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Will my new kitten ever stop biting me?

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So I got a new kitten about a week ago. So far so good. The kitten has no problems using the litter box. In fact there hasn't been a single incident since we got her.

She's very social. When she hears someone coming she runs up to them excitedly. She lets you pick her up and pet her. She's playful and just enjoys being around people in general. BUT... the fucker bites. A lot.

Unless she's half asleep curled up on top of you it's hard to pet her without her trying to bite you. She treats your hand like a toy. She doesn't seem to be doing it so much out of aggression but more out of playfulness I think? Her being playful is fine and I suppose it's sort of cute as a kitten.

Trouble is, I don't imagine I'll find it quite as endearing when she's a fully grown cat biting the shit out of my hand when I put my hands in her general vicinity. She'll nibble on little tassels and such on my clothes, zippers, collars. Earlier today she was laying on my chest and out of nowhere she started batting my eye with her paw.

Is this a behavior that will go away? Is she just being playful? Is there some way to make her realize my face and hands are not a chew toy/scratching post?
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
It's just playfulness, but it still could be a problem. My little guy used to bite when he got really hyper but he seems to have gotten over it. Well, he still bites the other cat but not me at least.

You should discourage it by spraying her with a water bottle or if that doesn't work, tapping on the nose.
 

giga

Member
Don't let it become a habit or common. Use negative reinforcement through a water sprayer whenever she tries to bite you.
 

freddy

Banned
Just give her a tap on her nose lightly but firmly with your finger and tell her no. Let her know it's not acceptable and it hurts even if it doesn't. She just doesn't know her own strength yet that's all.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Give her a taste of her own medicine

dog_eating_cat.jpg
 
I've heard that a water spray bottle will make your cat hate you.

My vet told me to use punishments that appear to come out of nowhere like a noise maker or something. A can full of pennies for example. So that cat doesn't know it's you who is administering the punishment. Otherwise the cat will resent you.

Any truth to this in your experience?
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Ducky_McGee said:
Any truth to this in your experience?

No, cats can't hate. If anything she might fear you a little bit, but that's a good thing.
You are the master and she is the slave, and she must learn to obey.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Ducky_McGee said:
Fickle bitch does it even when you aren't bothering her. She'll come up to me and start biting my feet. Earlier today when she was sleeping on my chest she woke up and started attacking my eyelid.

Sounds like you might just have a little demon spawn of a cat. Call your pastor and have him assess the situation.
 
Snuggler said:
No, cats can't hate. If anything she might fear you a little bit, but that's a good thing.
You are the master and she is the slave, and she must learn to obey.

hvti69.gif


off topic, but you have a cool avatar. lol I wish there was a quail version of that.
 
Ducky_McGee said:
Fickle bitch does it even when you aren't bothering her. She'll come up to me and start biting my feet. Earlier today when she was sleeping on my chest she woke up and started attacking my eyelid.

Can you please refrain from using the b word here. It's offensive
 

giga

Member
Ducky_McGee said:
Fickle bitch does it even when you aren't bothering her. She'll come up to me and start biting my feet. Earlier today when she was sleeping on my chest she woke up and started attacking my eyelid.
Seriously, get a water gun.
 

freddy

Banned
Mother cats bat their kittens on the nose when they get out of line or are hurting their siblings. I've had about ten cats over the years and even the older ones will respond to it after a while
 

smurfx

get some go again
Ducky_McGee said:
Fickle bitch does it even when you aren't bothering her. She'll come up to me and start biting my feet. Earlier today when she was sleeping on my chest she woke up and started attacking my eyelid.
lol reminds me of this one time when i was asleep at my cousins house and his cat went and slept right next to my head without me knowing. i rolled over while sleeping and the cat then started scratching the top of my head while freaking out which also freaked me out.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
freddy said:
Mother cats bat their kittens on the nose when they get out of line or are hurting their siblings. I've had about ten cats over the years and even the older ones will respond to it after a while

For sure. It's wrong to hurt the cat to make a point, you just need to create discomfort for them with water/noise/nose tapping. One of those methods will work.

I think I recall reading long long ago that kittens learn to stop doing this by interacting with other kittens or cats. They bite the other kitten, the kitten returns the favor, they begin to learn that it's unpleasant and cease doing it. I have no idea how to remedy this without another cat around. Simulating biting the kitty back with your fingers when it bites you? I assume associating something negative with the kitten biting will break the habit but I am far from a cat behavioral expert.

