My kitty is generally very sweet, relaxed, and affectionate -- but a few times i have noticed that when I go to pet her, she'll put her teeth on my hand as if she is going to bite me! It doesnt actually hurt, it seems like it would be a play bite, except she is usually just relaxing and is not in a playful mode when she does this. Can i get her to stop doing this? I'm assuming its her way of saying "leave me alone" -- i dont mind letting her be, but i hate the behaviour -- how should i deal? thanks.
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biting?
- Thread starter shea81
- Start Date
As in the old joke, well...stop going to pet her then
But seriously, if she wanted to hurt you, she would.
One of mine does this. Its a warning. It means either "I am overstimulated" or "Not right now" to him.
If I am the one going to him and he does this, I simply give him a little "hmmph".
If he is sitting on my lap (after jumping up there), I give a low "hey" and he lets go.
Usually, he lets go before I even say anything (he is mouthing me and not clamping down in other words).
He usually licks my hand then as if he is embarrassed.
If he does it harder than usual (which usually isn't the norm), I put him off my lap and we make up later.
In that case, he is always overstimulated. It doesn't happen often as I know his warning signs beforehand (he gets twitchy tail)
But mine is a cat who used to attack and bite hard out of fear so his little lovebites I no longer even feel. Its all love now.
But seriously, if she wanted to hurt you, she would.
One of mine does this. Its a warning. It means either "I am overstimulated" or "Not right now" to him.
If I am the one going to him and he does this, I simply give him a little "hmmph".
If he is sitting on my lap (after jumping up there), I give a low "hey" and he lets go.
Usually, he lets go before I even say anything (he is mouthing me and not clamping down in other words).
He usually licks my hand then as if he is embarrassed.
If he does it harder than usual (which usually isn't the norm), I put him off my lap and we make up later.
But mine is a cat who used to attack and bite hard out of fear so his little lovebites I no longer even feel. Its all love now.
Hope will suddenly snap at me but unlike other cats with her it dosn'et mean I'm done, please stop. She will get very upset if I stop and will butt her head into my hand. I'm not sure what triggers her nips. I've stopped petting her now if she does it though. Its not as bad as it used to be. I think she likes chewing on my fingers which can really hurt.
Hi! First, in the wild and in cats in general, gentle bites are a way of saying
"I love you" to other cats. It is hard wired into their behavior.
However, that said, you can modifiy your cats behavior.
I had the same problem with my "found" kitty, Lexi. Lexi would bite so hard, she ALMOST drew blood! She did in fact leave bruises so badly that I could not even thing of rehoming her. She would go from being sweet to biting in a flash.
Now almost a year after I got her, she's much less prone to bite me OR mouth me...
What I did was, I started on behavior modification. Essentially, training her that when I was petting her, I was not going to HURT her. (I feel she was taught to attack hands as a form of play when young, which you should never do with a cat. Cats aren't dogs and shouldn't be rough housed with with your hands!)
When she would bite, I would shriek OWWWCH!, and dump her off lap. Then I would ignore her for the next few minutes. After a few months of consistently doing this, she learned that she would not get more attention if she did this. She also learned that the ouch noise meant I was going to
leave. Now when I make the ouch noise even not so loudly, she quits biting me.
(BTW it is important not to pull away when they bite, if they are overstimulated this induces them to think of your hand as "prey" and
bite even harder. Just let your hand lay limp, then gently remove from
the mouth...)
I also started petting sessions, where I would allow her to be petted for 1 minute longer each session... slowly progressing over several months to about 10 minute sessions. I always end these petting sessions BEFORE she is completely ready to get off my lap or stop being petted, and I give her a treat.
This makes her have a positive association with the petting.
Lastly, I discovered she has a very sensitive spot on her back that she
doesn't like me or anyone else to touch. I think its like a super sensitive nerve ending. So, I avoid petting her there and concentrate on other body parts like head, ears and chin/jowls...
Now she comes and asks for love sometimes, in our "special love" room, the bathroom, LOL!! I will sit on the bathmat, and she will voluntarily get in my lap and purr up a storm. When I stop petting she butts my hands and looks up as if to say "hey Mom, more petting!"
I would suggest you try these techniques, and read up on cat modification behavior. There are some great books out there on the topic of "understanding" your cat, and solving cat related problem behaviors like agression, biting and fear.
Hope this information helps you. Your kitty can be a love kitty, although you may never totally get her/him to quit mouthing you. You should be able to reduce the "bites" though such that s/he doesn't hurt you!
"I love you" to other cats. It is hard wired into their behavior.
However, that said, you can modifiy your cats behavior.
