Help! Just adopted an adult cat. and he bites!

[madamenordica]

I'm having a problem with the cat I just adopted this past Saturday. It's so damned fast you can't do anything to prevent it, and I'm a pianist, so I have excellent reflexes! I barely managed to avoid him tonight, only because I saw his paw come up - but this cat is only a year old, so I thought he should be able to be trained not to bite - I at times walk out of the room when he does it after vehemently saying no and extricating my hand, I've tried a spray bottle (he really hates that and runs away.....which is rather desired at that point), and I've been trying to wear him out playing, but am having a difficult time motivating him. Granted, I've only had him 4 days and I'm already considering taking him back, but I have students come for lessons, and I can NOT allow him to bite THEM, and I'm really not fond of the idea of being bitten every day for the rest of his natural life. Nothing seems to help.

 

[mservant]

Welcome to TCS.  I'm sorry you are having this painful experience with your new cat.  I went from adoring to terrified within seconds of turning my light out the first night I brought Mouse home because he was so intent on biting me, including my face and know how devastating it can be.   It is possible to change with almost every cat though so do please persevere.

First thing I suggest you do is take a look through this article about discipline as things like the spray bottle can make the situation worse.  

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix

Does he bite when you are sitting still or when you are moving your hands in some way (such as playing piano or exercising)?

When you tell him to stop do you shout and pull away or stay still and hiss or speak firmly?  Pulling away and shouting can both seem like aggression to a cat, and shouting can frighten them so they can feel defensive.   The most effective thing is to initially push in towards his mouth a little with the part he is biting and then stay very still.  Difficult but it works.

 

[madamenordica]

Since I posted I actually read some of these things here and in other places. I prefer to just leave the room when he bites (withdraw attention), although I feel a little bad about it, since he's coming from a place of not  much attention, but that may be the very thing that's making him bite for all I know. The rescue center he is from has limited human contact, morning/late afternoon when volunteers come to tend to the cats, so he may just take time to get used to human contact being a constant. The biting has been an everyday occurrence and I'll give him credit, 3/5 times it was due to stress from the sight of one of my girls (I have 3 spayed females, 8 y/o who I have had from kittenhood). I know he has a LOT of adjusting going on at the moment, and I fully intend to stick things out at LEAST for a month & see if there is improvement. I treat him EVERY TIME he has good interactions with me. I dissed the squirt gun after the first 2 days because I felt like he distanced himself after that, and that was the wrong direction. I basically say in my lowest bass voice firmly 'no' (because my normal voice is fairly high pitched) try to stay still until he is disengaged and move myself out of the room for at LEAST 15 minutes to a half hour. If I come back and he has a good interaction, I will treat him. I've also been trying to play with him every day since bringing him home, because initially I had thought he may have been play-deprived and aggressive because of that. When I come into the room which is his home-base, he almost always rubs against me with tail in the air, and seldom wagging or switching. All the times he's bitten me, the only indication I had was his front left paw began to move in a slight twitch then he struck.I was able to avoid him with this knowledge last night, though he startled me and I DID leave the room after another low-voice firm no.

I have watched a LOT of Jackson Galaxy lately, but almost EVERY method he uses for introduction exercise is targeted at introducing one cat to another, but I have one cat to THREE cats, which is problematical when there is only one of you. I HAVE successfully gotten ALL the cats (every morning now for the past 3 days) to eat some treat-wet food about 1-2 feet away from each other through an open door with only one growl/hiss in that time (I reached over to pet him and one of my girls hissed at him). If I am still and speak softly, they're fine. I've been inching the dishes closer every morning. Even my scaredy cat who basically lives upstairs comes down for this, and she hasn't hissed or growled once.

Honestly, I feel bad that I can't let him out of his safe zone when I'm not here and that he can't be with my other kitties because a. I worry they might gang up on him or b. he might actually bite/fight with THEM (he is a 12 pound, 1 y/o boy and they are all 8-9 y/o and one is 8lbs, one 10 lbs and the scaredy one is 15 lbs). I'm planning to try introducing them in the flesh this weekend if I can get my son to stop over and help distract with toys. My cats know him and Tom doesn't seem to mind him at all (they met once this week).

