Biting

[kris0523]

I have adopted a kitten, he is about 7 months old now, about four months ago. I have been very lucky with Dexter! He is very sweet and loving but within the last few weeks he has begun biting! It  is not hard enough to hurt, but I am not sure if it is a behavior I can do anything about. He will usually bite at me when I am petting him, which I have read is common, but now the biting has started when he is sitting next to me, or if I stand up he will "grab" at me and try to bite me. He is the first cat I have had so I was just a little concerned about this behavior and was looking for any advice! Thanks!!

 

[sonadora]

Hi and welcome! Before I say anything else, may I just ask if you play with him? Kittens have a lot of energy and if they don't practice their hunting skills on toys they will on you!

 

[kris0523]

Thanks!! Yes, I do play with him; we usually play for up to 20 minutes a night before bed and for a little while after I get home from work. I do not always get to play with Dexter after work but always before we go to bed, it has become our routine He also has toys out during the day, a couple of places to scratch and somewhere to climb....well a place other than the kitchen table and counters! (His favorite is the box the vacuum came in!)

 

[sonadora]

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267103/adopted-a-new-cat-not-sure-about-her-behaviors#post_3432533

Read this thread! Zs my phone is conspiring against me

 

[sonadora]

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266650/viciously-attacks-me#post_3432487

.
Also this

 

[kris0523]

Wow! These are both very helpful! Thanks!! Both of these threads describe exactly what he is doing!

 

[sonadora]

Yay !!!!

 

[sonadora]

Hey! Was thinking of you, how is Dexter doing?

 

[kris0523]

Hi! Thanks for thinking of us! I was home from work for the last couple days so we have been great! Back to work today and just got home, so far so good. I have noticed he starts biting later at night so we will see what happens tonight. Over the last couple days I have tried to play more with him to get some energy out!

 

[kris0523]

And as soon as I said this he started biting at me again! This time he it's sitting with me and I am not petting him and he starts snapping at me!

 

[sonadora]

Oh no! What else have you been trying, besides playing with him more to burn off energy?

 

[mservant]

Browsing through behaviour threads as I do and see yours.  Sonadora, do you have a biter too or have you just been doing lots of reading on the site?! I can never remember where useful information is to add the links - well done you!  ..... age taking its toll on my brain I fear.

Kittens and young cats are most definitely bundles of energy that are hard wired to master hunting skills, and if the most familiar moving thing they see is you then you will become the focus for target practice..... The challenge is how to protect yourself while you teach them what is and is not OK in terms of behaviour and figure out exactly what it is they are trying to tell you.  I am sure Dexter does not want to hurt you but he does seem to want your contact and attention.

With patience and persistence you can work it out and find a way to stop or significantly reduce the biting.  I am interested that Dexter has only recently started to do this. Kris0523, I have a list some questions for you?

First off, is he teething and shedding his kitten teeth just now?  He could be going through an extra chewy phase and wanting to ease a sore mouth in addition to anything else. 

Does he chew anything other than you?  Toys, paper, cardboard, cables? 

What games are you playing with Dexter and how long for? Is this significantly different on the days when you don't go to work?

Do you ever play quite physical rough and tumble type games with him, or chase games with him, or have large toys you can move about for him to bite and bunny kick?

When he bites you how are you responding and have you changed this in the last few days since sonadora gave you her advice or have you been responding in a similar way since Dexter started the biting?

Have any other behaviours changed, energy, appetite, sleep, vocalization etc?

You note he bites you when you pet him, is it when you touch any particular part of him or does that not matter?  Is it when you first touch him or after a short / long period of stroking or touching?

Does he bite you more often when he is relaxing and you go to stroke him, or when he comes up to you looking for attention and play?  Are you going to stroke him when he is on his back and looking at you all cute and wanting attention as if he wants petted, then  biting?

 

[kris0523]

Recently my work schedule has changed from working nights to now working days. I am not sure if that is throwing him off or not. In our last visit to the vet, she let me know that he has gingivitis and seems like it is hereditary since he is still so young. We have been working on this, so again I am not sure if this is bothering him. He has been chewing more on the cardboard box he plays with as well. He is a little more calm when I am not at work and he sometimes will try to bite at me but not nearly as much as on the days I have been at work. His favorite things to play with at a laser pointer and his wand with feathers. We usually play for about 15 minutes at a time a few times a day.

