Kitten Chewing Fingers

Shorty likes to gnaw on my fingers all the time. He doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t do it hard and it doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t hurt, but every time we pet him, he goes for our fingers. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll even come into bed and find our fingers in the middle of the night and just start to chew. When he is chewing he is usually purring. Aside from the slobber, I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t mind him doing it, but Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m just trying to understand what exactly heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s looking to accomplish His adult teeth are starting to come out… could he be using human fingers as teething rings?

Thanks!

That would be my guess...teething. Personally I dont think its such a good idea to let him chew on your fingers/hands etc. They like to chew on straws and thats what we have given our kitty. If one of the kids or myself has the kitten start to bite us then we immediately move our hand away and give her a toy. We wanted her to learn right away that we are not for chewing. We always play with the cat with a toy and not our hands/feet or anything. HTHs At bedtime our kitten was always pouncing our feet/face/hands whatever and we started just picking her up and dropping her on the floor when she would do that and made playtime off limits to being on the bed and after two nights she learned NOT to bite us or anything when shes on the bed. I was amazed at how fast she learned.

I'm definitely going to give the 'straw' a shot! Thanks!

No concerns of the kitten eating any of the straw???

I have a large toy mouse that has a thick rope tail on it, my two love to chew it's tail (and it's less painful than fingers!). Alfie is also fond of the handle of an old toothbrush - the rubber is soft enough to chew on, but hard enough not to break off.

How old is he? Kittens tend to suckle (and sometimes nibble) on our fingers when they're still young. It's them adjusting from being away from mama and not being able to nurse anymore. We brought home our babies quite young (4 weeks), and they did this for about a month after. Though it could also be teething, I suspect it's simply kitty either acknowledging you guys as his parents, or him adjusting to not nursing anymore. If it's the second, it's purely instinctual, and will stop naturally. There's nothing wrong with him...it's just a cute kitten thing to do.

P.S. You don't have to worry about kitty biting your hands until he's older. Right now, his nibbling has nothing to do with him biting you later on (either in play or otherwise). Don't discourage it...you'll offend your little guy. Him possibly biting you later on starts with him biting your hand during PLAY...so don't worry about this just yet. If he starts biting you during play, yes, discourage it...DO NOT discourage your little one from nibbling you in the way you've described. It's a VERY loving action, and you'll really hurt his feelings if you discourage it, or hand him something else. It'll tell him essentially that you don't like his loving action, and would rather him do it to something else. Know what I mean?? Please PLEASE don't hand him something else.

Another question...does he close his eyes and purr while doing it, like it's nurturing to him? If so, it's definitley that he's weaning himself from nursing, and definitely will not be connected to him biting you during play.

I'm not sure if it's weaning related actually. My other kitten Little Pete (6 months old) is the one who does that. He'll knead my arm and suck on it like he's trying to get milk... its absolutely adorable. Shorty (7 months old) on the other hand just likes to gnaw on our fingers. His eyes are open when he does it and he purrs only half the time. If we take our hand away he tries to grab it with his paws almost like he's playing a game. Now I'm a bit confused Do i discourage it or let him go at it? I don't mind it when he does it at all (it's actually sort of cute), but I don't want him to get carried away as he grows.

Originally Posted by Mugsy

I'm not sure if it's weaning related actually. My other kitten Little Pete (6 months old) is the one who does that. He'll knead my arm and suck on it like he's trying to get milk... its absolutely adorable. Shorty (7 months old) on the other hand just likes to gnaw on our fingers. His eyes are open when he does it and he purrs only half the time. If we take our hand away he tries to grab it with his paws almost like he's playing a game. Now I'm a bit confused

Do i discourage it or let him go at it? I don't mind it when he does it at all (it's actually sort of cute), but I don't want him to get carried away as he grows.

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Hmmm...in that case, it sounds like he may be teething. If it were my kitty (and it's completely up to you with this), I wouldn't necessarily discourage, UNLESS it started to hurt, and it started turning into a game. That's when you start crossing over into him wanting to do it in play, which is never fun. If you decide to discourage, though (which again, in this instance, is completely up to you and your bounderies in this), I would put a soft toy in his mouth, though, not a straw. Straws are too fragile, and break too easily, and kitties can't handle having that in their tummies.

Sorry for the confusion! My advising not to discourage was merely if he were suckling like he was nursing. If it's in play, yes, if you're uncomfortable or it hurts, discourage it with a toy.

Thanks so much. I really am starting to think its teething and if my finger eases his pain then I'm not going to stop him If it does turn into a game though, I'll try and encourage him to chew on a toy rather than my thumb! Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by Mugsy

Thanks so much. I really am starting to think its teething and if my finger eases his pain then I'm not going to stop him

If it does turn into a game though, I'll try and encourage him to chew on a toy rather than my thumb! Thanks so much!

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You're so welcome. Glad I could help!

Our Tedy did this when we first got him too( He was about 6 mo. old)....and he would do it when he was rubbing legs and giving head butts....so I knew the nips were his way of showing love, but we had to stop him from doing it cause it did hurt. The way I broke him was to put my finger on his nose and firmly say "NO" and stop petting him for a few minutes. Bet I did`nt have to do this more than 5-6 times. Now he rubs legs, gives head butts and curls his lips back and rubs his clinched teeth on us. (Smart enough to "get the message" and adapt his style, huh?)
Linda

Originally Posted by stampit3d

Now he rubs legs, gives head butts and curls his lips back and rubs his clinched teeth on us. (Smart enough to "get the message" and adapt his style, huh?)
Linda

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Thats SO adorable! I'm going to try and break Shorty of his habit, but I'm betting it will take a long time... everytime I say "no", he gives me a sad face and I give in