I know she loves me but she bites so much!

I tried to read past threads about this but they just didn't help. My oldest sister road home from work one day and a kitten had been under her car. She knew I had been wanting one so I kept her. I have no idea how old she is and her vet visit is next Tuesday. I've had her a week and she has a good routine established. We spend time together in the mornings and I go to work then spend all afternoon with her. Weekends I may spend more time with her. She is so loving and gives me "hugs and kisses" when I go get her in the morning (she has her own room for night and times I need to make sure she can't get into anything). However that wears off when she decides to play and will paw. I know to get the toys out then. During the day she will also be sweet but mostly claw and want to bite and play at my hands and arms. Thankfully not as bad as some post I read but I want her to stop before it gets bad. She will not listen when I tried the "no" and clapping at her. She looked at me then would attack again. I will try hissing next because I did read that. She will not use the scratchers I made but does like carpet so I got some carpet pieces from Lowes and when my boyfriend and I finish the tower she will have a vertical carpet scratcher to try. I will not declaw or use a water squirter. Please ask questions and give me any advice you can!

She might be bored. Even with her toys. I vowed never to get just one kitten. I do not regret it.

That was again a reoccurring theme- get them a playmate. But I but my very most into her spoiling and even choosing to stay home and play and take care of her versus a date night or what else. I will be going to college next year and my mother doesn't mind watching her; I will be home on the weekends and will take her with me to my home when I move out to a permanent residence. However TWO cats she might not be so happy about watching hah. I completely understand the concept of the two playing together; she keeps trying to play with my dog who is not having it . So would the two not attack me? That feels like such a dumb question but I don't want the two kittens (and especially cats if they don't grow out of it) attacking me together!

Have you tried playing with a laser pointer? Whenever Cocoa gets too aggressive when playing (my fault though, I use my hands as toys a lot) I get the laser out and make her run around, up and down stairs, one room to the next, across all the couches up and then down, and again...you get the point. It wears her out and let's me cuddle or play without the bites.

Another thing that works, she used to bite my fingers and I would lightly push down on her tongue making her let go and basically spit my fingers out. Now when she gets rough it's my arm she tries for which is easier for me to avoid because I see it coming.

I would play with fishing pole toys only and try to really get her tired morning and night.    Also, when she bites, stop playing leave the room.  She will find out that if she bites, no more playing and that's what she wants. Possibly she didn't have litter mates to teach her that biting hurts.  Another kitten might help her learn this. 

Yes, unfortunately a kitten alone is in bad company. She's most likely just wound up from being alone.

A couple of suggestions:

How ahead and start trimming her claws now, this is something that needs to be done anyway, and it's better to start young. Be sure to treat her after.

When she bites, say ow! Loudly enough that she'll know she hurt you. I'd also get up and ignore her immediatly afterwards.

I agree with the exercise with a laser pointer or string toy. However, i'd use it to prevent aggressive behavior, rather than to stop it once it's started. Being proactive with the exercise, rather than reactive will probably yield better results. Plus she might start to make the association that biting gets her play time.

Also to springboard off that last thought, I think it would be a good idea to train her using positive reinforcement. When she does something right, praise her. When she does something you don't like, give her a firm NO.

As far as praising her, make sure to give her a "Yay! Good girl", for playing with her toys, for using her box, for eating her food, for EVERYTHING good. That way when she does something bad, there is a stark contrast in your voice inflection.

This really works, I've used it on many an orphan kitten, and it just works.

Thank you all so much. We play a lot with her laser pointer using it to guide her instead of her chasing me around while I get ready in the morning ha! I do praise her when she listens and let's me pat her durning a play session.

I need to trim her claws soon they aren't bad but I've been playing with her paws just getting her used to the feeling of me holding them.

I made her a ribbon pole toy we play with and she does love it and it and I tire out before she does on that one ha.

@allison319
So what I'm trying now is the pushing back on her andnot reacting like prey and pulling away. It seemed to work last night but my boyfriend was scared I was hurting her by doing this. It's not hurting her is it? It seemed to work as she went and played. We had beenplaying with her for a long time and had sat down when she bit at our arms.

Personally, I would not push back on a cat.  They might see it as a game.  I would stay away from any games that involve using your hands.  Pet and interact with your cat while she is calm and not wanting to play.  I foster kittens and they love fishing pole toys.  Two favorites are "Da Bird" and "Cat Dancer".  If they bite while I am holding them, I let out a loud cry and  just put them down and walk away. 

kailey0317 said:

@allison319
So what I'm trying now is the pushing back on her andnot reacting like prey and pulling away. It seemed to work last night but my boyfriend was scared I was hurting her by doing this. It's not hurting her is it? It seemed to work as she went and played. We had beenplaying with her for a long time and had sat down when she bit at our arms.

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Keeping in mind that ideally, you should not use your hands as much as you can to play with her, pushing back is a good way to get her to stop. It's very counter-instinctive, but it works for her too. Just remember that you're probably 50x stronger than her, so use your own judgment. Don't show any emotions when you do that, just gently push back against her to get her to stop.

I've never had any luck with pushing back, although I've heard it worked for people.

As @FhiCat said, you want to try and not use your hands around her when she's in play mode. Kittens see hands and fingers as prey. It's your job to teach her that they aren't.

Another thing that's good to introduce is a small stuffed animal about the same size as her. If she starts to get rough let her take her aggressions out on the stuffed animal. This wrestling helps her fill the void her littermates left.


Also, the nail trimming early just desensitizes them a bit. If you don't start early, it will be much harder when they are older. I'd just sit down with her almost every day and trim a few at a time. Only cut the very tip off, you are just trying to get her used to it.

There are some tips/techniques in a sticky here on the board.

That is my goal - to not antagonize her. Play with but not egg her on with my hands and make her think they are the toy. Its so hard though. I want to pet her when we play but then she sees one more toy coming at her

I tried to give her a stuffed animal but she didn't seem very interested. Any tips to get her to or is it just act like a toy and see if she takes an interest to it?

I gave mine a beanie baby animal to play with. She likes it and will often carry it around. The beans make noise and make her want to play with it. And really try to hide your fingers when playing with it to get her attention so she is focusing on the toy and not your hand.