Love Bites

[crystal506]

I have read about love bites and cats biting while being petted, but my neutered male cat bites both when petted and when we're just "chillin".  I could be laying in bed watching a movie and he will just stroll up to me, rub me for a few seconds, lick my fingers/hand, lay down next to me and boom, he nips me. I don't even have to be touching him. I can't help but think I let the behavior go on so long (He's 8yrs old) that he think's it an acceptable greeting. It's not just a little nip either, he will hold for up to 20 seconds. . And hard. There have been times I've had to literally pry his mouth off my arm, and times where he has broken the skin (especially if he gets me on the sensitive skin inside the elbow).  I don't want to spray him with water for something I believe to be affection on his end and at this point it may very well be too late to even try to break him of it. Any suggestions?

 

[betsygee]

I have a 'nipper', too.  She's five, and like you, I let it go long enough that at this point she thinks it's okay.  But in my case, it really is just a nip, never for long or breaking the skin so I haven't tried to do anything about it.  

I hope another member comes along who can offer you some suggestions.  

 

[hellomisslady]

I have the biggest love nipper in the world. For me, I couldn't break him of it. But I was able to lessen it so he wasn't just eating my flesh.

I tried the loud high pitched "ouch" thing and my sadistic ******* cat didn't care. So I started peeling him off me by his scruff and putting him away from me like his momma would. I'm not saying to full on scruff him! It's a much more gentle movement that sends a "ouch. Your behavior is not okay, so get away from me." message.

If that doesn't make sense, watch a Jackson Galaxy video on how to remove a feisty cat from your bed. He explains the movement perfectly.

Hope that helps.

 

[chromium blues]

Felix used to nip constantly when we first adopted him. We found that firmly telling him NO! and then ignoring him for the next five minutes worked. He's an attention hound. The worst thing you can do to Felix is ignore him. It didn't take him long to figure out that if he wanted attention, he had to be nice.

 

[crystal506]

Mine will do it when I'm sleeping, it's gotten pretty bad. I'm not sure what to do anymore.

 

[starbuk]

I had a similar problem with a younger cat.  Yelling, blowing air, saying No loud all did not work.  What did work was every time the cat bit me, I took her into the bathroom and left her there for five or ten minutes.  When I removed her I always picked her up and petted her.  After about a week or two, she stopped biting.  Now it only happens if she is being ignored for a long period of time and my legs are positioned just so.. even now it is rare and I still put her in time out.  Good luck - please let us know how it goes.  The timeouts really work, the cat will start to get the picture pretty fast.