My cat is starting to bite

[minette1]

My cat has just started biting, but sometimes she will break the skin. I yell at her and bop her on the head.That usually stops her for a couple hours. She somtimes atacks my mom, but it's usually me. Somtimes if she bites really hard I'll shut her in her room. 

 

[Columbine]

There are all kinds of reasons that cats become aggressive. What IS certain is that physical punishment never works long term - at best you make the cat afraid of you, and at worst you risk injuring the cat. Try to pinpoint any triggers, and to work out if she's scared, playful, frustrated etc. Basic stress reducing measures such as Feliway diffusers are always a good start, and daily interactive playtime will help burn up energy in a positive way. I know I'm posting a lot of articles, but please look them over. They should help you work out the reasons for the behaviour as well as how to change it.

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[jennyr]

Columbine is right. Hitting or 'bopping' a cat will never work - it will only make her afraid of you. Read the articles and see if you can work out how to redirect her energy.

 

[mollyblue]

First of all, how old is your cat?

It is very vauge to just say your cat has started biting, and so at this point, it could be any number of things.  As others have said, hitting your cat is not the answer.  I have had cats that were never socialized correctly and would bite and scratch drawing blood during play.  I hold myself responsible for these things because I am just one of those people who likes to play with my cat with my hands.  I know when I scratch her tummy for prolonged periods, she IS going to get me...I can see it coming.  Cats are pretty good about giving signs when they are getting over stimulated during play, grooming, or any other time.  What I mean to say, is usually biting doesn't just come out of nowhere.  If it does, repeatedly, then this is something you seriously need to get a handle on.

If it is happening during play, I recommend you get a tussle toy.  a stuffed animal of sorts works pretty good.  They make mice and stuff like that specifically for cats, but my cats have accepted childrens toys and doggie toys as well.  Using their claws and their teeth  is very important to kitties. If your cat starts getting wound up, use the tussle toy and let the cat enjoy tearing it up.  If my cats draw blood, I show it to them.  I point and say, look what you did, you hurt me.  Even my deaf cat who doesn't understand the words knows this is not a good thing and she will duck her head in shame.  If you show them where they have broke skin and drew blood and they smile and come for more, this is a very bad sign...

When your cat has claws or teeth engaged, make a loud noise like say OUCH, but resist trying to pull your body part away until they have disengaged.  Remember it is a cats instinct to hunt, and when the prey struggles, they struggle harder.

Read the articles others have linked for you, and I am sure you will get a bunch of wonderful information and some of it will m ake you go "Yeah, thats what my cat does"... in the mean time, watch her clues and when and how she bites will let you know what you need to do to correct it.

In the meantime, make sure you are giving her lots of opportunity to play.  One of my cats that really won't play with toys will bounce off the walls if you give her a laser light.  I use the Keychain lights to play with her, but every morning before I go to work and every night when I go to bed, I turn on one of those automated laser toys that goes off randomly for about 20 minutes before shutting off.  It has been very helpful.  Also I use treat dispensers like the temptations treat mouse in random spots so my cats can "hunt and eat" while I am away at work.  I gotta be honest though, I really miss tussling with them.  I like it!  But it is in the cats best interest that they don't tussle with humans.  Most humans do not take kindly to cats who sink their claws and fangs into them.

 

[minette1]

The only thing is I really gget no warning she'll come dashing out from a room a start attacking me then run away. She's 1 and a half by the way.

 

[minette1]

I think the light would be helpful.

 

[Columbine]

The only thing is I really gget no warning she'll come dashing out from a room a start attacking me then run away. She's 1 and a half by the way.

In that case, I'd want to know what she'd been doing just before she comes racing at you. My guess is that she's been window watching, and has been upset or spooked by something she's just seen. This falls under the heading of redirected aggression (see the article above). My best guess is that there's a cat or cats coming near your house intimidating her. She can't get to them, so she runs away - you just get caught in the cross fire! You could look at getting a trail camera set up outside to see if you can work out what's upsetting her so much. If you KNOW there are cats in the area, then you could just go ahead and set up cat deterrents outside to keep them away from your house. Motion activated water sprinklers work well, as do sonic cat deterrents.

Good luck with getting to the bottom of this issue

 

[manemelissa]

Do you play with her with cat toys at all? Columbine could very well be right and this might be redirected aggression due to seeing things outside. Depending on how often you play with her it can also be a very bored cat who wants to play and sees you as a moving target to attack.

 

[minette1]

Yesterday I played with her for and her toys for just about 3 and a half hours. The attacks were'nt as harsh and there were less of them.

 

[Columbine]

Its great that the play helped so much. DO try to pinpoint her triggers though - knowledge is power, after all

 

[minette1]

She's usually laying under the bed or the table. They occor more at night.

 

[minette1]

I tried scruffing her. It somewhat works

!!!!!