Kitten biting

mickeysgirl

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I have read a thread about a kitten biting in the morning and now I am having the same problem. My 8 month old kitten continues to wake me up at 4am by biting me and continues until I've woken up. I've tried a few methods but I'd love some feedback. At first I would just get up right away and feed her, but I stopped because I don't want to reward the behavior and now I am trying to use a spray bottle to give her a little squirt. Do you think this is harsh? I would never want to do anything to hurt or scar her. Just would love a little bit of sleep in the AM. I tried closing the door and this smart kitty learned how to open the door on her own!! Thanks in advance. :sleep2:
 
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I should also add that when they're in the separate rooms, they meow for eachother and stick their paws under the door. They clearly want eachother's attention, the older one is just simply too rough.
 
stephiedoodle

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firstly spray bottle is most likely way to get a negative reaction from your kitty. Cats don't understand punishment like dogs do so it really is quite pointless. Your kitty is simply being that a kitty she or he needs lots of play time to tire him out before you are ready for bed. Try Play, Eat, Sleep: Which is basically you get your kitty played with to the point where hes lying down and panting when you get to that stage feed a table spoon of something super tasty (wet food perhaps a pate?) This will simulate the hunt a prey cycle and then hopefully kitty will be ready to sleep! Also when kitty does bite to wake you dont react just go on pretending your asleep your kitty wants the reaction of you waking up and when you wake you are only rewarding her behaviour.
 
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mickeysgirl

mickeysgirl

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Very helpful thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go and hope for the best! I know she is just a kitty and adorable so it's hard to stop her. Just would love to sleep in when possible. Thanks again!
 
duckdodgers

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I never found that a spray bottle worked for my cat's problems of jumping on the counter.  Instead of making a connection to stopping the behavior she would stare right at me and continue her naughty actions.  If she saw me going near a spray bottle in any context then she'd run away.  Try hissing at her when she bites you.  It worked with my kitty for awhile.
 
meowkittymeow

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I recently got a new kitten (6 weeks old) and it is just like having a newborn sometimes! She wakes me up all through out the night. She either nibbles on my toes or sits in the hall and cries. When she does this, I usually get up with her, show her food, pet her and play a little and she goes back to sleep (or at least she leaves me alone) This whole process usually takes me about 15mins. 

I am not sure how old your kitten is, but I don't see the harm in giving in when they are little like that. Of course, I am not cat expert. 
 
duckdodgers

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MeowKittyMeow said:
 
I recently got a new kitten (6 weeks old) and it is just like having a newborn sometimes! She wakes me up all through out the night. She either nibbles on my toes or sits in the hall and cries. When she does this, I usually get up with her, show her food, pet her and play a little and she goes back to sleep (or at least she leaves me alone) This whole process usually takes me about 15mins. 

I am not sure how old your kitten is, but I don't see the harm in giving in when they are little like that. Of course, I am not cat expert. 
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There's actually quite a bit of harm that can be done by it if you don't want this sort of behavior to continue through life.  Kittens should ideally remain with their cat families until well past 6 weeks of age.  During this time they learn valuable lessons from their cat family such as when to not bite.  By allowing them to learn that using their teeth allows them to get their way then you are essentially training them to be biters, and you don't have mom and siblings to teach them anything otherwise.  My logic is the same with both kittens and puppies- if you don't think it will be cute or acceptable when they are adults, then don't reward it when they're babies! 
 
meowkittymeow

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DuckDodgers said:
 
There's actually quite a bit of harm that can be done by it if you don't want this sort of behavior to continue through life.  Kittens should ideally remain with their cat families until well past 6 weeks of age.  During this time they learn valuable lessons from their cat family such as when to not bite.  By allowing them to learn that using their teeth allows them to get their way then you are essentially training them to be biters, and you don't have mom and siblings to teach them anything otherwise.  My logic is the same with both kittens and puppies- if you don't think it will be cute or acceptable when they are adults, then don't reward it when they're babies!
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First, I know that kittens shouldn't leave there mom that early. People around here do not care and throw them out that early, even our shelter adopts them out that early. Second, maybe I didn't make my self clear, when she is biting on my toes, she is usually playing. I am not going to get mad because she thinks my feet are toys. I also play with her with my hands and let her bite them. I do this with my older cats who are now over a year old too... My older cats know we are just playing and if I tell them "owe" the stop. I also got them at 6 weeks.

However, I thank you for the advice.  I'm not used to people who have feral/semi feral kittens or kitten that are aggressive. So when we are talking about biting and kittens, I assumed (and wrongly) it was more playing than anything else.  After reading through these forums more, I have learned a lot. I suppose that is why I came here. I have always been a dog person, I am new to the cat world overall.
 
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The problem is that you play with your kitten/cats with your hands. Regardless of whether it's innocent play, they won't know the difference and will bite whenever. Start playing with them with toys.
 
duckdodgers

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MeowKittyMeow said:
 
First, I know that kittens shouldn't leave there mom that early. People around here do not care and throw them out that early, even our shelter adopts them out that early. Second, maybe I didn't make my self clear, when she is biting on my toes, she is usually playing. I am not going to get mad because she thinks my feet are toys. I also play with her with my hands and let her bite them. I do this with my older cats who are now over a year old too... My older cats know we are just playing and if I tell them "owe" the stop. I also got them at 6 weeks.

However, I thank you for the advice.  I'm not used to people who have feral/semi feral kittens or kitten that are aggressive. So when we are talking about biting and kittens, I assumed (and wrongly) it was more playing than anything else.  After reading through these forums more, I have learned a lot. I suppose that is why I came here. I have always been a dog person, I am new to the cat world overall.
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I'm not saying you of deliberately took the kitten away from its parents too early, just pointing out that this period is especially critical for your kitten's learning!  Perhaps most importantly to your situation they learn about bite inhibition from their littermates.  Most of my cat's biting has been in play, but with cats (or kittens) with this problem I don't think that folks should use their hands as toys.  As fun and well meaning as it can be it trains kittens that biting hands is appropriate behavior.  I can't stop you from playing with her with your hands, but I think it's necessary if you don't want the behavior to continue through adulthood.  Like Aoi chan recommended, I would instead use a toy to play with the kitten.  This way you can still get the rough play out, teach your kitten that toys are good for biting, and that hands are not good for biting.
 
meowkittymeow

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I understand what you guys are saying, never thought of it that way I guess. The couple of toys I bought she seems freaked out by, but I'll just keep trying different ones.

Thanks :)
 
duckdodgers

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MeowKittyMeow said:
 
I understand what you guys are saying, never thought of it that way I guess. The couple of toys I bought she seems freaked out by, but I'll just keep trying different ones.

Thanks :)
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Lots of kittens respond well to small stuffed animals.  If you get ones similar in size to the kitten then it could almost resemble a littermate.  Even just stuffing a sock would make something decently fun for a kitty.
 
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