Today has been bite-free so far, but I hate to jinx it by saying so!

 

[madamenordica]

The jinx had no power yesterday - YESTERDAY WAS BITE FREE - FIRST DAY! So tomorrow night Tom will have been here for a week. He clearly feels safe in his safe room, and also pretty much in the kitchen. The rescue ppl tell me he likes to be up high, so I'm going to look for a new cat tree/condo next week - the one I have is fine for one or 2 cats (I have one that hides) but for all 4 of them, a bigger one would be good. Fosters & Smith, thank you for being online and fairly cheap

 

[mservant]

Sounds like nice progress.  I hope you find a good, solid high cat tree that they all like.  

 

He could have been biting more as feeling anxious and defensive after his recent move but stay watchfull.

 

[madamenordica]

Oddly enough, although he had bitten the volunteer at the shelter and myself, he hasn't even TRIED to bite my son, who waltzed in a few times since he's been here & patted him without any problem. I think he has a problem with females!

 

[madamenordica]

So this morning he tried biting again - he gets very cozy and is rubbing the head against my hand then all of a sudden he strikes - he missed me this time, because I subconsciously anticipated his reaction from last night's paw slap and was able to move away quickly enough to avoid a bite. I had put the other kitties' tree in his room so he could smell them, but when he is on the tree, he can also see the mirror and I think he is freaked out by that cat in the mirror paired with the smell. I'm taking it out this morning, because that is the only thing I can attribute the backslide to (unless you have any other ideas?). He did so well for the past 5 days - I know he has it in him, but he just seems very not ok with human relations - he hasn't been aggressive to the other cats through the door or when they were eating on opposite sides of the door (although this morning he refused to participate, which is a first). Apparently, the tree was too much scent AND it may have also had my Bastien's scent on it (had to put him down due to kitty cancer in April).

Sigh. And we think we're so smart. Well, one week down, three to go and I can't seem to think of any ideas on getting this poor cat OUT of one room....Funny, he had JUST started to use the litterbox in the next room that all my other cats have been using (I block off access to the two rooms when I'm home so he can get out of the one room).

 

[mservant]

It takes a long time to really edit out the biting response to threats and other triggers when a cat has this in their behaviour so don't feel you are failing and going back to square one just because he still does this sometimes.  It sounds like you are becoming more aware of possible triggers too, and I agree with you that the mirror could be contributing.   Not all cats seem to recognise reflections in mirrors but those that do can be really freaked if they have not learned about them from a young age.  Mouse was terrified of the little blue cat that seemed to live in the corner of my sitting room and wouldn't come in for nearly 2 days after his first encounter.   It continued to make him nervous even a year later so I moved the mirror out eventually.

I'm not sure if you are referring to the tree or the mirror in terms of taking something out - I think the mirror is the best idea to start off with.  He can soon get his scent all over a cat tree.

 

[madamenordica]

Well, I moved the TREE out this morning, the mirror wasn't causing a problem without the tree and I need it for vocal students in that room. Another thing is, that is my STUDIO, therefore strange ppl also come in there, so that could even be another issue, although my SON (again) doesn't have any problem with Tom. When I came home today for lunch after being gone for 6 hours, he was calm as can be, was WATCHING for me in the window, and when I came into the room, he came and rubbed up against me wanting petting.....when I patted my lap, he jumped up & sat on my lap & purred for a few, got a little love, then got down. He's really calm without the other cat smells. I'm going to have to start moving him around to different rooms, I'd say. My son was supposed to help me get a window screen up from the basement for introduction purposes (used with a towel or blanket as a sight-blocker), but he hasn't shown up and there's a big SPIDER down there that terrorizes me, so....yeah. I guess there isn't a huge hurry. Azzy jumped over & said hi yesterday - no hisses or growls, they were within 3 feet of each other - I did pick her up and take her out of the room, just in case and encouraged them to say hello on opposite sides of the door, but they didn't seem interested.

Last night when he'd had enough petting, he used his paws (toes only, no claws) to slap me as if to say 'back off! enough!' - if he did that when he was done with attention, I'd be a happy woman. I suppose I can't depend on my reflexes forever -

Thank you for the support - MUCH appreciated! It's tough doing this living alone! More so than I expected, because I've always gone with kittens, never adult shelter cats.

