Cat Biting aggression

So my cat who is 1.5 years became aggressive and started to bite and scratch my feet, its mostly playful bites but now sometimes when i pet her then start to walk to other rooms she runs behind me and try to to grab my foot biting and scratching it hard, i know she thinks its playing but i don't know what to do to make her stop this. a while ago i read that when she bites i should put her in another room giving her  timeout, it didn't seem to do anything so i stopped it because i was scared that this might do any emotional damage. if someone has any tips about the biting please tell me i would be grateful for any help.

Another thing she also doesn't like to be held, or sleep next to me, is there a way to make her more cuddly?

Hi and sorry to hear about your troubles. I have a couple of questions for you to get a better understanding of the situation.
-are you used to playing or have you used your hands and feet as toys before?
-are this attacks something competely new or did your kitty used to attack you before but is now doing it more frequently?
-is there a pattern that you can find like attacks happen after playing with kitty?
-when you pet her does she swish her tail or twitch her ears before walking away and attacking you?

This sounds a lot like the first cat I owned when I was in college. Being only used to outdoor cats I didn't really know how to raise one and made so many mistakes. I used my hands and feet as toys, when playing with a toy I rarely let her win so I frustrated her to no end and I wasn't well versed in kitty body language so I didn't understand that my petting her was sometimes over stimulating her and I missed the waning signs that she was about to attack to make me stop.

If she's an only cat and you're her only source of fun and playing she van be bored and attack you so she can solicit a reaction from you. You're her only source of entertainment so if you don't play enough she'll then use you as her toy. Also some cats will attack if you stop in the middle of playtime when they're all ramped up and attack you because they don't agree with playtime being over and are still in hunter mode.

My old cat used to attack me from room to room and I would be dragging her on my heels as she bit and clawed my ankles because I used to play with her with my feet... this was her way of inviting me to play with her.

I tried yelping and stopping but the moment I continued to walk she would attack again. I never really got to solve this problem for my mother and step father fell in love with her and asked if they could keep her to help with his depression so I eventually caved in.

If she attacks you after petting watch for signs she's getting overstimutaled. Watch out for rippling fur, twitching tail and ears, open mouth, ears flat. She's warning you to stop and will most likely attack if you continue.

Also if this behavior is sudden and totally out of character for her, I would advise getting her checked out by a vet just to make sure it's not medical instead of behavioral.

Good luck!

- yes i used to play with my feet and hands as toys when she was younger and she would bite and i thought her little bite don't hurt that much.

- no, she didn't attack me when she was younger.

- i think like you said she attacks when i sometimes stop during playtime or when someone holds her against her will

- if i pet in a place she doesn't like she might start attacking my hand 

- i got her checked out a while ago and the vet said she was okay

i'll for her signs to see if she's distressed when i pet her or not

is there any way to make her know that biting my feet isn't okay ?  

Thank you for your answers. I've maid the same mistake with my first cat thinking "oh how cute" when she pounced on my hands and legs. That wa's until she grew into her full main coon size and those little bites became nightmarish skin piercing chomps.

I've been reading a lot of cat behaviour books and watching my vat from hell [emoji]128516[/emoji] and the advice they give is to redirect the cat''s attention since punishment doesn't work. How often do you play with her? If you have time try to schedule at least one playtime where you use a toy on a string (not your hands) and let her chase it until she becomes tired. Then afterwards you can feed her and the theory is she'll groom and then go to sleep.

If you stop playing while she's still having fun you increase the risk of her attacking you so what I usually do when I don't have to much time is play for 10 minutes high energy, letting the kittens chase the toy on the couch onto the floor and into the scratching post until they tire out. Then I pretend the you (feather on a string) is wounded and play only on the floor and make slower movement until they catch it one last time and then they immediately get their meals.

My mother carries crinkled balls in her pocket which she throws on the floor whenever she notices that Leilah, my aforementioned bad natured kitty, looks like she's about to attack her legs. It diverts her attention and she becomes so enamored with playing with the ball she forgot she was planning on attacking my mum.

Whatever you do don't punish her or try to pull away when she attacks. Moving your hands or legs just makes it more interesting for her since you're acting like a prey. Also watch her body language when petting your cat. Leilah can only be touched on the head, anywhere else and she'll attack but not without giving warning signs like tail and ear twitches, flat ears open mouth etc. The moment you see thsee signs just stop, back away and if she wants to continue being petted she'll come to you.

I hope this helps you a bit and I hope other more experienced members have more advice for you [emoji]128516[/emoji]

i'll try to have few playtime everyday and i'll follow your advice and hopefully things will become better. 

Thank you so much for your time and help