The biting is really the only thing that has changed. He has always been very vocal since the day I brought him home.  I have tried to notice patterns as to when Dexter is about to snap at me, but there have not been too many similarities. Sometimes it is when I begin petting his back, sometimes it is after I have been petting him for a few minutes and sometimes it is just when he is sitting next to me. I have noticed his behaviors before he tries to bite at me: depending on how he is laying down, he will try to take his front paws and grab my arm and then put his teeth on my arm or hand. He will also begin to look around the room a lot before he does this.

I do not think he is trying to hurt me and I never thought that; I really just began to pass it off as he is young and could be teething. I just do not want it to be a behavior that I would need to be concerned about continuing as he grows.

 

[Willowy]

Is he neutered?

 

[ann phoenix]

One thing I did wrong is to wiggle my fingers at the kitty to play.  Don't do that.  They think this gives them carte blanche to bite!  Cute when they are babies...not so cute when they are huge cats.

 

[kris0523]

Yes he is neutered. Good to know! Thanks Ann! That is what I worry about, while its not a huge deal now, I don't want him to be a big cat biting!

 

[mservant]

The change in working pattern could well have contributed to the behaviour starting, along with teething and sore gums.  As he settles down in to a new routine and hopefully his mouth gets less painful I am sure you will see him relax more.

You may or may not know depending on if you've read some of my posts but as well as being a bit a daemon biter Mouse has a history of gingivitis. I suspect that other than when his mouth has been very painful this contributed to Mouse's chewing and biting, almost like a prolonged teething behaviour.  Looking at what you say though, I do wonder if Dexter is looking for more active play and attention as the pattern you describe sounds like what Mouse has always done when he's bored and wants some serious play.  

Even now, if I'm on the computer too long, or he's bored and got energy to run off (and I'm sitting doing not a lot but not giving him my undivided play attention) he will be up beside me before I know it.  He will have a certain look in his eye, and then his jaws are round my arm giving me a very clear message what he wants me to do.  (Either that or he's launched at my head and I have 9 1/2 lb of furry belly in my face)!   After he's had the 'Ouch' and lets go of me it always requires a bit of physical play and then some serious running off with chase games, hunting, and hide and seek hunt the human games.  The other times he does it now are when he's over excited - making the bed is the big danger activity in this home.  He can't help himself and gets completely tangled in all the sheet and covers but in leaping for the material he forgets I have hands and arms in there too.  It can get a bit dangerous so I do it when he's fast asleep in another room if I can get away with it.

I think with most cats you also get times when they look all cute and relaxed, and like they want petted, but when you start it gets a play with me response.  I can usually tell with Mouse but still get it wrong from time to time.  He knows not to bite at these times but will up and off making it obvious which game he wants to play while I sit feeling sorry for myself for not getting a nice relaxing cuddle with him.  The wrapping paws round the arm and play bunny kicking or light biting would be a definite hint on this front.

Generally I go for the play with him and wear him out before he gets me strategy in an attempt not to reinforce the idea that if he bites he gets mega play time.  He took a lot of time and energy to wear out until he was over 2 years old but is settling a bit now.  I'd have to play before I went to work, play if I got home at lunch time, play when I got in from work and play again before bed..... If you have the joys of a cat with a high play drive, if you don't run them off and engage with them it will out in more destructive ways and they will show increasing signs of unhappiness and stress in my experience.  I make it sound like my boy is an unholy terror but he is pretty much the daftest cuddlebug you could ever hope to meet, he just has a lot of bounce in him.  Thinking maybe Dexter is a lot like him.  

   If so you need to be clear and consistent in your responses when he bites and he should get the message pretty quickly as long as you play loads without him getting to the biting stage.

Good luck and have fun wearing him out.

 

[sonadora]

 
Browsing through behaviour threads as I do and see yours.  Sonadora, do you have a biter too or have you just been doing lots of reading on the site?!

Nope, no biters! Just way too addicted to this forum.  

 

 Kris, I hope everything goes well!! 

 

[mservant]

 

[kris0523]

Hey guys! I wish I could say that we have made some progress, but not so much. Things have been a little hectic at home the last few days so that hasn't helped. On my days off when I am home, we have no issues! I have been playing a little more with Dexter with his laser pointer, he has some mice he liked to chase around and pipe cleaners are his favorite. I have never had cats before so I am not sure what else we can play with.
This actually took longer than normal for me to write because he was biting at me. He doesn't seem to ever bite down on me, just really putting his teeth on me.