Help! Kitten bites every time I pet her

The best solution is to stop using your hands in play with her. I know how much fun it is to roll them around and play games with them using your hands, however, it appears she overstimulates easily and it would be better if she isn't tempted to bite. In a bitey kitty, hand play can become dangerous, especially as they get older. Use wand style toys with her and avoid getting your hands around her face. 

If you do want to continue playing with her like this, keep removing yourself from the play when she nips as you have been doing. Although, again, I have to recommend you not keep engaging in hand play with her. 

Some cats are just bitey. My family has a all black cat that my dad and sister found under a wooden palette at my dad's work. This cat was tiny and still had to be bottle fed and his idea of playing is biting and if you try to pet him usually he bites. I think some cats just aren't into petting as much. What you can do, if you want to chance it, try using the back of your hand with your hand balled in a fist. Sometimes fingers are just to stimulating. 

Your kitten might have been taken away from it's siblings and mother too early too either from humans or from just getting separated or abandoned by mom. Living with their siblings is a very important part of growing up because it teaches the kitten bite control. With the litter, if the kitten bites a sibling or its mom too hard, he gets repremanded in a way that it understands so it learns.  It could also be from an established feral bloodline. A kitten that has had 2 feral parents will be a lot more wild acting than a kitten who was born from a feral/stray(housecat) pairing or a stray/stray pairing.

Is she biting you hard? I mean, drawing blood hard?

The reason I ask is because cats sometimes bite as a way of "kissing" one another. So if she's biting you hard (ugh, and with cats you'd know so quickly, I've had some terrible hospital inducing bites), then it's probably over stimulation or "bad manners" because she didn't have cat-to-cat socialization, but if it's just a nip, it's her way of telling you she loves you.

All three of my cats do that to some degree. When Mr. Jinx is rubbing my nose over and over he sometimes puts my nose in his mouth for a second to kiss. LOL

I suppose it's frustrating for you, so I won't try to trivialize it.  But cats display a whole spectrum of behaviors to being touched.  I have one rescue female (about 18 months old) for 10 months, and she still won't let me TOUCH her!  On the other hand, I have a beautiful 3 year old male who let's me do almost anything I want to.  I can rough him up, turn him upside down, and hold his entire head in my hand - and he will NEVER BITE ME!  He totally trusts me.  Does this kitten that bites you also scratch you?  To me, scratching is way more problematic than biting.  I know a friend's cat who will take a swipe as soon as your hand is within his range!  That is much worse (to me), than a bitey kitten.  If she's small enough, and she doesn't scratch, try gently holding her mouth shut when you touch her.  She may get the idea.  But if not, just live with it, and try to gain her love and trust.  If you really want to love her, you have to let her be.

My cat loves me and gets tons of attention and play, but he's a little bitey too. Not hard bites (he's 5 months) but just annoying. He'll just mock-attack my arm...not full-force but he just does it in certain locations (like in the bedroom of the lights are on, but never in my sleep or anything). 

So, I know this can be tricky, but it's good to ignore the cat if it bites. Cats who like affection seem to be affected by this...even if it's only for 5-10 minutes. I got my cat to stop biting my ankles in the bed (the first week) by just putting him out of the room...and he stopped. I am sure this or similar techniques will work to prevent biting from petting...even if the bites are affectionate. 

Good luck. Hope you get it fixed. Your cat may also be teething...so check those teeth and see....I think they teeth up to around 6-8 months. My cat seems to have his adult teeth already (from what I can see) at 5 months. 

@Presto: Agreed. I think scratching is way worse (and more dangerous) than biting...especially if it's not hard biting. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxKitteh 

@Presto: Agreed. I think scratching is way worse (and more dangerous) than biting...especially if it's not hard biting. 

If the biting increases in strength, it is FAR more dangerous than scratching. You can lose a finger or hand to a cat bite.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAFM 

 

 

If the biting increases in strength, it is FAR more dangerous than scratching. You can lose a finger or hand to a cat bite.  

You must be talking about some 18 lb feral tom cat (who is cornered, no less)!  Oh, come on now!
 

Though I never lost a finger or hand, I have to say that my tiny cat Isis (who is 6 pounds full grown, VERY small mouth) bit me when I first got her. It was the worst cat bite I've ever experienced and I have worked with big feral toms. The bite from her tiny teeth went straight to the bone of my pinky finger and sent me to the hospital, where they told me if I'd waited another 24 hours I would've lost that finger. I had to be on antibiotics for a month. So even a small cat can cause a very dangerous bite if they want to.