Cat bites as if over sensitised even if you haven't touched him

Hi, 





We adopted a cat a few weeks ago and I was hoping someone might be able to help shed some light on his behaviour. He's male and still fairly young (the pound said around 1 and the vet said 6...! My gut says somewhere in between based on his size and stature.) The first few weeks were hard. He was CONSTANTLY in play mode, and that included attacking anything that moved even if it was attached to a human being. We have toys that 'distract' him now but haven't completely solved that problem. He still 'plays' with moving hands and legs but mainly with his paws and swatting rather than biting or scratching. He's still hard to tire! He's an indoor cat and as far as I can understand this behaviour is just pent up energy. We're ignoring him when he does and saying no in stern voices. 





However, the greater problem now seems to occur when he's either being stroked or rubbing up against someone. We've limited how much we go in to touch him because obviously he's easily over sensitised. One or two strokes and his tail starts to twitch. However, even at this point if you stop and remove your hands and put them behind your back/no where near him he stops for a bit seemly agitated, tilts his head to one side and then goes in for a bite. If you're sitting down it's your thigh or your calf if your standing.





Probably most annoyingly for us is that sometimes you don't even need to touch him at all. Just him being near a human that might stroke him or that he might rub up against elicits this behaviour even if there has been no contact at all. He's very friendly and constantly comes looking for company so the biting happens fairly often! It's always the same...you can see him stop, almost as if he's thinking and then he bites. It's a strong nip. He's never drawn blood but he has left marks.  This is what I really want to tackle because it makes me nervous as I can't stop it from happening - he comes to me! 





If anyone has any advice? I'm at a loss because we've already limited how much we initiate contact. I try giving him treats when he does allow strokes in the hope that it positively enforces the experience but it doesn't necessarily seem to be helping. 





Thanks

You could try feliway but I think I'd be taking him to the vet and asking his or her opinion. Older cats may find it more difficult to settle in but this may not be a settling in problem.

Perhaps medication may be the answer at least in the short term. 

Here's an article I've found, it may give you some ideas. 

Thanks. I'm gonna try the Feliway and see if that helps in any way and then approach a vet if not. Reading about Hyperesthesia Syndrome, he does bite his tail aggressively occasionally and is prone to running around suddenly from one end of the house to the other as if he's scared of something. I'd just put this down to pent up energy and his age but maybe it's not that simple. 

First of all, congrats on the new addition to your family!

I don't know if this will help but I wanted to share my experience with Rocky with you. Rocky was a feral that took a LONG time to get to the point where he could be petted and handled. Once he got to that point though, there was no turning back! I've never known a cat to want as many cuddles as this boy. I swear he is trying to make up for all the loving he missed out on those years he was in the wild. Anyway, we got him neutered and made him an indoor-only kitty. He displayed some of the same behaviors you are describing with your baby. Whenever I would walk away from him after petting he would nip at the back of my leg. Every time he saw I was walking to the door to leave the house he would do the same thing. Run up behind me, give a little nip, then give this anxious look. A lot of times when I stopped petting him he would give a soft nip to my hand or swat my hand with his paw. All of these nips and swats were very soft/gentle but inappropriate nevertheless!

In my opinion, this was just his way of saying "I don't want this to stop" or "Don't leave me".  I can only imagine the horrors of his life before he joined our family. Two things I do know is that our vet did an x-ray on him once and pointed out the buckshot that is still lodged in his chest and abdomen from before he was ours, and the other thing is when I first saw him he was the skinniest cat I had ever seen. So his life had been ROUGH. I think all those nips and swats were from anxiety that this new happy life would stop. He just wanted the love and attention to keep going. I tried the stern "No" occasionally but I'm a big softie so more often it was just a gentle "No, honey".  I can't tell you how long his nipping quirk lasted. Maybe 4 months? I can tell you it got less and less until it just stopped completely. I think it just took time for him to figure out that if I leave I WILL come back, if I stop petting him now he WILL get petted again later.

I don't know if your boy is biting for the same reason, but he sounds like he is friendly most of the time and wants your attention. You should definitely discuss this behavior with your vet but in the meantime please continue to be patient and don't ignore him too long when he misbehaves. He may just need reassurance that this new home is a forever home.

Good luck and please post a pic of him when you get a chance!

First of all, don't become a spray bottle fanatic. More and more cat behaviorists are recommending against this. The best is to say a firm "no". Then, give kitty a couple minutes to cool off alone. Some people use a sort of signal along with the "no" to make it more effective (think of the hand signs used by dolphin trainers). A light tap to the cat's nose seems to work well. When you're petting your cat and he is behaving, reward the behavior with a treat.

