Cat Biting- NOT overstimulation, please help!

My cat Roxie is a little over two years old. I got her at 10 months old from a couple that couldn't keep her anymore. She took a while to open up but things were getting better and better until a couple months ago she started biting. At first I googled it and it seemed like overstimulation, so I'd stop petting her and things were fine. But More recently, she will come up while I am laying on the couch or the bed. She will lick my arm (mostly my forearm), then bite. I try to ignore her but she will bite consecutively harder and even begin biting and shaking her head with my skin in her teeth (ask if she was trying to kill prey). Once she's bitten a couple times she will look severely irritated (ears back, staring, tail twitching) and even start growling! Luckily she hadn't broken skin yet, but it really hurts, it is NOT gentle. I have tried loud noises, putting her in a separate room. I figure she's bored but I try playing with her at least 15 min a day with either a laser or da bird. I usually try to keep my cool, but sometimes it really hurts and I'm forced to push/throw her away from me. I'm really not sure what to do at this point, it most certainly isn't love bites as the aggression escalates to the point where I feel like she is going to attack my face. It really feels unprovoked, I'm sure there's a reason but I don't want to do the wrong thing and make it worse. Maybe she is bored even though I try to play with her? If I try redirecting to play, will this teach her that naughty behavior/biting will be rewarded? Or do cats not work that way? Any advice helps!

Ouch - I have been there before with a cat like Roxie. It's very frightening to have a cat chomp into you like you're dinner.  It sounds like you're doing all the right things to control the problem but there is one more you might consider.  Get another cat about the same age or a little older than Roxie.  Adopt one with a proven track record for getting along with other cats.  This is ultimately what I did and it worked very well.  Roxie is a young energetic cat and would probably respond very well to having a play buddy.  

Thank you Margd! This is something I have been back and forth about for a while- my biggest concern is that my place is pretty small already for me and Roxie (a little under 200 square feet) and I would worry that getting another cat before I move into a bigger place might be stressful for both given the tight quarters. This is another reason I try to play with Roxie quite a bit- she doesn't have much space to roam (although she has a tall cat tree and I have a loft bed which adds to the space)...do you know what the appropriate space per cat would be?

I see why you are worried - 200 square feet is really not much room.  I'm not sure there is a hard and fast rule about the amount of space needed per cat.  I once had four cats in about 300-350  square feet for about 4 months and we managed okay but we were all very glad to move to more spacious quarters.

 The main thing is that you would have to increase your vertical space as much as possible.  Cat trees help with that, as you know already, but you might also consider attaching wooden shelves to the wall.   Some of our members have done that and it really looks nice.   

It's a tough call. Perhaps you could arrange to foster with a rescue organization to see how it works out?  

Margd said:

I see why you are worried - 200 square feet is really not much room.  I'm not sure there is a hard and fast rule about the amount of space needed per cat.  I once had four cats in about 300-350  square feet for about 4 months and we managed okay but we were all very glad to move to more spacious quarters.

 The main thing is that you would have to increase your vertical space as much as possible.  Cat trees help with that, as you know already, but you might also consider attaching wooden shelves to the wall.   Some of our members have done that and it really looks nice.   

It's a tough call. Perhaps you could arrange to foster with a rescue organization to see how it works out?  

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Thank you again! Those are all great suggestions, I'll continue to think about it and explore my options. Until then I'll try and increase playtime and maybe keeping it at more regular times will help as well...as long as Roxie is happy and my arm isn't being bit

I'm sorry to hear about your cat woes and I agree with Margd that getting a second cat could really make all the difference in behavior. Plus like she said, cats view territory differently from u's. Adding vertical space adds more territory and a way for both cats to escape from each other in a healthy way instead of hiding beneath furniture. Just keep in mind that when putting up catwalks or shelves that both cats can climb up and down via different routes so they don't get cornered up high by the other cat.