 

[mservant]

Working out understanding and communication with an adult cat, esp one where you don't know what their previous experiences have been, is always going to be a lot more challenging than with a kitten.  It sounds like you have made a lot of progress even in the last few days though.  Watching and listening to the cues your cat gives you can help more than anything and that is what I am reading to be happening in your posts.  

Do you have any photos of Tom, and of course your other cats?

 

[madamenordica]

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• madamenordica
• Jul 21, 2015

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• madamenordica
• Jul 21, 2015

Topside is 12 pound Tom, bottom is (l-r) Onyx (8 y/o 8 lbs); Azzy (9 y/o, 10 lbs) and Jinny - my chubby girl at 16 pounds and 8 y/o - she's so happy after her shave!

 

[madamenordica]

ps. I found the rescuer's email address in Tom's paperwork, and emailed this morning. Apparently, he was boarded at a vet office for a month. She's checking with them to see if they had any problems with him biting.

 

[mservant]

Thank you for the photos, they are gorgeous!   Tom looks very fit and I am betting he is a coiled spring waiting to bounce, full on energy.  Lovely markings too.   Pretty girls (I am aussuming all girls from the names and similar sizes, hope I haven't offended any of them).  

   They all look very fit for 8 / 9 years of age.  I hope you manage to get them introduced to each other. 

 

[madamenordica]

me, too - hopefully the vet hospital can shed a bit of light as to at LEAST how long this has been going on. If he boarded there for a month, and he's had this issue for a while, they must've gotten bitten at least once.....maybe something happened there at the hospital where he boarded. I HAVE noticed that he raises his paw, but he does that when he play stalks, too - I'm starting to think he was taken from Mum too early and wasn't made to behave by Momma so he thinks he can stalk ME. Bad choice, Tom, bad choice haha!

 

[mservant]

Aaaaw, all cats have that stalking instinct, they just need caring humans to spend some time with them to show them what hurts when you don't have fur to protect you (those slightly anit-social habits like jumping on human heads, bunny kicking human feet, and leaping out of doorways to attack passing human legs) .    It could be he is anxious, could be he has nore energy to be played off, or some previous human in his life encouraged some of these behaviours and he is confused about what is and isn't OK.  I hope the information the vet hospital do have some information for you that will help.  Even if not, I do think you are making progress there.

 

[madamenordica]

Yes - it's hard because they can't talk to you I think if he had wanted to hurt me, he would've by now. I've only found one toy he likes, but you know, just starting out. One is a good beginning. He's so big, it will be good when he can have the run of the house so he can get some exercise with the others!

 

[angels4mom]

I'm having a problem with the cat I just adopted this past Saturday. It's so damned fast you can't do anything to prevent it, and I'm a pianist, so I have excellent reflexes! I barely managed to avoid him tonight, only because I saw his paw come up - but this cat is only a year old, so I thought he should be able to be trained not to bite - I at times walk out of the room when he does it after vehemently saying no and extricating my hand, I've tried a spray bottle (he really hates that and runs away.....which is rather desired at that point), and I've been trying to wear him out playing, but am having a difficult time motivating him. Granted, I've only had him 4 days and I'm already considering taking him back, but I have students come for lessons, and I can NOT allow him to bite THEM, and I'm really not fond of the idea of being bitten every day for the rest of his natural life. Nothing seems to help.

I have a twelve week old kitten that bites. The place she lived at before here had a very rambunctious five year old kid and the little girl next door was actually dangerous to the litter. Autumn is easily jumpy as a result. I try to provide a calm and secure home for her but I draw the line at persistent biting. I get she's a baby and that's how babies are but it does get irritating. She pounces on my arms and bites. She has plenty of toys around. I tried quickly spraying her with a mister water bottle.

