OT: Question about a kitten

[Betsy]

I know this is completely off-topic, not even the right species, but I have a question about a kitten, and I know a lot of people here have a lot of experience with a lot of different animals, so I thought it was worth a shot.

 

I rescued a 6 week old kitten. (Yes, it was a rescue, the mother cat was adopted from a local shelter that didn't know she was pregnant and shortly had kittens, then disappeared when the kittens were about 5 weeks old. But I digress...) Anyway. I got this kitten and brought it home. The only other animal we have is my 4 year old neutered BC. This kitten bites a lot. I mean A LOT. Now, I haven't had a kitten this young since I was really little so my memory is well, I don't have memories of the kittens when they were this little.

 

My question is, is it normal for a kitten to bite all the time? I'm wondering if he was taken from his littermates too young and was not able to learn bite inhibition (if there is such a thing in cats?). Riley (BC) will play with him, but he's so submissive he won't bite back/growl/anything and I have to often intervene and make the cat let go of the death bite he has on Riley's lip or wherever. He also bites me all the time. I can't pet the cat without it trying to bite me.

 

NOTE: all these bites seem to be in playing mode. I really don't think he is attacking me or Riley.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!!

[Dixie_Girl]

Well, I know people will not like what I have always done with pups and kittens who bite at a very young age. I am talking in the 6-8wk range. But I have never had it fail. When they bite one hand, use the other to flick it on the nose saying ow! Now when I say flick I mean with the fore finger like flicking lint or something. DON'T get over zealous and do it hard! Just enough to let it know that biting makes it's nose hurt and it will only take a few times. Then all you have to say is ow if it starts biting too hard. It is only useful on very young animals. Like I said, I am sure others will have better ideas. This is just what I have done and it has always worked.

 

Good luck!

[Lunar]

Dixie_Girl - That's what I always did too. With puppies yiping works well, but kittens seem a bit... less prone to CARE. (In fact some cats seem to enjoy the fact that they hurt you.) He's young enough that you can teach him how hard to bite.

 

PS - Congrats on the new kitten! How... fun! Much destruction coming your way. I vowed no more kittens... brats...

[Miztiki]

Noses are very sensitive.

 

It's better to tap them on the head! Seriously. That's what I did with my cats when they were kittens and got too rough.

 

If one of your fingernails is at all long (beyond the tip of your finger) then just tap them on the head, like you'd tap on a keyboard. It's highly annoying and works very well on kids too! It doesn't hurt, but it's uncomfortable.

 

Tap yourself a few times on top of the head with your fingernail and you'll see what I mean. Then you'll also know how hard to tap. Just tap tap tap in the same spot until the kitten lets up. No one trick works on all cats (or other species) but this is one that is really effective without causing any harm.

 

I used the Aahhnntt noise in conjunction with the tap, so didn't have to use the tap for very long at all, just the aahhnntt noise. Works for scratching furniture, begging for food, and all sorts of stuff.

 

If your kitten is truly aggressive then tapping might make it worse, not better, but if your kitten is simply playing too rough then this should help.

[Kat's Dogs]

You can also use an "air correction". Instead of actually flicking the kitten, flick right next to the wiskers or the ears. Same kind of thing but the dogs (or in this case, cats) seem to see it more as a "magic" correction that came from no where rather then a correction coming from YOU. This would help with what Miz said about making it worse. This should only make it better, but, then again, it is a cat!

 

What always works with me and puppies (I would guess cats too?) is you "yelp" when kitty bites. That is what the Mother dog would do to her pups to teach them not to bite her (or any other dogs). A really high pitched, loud yelp! It really does seem to work best.

 

Good luck with the kitten!

[karrie]

I know asking Riley to do this isn't going to work but it will work on your hand. When kitten grabs hold claws and teeth, hold your hand completely still(if it isn't too painful). Your hand then becomes boring. This is one of the methods I've used with Molly and she always stops attacking and starts licking instead.

 

If you are comfortable doing it pick kitten up like the mama would and remove it. I use that when I have to groom my cat and she is wanting to attack me( not playing). Course, I usually just hold her for a bit that way and then proceed with removing the burr.

 

Squirt guns are effective with felines for the most part.

 

Other than Riley what is the kitten playing with? I'm thinking maybe a catnip mouse would wear the little chopper out and be a good sub for your fingers and Riley's mouth. Poles with feathers at the end are good too for distractions. I should mention thou all these were done with Molly and she still loves to get my feet sometimes when I'm walking ( claws and all).

