My Cat Is Often Too Aggressive During Play, Is It My Fault?

[regnes]

I have a male Siamese, nearly 4 years old now. He's a huge sweetie and major cuddle bug. He's also extremely energetic, loves to play. Problem is, he quickly gets carried away and it's not uncommon for him to hurt somebody. Ankle biting specifically is where it's bad.

I don't think I've ever really done anything to encourage this behaviour. It hurts, so naturally I'm angry right off the bat, he doesn't get playtime out of those actions, only timeouts in the bathroom. I really made an effort to stamp it out. I will admit he has been swatted a good few times, but it's always been more reactionary than anything. Once again, it hurts a lot, I'm not thinking of anything but that pain for a couple of seconds.

He's always been a different sort of cat in many ways. I've always attributed this to the fact that I adopted him at only 4 weeks of age. He's a pure siamese and was being sold for a really low price, I always reason that if I didn't adopt him, somebody else would instead, at least I know I will give him a good home. Still, I can only imagine how different he would be if he had those extra 4-8 weeks with his mother. I just wonder if that could be a factor in the whole biting thing. I've read that playtime with siblings is where that sort of control is learned.

 

[Furballsmom]

oh, meezers - the absolute most bestest and coolest cats on the planet. I'm glad he has you. And, yes, his momma and siblings would likely have taught him manners.
Is there anything, any behavior you can see that he's displaying just shortly before the bite? What kind of play is it that ends up with a bite? Do you have wand toys to help wear down some of that energy and keep him at a bit of a distance, also real fur mice, kickaroos, and some of the automated ball/ring platter type toys, and maybe some food puzzle toys - all these things to try and get him worn out so the energy level isn't at such a high pitch.
Also, can you yell OW (I'm guessing you do!) and clap your hands/throw keys on the floor/shake a can of coins (something uncomfortably loud from his perspective) then actually hiss at him like his mother would do?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, Furballsmom has taken the words right off of my fingertips! Especially the hissing. They ALL get the hiss! Sometimes, I'll actually hiss to myself when I'm typing in an answer, and Hekitty looks at me and says, "WHAT? WHAT DID I DO? I WAS JUST SITTING HERE!!!"

 

[Furballsmom]