 

[madamenordica]

I found the water to be disruptive to forming a relationship with Tom. I preferred to just leave the room, or leave him in a secluded area to decompress when he bites. At some point, they do seem to get that they aren't going to get attention (whether it's petting or playing)  - also, Tom is also young - just one year old, but 12 pounds of one year old! Because he still has kitten play habits, he NEEDS play very very much. I have to play with him at LEAST 15 minutes a day to even come close to satisfying his need for hunt/stalk/play behavior, otherwise, he will use ME as his prey. I don't know if this helps you at all - it's unfortunate that your kitten was taught that hands are for playing. I hope you are able to stress that hands are for love and toys are for play - maybe treat him/her whenever you can pet without bites! You are lucky to have just a youngster! You will mold this little one and she will come to love you, I'm sure! Don't get discouraged! Like babies, they have to teach you how they like to be handled. I gave my Onyx away as a kitten, but the girl who had her was completely irresponsible, often leaving her for days without coming home to feed her. She learned to scavenge and the girl's mother finally brought the cat back to me (she was just shy of a year old) she was afraid of two hands, could not be picked up, could barely be petted and was always begging for food. Since then I've had her spayed, and she now sits in my lap every morning when I have coffee or when I'm watching TV. She is the sweetest thing, and I'm so glad she came back to me! I recently lost her brother to kitty cancer, so she is all I have left of that litter.

All my best! If I can help in any way, please feel free to ask me anything

 

[nightingale]

I have the same issue with my 12 week old Bulbul (Nightingale in Persian!). We rescued her at about 5 weeks, and she was well behaved until a couple of weeks ago when she started biting! She's a lovely calico and she can be incredibly sweet and loving, but a lot of the time she stalks you or starts biting when she's in a playful mood. We've tried squealing and pulling away, we've tried leaving the room, and we've tried not moving our hands at all and just distracting her with a toy. I know we're being inconsistent, so I need some help deciding what method to use. We play with her quite  a lot to distract her from our own fingers and tire her out, but I think we need to use consistency. Best of luck to all of you on this post, and thanks for being so patient with your kitties! 

 

[mservant]

I know all too well the 'joys' of having a 12 lb hyper active cat that will bite when they want attention.  It is one thing having a kitten that needs to run off energy and bites and another with a large, almost fully grown cat like Tom, and yes, Tom does look large in his photo.

  He will get bigger still as you can see he has yet to fill out.   The principles are the same I suspect - get in there and divert the energy before they end up attacking you.  You move and you respond so you are a pretty ideal target - other than that you are significantly larger than they are (and sadly for you, lack fur for protection).

One thing that comes to my mind is that for Mouse at 4 1/2 years of age 15 minutes play is fine, but that would still need to be 3 or 4 times a day.  When he was a year old he needed the same number of play sessions through the day but they would need to be between 30 minutes and an hour long and at least one where he was run about to the point of panting and needing to rest.  If you have a cat with a high play drive it takes a lot of human energy to engage them in enough play and interaction to prevent energy building up to a point they feel on edge like a coiled spring waiting to pounce - and then immediately get over stimulated so end up needing time out.  It could help to increase the regularity and length of play sessions:  this both helps with bonding and learning each other's language and cues as well as hopefully engaging with Tom and giving him an outlet for energy more regularly and catching him before he feels too tense.   If you initiate the play you have more control over how excited your cat gets, and if you see him getting a little too hyper you can slow things down a little, or play at greater distance from him and let his energy for hunting divert on to things other than you.

I regularly play a game not unlike hide and seek, which I call hunt the human, where Mouse will race about the apartment after me and I hide behind things but just as he reaches me we turn the tables and I chase him back.  We never make contact and when he does want a paws on wrestle I have a large toy like Kong there to put in his jaws way.  This is interspersed with wand games such as DaBird where I can sit reasonably still and have him chase after the toy on the end, and with chasing after toy mice / birds / balls / paper airplanes (basically anything that moves).   There is a look in his eye and a difference in his posture when he is in a calm cuddly mood to when he wants a hunt and chase.  I had to learn to run the energy off because if I didn't the look in his eyes turned to one where he was about to launch at my arm or my head and bite me.   

@Nightingale   If you do get caught out you freeze, push lightly in toward them then freeze there like I said earlier - no pulling away, no spray bottles and no shouting.  A simple, calm firm no or ouch or a hiss so they learn they are hurting you but the noise doesn't add to any tension.    

There are some good articles here on TCS about aggression which might be of some help to everyone:  

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-aggression-toward-people

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-stop-playtime-aggression-in-cats