Hello lovely cat people~
Some of you may recall my boyfriend and I recently adopted a new kitten from a rescue. We've finally settled on the name Tchaikovsky (Tchai for short) and he is a cute little booger and we love him lots. He had some parasites, which he's been/is being treated for, and has only had a couple of potty mishaps but those have stopped now that he's a little bigger and can get up and down off the bed easily.
But he is still biting our hands and feet when he plays. I know he is playing because he purrs as he does it, and will often switch to attacking our hands or feet while he's playing with a toy or just do it out of nowhere - so I'm pretty sure we aren't doing anything to provoke it like overpetting.
I was reading around about what we should do, and so what I have been doing is whenever he play bites or tackles my hands or feet I say "NO" loudly and clap my hands (if he's not latched onto one) and then put him down if I was holding him, or put him off the couch or bed if he's on there, and ignore him for a while. But this doesn't seem to be working - in fact, he's been biting HARDER lately. And saying "NO" and clapping doesn't seem to phase him half the time - sometimes it startles him out of whatever he's doing and other times he ignores it completely.
The other day I bought a plush toy for kitties (about the same size he is, catnip included and all) and now when he bites I've been saying "NO" and then giving him the plush toy. He usually wrestles with it happily for a little while but then attacks our hands again.
Does anyone have any more suggestions? His little teeth right now aren't doing much damage but we need him to learn that this is a no-no. He also attacks us when we're sleeping, which isn't so bad until he starts pouncing our faces. I've had to close him out of the bedroom the last week or so. On another note he also isn't neutered yet, will that help him stop biting when he's ready to have that done?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thank you!
Some of you may recall my boyfriend and I recently adopted a new kitten from a rescue. We've finally settled on the name Tchaikovsky (Tchai for short) and he is a cute little booger and we love him lots. He had some parasites, which he's been/is being treated for, and has only had a couple of potty mishaps but those have stopped now that he's a little bigger and can get up and down off the bed easily.
But he is still biting our hands and feet when he plays. I know he is playing because he purrs as he does it, and will often switch to attacking our hands or feet while he's playing with a toy or just do it out of nowhere - so I'm pretty sure we aren't doing anything to provoke it like overpetting.
I was reading around about what we should do, and so what I have been doing is whenever he play bites or tackles my hands or feet I say "NO" loudly and clap my hands (if he's not latched onto one) and then put him down if I was holding him, or put him off the couch or bed if he's on there, and ignore him for a while. But this doesn't seem to be working - in fact, he's been biting HARDER lately. And saying "NO" and clapping doesn't seem to phase him half the time - sometimes it startles him out of whatever he's doing and other times he ignores it completely.
The other day I bought a plush toy for kitties (about the same size he is, catnip included and all) and now when he bites I've been saying "NO" and then giving him the plush toy. He usually wrestles with it happily for a little while but then attacks our hands again.
Does anyone have any more suggestions? His little teeth right now aren't doing much damage but we need him to learn that this is a no-no. He also attacks us when we're sleeping, which isn't so bad until he starts pouncing our faces. I've had to close him out of the bedroom the last week or so. On another note he also isn't neutered yet, will that help him stop biting when he's ready to have that done?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thank you!
