Need tips for calming bitey feral cat

I've adopted a sweet feral tomcat. After many months he's well on his way to becoming a real cuddlebug and has recently begun to crave petting. He will rub on my hand for as long as I let him.

Not everything is ideal however. Being a former feral he has this bad habit of attacking during our petting sessions. He only bites or swats once before returning to his cuddly self but darn his attacks pack a mean punch.

If anyone has tips on curbing this behavior I'd be grateful.

I have the same issue with my "Former Feral" male. He also grabs my leg when he doesn't want me to leave.   I have recently found that a loud " Sh-h-h-h-h"  catches his attention without scaring him.   He just sort of looks at me startled. It seems to work as these incidents are becoming less frequent.

He does it too fast to be stopped by a hissing sound :-(
He just strikes in the blink of an eye and the next second he has already backed away :-(

It sounds like he's probably just getting overstimulated by all the attention. This is a surprisingly common issue - with fully domesticated cats as well as ex ferals. Watch his body language carefully when petting him - the second that tail begins to twitch, stop petting and give him some space. Keep a suitable toy to hand is a good move too - I find kicker style toys (such as the Kong Kickeroo) are perfect for this. As you stop petting, give him the toy. That way, he has something appropriate to bite and swat at whilst keeping you safe.

If he's indoor only (and he'll tolerate it) clipping his claws, and maybe even fitting Softpaws claw covers, will help keep you safer too. However, do NOT do this if he goes outside, as he may need his claws at full sharpness whilst out.

Lastly, do get him neutered asap. There could well be a hormonal/sexual element to this behaviour, and neutering will help the hormones settle...not to mention preventing him fathering dozens of litters of unwanted kittens.[article="32390"][/article][article="22328"][/article][article="22304"][/article]

I think he's kinda confused because he grew up wild and hasn't had much experience with humans, although he craves human interaction. When I approach him he always hisses but seconds later he's rubbing on my hand and flipping belly up. He loves being petted, I can just keep my hand still and he'll rub on it.

I can't cut his nails, he won't let me and besides, it's not just the nails that are the problem, he sometimes bites. That's why I'm looking for behavioral modification ideas to curb these tendencies.

I read about noticing the movement of his tail elsewhere on the Internet too but he is always nervous and moving it from side to side.

He will be neutered in a month (vet said no sooner as he recently had anaesthesia and he was weak and underweight from a health issue he's recovering from). In the meantime he's contained in a storage shack next to my house.

I found that if I pull my hand back as soon as he rolls over to present his belly he won't scratch me. Dunno why he does this as I was only petting his head and was nowhere near his belly but my other cat does it as well so it might just be general cat behavior.

On the biting thing, I followed the advice of being careful of his getting overstimulated and only got a soft, quick love-bite today so things are improving.

After reading up on human aggression, I decided to change my approach, take a few steps back and give him space to set his own limits.

I still pet him but stop the second he starts twitching his tail. He is free to rub on me, my feeling is he knows how much he likes and when to stop but I haven't been able to verify this yet. If he does, I hope/expect he'll just move aside when he's had enough.

The second he shows aggression I'll "hiss" and leave. The goal is to let him know he can interact with me but claws must remain sheathed.

This way I hope to encourage contact, let him move on a pace he is comfortable with, let him claim me as his own and discourage attacks. We'll see how it goes but it might take more than I initially expected.

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Sounds like you've found the solution.  I've had to using the hissing trick with one of ours.  He loves his head scratched; get to his shoulders and he's twitchy.  Touch his flank and you've got scars!

You are very wise to let him go at his own pace.  He's a lucky cat!

Mith has grown a lot more comfortable around people: He now sleeps next to visitors and will rub on anyone who pays attention to him.

After all these weeks I've come to the conclusion that he really hates having his lower back and tail touched and that's why he was swiping and biting. Now I limit petting to his head and chin and there haven't been had any incidents since. At all.

Having realized this I googled it and I stumbled upon this post which seems to explain why this happens:

strange_wings said:

In an unneutered tom or a cat that had previously been an unneutered tom with a chance to breed and fight (and fought quite a bit) the back end and tail will be very sensitive areas. This is simply because when male cats fight, they try to bite the other cat back there and at the genitals.

If you take in an adult male cat that has a history of fighting chances are he won't want you messing around back there or will have very short patience for it.

Click to expand...

For anyone who happens to stumble upon this post, consider this might be the reason why your male cat reacts that way

Mith will probably be neutered the day after tomorrow (if I manage to put him in the cage!), we'll see if this behaviour improves afterwards or if it's a set behaviour after all these years roaming the streets.

Very interesting.  It explains a lot!