Phobic, the kitten my husband discovered hiding in the engine of our car, is doing better. She still lives behind my toilet, but she’s started acting more like a normal cat, which is good. However, never having had a cat before, there is one aspect of her behavior that I’m afraid of. Which is, she loves to pounce on and attack things, especially my hands. She grabs them with her paws and tries to pull them into her mouth. I know this is normal behavior but, should I allow her to bite me? Pulling my hands away makes her pursue me more because she thinks I’m teasing her, so I assume it’s “polite” to let her win and bite. But I’m scared she’ll bite hard! Do kittens usually hurt or break the skin when they play-attack?
I don’t think I’d want a kitten breaking my skin that lives behind the toilet. Course, that’s just me…
She shouldn’t bite hard enough to break the skin, at least I’ve only ever had one cat do that, and he was a bastard of a cat. All the other ones I’ve had didn’t hurt when they bit. She should also learn to use her claws rather quickly as well. I wouldn’t worry unless she does break the skin, which I would say is pretty unlikely.
Let her win. If she bites too hard snatch your hand away and admonish her loudly. But do not strike her. Repeat until she can play nicely-pull her punches, so to speak. Kitten teeth are really sharp but if the kitten is truly playing she won’t break the skin. Getting physical with you is a good sign of trust. However, if she is growling and chomping hard enought to break the skin it is a sign that she feels threatened.
To clarify what ILovCoffee said, after she bites too hard and you firmly say no, ignore her attempts to play for a while. Cats don’t generally like to be ignored. (They can ignore you, though; that’s a cat’s prerogative.) She will quickly learn what is acceptable and what isn’t.
Also, you might want to get her some toys. I haven’t yet met a cat that can resist those little fur mice. Just remember to throw them away once she breaks them open.
My cat is fully grown, about 6 years old now, and we play constantly. I’ve had him since he was a kitten, and was able to train him thusly. If he was biting too hard, I’d yell “ouch!” and pull my hand away. Now that he’s trained, and we’re playing and he gets too rough, I just say “ouch” and he immediately stops and looks at me until I initiate playing again.
Also, furry mice are the bombtrack!! I’ve trained Gus (short for Gustav Klimpt) to fetch them. I throw mouse…he’ll chase…bat it around the floor for a few seconds…then bring back to me and drop it at my feet. Rinse, repeat. This can go on for hours…or until he gets bored or distracted (which happens often when the dog, Pico (short for Pablo Piccasso) decides he’s ready to play, too).
Kitten nibbles are cute, and generally harmless. HOWEVER, you don’t want her to get into the habit of clawing you! So yes, pull yourself away from her when she bites or scratches. Her mom and siblings would do the same thing. Cat bites and scratches can be quite painful, and can get infected easily. If you want to wrap a thick towel over your hand, you can safely wrestle with her. Make sure that she ONLY wrestles with your covered hand, though.
Don’t bother giving her catnip yet. Kittens don’t really get into it until they get to be cats.
Cats’ claws are constantly growing, and they need to shed the old outer shell of their claws. When we say that cats are sharpening their claws, what we REALLY mean is that the cats are scratching something to remove the outermost claw shells. Get Kitty something for this purpose, or she’ll pick out something, and you will NOT be happy with whatever she picks!
Some cats will play fetch, most won’t. But make sure that you give her some toys to be rough with. You can stuff an old sport sock with another sock, tie the end shut, and the kitten might like that. Then again, she might not. DON’T spend oodles of money on cat toys. She generally won’t play with anything expensive if it’s sold as a cat toy. She WILL play with other expensive items, though.
We’ve had very good success with something that’s called “Door Buddy” or “A-Door-Able”. It’s basically a long piece of elastic with a toy on one end of it, and a hanger on the other. You hang the hanger over a door frame, and twitch the string. The feline cannot resist, and will play happily for long periods of time. Make sure you remove this and put it safely away when you’re not around, though, as cats can get wrapped up in the elastic and get very stuck.
Yep, what idiotboy said. I’ve actually sustained more damage from sharp little kitten needle claws than kitten teeth.
<<sigh>> I remember the scratches all up and down my forearm. It’s been too long since I had a kitten…
Kittens should learn to pull their punches (or claws and teeth) as they get older though.
What I did with Hanna is when she bit, I’d make a noise like a mad cat would make. That stopped her fast. Luckily, she was very good (for a kitten) and never bit or scratched hard. I discourage her from biting, even as a kitten. It is cute, but it can grow into a bad habit if you let her do it.
Our cat always loved to bite; he’s never intentionally scratched anyone, but he bites in play (and when he’s mad).
We tried to wean him of this, with the methods indicated above. No good. His instinct is to bite, so he bites. In my case, he just lightly touches me with his teeth and doesn’t leave a scratch. We used to play this way when he was a kitten.
He bites my wife harder, and she never allowed him to bite her. So, ultimately, it depends on the cat.
Kitty nibbles are like puppy wrestling–harmless fun, and a gesture of goodwill and affection. If she’s just playing, she won’t break the skin, although they can sometimes get over-enthusiastic and bite hard enough to be uncomfortable. I’ve found that tapping them on the nose, very gently but firmly, works pretty well. They get cranky and go pout for a bit, but they get over and play nicer the next time.
NEVER PULL YOUR HAND AWAY FROM A BITING KITTEN.
This teaches them that biting is a game and that they just won. If they bite too hard or too much, push your hand down and hold them there. This shows that you are dominant and you are the one who says when biting is okay.
Cats usually hate to be held down. Hissing and growling are good as are light taps on the nose. When a mother cat wants the baby to stop she’ll swat it lightly as a warning. You’re mama cat now.
[slight hijack]
My kitten doesn’t bite, but he suckles. Other than keeping his nails short, what should I do to curb this… pushing him away just makes him mad and then he wants comfort so he suckles…
[/hijack]
My kitten bites us all the time. Every day. Like a little maniac. She’s just playing, but sometimes it gets a little rough if I play even slightly with her. They get over it eventually.
We bleed alot at our house.
kitty shouldn’t see your hands as toys.
when malenka would try to bite my hand i would say NO! and get a small plush toy for her instead. she would then attack “rowdy rat” and claw and bite the rat, not me. hands are for niceness and head skritches.
Oh, I don’t know. I’ve heard all the “don’t let your cat play bite” stuff, but “gnaw and rabbit kick mommy’s hand while she tries to rub my tummy” is a favorite game around here. Aside from the fact that my hands smell really foul afterwards, it’s a lot of fun for all concerned. They’ve never come a tiny bit close to biting or clawing hard enough to draw blood.
That said, the best thing for training a kitten on how hard is too hard a bite is another kitten (or a momma cat).
Wow-I thought being a gnawing post was part of my reason for living all of these years! 
is that a good idea? shouldn’t they learn not to use too much force instead of us having to wear armour?
i don’t know why but that is soo true…
The idea behind using a towel as armor is so that Kitty doesn’t think that hands are OK to bite and claw.
Kitty love bites are wonderful - but bites and scratches should be discouraged. Although - I do agree with ENugent that it’s fun to play; my big black Persian loves to swat at us if we walk by. It’s always best to encourage kitties to play with toys and scratching posts (use a tiny bit of catnip to entice them).
My Buffy is a biter-not hard, but she likes to nip at my arms, hands and fingers. It’s just her way of showing affection.
Cat teeth don’t usually hurt that much. It’s the claws you have to watch out for-oh man, when Misty was a kitten, she used to love to play with your arm. We call her Miss Slice N Dice!