I’m a long term cat person, but I tend to adopt older cats and thus have little kitten experience. I have inherited a kitten from someone who couldn’t keep up with the little guy. Izydor is about 11 weeks old, seems to be in good health, and is mostly a dear… he’s the result of a beautiful pure bred bengal getting loose and getting it on with a big black tom cat, so his markings are really pretty. But I digress…
Here’s the problem. Izydor bites contstantly. They seems to be playful bites, and I can discourage the behaviour by destracting him onto a toy most of the time, but sometimes he just won’t be deterred. Is he teething, perhaps? Particularly aggressive? Is this something all kittens do and eventually grow out of? I’m looking for any and all tips on how to deal with this, because I really don’t want to raise a biter. He mostly bites hands, but also has a fondness for biting elbows, feet and armpits (?!) when his people are asleep.
So, I’m looking for advice - how do you control a biting cat, is this normal etc…
My mom trained one of her cats not to bite by thumping her on the head every time she would. It doesn’t seem to have caused any more brain damage than the cat already had.
Most likely he’s simply playing with you. Eleven weeks is quite young - he’s still a baby and if he were with his littermates and mother, he’d still be learning how a cat behaves in the company of other cats. Both of our young cats nipped and gnawed a LOT. One grew out of it. The other kept it up until she had to share the house with another cat, who quickly taught her that if you bite, you get bitten back, HARD.
In the absence of another cat to socialize Izydor, you’ll have to do it. He needs to learn that biting doesn’t result in anything fun. When he bites, unceremoniously push him away and ignore him. It will take a while, but he’ll get the message. Keep giving him toys when you’re playing with him, but don’t follow a bite with a toy (he’ll learn that biting = toy).
I’ve had a lot of kittens over the years, and in my experience they generally grow out of it. When I got my two black fuzzballs a few weeks ago, they were only a few weeks old and the first few days I had them they needed to be bottle-fed. They already had teeth and were constantly chewing on the nipple, so I it didn’t take long to get them to eat solid food. When I play with them they will lick and nip at my fingers or anything else that presents itself.
I don’t think still biting at eleven weeks is that unusual. But it has been a while since I’ve had a kitten that age.
That reminds me of how I broke one cat I had of biting. One time when we were playing she bit me harder than usual, not quite breaking the skin. So I pinned her down and gently but firmly took one ear between my teeth and bit her back. She let out a startled squeak, and never bit me again.
My older cat is is (as of tomorrow) going to live with my Grandfather, who is going through some hard times and will greatly benefit from his gentle presence. This means Izy will soon be alone and won’t be reprimanded by another cat for biting (yep - he bites Morty too). I suppose I’ll have to take over. I started giving him a gentle spray of water to startle him when he bit me, but that’s not working any more - being part Bengal, it turns out he’s retained that breed’s peculiar affinity for water and seems to think the spray bottle is a toy. I like Lurkmeister’s suggestion, because that is what Morty seems to do when he’s had enough.
I had wondered if this was breed particular or related to untimely weaning - I got him quite young at 8 weeks - because he is also much more vocal than any cat I’ve ever had. He meows ALL THE TIME - when you pet him, he trys to do this peculiar meow purr, he meows in his litter box, he meows into his food dish, he meows when I get home, when we play, we he plays etc. I know that cats reserve these vocalizations for humans or for their mom, so perhaps this and the biting are related.
I’ve probably made a mistake because I have given him a toy right after he bites me a few times to get him off me - I will try pushing him away as cwthree suggested.
I’m likely dwelling too much, but my office mates are beginning to raise eyebrows at my hands, which are covered in scratch marks from where he has pinned me down to bite me, and frankly - waking up to a cat nawing on your armpit is less than pleasant…
My cat was a former biter. Every time he would show his teeth and direct his mouth to my hands/fingers, i would:
Say “No!” firmly,
Tap lightly once right between the eyes,
Ignor him (turn my back to him).
He learned fast not to do that again; instead if he got annoyed with how i played with him/ pet him/etc he would just get up and move farther away from me.
Since yours is so young, you can skip step two if it makes you uncomfortable.
Capcha has it right. Our sweetest cat right now was a biting kitten and those are the exact methods we used to teach her not to do it. The “No!” should be loud. Kittens do not like loud noises at all. It’s not being cruel to give a firm tap on the head. You are not hurting the kitty, and it’s actually less than what another cat, such as the now-absent mama cat, would do.
Our cat is a biter. He never grew out of it, and we finally gave up. Nothing bad, though occasionally he’ll break skin. Once he gave me a pretty nasty bite, but he was angry and seemed apologetic afterwards.
He never scratches, though. He just uses his claws to bring things to his mouth for biting.
This works like a hot damn. I’m shocked, because it seems so simple. The first time I tried, he came back to bite about 5 times, but now I say “no” sharply and he backs off without requiring the between the eye tap. Thank you so much.
Wow - you may have the most gorgeous cat in the world!
