New kitty bops hand whenever feeding a treat

[thbtbt]

I have a new kitty (feral rescue) who is on a bland chicken and rice diet right now due to an upset tummy a couple of days ago. In the past two days the chicken and rice diet has done wonders and she loves to eat her food now. This morning, she even approached me and sniffed my hands after she had finished eating, I suspect because they smelled a little like chicken. She has never approached me before nor ever braved getting close enough to sniff my hands. I thought this evening I would try bringing a couple of tiny pieces of chicken with me so if she came over to me again after licking her bowl clean, I would see if she would accept a small piece of chicken as a treat.

So this evening, after she ate, she came over to where I was sitting on the floor and sat about a foot in front of me. I slowly placed a piece of chicken on the floor between her and me. She ate the treat. I did the same thing a second time. Same result. The third time was different. When I slowly began to move my hand to place another treat in front of her, he reached over and "bopped" me hard on my hand - making me drop the treat which she greedily gobbled up. I didn't feel claws, but that also could be because when she was at the vet 2 weeks ago they trimmed all her nails. Regardless, this isn't something I want to encourage. I simply put away the treats and let her alone in the safe room for a while.

My question is: how do I correct this behavior? I might not want to feed her another treat for a while so she gets used to approaching me without any reward of food expected. But eventually, I will want to feed her an occasional treat and I want to train her to stop swatting the "hand that feeds" if she does it again. Anyone experienced this issue with a new kitty (feral or tame) and did you have any success correcting the behavior?

 

[p3 and the king]

She probably isn't doing this aggressively.  Mine have their little quirks and ways of getting what they want.  That's probably what this is.  She is just letting you know "Yes I want it.  Drop it already!"  And that is all.  Or she may have thought you were trying to take back her treat she was still eating.  Either way, You can redirect her with different reactions to this behavior but you're not going to get her to change by punishing or just getting frustrated with her.  I would suggest just a quick drop.  Don't do it slowly.   Once she knows you have something for her, she will be ready for it.  Also, wait until she is done before handing her another treat. 

Handfeeding will probably be out of the question.  I think that's what you're trying to go for here.  It doesn't mean she doesn't love you or trust you, just that it's not in her comfort level and it probably never will be.  Dogs are big on handfeeding.  It's a bonding thing with them.  But, cats and dogs are entirely different species.  Most cats prefer not to eat out of your hand because they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them!  Some will, but mostly they have to be taught so since kittenhood.  Mine will but often they prefer not to, as well.  So try not to get hung up on that. 

Just a quick drop will do it.  And a "good kitty" each time she doesn't bop you.  If she does, know it's not out of aggression, you're just taking too long to give it to her!

 

[Willowy]

One of my cats (very tame; born in my closet) grabs treats out of my hand, too. I don't know if I'm just too slow, if he wants to be sure he gets it before another cat does, or what. But he's always done it and always will, I suppose.

If you really wanted to train her not to, one way would be to never drop the treat when she does it. That would take a lot of self-control, because the natural impulse is to think you're going to be scratched and jerk your hand away. But if you can stop yourself from doing that, just hold onto the treat no matter what she does, and only give it to her when she behaves the way you want. It might take a while for her to see the link between her behavior and getting the treat, since she didn't grow up with humans, but she should understand eventually.

 

[thbtbt]

Thanks, P3 and The King. Oh I definitely don't get upset and the last thing I do is want to punish her. I just want to teach her not to bop hands in a positive reinforcement sort of way. Maybe she is impatient, but she could also just be a little wary of hands still (she is a rescue feral after all). My tame kitties rarely like to take treats from my hands, so I'm not going to expect this little kitty to do the same. Just don't want her to swat people as they are giving a treat.

Thanks, Willowy. It was very hard not to drop the treat as it caught me off guard when she did it and she bops pretty hard - that and I wasn't holding onto the treat very tight. If I were to try again, I'll be sure to hold onto the treat next time in anticipation for a bop so it doesn't drop if she does it again. I think that's basically my plan: "good kitty" and reward of the treat when she's patient, and no treat if she bops. Jerking my hand back is not a problem - I didn't jerk my hand back the first time she bopped me - she just throws a hard punch for a little kitty. Plus, I'm not the kind who pulls back from cat bites and scratches... as many times as I've gotten to know other kitties who like to nom on my hand for play. I know there's less damage to the hand when you keep still rather than pulling away suddenly.

 

[minka]

Only thing I have to say is that if she bopped with no claws (trimmed or not, if she wanted you to feel them, you would have), that's really good. :nod: A lot of cats don't bother sheathing their claws when they "ask with their paws", so it means you have a pretty well mannered cat on your hands.
I wouldn't worry about it too much unless she does use claws; that's a whole 'nother scenario.

 

[rad65]

My cats both use their paws extensively when they're trying to bug me for something, or to get treats out of my hands. They never extend their claws, unless they're trying to carefully grab my hand to pull it closer so they can snatch up a treat, and in that case they will carefully hook their claws around a finger or something and pull me in vs slashing out at my hand.

 

[annabell]

I have the same problem and have tried everything to cure it but nothing has worked! I have become quite good at getting my hand out of the way, but I know that's not a lot of help, so good luck!

 

[luvmyparker]

Yeah Parker is sooo gentle but if I put a treat near him with my hand, he will claw me or worse, bite me. He has really big teeth and it hurts. I never could get him out of it, so I used him trying to bat treats from my hand to teach him a trick. "Wave". Other than that, I just put them down for him to eat.

 

[thbtbt]

Hmm... so it seems she may always be a hand bopper. That's ok. I'll be interested to see if she uses her claws once they are sharp again. But I'm thinking it could also be she is still wary of hands in general. Plenty of people tried to chase her down in the parking lot leading up to when I safely captured her. One woman even admitted to trying to lure her with food and then grab her when she tried to take the food from an outstretched hand. So I think the hand bopping is a defensive response to make sure I am not luring her into grabbing range. If this is the case, she will eventually learn I am not going to trick her and try to grab her, so the hand bopping may be less frequent over time.

 

[Draco]

Cassie is a grabber. Whether I am preparing the cats' meals, or my own, she'd jump up and grab at my hand if I lower it, whether i have food in it or not, she'd grab at my hand.

If I take too long putting down her food bowl, she'd bop me too.

I dont think there's anything I can do to stop her, but i just ignore her whenever she bops me.

 

[thbtbt]

Wow, Draco, your Cassie looks very much like my Moonshine (the hand-bopper, pictured in my icon). Maybe it's just a thing white-mix kitties have in common? (jk - however it's a funny little coincidence none-the-less).