Biting Problems

[smile123]

Cupcake has recently started bitting people. After she bites I yank my arm away and say no and walk to somewhere else. I don't know why she is biting, I don't play with her with my hands either. Sometimes I can see her staring at me, so I squint and blink at her and then she swipes at my face, is she misinterpreting my cat signals? It also may be because of teething, I think she should be growing her adult teeth now(about 3-4 months now" but she has toys that she she chews on. When she bites she wraps her arms around what she is biting(usually arm) and sinks her claws in, so it hurts but only for a while. I'm scared that she's going to draw blood. Please give ideas and suggestions, thanks.

 

[catpack]

This behavior sounds more like play aggression. Is Cupcake an only cat? How old was she when you got her? How often do you engage in play sessions with her? What type of toy do you use? What types of toys does she have access to?

 

[smile123]

She's an only cat. She was a little more than 2 months when we got her. I play with her when I have time, so maybe 5-15 5 play sessions with her toys. She has 3 rolly ball type toys, that I roll and she chases them.

 

[smile123]

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• smile123
• Jul 13, 2016

There are 2 more but I can't find them at the moment.

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• smile123
• Jul 13, 2016

 

[catpack]

I think she is bored and since there are no other cats around for her to play with, is using people instead.

We do often suggest getting a kitten close in age that has been socialized with other cats/kittens and has the same energy level. However, YOU must want and be able to afford another cat.

If getting her a playmate isn't an option (for whatever reason) I encourage you to enrich her environment with a at tree or cat shelves, other types of toys such as the small mice toys, anything with feathers, a Turbo Track, and even a simple cardboard box or two to play in.

 

[smile123]

So could I stack a couple heavy duty boxes together. Can cats get mad at people? Because we recently restricted her from going upstairs.

 

[clmgordon]

When my kitty was about 4 months, he started biting too. I gave him cardboard boxes to sit in and he started biting the box when teething instead of my hand. And you could try a small stuffed animal, too. It helped my kitty learn to bite and kick toys instead of people.

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• clmgordon
• Jul 14, 2016

 

[hbunny]

My Shortstack was a completely feral cat that over about a year and a half I gained trust with and he recently moved indoors to live.  I had MAJOR trouble with him biting, grabbing, and scratching...we discovered he didn't know how to play, and was really just trying his best.  He was scared of cat toys at first too, so I didn't have that to help him out for a while.

I started off by every time he locked on to my arm or leg, I would (after getting him disengaged from me!) stick a bigger-sized stuffed dog toy that he could wrap around with his legs, eventually he would do the bunny kicks and biting on it.  It took a while, but now he loves his toys!!  He also has a tree that is his alone, and he loves running up and down it.  He hasn't done anything like that towards me in months now, it's wonderful.  It just took him learning what he should be doing that way, and not my flesh (owwwww)  This picture is early on when he was just learning to play.

I just saw this pic was in my thread about me being shredded LOL!!!

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• hbunny
• Mar 17, 2016

 

[smile123]

Thanks all of you for the help! I hope that she will stop biting

 

[hbunny]

I was being shredded and mauled I swear, he weighs near 17 pounds now (yes, he is on a diet haha) but he was doing some damage to me.  Now that he has toys he likes he takes it out on them (already replaced a few due to wear and tear!)

 

[smile123]

Ouch that would've hurt a lot, how many toys should she have?

 

[hbunny]

@Smile123   I think it's quality over quantity.  I went overboard and I bet we have 30 toys in the house, and he really only plays with about 5.  He has TONS of those little stuffed mice that make squeaky-chirpy noises when he bats them around, he loves those, I have "Da Bird" wand toy (but he's scared of it flying, only bats at it), and some wand toys with the mice on the end that he really loves.  Definitely whatever they like vs. number.

Oh and yeah...I gave in and purchased 3 of those Yeowww! catnip bananas off of Amazon.  My older guy has already almost destroyed one of them and I just got them in the first of the week!  That is some potent stuff!

 

[red top rescue]

I recommend two things.  One is DaBird, and the other is a stuffed animal about her size that you can always put between her and you.  Yu wrestle with her using the stuffed animal but you never let her wrestle with you directly.  The stuffed animal takes the place of a litter mate or playmate.  DaBird hones in the hunting instincts and wears them out.  The feathers on the end are in a swirled pattern, attached by a fishing lure spinner, so the feathers spin and make the sound of a bird flying, and that makes the cat fly.  15 minutes of DaBird a couple of times a day will be good for developing her mojo.

 

 

[red top rescue]

You have to socialize her.  She has to learn NOT to bite the human.  Every time she does, you can remove her from you and insert a toy between you.  Wrestle with the toy.  If she is super bad, you can put bitter apple on your hands and arms so she learns she does not like the taste.  With my last little devil I would pin him down and hold his mouth shut and hold him there until he relaxed and surrendered, then we would continue the play with the rainbow zebra toy.  Just remember, when she is a 12 pound cat, you do NOT want her pouncing on you and biting, so you have to nip this in the bud while you are still bigger.  His mom would bop her in the face and send her rolling across the floor.  Or she would pin him down and wash his face.  Or she would climb up on something high and look down on her where she could not get to her.  This is a crucial time for you to raise a good cat, but its up to you to be cat mom, to be Alpha Cat, and she must lose every battle or she will become a brat.  One good training method is that compressed air you get at the office supply store to blow dust out of your computer.  It combines a shot of air with a hissing sound,  Works every time to back off an aggressive cat.  Lots of info in this thread, go ahead and read it here:

oh, and start with cutting all 18 claws, and keep them clipped dull.  Weekly clipping is required when they are young.  There are lot of good videos on YouTube about how to cut cat nails.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/321360/hand-raised-bad-catty#post_4036790

 

[smile123]

Is Da Bird basically a wand toy?

 

[hbunny]

It's a wand toy, but it is an awesome one.  It has a really long wand so if they leap at it, they won't accidentally get your hands, and the way the wand is made it is sturdy but really "bendy", if that makes sense, so it will flip it around easily.  The feather attachments are replaceable too.  My older cat absolutely loves it because the way it is designed it twirls through the air and looks like a bird if you swing it side-to-side.

It surprised me how cheap it was.  I paid about $7 or $8 at Petco or Petsmart, can't remember which I got it at, and the refill pack was about $6.  I've paid more for wand toys that were of much less quality.

 

[smile123]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm glad there's a refill because my cat loves to chew feathers, that's how her old toy broke.

 

[red top rescue]

It's more than a wand toy.  The way the feathers are set and re on a spinning attachment like a fishing lure makes it spin and make a sound like a bird flying, drives them bonkers.

 

[smile123]

The strangest thing happened today. Cupcake bit me again, so I got up and asked her if she wanted to go back to the shelter, then she got calm and layed down like a good girl

 

[hbunny]

 
It's more than a wand toy.  The way the feathers are set and re on a spinning attachment like a fishing lure makes it spin and make a sound like a bird flying, drives them bonkers.

It does sound like one!  But my old guy is deaf, so I never think about sound coming into the picture

  It kind of sounds like flapping wings.  I think that's why my Shortstack likes it, he likes the sound.  He's the one that is afraid of it though unless I'm dragging it on the floor...I think he got pecked by one too many birds when he lived outside.  My old deaf guy attacks it like crazy!  He is the one I mainly play with it with.