I’m glad to hear the tips are working. I was going to tell you about my husband’s cat who is 13 or so and still bites and claws us, but she has so much personality that you don’t really mind. She gives fair warning, and if you’re still playing after that, you’re going to bleed. We’ve accepted it as our reality. My cat, on the other hand, has nipped at me once, maybe two times in 9 years, and both times I had to get her pretty riled to do it. She just isn’t that way.
I’ll give you my suggestion that I give all new pet owners (or in your case, owner of a new pet) - keep them out of the bedroom from day one. No more gnawing on your armpit!
What kind of people don’t know that the new human of a kitten is going to be covered in tooth and claw marks?
You would be surprised that there are a lot. I used to go on a cat message board quite often. They had a behavior section that I always checked out and there was a new person every day if not twice a day with the same question “My kitten bites and scratches me, what do I do?”. I think most, like the OP, have had an adult cat or had friends with adult cats but never had a kitten.
The ones that drove me nuts were new people who registered because they just picked up a kitten at a pet store or got one from a friend and are now asking what sort of supplies they need. I mean a litter box and food will start you off but some did not even have those. :smack: How people can go out and blindly buy an animal or get a freebie one with no clue what they need to take care of it always sort of angers me.
I am not talking about people that found a stray cat or kitten or rescued one and are not sure what to do. Those I can understand and always tried to help.
To the OP. I am glad the tips are working. The cat was a little young when you got him so he was not really taught by his mother not to bite but it seems like things are going well. He sure is a cutie and I think he will become a very large handsome guy. I love the ears.
I have a biter. He is anti-social because I think he was adopted to early and from being de-clawed. We adopted him when he was nine months and he has been a challenge. He was not one for an inexperianced cat owner which is why I think he was given away. He is always grumpy and does not like being petted very often. If you pet him when he is not in the mood he gives you a rawl and a “did I say you could pet me” glare. We read him well and leave him be but a stranger might get bitten if the warning was not taken seriously.
My husband’s cat is somewhat like that (she’s better-natured about the biting and clawing) - we read her well enough that the damage is minimized, and we know what we’re in for. Someone else playing with her would be afraid of all those teeth and claws coming at them, but since she’s a scaredy cat and and disappears whenever someone comes over, it’s not an issue.
Kittens with biting problems need to learn bite control. Normally they figure this out from the feedback they get from their litter mates. Bite softly, and everyone has fun. Bite too hard, and playmate will cry or hiss, and fun is over.
Sometimes this knowledge doesn’t transfer very well to humans, either because kittens don’t place us in the same category as their littermates, or because another kitten can withstand a much harder bite than a human without getting angry.
You need to provide some kind of unsubtle feedback to the kitten whenever it crosses the line and bites too hard, so it understands that its actions cause you pain. Pull away, make some kind of noise (I’ve found that hissing is very effective), and don’t resume play for a minute or two. They’ll figure it out pretty quickly.
I’m not a big fan of striking a cat, no matter how gently you do it. I think it makes them too wary of your hands and fingers after awhile. You can teach bite control just as easily with other kinds of feedback.
Oh, my gosh, he’s adorable. I’m glad the advice worked, because it’s exactly what mama-cat would have done (except she might have bitten back, too.) Another thing she’ll do is grab them by the scruff of the neck and hold them down for a second.
HA! Ain’t that god’s own truth. When the fuzzy roomies were small, my legs from thigh down to ankles were a welter of half-healed scratches. I should’ve owned stock in neosporin. It’s a wonder I didn’t get anything worse than red welts while they healed.
Daniel knows that when I say, “Daniel! BeHAVE!” or “NO!” he’s in trouble. Usually when he’s giving his sister trouble or clawing madly at the closet door just to make it rattle. :rolleyes: Lord, what cats these be.
They also know to back away rapidly if I see them about to get into trouble and I make a loud “Tss tss tss!” noise because they know next thing I will get up and shoo them away.
I disappeared on my own thread for a while, but thank you everyone for commenting, and for the nice comments about my furball
I just dropped off the one other cat I had in my house at my parent’s place this weekend. He was an older cat, and had adopted my grandfather, so I finally gave up fighting him and let him go stay there. Now the kitten is by himself, but my other cat couldn’t abide him at all so he’s never really had a playmate.
I’m still working with him on the biting. I’ve gotten to the point where a sharp no usually stops him, but he does come back for more (i.e., because I’m typing right now, he’s trying to bite my fingers!)
I think I decided tonight to get another kitten. I may be getting in over my head here, but I think he needs a buddy with a similar energy level. I don’t want to risk getting another adult cat that won’t accept the kitten. He’s wearing me out! I only have so many hours in the day to play. If I had his energy, I could work three jobs
Anyway, thanks again for the tips… much appreciated!
The best toy for a kitten is another kitten. Usually they will cheerfully wrassle each other to exhaustion, and then snuggle up to each other and take a nap and look utterly innocent and adorable. Two kittens are usually less trouble than a single kitten. Go for it. And post pics.
