then he would bite or swat at me within a couple minutes.

If my experience was at all normal, I can say your situation should get better over time. Now I can pet my cat's head, body, legs, and tail, and he won't bite or claw or even look annoyed for at least 20 minutes, and by then we're both all petted out. It is best to look for the early signs I mentioned and just stop petting her the when you see that. That will prevent her from biting, and it will build trust on her part as you learn to read her body language and respond appropriately.
This is the same thing that happened with my first rescue, Hurley my big orange boy. He could only tolerate being petted around his head. You could pet his head forever but the minute you stroked down his back he'd bite. It took him a while to get used to being petted and build up his tolerance and he will still get overstimulated once in a while.

Pandora was a totally different story, she loves attention and loves petting. You could pet her for hours on end and she would never get tired of it.

Lilly you can pet for about a minute and then she's over it.

The best thing you can do is watch out for those warning signs. If you see your cat's eyes start to dilate, see the ears going back, or the tail twitching or lashing you should stop petting. The best thing you can do is prevent the bite before it happens. When a bite does happen I usually make a loud high pitched "ow" noise or an "ah ah". Then I ignore the cat. No more attention from me when you bite!
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post #4 of 5
4/3/11 at 7:42pm
Welcome to the wonderful world of cats! All of my kitties have been rescued and all of them will nip when they've had enough. As previous posters have mentioned the key is watching your kitty and learning the warning signs of when it's time to stop or which areas the kitty doesn't want you to pet.

As for grabbing the ankles when you walk by, sometimes it's reaching out to get attention, but if she's being aggressive or scratching you might want to try distracting her with a toy.
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post #5 of 5
4/5/11 at 11:47am
My first experience with this type of behavior was when my ex took in a stray kitten which would sit on my lap when I watched TV. This was my first experience with a cat in the house. One night, as she became more and more "comfortable", she turned over and let me pet her belly. After about five minutes she grabbed my hand with all four claws AND a very hard bite! She was like a big spider grabbing its prey! I had a pretty bad injury on my hand, and was fuming mad at the cat.

Now, that was back in the day... I'm now a fairly experienced cat owner in my own right. I have three extremely gentle cats, and I know all of them well enough not to worry about getting bitten or scratched. But until you have a VERY strong bond with your cat, follow the advise above. Don't keep on petting and petting. If you really enjoy petting your cat, start with small doses and then just stop for a while. If they tolerate it, go a couple more minutes next time, and so on... Eventually you'll get to know what the cat likes and doesn't like, and what they will do about it.

I'm very lucky now - they will never bite, and if they use their paws it's just a few taps with claws retracted, as if to say 'please stop'.
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