My kitten won't stop biting !

She's 4 nearly 5 months old now and still gets aggressive now and again to the extent my partner and I have marks on our hands ! We love her go pieces and she can be so loving ! Always greets us at the door, jumps on our shoulder and sleeps with us but now and again she will attack us for not reason ! Hissing at her started to work but now she doesn't seem to react to it ! She is getting spayed in a couple of weeks not sure that will make a difference ! She aggressively attacked my partners arm the other night and he is talking about just letting her out one day and making her fend for herself to teach her a lesson ! She's an indoor cat as we live on a highway ! And she got scared when I took her in the garden on a leash once and ran to come back indoors! We do hope she grows out of it and call Her the little shark when we find her trying to stalk us but what she did to my partners arm was just spiteful ! We've had her since she was 6/7 weeks old and I love her and don't want to let her out and be harmed out there !

I'm wondering why you and your partner have marks on your hands. You always use a toy when you play with a cat, never your hands Also, when you pat your cat you look out for signs that it is uncomfortable and stop before it bites or scratches. One of my cats will tolerate any amounts of petting while the other will only tolerate a few quick pats to the top of her brows, a cheek or under her chin.

You need to be consistent when you hiss or say "No" in a firm voice, the other part of the technique is that you walk away and ignore her for awhile. 

Playing with her (most cats love the teaser toy called da bird, mine love the Go Cat Teaser Cat Catcher Wand) is a great way to get out all that pent up aggression. My more energetic cat used to love the kickeroo that Kong sells, it's nice and soft and kittens tend to go to town, bunny kicking them. 

When you take a cat out of your house it needs to be done slowly. Having a bunch of boxes and other things that she can hide in will make her less fearful. Playing with her for awhile just in the doorway and gradually moving outside just a little bit at a time will make her less fearful of the garden but please check to see if you have any plants that are poisonous to cats. 

She probably was not properly trained in anners since yuo got her so young.  They learn from their litter mates not to bite too hard or use their claws too hard.  If you are raising a little orphan like her, you would have had to handle the training yourself.  What is cute as a kitten is painful and annoying as an adult.  I don't think she is vicious, she is just playing, but playing too roughly.  Did you always play with her with your hands and arms?  That's a no no.  You should always use a stuffed toy of sorts between the kitten and you so he can play rought with the toy but learn to distinguish between the hand and the toy.  You are going to have to retrain her.  You may have to be a bit rougher than you would have been when she was a baby, but you are the larger cat and she needs to learn what UNacceptable behavior is, and it gets her put down and ignored, not played with more.  And if she attacks you can bop her just like her mother would, not with human strength but a nice little pop like a mother cat would. 

I went into this in more detail in another thread.  Check out post No. 5 in the following thread:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/321360/hand-raised-bad-catty#post_4036790  (post 5 is mine)

daisyd
This is a training issue. My husband used to allow both my half-grown kittens to play rough with his hands. Then, the kitten bites got stronger and he didn't find it cute anymore.
My solution is that if I pet the cats anywhere and they claw or bite, tell them no and immediately stop giving them attention. Sometimes that means physically moving the kiten off the couch or bed. Other times, if I'm on the floor with them, I immediately stop playing and walk away. If the kitten is just too woundup, we gave them a 5 or 10 minute time out in the powder room. We kept a water bowl and bed in there.
This has definitely improved their behavior with me

Thank you ! We never play with her with our hands ! We use toys which dangle and she has tons of balls and other toys (the house is full of them. She will just suddenly run up and attack our hands or toes when we are not even looking in her direction ! Like just now I'm lying on the sofa watch tv and she's just jumped on my feet and wrapped her self found my feet and started biting! We I've just hissed at her and she walked off then started stalking my feet then attacked my them again ! We do give her attention and I play with her tons in the evening with her toys to tire her !!! It's a shame as is lovely most of the time !

She just wants your attention. Playing once a day at night is fine for an adult cat, but I think kittens need more playtime than this.