I would also advise on perhaps no longer playing with the laser. I'm no expert and I'm sure that playing with a laser has many benefits for certain kitties but I've read that for some cats it only increases their frustration since they cannot physically catch it and are left without the tactile benefit of catching and "killing" the prey as with other toys like da bird.

I could write a whole book about what went wrong with raising my first cat Leilah who btw still chimps down on my mother's arm when she's bored (my parents adopted her as a therapy pet for my then depressed step father) and one of the things was hardly letting her catch the toy and abruptly stopping play while she was still in the hunter phase. Since she's an only cat you are the only real live stimulation she has and perhaps she's hoping to get you to play especially since she seems to attack you outside of playtime.

Good luck with everything and I hope she settles down soon.

It is possible it can be a form of play for her if she isnt getting enough stimulation. My oldest Tyson will come up start grooming me bite me and then go back to grooming me. I have never had any of my cats growl but it is possible she has to much pent up energy and is taking it out on you. Try finding a way to play that doesnt involve your hands like  one of the things on a string you can pull around. She wont think of your arm as play and could take it out on something else. What I also found that helped I got him a little stuffed frog its a cat toy and it makes noise when he bites it so he will run around the house shaking it in his mouth. Hopefully something like that could work for you. 

SiggyMauw said:

I'm sorry to hear about your cat woes and I agree with Margd that getting a second cat could really make all the difference in behavior. Plus like she said, cats view territory differently from u's. Adding vertical space adds more territory and a way for both cats to escape from each other in a healthy way instead of hiding beneath furniture. Just keep in mind that when putting up catwalks or shelves that both cats can climb up and down via different routes so they don't get cornered up high by the other cat.

I would also advise on perhaps no longer playing with the laser. I'm no expert and I'm sure that playing with a laser has many benefits for certain kitties but I've read that for some cats it only increases their frustration since they cannot physically catch it and are left without the tactile benefit of catching and "killing" the prey as with other toys like da bird.

I could write a whole book about what went wrong with raising my first cat Leilah who btw still chimps down on my mother's arm when she's bored (my parents adopted her as a therapy pet for my then depressed step father) and one of the things was hardly letting her catch the toy and abruptly stopping play while she was still in the hunter phase. Since she's an only cat you are the only real live stimulation she has and perhaps she's hoping to get you to play especially since she seems to attack you outside of playtime.

Good luck with everything and I hope she settles down soon.

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Thank you SiggyMauw,

These are all really good suggestions as well. I usually do try to finish laser play with a tangeable toy that she can "kill", but maybe I should try avoiding it for a while and seeing if that helps.

Thanks so much!

animallover9 said:

It is possible it can be a form of play for her if she isnt getting enough stimulation. My oldest Tyson will come up start grooming me bite me and then go back to grooming me. I have never had any of my cats growl but it is possible she has to much pent up energy and is taking it out on you. Try finding a way to play that doesnt involve your hands like  one of the things on a string you can pull around. She wont think of your arm as play and could take it out on something else. What I also found that helped I got him a little stuffed frog its a cat toy and it makes noise when he bites it so he will run around the house shaking it in his mouth. Hopefully something like that could work for you. 

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Thank you animallover9,

The squeaky toy is something I haven't thought about yet, I'll have to try that!

This is totally my cat. It sounds to me like your cat has play aggression. She's bored, and she's high energy. She's trying to play with you like she would a cat which is why she's so rough. I'm still working through this, but so far it looks like you need to play with her more. 15 minutes a day isn't enough for a lot of cats (not mine at least). Even when I play with him, he's still up at night playing by himself. And he gets really bad if I spend a night away from home. Get toys that don't involve your hands and try to play with her while you watch tv or something.

Somewhere there's a quote by Jackson Galaxy that goes like "give your cat an hour of structured play time a day and you won't believe the difference". When my demon cat is chomping on my arms because I was too lazy to play with him, I realize it would have just been worth the effort to play yet another game of fetch because then I wouldn't have bite marks all over.