Kitten Biting

[LillieLondon]

hello everyone

We have just welcomed a kitten into our home. She is called Lilly and I have been playing with her and noticed she likes to bight and play scratch. I know this is most likely normal behaviour for a kitten , she is 12 weeks old. My question is, if I continue to play fight with her will she take this behaviour into adulthood? Do you think I should stop play fighting with her? I don’t want to encourage it too much. Thank you so much everyone.

 

[StefanZ]

I hadnt much problems with my residents. They were very gentle as adults when love biting or even occassionally threating when nail-clipped.
Of course do mark if it hurts for real. Ouch!

But most advise to not play with your hands, not to learn them bad habits.

 

[abyeb]

Generally, it’s better if you redirect her biting to toys (like a fishing-pole type toy or a kickeroo) rather than your hands. There’s a chance that she will continue biting in play as an adult, because if she isn’t discouraged from that behavior now, she’ll begin to think it’s okay. And, even if her biting you now doesn’t hurt, once she gets her adult teeth, it will be a whole different story. And, like StefanZ said, if she plays too rough with you, say “ouch!” loudly, and she should learn quickly to play gentle.

 

[LillieLondon]

Thank you so much everybody for giving advice. I enjoy play fighting with her but realise it is best to stop it.

 

[abyeb]

Thank you so much everybody for giving advice. I enjoy play fighting with her but realise it is best to stop it.

There are other ways to have fun playing with her! Some games you can try:

Get a fishing-pole type toy and have her chase it around the room and make it fly through the air as she jumps for it.

Give her a kickeroo toy and watch as she bites and bunny kicks.

Take an old sheet and wave it up and down on the floor for her to pounce on.

Put a ping pong ball in the (dry!) bathtub. The curved sides of the bathtub make the ping pong ball move in an irregular pattern, which is a lot of fun for cats.

If you have wood or tile floors, give her an ice cube to play “hockey” with. Some cats like batting ice cubes around, but others don’t like their paws getting cold. You’ll have to try it to see if she likes it.

This article has some more suggestions: Playing With Your Cat: 10 Things You Need To Know

 

[Kflowers]

Even before she's an adult those bites can hurt and break the skin - like two weeks from now. If she won't stop biting, just hiss at her when she does it - the moment she does it. Hissing is her mom's way of saying, "Don't do that." She may throw herself away from you. this doesn't mean she's upset or distressed at being hissed at, it is simply her way of resisting biting when you've asked her not to.

I found it worked the very first hiss with biting, with scratching, not so much.

 

[catsknowme]

Welcome to TCS!! you have received excellent advice. I hope that you will keep us updated with what you've tried and what works best with your kitten. And here at TCS, we LOVE photos