Kitten biting face

mel

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Hi,
Well I am at wit's end and dying for some sleep!!!! My kitten has decided recently to start biting my face.
It started with just my nose and then he moved to my chin and now it's everywhere. If I am sleeping he get's right on my head almost as though he is holding my head down and goes at it.
It isn't only when I am sleeping either if I am just lying on the couch watching tv he get's right in my face.
He really forces himself onto my face and I feel like I am batteling with him now. I tell him no, ouch, and I have tried to hiss at him. I remove him from the area and he just jumps right back and starts attacking.
How can I make this stop????????


Thank you in advance for any advice,
Mel and little Terry fox
 

fonzi

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It's almost like if your the mother cat.. You know, when they jump around and bite,, I really believe he's just playing being he is a kitten..

Don't know how to make him stop being that my cats get away with EVERYTHING!..LOL
 

gardenandcats

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It is just a kitten thing. It is hard to get them to stop. At bedtime play a half hour with your cat. Get your cat tired ,excercise and play at bedtime will help him to get his playfullness out. Then he should be ready to sleep. It takes time he will settle down in time. If its so bad that you can't sleep, Then you can try not letting him in where you are sleeping.patience and time will settle this issue.
Good Luck.
 

fonzi

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I agreee.. Play with him before bedtime.. Mine LOVE the laser light..
 

jane_vernon

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I know exactly how you feel - I'm getting a 4 am wake up call with a bite to the nose!!

I just push her away fairly quickly - Like a swift push that gets her to move about a feet away from me. Far enough so she actually has to walk/run to get back to my face. Do this several times so they realise who's boss. A bit of rough housing is what the mother would do. She would clip the baby over the ears to get it to stop - Now I'm not suggesting you hit the baby, but a forceful enough push to let them know you mean business.
 

gayef

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Mel, how old is your baby? This sounds like normal behavior if he were still with his littermates and Momma. Boys do tend to be a little on the rowdy side - more so that the little girls, IMO. My suggestion to you is to try a little redirection. First, don't allow him near your head or face anymore. If you are awake and he tries it, get a wand toy (the fishing pole type - you can get them at Petsmart all day long for about $2 US) and redirect his attention to that. Or you can buy a package of those little fur mice and toss one across the room so that he goes for that instead. If he tries this while you are sleeping, shut him out of your bedroom (if you can). If you cannot shut him out, then perhaps you could try playing with him using a wand toy or laser pointer (don't shine it directly into his face) for about 30 to 45 minutes before you go to bed and then feed him a nice can of wet food. My bet is that the interactive play session coupled with a full belly will keep him asleep throughout the night. Also, when he comes of age, weight and size, get him neutered before he becomes sexually mature. This will also help to ensure he doesn't get aggressive.

Zoggy - while your methods may have worked for your cats, they are not in line with what I would consider compassionate, understanding care of kittens. To whack, clip, smack or in any other way use your hands for discipline may cause the babies to fear your hands. I am much more supportive of redirection of behavior, especially for kittens. Please do not suggest such a thing here again.
 

hissy

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Originally Posted by Mel

Hi,
Well I am at wit's end and dying for some sleep!!!! My kitten has decided recently to start biting my face.
It started with just my nose and then he moved to my chin and now it's everywhere. If I am sleeping he get's right on my head almost as though he is holding my head down and goes at it.
It isn't only when I am sleeping either if I am just lying on the couch watching tv he get's right in my face.
He really forces himself onto my face and I feel like I am batteling with him now. I tell him no, ouch, and I have tried to hiss at him. I remove him from the area and he just jumps right back and starts attacking.
How can I make this stop????????


Thank you in advance for any advice,
Mel and little Terry fox
You could let your kitten sleep in another room at night. I would suggest you also invest in a snugglekittie for company www.snugglekittie.com as well as a nice cat bed.

You can hiss at the kitten, it needs to be a gutteral hiss, pull it up from deep inside of you to make an impact on this young one.

You can also add some pure lemon oil to your hand lotion and spread this on your face at night, the smell will drive him away- or put a small amount of vicks vapo rub on your nose as well. Both of these smells will drive your kitten away from your face.

***

I need to make a comment as this thread has been heavily edited due to a child giving bad advice. Any time someone gives you advice here in the forum, do not follow it blindly. Consider all the factors before forging ahead and be sure that you check with others in your real life before doing anything. You want to look at the person giving the advice, and also their age, their life experiences, and their other posts here.

Any time, anyone advocates hurting or scaring an animal in order to get "acceptable behavior" that person will be taken to task either publicly or privately. This is NOT what these forums are about.

