Hi - we got our kitty Nomar about 10 days ago - he’s about 5-6 months old.
He’s very sweet and silly but when we’re cuddling or petting him, if he’s in a playful mood, he tries to bite our hands - OUCH! The other day he actually broke skin!
So what is the best way to discourage this behaviour?
Thank you,
S.
Heh … I just realized the title of the thread makes it sound like the new cat owner is a biter … :smack:
Mine did that, and a tap on the nose and a firm “no!” was usually enough to discourage biting. After a while she outgrew her biting tendancies anyways.
Both my kitties went through biting phases. I just said “Ow!” and stopped playing with them when they bit and eventually they figured out that biting isn’t fun…
We’ve had a couple of biters. Our infant is currently gnawing on toes, fingers…anything. I hope she grows out of it. I trul think she’s autistic. She really doesn’t enjoy being touched, although she asks for it. She’ll come by nudging us and we pick her up and…BITE!
I love playful cats. I’ve never really even discouraged biting. This may be easier for me than most since I have what you might call “working-man’s” hands and they generally can’t hurt me. Without fail they have all grown out of it. In the interim, I really don’t know what to do about it, but I would say that odds are that it will pass.
Our cat is a biter. On the plus side, he never scratches (deliberately). He just uses his paws to pull things into bite range.
I don’t mind it – he usually takes my hand into his mouth and rests his teeth on it, but does not bite down if I don’t move. He’s worse with my wife, as he’ll occasionally bite her calf to get her attention.
When he was younger, I tried to break him of the habit. When he tried to bite, I’d yell, and I wouldn’t let him bite me in play. But his instinct was pretty strong, so I was unsuccessful.
**Chuck ** - our guy does the same thing - pulls our hand close with his cute little paws and then CHOMP!!! But he doesn’t scratch, so that’s a definite plus. He really seems to like the fleshy part of my hand at the base of my thumb … looks yummy I guess.
I have tried to stop playing with him and to tap him on the nose … seems to discourage him for about 0.2 seconds and then he’s back. I know he’s just playing but it sure makes it hard to cuddle him! I’m sure he’ll smarten up and grow out of it though …
(When we first got him he had a kitty cold … so he was mellow and sweet and cuddly and sucky … now his cold is all gone and he’s PSYCHO-KITTY-FROM-HELL! :D)
Fromer breeder (dilute Hemi’s):
The way I stopped this immediately and permanently (the web of the thumb was the favorite of more than 1 kitten):
Warning: some people do not like to be :mean" to kittens - I advise them to stop here.
When the kitten would first bite:
Immediately cup your free hand behind its head, and hold the bitten hand in place - do not let it withdraw, then gently but firmly push the bitten hand back until the kitten gags, and hold it there fro a couple of seconds. Only one ever tried a second bite, and then froze, and looked up as if to say “that didn’t count, right?” then withdrew - only one even thought about it, and that was the last time he did it. (his teeth had not made contact, so no, it didn’t count).
At 5-6 MONTHS, this needs to be corrected immediately - it should have been done a couple of months ago, and in anoter 6 months, I don’t know that it can be broken. Good luck.
And for the cat lovers - have you even stuck a needle in an adorable little ball of fur, and had it look up as if to say “why are you hurting me?”. Come back when you can answer yes.
I have an adult cat (I got her as an adult) who was a biter. What I do is say “ouch!” loudly and take my hand away, then totally disengage from her and refuse to pet or play with her until she calms down. I have gotten her to the point where she will not bite me anymore, even though she pretends she’s going to but licks me instead.
I have no idea what this means.
Or this.
Actually, this is similar advice to what our puppy trainer gave us: gently push the hand farther in (although not necessarily until gagging) until the pet thinks this isn’t fun anymore and lets go on its own. It has worked well with our little piranha pup. Pulling the hand away turned it into a chase and made it more exciting, even when we ignored her immediately afterward. On the other hand, our other pup responded to the “ouch” and ignore routine, so it really seems to depend on the individual furry personality.
I have no idea how to imbed the original quote, so this will have to do.
Uh… thanks for sharing?
I guess you have never run a cattery, right? Are you actually surprised that there are people who know what the words mean?
Read “Fromer” as “Former”.
Dilute is a recessive gene which, in Siamese and other breeds sharing that coloration pattern, caused the color to be lightened, or “diluted”.
‘Hemi’ is short for Himalayan - a breed of cat which shares the Siamese coloration.
Hence: “Dilute Hemi” means Chocolate-point and/or Lilac-point Himalayan.
Responsible people innoculate kittens. This (at the time, at least) require a sub-cue (no, I’m not going to explain that - ask your doctor or RN) injection, which involves sticking a hypodermic needle in a kitten’s butt. Hence, I would “stick needles in” kittens.
You’re welcome.