Believe me she gets more than that ! I meant intense play ! I'm always giving her attention ! I think she was too Young when we got her ! We didn't see any other litter and they said the mother was in the other room ! When we took her to the vets he said she was 6/7 weeks ! He said that it's okay to have a kitten that young ! In the UK the standard age to get a kitten is 8 weeks ! Although from a proper breeder I suspect would be 12 weeks ! She's being lovely now ! She's lurched on my partners legs having a sleep at the moment !

Do you have any interactive toys that might allow her to get her hunting mode down pat? When my cat was a kitten I had a toy that went around in circles, had a wand with feathers attached. Battery operated, and kept him busy for many hours.

We bought her a battery mouse which she was terrified of ! We bought her a laser pointer which she loves and tires her although now reading they are not good ! I always provide Her with a toy at the end of play so she can catch something !

We went for my hand again when I was playing with her (with a toy of course ). She was so aggressive left a mark ! We ignored her for hours ! She bit my partner first time as met her when she was tiny ! We joke about Her being mixed with a lion or tiger but it gets me down when and is nasty ! She's being lovely again now and even let me brush her ! But marks we have with her random attacks are awful ! Will spading Her help ? She has her Appointment in 2 weeks !

daisyd
You might need to try a squirt gun or a water spray bottle. It's an immediate response from you that alerts her not to continue. We still have the spray bottles out, but I have not needed to touch the bottle for over a week. When I touch the bottle and call their name -- they look up and usually stop what they are doing.
I think one of my original kitties had a tendency to wrestle and full-out attack. I took a tube sock or high sport sock and stuffed it with fiberfill to make a stuffed toy about 8" long and 3" across (18 cm x 5 cm approx). This gave her a wrestling toy about her size. She could grab and bite and claw and attack this. I think we used to put this toy in her way when she started to be aggressive. She lived to be 18 and was a lovely cat once she got past the attack stage.
Hope this helps.

Thank you! Just ordered some fiberfill ! I'm desperate ! I love her and don't want to lose her !

You can also use stuffing out of an old bed pillow if it is filled with fiber. Other things for an immediate toy would be to stuff the sock with old nylons (tights?) or even put a sock over a tightly rolled t-shirt. I think anything that gives a toy in the "grab and wrestle" size, (like your wrists, hands, and ankles) is worth a try.

Please do not use a squirt gun or a spray bottle. my cat's breeder did that with my cat before I got her. She fled under the bed when I did the dishes, poor little thing.

Thank you all for advice ! I filled a glove with fiber filler as she loves biting hands! It's been great ! She rolls around with it and jumps on it ! Just filled a sock too but she prefers the glove !

It worked for couple days just been playing with her and left her alone for a minute and she jumped up and attacked my hand ! Hope she grows out lt ! She was sick last night (she's quite a sickly kitten ) and I hugged and rubbed her tummy all night which she loved ! She's getting spayed next week ! Don't want to change her personally !

She will grow out of it if you don't encourage it. I highly doubt she is being 'spiteful' or 'aggressive', she is just playing. Stalking, pouncing, biting - all things she would do with her litter mates. She's still a baby so it will still be a couple of months until she calms down. My baby is older than a year now and she has finally calmed down, but it's different for every cat. Trying to play with her as much as possible and waiting for her to "grow up a little" is all you can really do at this point. Stick it out! This is why a lot of people will tell you it's easier to adopt an adult or elderly cat, and it's definitely what i'm doing next time No more hyperactive toddler kiddies for me!

So she is now 6 months old and still bites although when she is excited or wants you to play with her ! She's been spayed and we have done everything ! Weve just been playing as we do every night ! And she has bitten me and it hurts ! I stop playing with her immediately ! Hope she stops

Hang in there, don't forget her brain isn't fully developed yet, she won't get things straight away. Encourage her to use a soft toy to chew on.and use it to distract her from you. My kitten used to walk around with the tentacles of her Kong wubba toy dangling from her mouth, she must have been teething at the time.

Don't forget to literally tell her you don't like it by vocalisation with a "No" and ignoring her.