Biting problems

Hello.....im having problems with my cat Manny...hes about 15 weeks old....he is a real people cat, but only when he wants to be. When he gets excited or snappy or just whenever he feels like it.....he bites. really hard....i almost had to get stitches all the way across the ball of my thumb.... I dont know what to do about it...any suggestions?

What are you doing at the time you are getting bit?

Originally Posted by hissy

What are you doing at the time you are getting bit?

Click to expand...

I could be playing on the computer and he will just run up and bit my leg and run away......or.....i could be sitting on the couch and he'll come bite my arm
i wake up to him right in my face sometimes and he will bite my nose.....or if i pick him up when he wants me to he will bite me if i get my face too close....i dont know what it is.....have you had this problem before??? i really love my cat but hes gotta stop doing that. .....i just dont know

Click here to read about stopping cat aggression.

Given his age, it sounds to me as if Manny didn't learn good social skills from his mom. How old was he when you adopted him?

The good thing is that because he is so young, you shouldn't have any problems teaching him how to behave appropriately. Reading the ways to stop aggression on the link above should be a great help.

***Make sure you never ever play-wrestle with him with your hands or feet. Always use a toy instead so that he doesn't learn that it is okay to attack people.

I adopted him at 9 1/2 weeks i think it was.

Is he neutered yet? He may be a little young but maybe his agressive male hormones are kicking in. Cats can be neutered at 10 weeks so that may calm him down a bit if you haven't done it yet.

I was going to do that later....but i might try it sooner. it might work. thanks

My cat does the same thing, only She is female and she seems to do it when she is being loved up by either me or my sons. It is a problem here as well and I don't know why she does it....I have heard it is love bites but tell that to my 5 year old when he is crying with teeth marks down his arm.

Bakker at 9 months still like doing that-Neil is teaching him bad habits!!
I bought the book outwitting cats and it said to get up and walk away. Don't say anything to reinforce that type of behavior. So that is what I'm at least doing!!

At 15 weeks old, he is just going about doing normal 15 week old kitten stuff. Does he have any toys he can chew on without destroying them? At that age, he might be teething and needing something to help break his teeth through. I find that those knotted dog tug toys are perfect for kittens when they are teething.

I think he is still a bit young for the male hormones to be kicking in yet ... in males, we normally don't begin to see the signs of sexual maturity such as the aggression until they are a little older. But that is not to say the biting isn't the beginnings of it. Talk with your vet and see if he/she will neuter now. By not delaying the procedure, you may avoid some of the less positive male behaviors like spraying and vocalizing.

Hope this helps,

~gf~

Yea he has a little stuffed chihuaua that he absolutely loves...he attacks it....its really funny. and he has a hand puppet that is a toucan and a dog bone (which he really likes lol. ) and a scratch post, cat fishing pole, and a few other things. but when you say.."OWW" he stops. hes learning to stop!! YAY

I've got the same thing happening with my girl too, gets all excited and starts nipping.
She doesn't use her claws though.
I've got lots of toys here for her but because DH & DS insist on using their hands (have told them off many times) she thinks its ok. I hiss at her and say no so she stops but DS gets carried away with hissing and DH couldn't hiss to save himself.
MALES!

In the last year, I've known two male kittens who bit very HARD.

As someone mentioned - leaving the room - has been a BIG help.
The main thing is to keep it consistent - ALWAYS do it. Leave for few minutes at the first bite or near bite. DO NOT touch him to remove him from you - some cats see that as reward b/c you are touching them.

Shaking a can of pennies has been helpful to one gentleman as well as the room leaving. Many disagree with that, but the biting is so bad this man believed he would have to abandon him at a (kill) shelter b/c it isnt right to subject him to someone else.

The cat is MUCH better and their relationship has became much more sweet - and his owner is now falling in love with him for the first time in 8 mns!

Neutering has helped neither of these two.

My cat is 3 yrs old, sometimes i wake up to her biting my nose or the bottom of my chin...and its not hard but it scares me and i react and scare her! Also, she does enjoy petting but then all the sudden she'll snip (very softly) at your wrist or hand. I read about an overstimulation...what exactly does that mean? thanks.

overstimulation happens when you pet the cat for too long. Where the petting initially felt good to the cat, you've petted too long so it now feels uncomfortable. Since the cat can't say, "hey lady, stop petting me!" the cat bites to make you stop.

I was speaking of, and perhaps the OP was as well, biting just as "biting", whether petting or not.

the cats I referred to will just bite for the heck of it - without any attention from the owner first.

Ok, my quickest advice for this is to pop the guy on the nose...that is if he's still doing if after getting fixed. Usually a male cat's personality TOTALLY changes after getting fixed, and you might not have the problem again.

However, I happened to be blessed with a particularly rambunctious, fun-loving male (named Hobbes), and the thing that helped the best was bopping him on the nose or on the top of the head (and if it gets REALLY bad, flat out whopping him on the hind quarter...not enough to truly hurt him, but enough to give him the idea that it's not something tolerated in your house).

Now, if these things don't work, another idea is to get a spray bottle, fill it with water, and spray him when he does it (or anything else bad, for that matter). Might take a few times, but most cats really respond well to these things.

All else fails, ask your vet. )