Help me out. My kitty bites!

How can I get my cat to stop biting? Betsy, my Munchkin, bites whenever she is nervous I think. My nieces will come in and play and they go to pet her and she nips them. At first I thought maybe they pulled her tail or something, but they can over again and she did it again. Why is she doing this and how can I get it to stop?

 

As I posted in my introduction "Cats Rule!" I have 2 big tom cats and the oldest one, Romeo is a biter. I really can not do anything about it as it is just in his genetic makeup, so the best that can be done is to watch for signs of aggression and live by his rules. My cat is "overly stimulated" with too much petting, possibly the same with yours? I can pet him for just so long, then one of his eyes starts to twitch and open and shut and his pupils start to enlarge....this is the signal to stop or I may receive a blood-drawing bite to the petting arm! I have since adopted another loving kitty who hasn't a mean or agressive bone in his body and will let me pet to my heart's content...so I leave Romeo pretty much alone now and have found he will tolerate more from me when I do give him attention...go figure! You gotta love cats....they are unique critters!

 

Maybe just try a firm no when the cat bites, they do notice when there is a significant change in the tone or volume of your voice. A spray of water can also be a harmless deterrent for undesirable behaviour.

 

I tried the spray bottle on Romeo when he was a trainable kitten (I thought) and he got so mad at me he got aggressive and chased me....it was scary and funny at the same time. Thus I learned to live with it as I said earlier.

 

When I have a misbehaving cat close to hand, I go with picking them up by the scruff of the neck rather than the squirt bottle. It reinforces the idea that I'm "mom" and they are my kittens, and that I have the right (and the obligation!) to discipline them. It is much less comfortable for them now that they are all in excess of 12 pounds, but if they have done something to deserve it . . . .

 

Oh, no! My cat bites when he likes the way you pet him or when he wants to play. Does your cat bite down hard and break skin? Mine does soft biting, but it really scares my friends when they come over. He also has a thing for biting forearms. He just goes to town and will nibble on your arm. I use a firm "No!" and will slap my knee or some other hard surface to scare him away. That usually gets him to stop.

 

Soft biting is all part of play and all my cats do it. It does not hurt and they do not break the skin. To your friends who are scared by it perhaps point out that they would soon know if the cat really wanted to hurt them, after all they can chew through bone when eating lol

 

There is a big difference between soft, playful bites and meaner ones. I don't mind the former (though my cat doesn't bite at all). Have you tried the bitterant stuff that you put on your hand that tastes bad to cats?

 

Booger bites but it's like soft bites like he's caressing you or something. They aren't hard and it never breaks the skin. Bella bites hard I used to have bites and scratches all over my hands. I just scold her and kind of growl like a mama cat would and push her away. When I got her she was very young so to her I'm her mama. She's getting better now when she slaps me her claws aren't out anymore and she still bites but it's not as hard.

 

I remember once having a kitten that thought my fingers were just the right thing to chew on for fun. It would start off gently then bite harder as she got excited. I had to keep my fingers out of reach all the time because it wouldn't understand any kind of scolding about the matter.

 

Seems like it would be a near incurable problem, but I think combing/trying all the techniques and see which ones the cat responds to if an of them.
Try to remember to grab the scruff of the neck, and another thing to do, easier on a to mouthy dog, but when they bite push down on their tongue
This will be uncomfortable for them and annoying, but won't cause pain. Other then that it may just be the cat you need to tell your nieces not to play with.

 

I have a similar problem with my new cat and have just posted a thread about him. I have been using the spray bottle technique, it has somewhat worked but he's just so unpredictable and the spray bottle is not always to hand!

 

I think it just depends on the cat. I've always found that cats that bite only do it as a matter of play or annoyance.

 

I have had a few stray kittens that considered biting to be a lot of fun. Only trouble is they bite quite hard. One, I had to give a few smacks on the head before it got the message.

 

Sometimes your cat is biting because of rough play. I heard ones to always play gentle with cats. They tend to want to play bite if they've been played with roughly. I started doing this when our cats were small. Then, they wanted to bite more, It's normal to want to play with your cat with a high energy, but sometimes this will make them tend to want to bite.

 

Maybe she is just intimidated by the young children. They may be overwhelming her with wanting to pet her when she just wants to be left alone. Children do not have the same touch as adults so it may bother her.