Seemingly unprovoked biting

Hi all,

I came to the boards to try and get some insight into biting behavior in my cat; I have read a couple other threads on the topic here but didn't see any pertaining to my particular situation (feel free to redirect me if I missed a post and this topic has been covered, however! (: ).

Basically, my kitty seems to get into bitey moods where she'll nip at my hands. Generally this happens when she's been sleeping in my lap (as she is wont to do from the moment my lap is available after I get home from school). I've read that some cats get overstimulated when being petted, and occasionally she'll get this way if I try to pet her while she's on my lap, but sometimes it seems to be totally unprovoked. For example, she'll wake up from a snooze on my lap and look around, stare at my hands, and then bite them if they get within biting distance. Even when she's like this, she wants to be on my lap though. She never bites hard, but I still find the behavior a little troubling since it doesn't seem to be a typical "love bite" situation. I was especially concerned yesterday when she was in this mood, proceeded to get her claw stuck in my sweater, and then growled at me a little while also trying to bite me as I was trying to free her.

As a little background, I adopted her from a rescue shelter almost three months ago; she was at another shelter prior to that and moved to the new shelter when the first reached full capacity. The shelter couldn't give me any more info on her past prior to that. She's a little over 4 1/2 years old, and she got a clean bill of health from the vet when I took her at the end of September. She's been a little sneezy lately, but the rest of her behavior (sleeping, eating, drinking) seems normal and there are no other symptoms (no runny eyes or nose, etc.), and she seems to be getting over whatever was causing the sneezing. She's normally a sweet kitty, and after a biting mood passes, she is back to her normal self.

Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to get some insight from some more experienced cat owners on whether this was normal, what might be causing it, and maybe how to deal with it. This is my first time owning a cat on my own, so I feel pretty inexperienced. Thanks for reading!

When I found my cat as a kitten in my backyard she spent the 2nd and 3rd nights gnawing on my hand until she fell asleep. So I don't know what that was about.
I have however read, and agree, that hands scare cats. The don't have them, don't understand them and represent claws which to a cat are dangerous.
Try this, every time you put your hand near her, present the back of the hand to her for her to smell. If she smells it by moving towards your hand she's giving you permission to touch her. It's also a good way to tell if when she's comfortable to be touched.
I did this ad nausium until it was no longer needed and my girl was comfortable.
It will become second nature and is a good way to gauge your cats mood.

Thanks for the tip! Sometimes she doesn't seem to mind being petted or having my hands near her, but other times, she does, so I'm a bit perplexed, but I will give this a try and see how she responds!

Hi, it would also be good not to ever use your hands as something to be played with even if she's friendly. Best to be very delicate and slow with hand movements around her as she might get scared of sudden movements. Good luck!

Yeah, cats are fickle. Sometimes there all over you and other times they won't acknowledge your existence.
Don't be upset if your cat doesn't accept straight away but she should at some point accept them.
I sometimes present my hand to my girl and these days she responds by showing me which part of her neck to scratch. Give it time.