We are about understanding that cats and kittens act out of instinct and this kitten is doing just that. You are the substitute mom cat, and momcat would be getting bit on a regular basis, she would hiss and growl and even bite her kitten- exerting just the right amount of pressure to make a point. NEVER should another person try and discipline a cat or a kitten physically. You can do so much damage you have no idea.
 

gardenandcats

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Glad to see you have edited this thread Hissy. As usual you have said the perfect things! Kudos to you
 
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mel

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Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I have tried just about all of these methods ( Minus the physical abuse
) But it just seems to continue. It's not just in bed either it seems to be any time he has a chance to get a good nip at my face. He doesn't go near his fathers face either. It makes me feel as though he has something against me
I make sure his litter is clean he has pleanty of toy's and tons of play time!!!! He is one spoiled little nibble snooch
. So I can't understand why he could be doing this. After I wrote my first post he started to lick before he would bite. And he plays "little mister innocent" and as soon as I am not looking wammo a good bite.
Terry is almost 5 months old. He is very active and he was sleeping fine until a few days ago and now he wakes me up very unpleasantly. I put him on the floor and tell him "no it hurts Mummy" but he just seems to say "so what" and jump right back up and force his way into my face to snack on. (my face that is)
I don't know what else to do


Mel and Terry Fox


P.S I hope that nobody thought that I had harmed Terry Fox in anyway!!!

I noticed the post by husky and I just hope that it wasn't directed at me. I can barley wake my poor baby up when he falls asleep on my lap I feel so bad. I may have misinterperted the post. But I thought I would make things clear just in case.
 

amazongodess

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I don't think anyone suggested this and I hope this is not cat abuse but it was the only thing that worked with our male kitten, he did exactly what you were talking about and it was to a point where my partner and I could not sleep at night. After trying to put him on the floor, push him away ect we finally just had to put him out of the room. Close the door to the room you are in, make sure he still has access to food and water and litter, but it should let him know he cannot behave that way. Leave him out for a few minutes and then see if he will behave. Or he may become interested in playing with some other toy. This is how we got our kitty to stop. He would come back and usually just want to snuggle and be pet, which is a good thing to do to let him know he is now behaving appropriatly. I hope this isn't neglect or something but it worked for us. Gurthang remained playfull, but he knew when enough was enough.
PS Does your kitten have enough toys that keep his interest while you are asleep?
 

mushu's mom

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i have the same problem. Its only me not my husband. and its All morning from 4-7am when i finally get up and leave the bed. i have tried putting him in another room, he CRIES, loudly. i have a million toys, i give him a TON of attention, we WEAR him out every night. and i say NO, to my hands and face, and its like he just totally disreguards. I am going to keep him in his room with litter and food, for a couple nights and see what happens. uggh. i wasnt prepared for this
He is the sweetest thing...when sleeping
 

bookworm

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Originally Posted by Fonzi

It's almost like if your the mother cat.. You know, when they jump around and bite,, I really believe he's just playing being he is a kitten..

Don't know how to make him stop being that my cats get away with EVERYTHING!..LOL
Same here
. I have to wrap a pillow around my head when I sleep to keep Archie from pawing at my face and kneading my scalp.
 

mawilouwl

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I know it's not something everyone can do and I also know how fun it can be to sleep with our babies (when they sleep too!), but the way we solved the problem is having them sleep in another room. We have a huge room, wich is now the kitty room. It has lots of toys and places to hide and sleep, their litterboxes in one corner and their food and water in the opposite end of the room. They don't mind sleeping there at all, they even go in the room by themselves when I say "Bonne nuit mes fi-filles" (Good night my little girls). Hope this helps!
 

tucker cat

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my male cat does the same thing. and ive tried putting him on tho floor and saying no to him but nothing. what i found works for my kitten is putting him in his kennel until he settles down and then i let him out. It usually takes him about 5 to 10 mins for him to settle down. once released he jumps into my lap and usually naps or stays calm. and when i sleep i leave my door closed. i heard as they get older they get calmer.
 

jillywill65

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I have the same problem! My kitten is almost 4 months old. She is so sweet at times and we love her very much. The only problem is she is biting my face. Not when I am sleeping, no I can just be sitting on the couch and she comes running at me right at my face, bites my cheek and runs off again. She started with my nose and then my lips, and now it's my cheek and she has broken the skin several times. She has it all too, scratching post, toys, fishing pole toys, rough playtime a few times a day,we have screamed like a littermates would, walked away from her after this behavior. Nothing works and it's getting worse. My grandson is afraid of our kitten and doesn't want to visit our home. We have resorted to squirt bottles now, but she is strong willed and comes right back for more. I have lupus (an auto immune disease) she has to stop bitting me and scratching too. HELP!!!
 

Primula

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Hi,

Well I am at wit's end and dying for some sleep!!!! My kitten has decided recently to start biting my face.

It started with just my nose and then he moved to my chin and now it's everywhere. If I am sleeping he get's right on my head almost as though he is holding my head down and goes at it.

It isn't only when I am sleeping either if I am just lying on the couch watching tv he get's right in my face.

He really forces himself onto my face and I feel like I am batteling with him now. I tell him no, ouch, and I have tried to hiss at him. I remove him from the area and he just jumps right back and starts attacking.

How can I make this stop????????




Thank you in advance for any advice,

Mel and little Terry fox
Get a squirt bottle & spray a teeny tiny bit of water in his face. Doesn't hurt & he will get the message. Our cats are not allowed in our bedroom at night. Ever.
 
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