Hello!
I have a cat, Sazed, who's about 2 years old. When I got him from the shelter, he was sweet as pie, followed me all over the house, curled up next to me while I studied. The closest thing to a behavior problem is he'd sniff my face at 5 AM. But at that house there was a wild and poorly-trained dog, who, after two months, started getting aggressive toward my cat. So I moved out.
Sazed spent two weeks at my mom's house while I organized the move. While he was there, he picked up a biting habit, starting with biting her hair while she was asleep. He absolutely never had done that to me. I suspect some degree of boredom because she would keep him in one room (albeit large with lots of windows) while she was at work.
Anyway he's back with me, and his biting has escalated. It's still not aggressive biting, he never comes close to breaking skin, but it's proving bothersome! Sometimes, sure, it's a warning nip (and I'm doing better at listening to his signals, but still, I miss the days where he just walked away when he was done). But a lot of the time he'll just be sitting in my lap and then start biting my legs. Hell, a couple times he has dove under the covers to find my knees and bite them! I think it's play aggression because he's home alone more often (at the old place, he was almost never home alone as at least one housemate was always there) and having more energy because there isn't a dog he's wary of. I'm trying to spend more time playing with him, but as of yet the biting hasn't decreased. The other thing that causes more biting is he's a lot more interested in food than he was before, so while I used to not mind him on counters while prepping food (it also kept him out of the way of the dog), now he's trying to steal food so I put him down on the floor about a dozen times just trying to have breakfast, and he gets annoyed and nips. And sometimes it's also just a love nibble where he takes my finger in his mouth and nibbles while purring.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I've curbed the hair biting somewhat by putting him out of the room as soon as it happens, and am trying to ignore the other biting or put him out of the room, but it hasn't been as effective.
I have a cat, Sazed, who's about 2 years old. When I got him from the shelter, he was sweet as pie, followed me all over the house, curled up next to me while I studied. The closest thing to a behavior problem is he'd sniff my face at 5 AM. But at that house there was a wild and poorly-trained dog, who, after two months, started getting aggressive toward my cat. So I moved out.
Sazed spent two weeks at my mom's house while I organized the move. While he was there, he picked up a biting habit, starting with biting her hair while she was asleep. He absolutely never had done that to me. I suspect some degree of boredom because she would keep him in one room (albeit large with lots of windows) while she was at work.
Anyway he's back with me, and his biting has escalated. It's still not aggressive biting, he never comes close to breaking skin, but it's proving bothersome! Sometimes, sure, it's a warning nip (and I'm doing better at listening to his signals, but still, I miss the days where he just walked away when he was done). But a lot of the time he'll just be sitting in my lap and then start biting my legs. Hell, a couple times he has dove under the covers to find my knees and bite them! I think it's play aggression because he's home alone more often (at the old place, he was almost never home alone as at least one housemate was always there) and having more energy because there isn't a dog he's wary of. I'm trying to spend more time playing with him, but as of yet the biting hasn't decreased. The other thing that causes more biting is he's a lot more interested in food than he was before, so while I used to not mind him on counters while prepping food (it also kept him out of the way of the dog), now he's trying to steal food so I put him down on the floor about a dozen times just trying to have breakfast, and he gets annoyed and nips. And sometimes it's also just a love nibble where he takes my finger in his mouth and nibbles while purring.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I've curbed the hair biting somewhat by putting him out of the room as soon as it happens, and am trying to ignore the other biting or put him out of the room, but it hasn't been as effective.