I had the same problem with my "found" kitty, Lexi. Lexi would bite so hard, she ALMOST drew blood! She did in fact leave bruises so badly that I could not even thing of rehoming her. She would go from being sweet to biting in a flash.
Now almost a year after I got her, she's much less prone to bite me OR mouth me...
What I did was, I started on behavior modification. Essentially, training her that when I was petting her, I was not going to HURT her. (I feel she was taught to attack hands as a form of play when young, which you should never do with a cat. Cats aren't dogs and shouldn't be rough housed with with your hands!)
When she would bite, I would shriek OWWWCH!, and dump her off lap. Then I would ignore her for the next few minutes. After a few months of consistently doing this, she learned that she would not get more attention if she did this. She also learned that the ouch noise meant I was going to
leave. Now when I make the ouch noise even not so loudly, she quits biting me.
(BTW it is important not to pull away when they bite, if they are overstimulated this induces them to think of your hand as "prey" and
bite even harder. Just let your hand lay limp, then gently remove from
the mouth...)
I also started petting sessions, where I would allow her to be petted for 1 minute longer each session... slowly progressing over several months to about 10 minute sessions. I always end these petting sessions BEFORE she is completely ready to get off my lap or stop being petted, and I give her a treat.
This makes her have a positive association with the petting.
Lastly, I discovered she has a very sensitive spot on her back that she
doesn't like me or anyone else to touch. I think its like a super sensitive nerve ending. So, I avoid petting her there and concentrate on other body parts like head, ears and chin/jowls...
Now she comes and asks for love sometimes, in our "special love" room, the bathroom, LOL!! I will sit on the bathmat, and she will voluntarily get in my lap and purr up a storm. When I stop petting she butts my hands and looks up as if to say "hey Mom, more petting!"
I would suggest you try these techniques, and read up on cat modification behavior. There are some great books out there on the topic of "understanding" your cat, and solving cat related problem behaviors like agression, biting and fear.
Hope this information helps you. Your kitty can be a love kitty, although you may never totally get her/him to quit mouthing you. You should be able to reduce the "bites" though such that s/he doesn't hurt you!
That is so true. When I was younger and didnt' knwo better I would play with my hands with Clover. I often found myself in a death grasp/bunny kick position. Getting my hand back meant going limp. Sometimes to get a quicker release you can push your hand into their mouth. Again prey don't move into the mouth so this confuses them enough to get your hand out.
Yes, it took me awhile to catch on, but my Pearl is one of those kitties who gently applies her teeth now and then as a way of saying, "See? I could do you some serious damage, but I choose not to." And I guess by not pulling away from her, I'm saying, "Sure, sweetheart... I trust you." :-)
Wow - I was going to post something EXACTLY like this. I'm glad I searched first! Tola has been doing this just in the past few days, every day. She has never done it before. Why is she just starting now? (she's one years old). Is it just a phase? Did she just discover this?
Maybe it's because we are getting to know each other better (since mid October) and I'm getting more bold about what I touch and pet. For example, up until about a week ago she would NEVER EVER let me touch her front paws. Then she was sitting on my lap and i was playing with her front paws, and I knew I probably shouldn't do it for that long, but i couldn't help it! LOL. They were so soft and nice with the little tufts of hair sticking out between the pads! So she "mouthed" me.
Last night I stroked the full length of her back leg when it was stretched out when I was petting her and she was stretching, and she turned and snapped but in a way that she wasn't going to bite me, just "show" me she "could if she wanted to".
Could it just be a phase?
Miya also bites me--very often. Sometimes it's followed by a lick, sometimes not. Usually she is purring. I have never tried to modify her behavior because I know she is telling me she loves me and she wants me around to pet her and play with her.
My cat also bites me quite often. I say "hey" in a low voice as well and then he looks at me and licks me! Wierdo.
oh i was gonna do a exact same post.
Nana would give me several bites and bunny kicks, but the next second she starts licking me. (i always see her to bites and bunny kicks to her toys) so i was all confused if she's telling me to stop petting her or if she likes it.
sometimes she'd bite and hold, as if she's tasting my flesh...so is that a freidnly gesture?
sometimes she kicks and bite so hard that she leaves me with scratches. but if i yell "ooouh" she'd let go immediately..so i guess she's not trying to hurt me
Nana would give me several bites and bunny kicks, but the next second she starts licking me. (i always see her to bites and bunny kicks to her toys) so i was all confused if she's telling me to stop petting her or if she likes it.
sometimes she'd bite and hold, as if she's tasting my flesh...so is that a freidnly gesture?
sometimes she kicks and bite so hard that she leaves me with scratches. but if i yell "ooouh" she'd let go immediately..so i guess she's not trying to hurt me
