Correcting problems

Hi. My Cat/Kitten is now nearly 6 months old, he is quite a big cat for his age. When we first took him on he was a loving little character, but now, everytime we try to stroke him he trys to bite us. He never dose it hard, but has on a few occasions drawn blood. He seems to like attacking my moms legs too. I know this is probably caused by the fact that from about 8 weeks of age my dad and brothers would play with him using their hands only! so i think he is just playing. However, it is becomming a little bit of a problem as he is getting older. I wont shout at him for his behaviour as i do believe the family is at fault and not the cat, but i would like to know if anyone knows how i can un-teach this as a for of play? I would really like to be able to gain access to the softie i know he is at heart. Any advice would be welcome.
Regards
Laura

Hi Laura, a lot of cats don't like to be stroked. I could give my cat Rosie a couple of strokes and she's fine but anymore than that and she will bite me also. She loves being scratched under her chin and around her ears but i can only do that for so long before she tells me she's had enough!.

He is still a kitten really, so i would say he is still playing, my Rosie is nearly two years old and she still pounces after my feet!.

I'm glad you havent shouted at him though, clap your hands at him or say a firm NO and he'll soon know what it means!.

Susan
(P.S. Try to play with him a bit more)

As Susan stated, some cats just do not like to be stroked for too long. The sensation is just to intense for them. But, you did say your father and brother used to use their hands as toys, so that too could be the reason why he bites. He thinks your hand is a toy. You may want to have a stuffed toy with you when you pet your cat. When your cat tries to bite your hand or fingers, put the toy in front of his mouth to "redirect" his biting to the toy. When he bites the toy, praise him well. Tell him what a good boy he is. Make sure you never hit your cat, this will only make things worse. This "redirecting" technique worked very well with Amber.

I feel your pain. One of my inside cats BK, who will be 2 next month is like that but not as bad as when he was younger. And yes it was because family members used body parts as toys. This is a bad idea and I tried to tell everyone, so a year later when we got 2 more kittens everyone started using cat toys for play with them and they now do not bite. But anyway BK would do the samething when my daughter would walk though the room he would attack her legs. What I would do is pick him up and put him in a room by himself for 5 min. a little time out and now he does not attack legs anymore. Now for the biting..he only likes to be petted when he wants to be petted which is in the morning. I know it sounds weird but that is the way he is. So I pet him in the morning and during the day just give him a short pat on the head in passing. ANd another thing that helps was getting 2 more kittens so he has cat company and they wear each other out playing. I have learned to except BK's personality of not wanting to be petted and love him for being BK.
Clara

Thank you all so much for your help. Bruce will take a long time to settle down we think, but he is worth all the hassel. He's such a handsome boy. We are going to get him neutured soon so hopefully that will help to calm him down a little. I was hoping to take on his half sister who is only 3 days old at the moment, shes a beautiful little thing, mostly black, with white and ginger legs, half a ginger face and ginger flecks in her fur, but i'm having trouble getting my parents to agree. My best mate wants to give her to me for my 21st birthday. Would having another young cat in the house help calm him down at all? i am hoping that giving him some feline company will be benifitial to him.
Any insite would be helpful, i am despiratly trying to get my mom and dad to say i can take her on.
Regards
Laura

There's a great thread related to identifying why cats bite and what to do about it at:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...threadid=20837

Miikka has been having an issue with this lately (she is about 4 mos old). She will attack hands by completely wrapping her paws/arms around your arm and begin to attack your hand by biting/kicking with her back feet.

My dad is guilty of playing with her using just his hands (they like to "play fight"). I am assuming that is where this behavior is coming from.

When Miikka does this I tell her "NO" sternly, and then I will put her down or walk away from her. She will sometimes follow and continue attacking legs and feet, but most of the time she gets the idea and calms down.

Your best bet is to try and get your Dad to stop using his hands and arms to play fight with her. Instead, get a long pheasant feather or peacock feather and play that way. If you have an old fishing pole tucked away, tie a lightweight toy on the end of the line and troll for your cat. Try to get him to understand that as long as he uses his hands, fingers and arms to play fight with her, she will look at a human as prey. It may be playing to him, but not to her.