Cats do best with positive reinforcement. Above all, don't punish your cat with actions like hitting, screaming, making loud noise, or spraying. This will just make the cat scared of you.

Finally, be sure that you can find ways to release his pent up energy. Maybe try putting cat trees around the house for him to climb. Drag a toy around the floor. Toss a small toy and see if he fetches (some cats do!). Turn on a small trickle of water in the sink for him to watch. Some cats are fascinated by moving water, and some even prefer to drink from water dripping from the faucet. Drop a ping pong ball down the stairs for him to chase. Interactive games like this will exercise your cat's body and mind and will teach him that he can play nicely with you. Congratulations on your new fur-baby, good luck, and best wishes!

I have a 1yo who used to be feral. She plays rough and loves to bite and wrestle.
I believe more play and teaching your cat to learn what hurts and what doesn't. If I doesn't break the skin it's ok. Just say ouch or "react" if he bites too hard.
I taught my girl the phrase "it's only play" I use this for when she play too rough or gets freaked or overstimulated while playing. My girl is in a phase ATM where her fav thing to do use gently grab my arms and "gnaw" on my wrist. It's adorable, funny and weird. She never bites too hard and has learnt from all the previous play.
I don't know whether you said he was desexed but he'll settle if you get rid of his nards.

Thanks for all the replies!

My concern with this behavior is that he does also exhibits signs of play fighting gone too far and even petting aggression. These I feel able to handle through traditional positive reinforcement methods and stern no's. However, these episodes seem to come from a place of fear rather than a lack of socialization. It only happens when he might be touched or has recently been touched. In contrast, the bite he gives to stop touching during touching is very different. During this episodes, he becomes very tense and often still and I can almost feel his distress rising. The build up period takes roughly 5-10 seconds before he releases it in a vicious nip normally at legs even if hands are around. He doesn't show a general fear of human contact at other points so I'm not convinced he's learnt the behavior as result of abuse or similar.

Weebeasties (I love the name!). A pic below

Would you be able to get a companion for him? Obviously that brings in a whole other set of issues, but I bet he would be happier if he had another cat to play with. Some cats are fine alone, but others need another cat to interact with.

My girl used to kick a lot. It was the way she played with the bigger cats when she used to be an outside cat. It however did not translate to play with me. A big kick on my arm or hand usually resulted it a wound or cut on my hand arm.
1) keep all his claws trimmed
2) dry food will keep teeth from getting too sharp
3) zero tolerance for hurting.
if he hurts you or draws blood, react. Leave the room. Let him know your not happy and not OK.
I had a lot of problems with my cat because she was feral. Sometimes still do. I am not advocating this but she used to swipe at my face, until I swiped back. Didn't hit or or hurt her but sent a message and she doesn't do it anymore. Not advocating, just stating.
As for the energy, jumping tires cats out. Cat tree or wall shelves can help. I hav a small apartment, bought a 2m $50 cat tree and she jumps and chases to up it. I throw balls and she chases them and gets tired pretty quick.
So good luck.

Hi, I have a fairly similar problem. We adopted Suki two weeks ago; she is about 5 months and had spent a few months at a foster home, in one room with 8 older cats, and barking doors outside that room. Not ideal to say the least. Another family had tried to adopt her already but after one of the kids got scratched she was returned to the foster home. She is a lovely cat and got used to our house immediately, purring and letting us pet her a few hours after arriving. However, she does swat a lot, almost to the point that our children and us are nervous to walk past her. She suckles a lot on her blanket, almost immediately after sitting on it, which makes me think she was weaned too early and is not fully socialized... What do you recommend I do? We play with her as much as possible and only blow on her face when she swats/gently bites.

I have a very similar problem with a newly adopted 5 month old kitten. She suckles her blanket a lot, which makes me think she was weaned too soon and may have not spent enough time with siblings socializing. I noticed that much like the lovely cat in the photo above, her arm is often extended like that (attached is a photo from her foster home). What would you make of this body language? Any suggestions?

This is caused by over stimulation and happens in many cats, my soulmate Chrissy had this and I was the only one that could stroke her more than once.  the trick is to know when the stimulation gets unbearable and to stop before that point. For some cats it is ONE stroke, then the tail starts twitching, there are low growls, the eye pupils dilate, or the tail becomes fluffed. ANY of these signs, stop any interaction and leave the room. Being close won't do it, they can still feel threatened. If a bite or scratch occurs, yell ouch very loudly or hiss like a mama cat would do, and then leave. There is not much to be done about the condition except to get a loving, lap cat to give you the affection you want, and you would gain a playmate for 'grouchy' to get rid of some excess energy. I keep a lot of spares around here!    All the luck!