My kitten begs me to pet her but when I do, she bites and scratch!

I just got a kitten she is about 10 months old and she has already been spayed. She is the most adorable kitten in the world but she has a scratching and biting problem. She will rub up against us and lay down for us to pet her, and she will be purring, but 1 minute into the petting she will start to bite and scratch and I don't know whether it's because she's teething, or because she just has a habit to scratch. Help!!!

Well what kind of scratching is it? Cats have a tendency to play bite and scratch. My cat did it ALL the time. I had so many scratches all the time but she was being playful with it. So if its playful dont worry about it.

Some cats get over stimulated by attention. Watch her carefully and see if you can pick up signals from her that she is reaching her limit. She might ripple her skin or look at you or your hand. See what she does right before she bites or scratches. Then try to stop before she gets to that point. Try confining your petting to the top of her head, some cats tolerate that better. Play with her with a wand toy or a belt or string or laser light, toys that let you interact with her but keep your hands away. You will work it out. If you can figure out what trips her bite and scratch mode and can avoid that, you will gain her trust and she will slowly come to accept more attention from you. Also, in the next few months she will mature and that settles them down, too. Good luck, Becky

Quick question....do you play with your kitten with your hands?? If your kitten is seeing your fingers as play toys, then it would have no problem scratching and biting.

Originally Posted by Sweets

Quick question....do you play with your kitten with your hands?? If your kitten is seeing your fingers as play toys, then it would have no problem scratching and biting.

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Yep, I was going to ask this.

Make sure you have toys you can play with, with your kitten that are on like a wand/stick. We have a few that are a wand, with strong hanging off and jingle bells/mice etc on the end.

This way they learn to play etc with this.

Our arms were scratched to pieces before we figured this out!!!

I play with her with toys and I only rub her on her head, only sometimes i'll rub her on her body, I don't know whether she is just having fun or not, or she means to hurt. She's only a kitten so she still doesn't bite that hard. I don't play with her with my hands, I only pet her with my hands, I only play with her with her toys, which is usually the wand with something dangling. What kind of signals would cats give that she is just playing and what signs does it show that she is trying to be aggressive?

You are just going to have to watch her closely and see what she does right before she attacks. If she can handle 60 seconds of petting, then always stop after 45 seconds and then after awhile, several weeks, you can try lengthening the time. But it may be that she does something, like put her paw out toward you, or looks at you or your hand, some clue that she is overstimulated. You have to become a scientific observer of her. Take notes if it helps. She will calm down some in the next few months, too, but she may never be a cuddler. You can also try petting her while giving her little treats, like little bits of cheese or a slurp of baby food meat, to teach her to associate good things with being petted. Good luck. Becky

I tend to agree, all good advice. Our vet noticed the same results when examining our cat in that it was also getting over stimulated. I suppose that is common with cats that have been adopted or neglected for awhile without proper socialization. Watching the cat and stopping before it gets to the point of being annoyed is excellent advice. If it goes to the point where the cat is feeling to stimulated then its only reinforcing that behavior in that situation.

One thing to remember, if the cat does claw or bite you, don't jerk your hand away quickly out of fear or supprise. Most of the damage people get is their own fault for jerking their hand away while the claws or fangs are still in a position to hurt them. Just stop moving your hand and slowly take it away and remember, the cat is not out to kill you it just wants to play and gets to excited about all that touching. If you can learn to control your own reaction to being playfully bitten or scratched, that should help reduce the damage to yourself at least and your cat will not be scared by a sudden hand movement either.

Also if you trim the cat's claws, just the tips, that will help reduce some of the possible damage to yourself as well. The best time to do that is when they are sleeping and content, and only take the tip of the claw off, don't cut into the "quick" (that v shaped pink area within the claw). Some cats dont like this so be prepared to spend time getting to know your cat and it becoming ok with you touching his paws and claws a little bit each day as you lightly push on its pads to extend its claws. If you dont have trimmers you can use regular finger nail clippers, but they have a tendency to cause the claw to break or splinter a little bit so real cat clippers are better.

Good luck!

Another thing that is really wierd about my cat is that when it bites me I stop petting her and I leave, but then she follows me and rubs on my leg and acts as if she wants me to pet her...hehe i thought it was only humans that send mixed signals