This seems plausible. As I mentioned before, my new kitty was a biter at first but he seems to have stopped on his own. However, he wrestles a lot with the other cat and I think she fucked his shit up enough to learn him to stop.
 

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
I think I recall reading long long ago that kittens learn to stop doing this by interacting with other kittens or cats. They bite the other kitten, the kitten returns the favor, they begin to learn that it's unpleasant and cease doing it. I have no idea how to remedy this without another cat around. Simulating biting the kitty back with your fingers when it bites you? I assume associating something negative with the kitten biting will break the habit but I am far from a cat behavioral expert.
 
DonMigs85 said:
Give her a taste of her own medicine

dog_eating_cat.jpg
:lol

That cat looks like one my family used to have. Except he was all scarred and mean with half of his ear torn off. He would eat tarantulas and scorpions. That cat was a bigger badass than I will ever be.
 

Ezalc

Member
Siebzehn50 said:
:lol

That cat looks like one my family used to have. Except he was all scarred and mean with half of his ear torn off. He would eat tarantulas and scorpions. That cat was a bigger badass than I will ever be.

Holy shit that sounds like the best damn cat ever, right behind Lion-O.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Siebzehn50 said:
:lol

That cat looks like one my family used to have. Except he was all scarred and mean with half of his ear torn off. He would eat tarantulas and scorpions. That cat was a bigger badass than I will ever be.
Sounds like the boss cat from Gintama:

gintama191-09.jpg


gintama192-13.jpg
 

Zeliard

Member
When my cat was a kitten he used to bite me in adorable fashion when I tickled him. It's normal, awesome, and doesn't come even remotely close to breaking the skin or hurting in any real way. They're very soft bites.

If your cat is chewing pieces out of your arm then he just hates you. Sorry.
 

iamblades

Member
Play fighting is how cats learn how to hunt and kill. It's a natural part of their survival instincts.

I's perfectly normal, and it's not like a kitten play fighting can hurt you. Man up and deal with it. :lol :lol

Even better, fight back a little, let the kitten get some practice in and burn off some of that kitten energy.
 

suzu

Member
DON'T let it bite or play fight with your hands. You will seriously regret it when it's older lol. My brother used to do that with his kitten and now it randomly bites (hard!) and doesn't seem to understand why people get angry afterward.

When it bites you, you should yell in pain/surprise to let it know that it hurt.. Even if it doesn't actually hurt, if it looks like the kitten is being too rough, then yelp anyway. It should snap out of it. After that you should direct its attention to a toy. If it's still an asshole, just spray it with water. Your cat won't hate you (it's a cat!).. unless you do something like chase it around with the water.
 

NotWii

Banned
Everytime she bites or scratches you, say: NO KITTY, NO! in a strong voice
She'll get the idea soon enough, don't let it become a habit, it'll be much harder to shake, and she'll have bigger teeth.
 

DiscoJer

Member
suzu said:
DON'T let it bite or play fight with your hands. You will seriously regret it when it's older lol. My brother used to do that with his kitten and now it randomly bites (hard!) and doesn't seem to understand why people get angry afterward.

When it bites you, you should yell in pain/surprise to let it know that it hurt.. Even if it doesn't actually hurt, if it looks like the kitten is being too rough, then yelp anyway. It should snap out of it. After that you should direct its attention to a toy. If it's still an asshole, just spray it with water. Your cat won't hate you (it's a cat!).. unless you do something like chase it around with the water.

Also when it does it while playing, stop playing with it. It will learn that being a jerk means you will stop playing with it.
 

NotWii

Banned
DiscoJer said:
Also when it does it while playing, stop playing with it. It will learn that being a jerk means you will stop playing with it.
Yep, that's what I did to my cat, it worked
 

freddy

Banned
coolcole93 said:
My new puppy does it too. We figured she would just snap out of it, I guess we need to start telling her off when she does it?
Tap on the bridge nose and not hard and say no. Dominant dogs in the wild clamp their jaws over the snout of another dog to show dominance and this is imprinted genetically into your little pooch
 

DonMigs85

Member
freddy said:
Tap on the bridge nose and not hard and say no. Dominant dogs in the wild clamp their jaws over the snout of another dog to show dominance and this is imprinted genetically into your little pooch
huskykiss.jpg
 
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