# Can Kitty's Nips Be Affection? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242 "2006-06-26T18:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/21 "2006-06-27T11:56:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Our little meanie got that way when the only boy kitty moved in. But it’s been two years fercrissakes. Get over it! > > She’s somewhat better than she was, but there’s definitely something wrong with this one. We’re still crazy about her, though. Midnight still hasn’t gotten over our bringing Clarence into the house, and that was _six_ years ago. She still growls at him almost every time she notices him close by. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/22 "2006-06-27T12:08:23Z")
Thanks all! I absolutely love you guys! Seriously, you’se guys are my best friends. _sad, huh_ And **Guin** - I LOVE the name Buffy. LOVE BtVS and am now surprised/disappointed in myself that I didn’t think of the Buffster when naming Poppy. I almost want to go and get her a new name tag! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/23 "2006-06-27T13:08:45Z")
> [@RSSchen](#): > > Thanks all! I absolutely love you guys! Seriously, you’se guys are my best friends. > _sad, huh_ > > And **Guin** - I LOVE the name Buffy. LOVE BtVS and am now surprised/disappointed in myself that I didn’t think of the Buffster when naming Poppy. I almost want to go and get her a new name tag! If it means anything, I wanted to name my youngest kitty Poppy. Mr. K didn’t dig it. But it’s still on my list for a future kitty. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slip_1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/24 "2006-06-27T20:18:42Z")
My Siamese is a big “love bite” kinda kitty. She also nips at my hands in bed if she wants me out of bed in the morning (for example, to feed her or just pay attention to her). One thing I had to learn, though - don’t pull away when she bites. Pulling away just makes it hurt; if I leave my hand there, it’s a gentle bite. The other time she will bite is when i scratch her “special spot” (about 3/4 down her back). Then, if I place my finger in front of her mouth, she chews like mad. It’s great fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/25 "2006-06-27T20:31:51Z")
My cat will also nip at me seemingly randomly at times. I think it’s kind of a release of tension that’s built up after some kind of prolonged and pleasurable stimulus, like a vigorous “scritching” as some call it above. I know, it sounds kind of sexual. He’s been de-nutted, so maybe he expresses the need for release differently than a whole tom would. I’ll be scritching him good, he’ll roll and writhe around, purring madly, and then GRAB! He’ll latch onto my arm and start biting at my hand or wrist. Never hard, so it seems half-playful, half irritated. If I keep at him, he can get irate, which I must confess I find quite entertaining. I’ve got a pretty high threshold for pain, so I’ll wrastle around with him for a while, and usually I’ll have a few good scratches to show for it. If I don’t scritch him into this quasi-orgasmic frenzy, though, he calms back down immediately, and we resume the scritch-fest in earnest. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/26 "2006-06-27T22:37:41Z")
My husband’s cat is a biter, too. It’s usually her signal that pettins and picking up time are now OVER! Squealing like a kitten works, too, for getting an adult cat to stop biting. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/27 "2006-06-28T05:36:04Z")
> [@fuffle](#): > > I concur with everyone who is saying that it’s almost certainly a play-bite or a love-bite, but kitty just doesn’t understand how rough she can be with people yet. I just had three feral rescues who all took some time to learn how to play with humans. Yelping (not yelling) did help me a lot, I think since that’s how kittens tell each other they’re being too rough. Two kittens learned pretty quickly to bite gently, but the third (honestly, I believe) kept forgetting not to be rough. He was always sorry, though: when he would bite my hand too hard, he would immediately stop playing and start licking me as if in apology. He eventually figured it out, though. Give kitty a little more time to learn. Yep, I’ve had a number of cats who would do the “bite then lick” thing; I’m currently catsitting for my mother and her cat does that exact move - he likes to wrestle, but he bites hard on occasion - and then promptly starts licking by way of apology. I think the best way to train a cat not to bite is simply to yell “Ouch” right as they’re doing it. I’ve noticed they also pay very close attention if I hiss at them. Cats bite each other when playing and when licking each other; what’s a soft nibble to a cat is much harder to a human, since we don’t have a thick coat of fur in the way. Assuming the cat’s not biting out of fear - which will generally happen only if they’re cornered, as they’re otherwise much more inclined to hide - then it didn’t mean to hurt you. Just clueing the cat in to the fact that it bit painfully hard is all it takes. “Confronting” it - which sounds like it involved chasing it - is terrifying, in particular to feral cats. The thing is very, very nervous about you anyway; please don’t make it worse. For one thing, my understanding is that cats don’t have particularly long short-term memories, so if you wait more than a moment, the cat likely will have forgotten what it did. And besides, you don’t need to punish or frighten the cat; all it takes is making it clear that it hurt you. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242/28 "2006-06-29T00:53:32Z")
> [@RSSchen](#): > > Thanks all! I absolutely love you guys! Seriously, you’se guys are my best friends. > _sad, huh_ > > And **Guin** - I LOVE the name Buffy. LOVE BtVS and am now surprised/disappointed in myself that I didn’t think of the Buffster when naming Poppy. I almost want to go and get her a new name tag! Thanks. My sister’s actually the Buffy fan in our house. When we got her and Gypsy, she wanted to name Buff “Angel”. I said no, and suggested “Buffy” instead, because she’s orange (buff colored). I call her “Buffy the Insect Slayer”, because she likes to eat bugs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-kittys-nips-be-affection/362242.md?page=1)