Kitten Biting

Pam, it sounds like she is teething. Try offering her drinking straws. For some reason teething kitties love chewing on these.

To be honest, I let my kitty Trent chew on my finger when he was teething and we don't have a biting problem. Maybe that's just his personality. Sometimes when we are loving he still wants to chew on my finger, not very often, and he has pretty much learned to just chew softly. Sounds strange, I know. I'm not advocating letting them bite you, but that's what happened with me. He never bit before he was teething, and he stopped after (except for the "comfort" chewing).

We would love to see your baby in The Cat Lounge! Just make a new thread and post away.

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Hey, angel, talk about good timing. You posted right after our computer whiz!

I posted this very type of thing about a month or so back. I tried all the tips and they didn't really work. I asked my vet and she said to give the kitten a light tap on her nose with one finger. This has worked wonders for Sarah. She no longer bites at all.

I also agree with everyone that suggests not to use hands as toys.

So sorry everyone...I actually forgot that I posted this way back!

Jedi is now almost 8 months old. He will bite on my hands on occasion, but nothing like he did when he was just a teeny tiny young Paduan (Star Wars lingo for young Jedi's ). When he does, "NO" seems to work most of the time, although on occasion he will continue to bite but if I say "NO" again, he stops and then starts licking my hand. Sooooo cute! :tounge2:

Now that he is a Jedi Knight (he earned his promotion after he was neutered...and took it like a man ), he responds much better to commands from the "Masters"..LOL! :laughing2 :laughing2

Pic below is Jedi at about 5 months old...

How long does it take for the kittens to not teethe anymore? She is getting really kind of annoying about biting! And she is drooling lots too! Ewww....kitty drool! And her breath doesn't smell very good (she likes to breathe in your face). Any ideas on how to freshen her breath? Thanks

It can take a while for all those baby teeth to come out and adult teeth to cut through. The drooling is probably part of teething - think of everything you know about babies teething and pretty much the same applies to cats. Some of them turn into little drool buckets.

Since she is so young, now would be a good time to work on brushing her teeths. Especially since she wants your fingers in her mouth anyway. Go slow and start by getting her used to you rubbing her teeth and gums with your finger. Then work on getting her to accept the brush or fingerbrush, then add some feline toothpaste then the whole shebang - brush with toothpaste! Good dental care will help her in the future and you will be well ahead of the game by training her young. They make the toothpaste in yummy kitty flavors like chicken and tuna (and others, too). You can get the supplies at any pet supply store or online.

Thanks! I will try to get some cat toothpaste and toothbrush when I get to the pet store next!

The tricky part is getting them to stand on a tall stool and spit in the sink! Yola's cat does that! Well......

Ok...how do you get her to let you massage her gums kind of thing? I tried, but all she wants to do is bite, and you put two fingers in her mouth, and she doesn't know which one to chew on, so she chews twice as hard!! Any ideas? Also if you just put your fingers in her mouth, she just bites, doesn't let yuou do anything like the brushing teeth thing.

Pam, I don't think we addressed the licking. Cats lick us for several reasons. They like the slightly salty taste we have. They are showing affection by treating us the way their mother treated them. They groom each other, also. As your kitten grows, she will continue to "take care" of you. In fact, if she catches a mouse or mole, she might very well drop it at your feet. This is a nurturing act, making sure you are fed. Mother cats do this for their kittens. It's instinctive. Although she considers you her mother when she kneads you, she will also try to care for you as if you were the kitten.

One other thing: cats are the only species known to give "love bites." These are usually gentle, and not meant to cause harm. I hope the teething is soon over. If not, I would tap her nose, and say "no" sharply. Cats don't like loud noises. The licking will continue because she loves you. I'm certain your problems will lessen as she grows. Good luck. Enjoy her kittenhood!

Thanks Jeanie

I don't really mind the licking part, except on your feet...it feels funny lol. That's kind of cute about her taking care of us as if we were her kittens!:tounge2: I used to say "no" to her loudly, but it didn't seem to work and she just kept doing it. So I've tried some of the other suggestions here, and I've found that if you meow loudly enough, she'll just go back to licking you. So maybe that will cure it for awhile. I haven't noticed any teeth falling out yet, just her chewing forever! Does anyone know of anything that we could give her like a teething ring for kitties? We tried the rawhide bones/toys for her to see if they worked, but she doesn't like them. Thanks!

Dani has used me as a chew toy on occassion also. I should win an Academy Award for when she scratches me too hard. It must work because she retracts her claws the next time we play.

JoJo
mom to Dani Night Stalker

This is probably a useless reply as I dont know much about cats yet I love them but I think you have a great name for your kitty Hes adorable too!

Queen, If we're meeting a new friend, why would your post be worthless? Post any time you feel like it. If we can help in any way, let us know!

Thanks so much for your reply..I love Jedi's name too!

It is so strange too because when we we first got him, they told us it was a female...so we spent several days trying to come up with a "cutesie" female name for our new friend. :tounge2:

Then the following week it was time for our very first visit to the Kitty Dr! As doc is examining, I am going on and on about how cute "she" is and how good "she" has been since we got her and how we haven't decided on a name for "her" yet. Doc looks up and says, "Oh, by the way, your "she" is actually a "he!"

A hahahaha. All that for nothing! So we went home and started trying to come up with boy names now! We went from Sam, to Buddy, to Jake to Mister. None of them really seemed to fit.

He did have a cute habit of standing on his hind legs and waving his paws up and down in front of his face. We happened to watch "Star Wars" that weekend (again!) and when the Jedi did one of their mind tricks, they would wave their hands up and down in front of their face. Mike and I both looked at each and said, "That's what he looks like when he does that things with his paws, a Jedi".

Carla, Sit down beside me on the couch. I have to talk to you about something that I told my kids when they were young! Actually, when they're young, it's easy to confuse males and females! I use the exclamation point for boys and colon for girls. Of course, I have been known to make mistakes!

LOL! :tounge2: I did try to look for the "punctuation mark" as you put it :laughing: :laughing: but I didn't see anything that looked like it was trying to tell me something. And since the woman I got Jedi from seemed to know more about cats than I did, at the time, I took her word for it that she saw a "colon". LMAO!