 

 

I don't really think kittens are like puppies in the bite inhibition. The orphan I raised up wasn't a biter as a kitten.

 

Enjoy the little mauler! LOL They grow up so quick!

[smileyzookie]

All I have to say is make sure you stop this behavior now. My cat terrorizes me if Riven isnt around. Bites my hands when Im sleeping, bites me on the rump if im on the computer. He even reaches under my pillow with his claws while Im sleeping and flicks his nails at me. I dont know what his issue is, but I really wish I knew a behaviorist for him. Its calmed down somewhat cause of Riven now lol

[Lunar]

smileyzookie - some cats are just like that. At the cat shelter I volunteer at you get cats that run the gamut. Some LOVE you and just want to sit on your lap and purr. Others want attention, but get ticked if you touch them "wrong". And there are a couple where you just give them a large berth because if you LOOK at them wrong they'll hiss and freak out at you. Even my kitty, who is a crazy cat, he has lovey moments then he'll get grumpy and bite and claw you. I love cats. Really.

 

I forgot about the squirt guns. Two christmasses ago my cat decided it was FUN to climb my parents' christmas tree. My dad caught him the second time with a squirt gun... Jojo fell out of the tree and NEVER went back in it.

[Tammy525]

Sparkle was a biting freak as a kitten. Any of the above suggestions caused her to go crazy-aggressive. She has grown out of a lot of it (1yr old now), but you still have to watch out for her signals. She is generally very "mouthy". She grooms all of us frequently and may bite with this, but it is a grooming bite and doesn't hurt. Just don't tick her off or watch out!!

 

I haven't had great luck with deterring bad cat behavior. She does actually listen when I get after her for getting on the counter or something (the other two just look at me like, "you are very rudely interrupting me!") She ALWAYS comes when I call her and she is the cutest thing ever, but yes, she still does some biting, but it is almost always predictable and you can get out of the way if you are paying attention. The one exception is dh, who really doesn't like cats. She attacks him regularly with no provocation (other than his evil cat thoughts).

[Lunar]

Hey - cats can SO pick up on those evil cat thoughts.

 

I've learned to watch very very closely when petting just about any cat. You can usually yank your hand back in time if you notice their eyes narrowing and ears going back. Usually.

[Falcon]

Originally posted by Lunar:

Hey - cats can SO pick up on those evil cat thoughts.

 

I've learned to watch very very closely when petting just about any cat. You can usually yank your hand back in time if you notice their eyes narrowing and ears going back. Usually.

I used to know a black cat (neighbor's) who was the friendliest cat in the world when he saw you. He'd run up, purring and meowing for attention, rubbing up against your legs, but the moment you even look at him he'd go off. Crazy kitty. Never gave any kind of sign that he would bite/scratch, he would just go for it. I've never seen a cat quite like that before, or since.

[smileyzookie]

My brother had a cat a lot like that. It would be ont he bed purring, loving attention and out of nowhere it would get hacked off and bite ur hand, like.. ok enough petting... and if u didnt stop it would bite and run... stupid kitties... I love cats though, probably not the best place to say it but I love them more than dogs :eek:

[Aussie_Dog]

The best idea is to simply hiss. It's a language the cat understands and it's always worked for me. Squirt guns may or may not be effective, but there are too many cons in my opinion. For one, water can get in the ears and cause infection. For another, that kind of negative reinforcement (along with nose/head tapping) doesn't work with cats the same as it does dogs. The cat will just see you as hurting them, even if it's not a real HURT (more discomfort). Cats give you two chances; break their trust once, they'll forgive you, but break it again and they'll just walk away from you.

 

I used to use the face tap (lightly) with one of my cats, Buffy, but she's a sassy one and she'd just bite harder and hiss at me. When I hissed, she immediately stopped. Willow is even more sensitive so the most "touchy" I've ever gotten with her is simply to place my finger on her nose to make her back up when she's getting too close to the food I'm eating.

[sandra s.]

I usually blow in their faces - works for me, even if I haven't been eating garlic . But then I have never had a real "devil cat" since I was very young . I'd love to get to know one!

[Betsy]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've had Baxter for about 3 weeks now, so I guess he's 9 weeks old now. I hope he's not too far gone!

 

Flicks and finger taps seem to make him mad. That will generally cause his ears to go back and tail to swish quickly while he gets ready to *really* attack you.

 

A water bottle really does the trick, I just never seem to have it on me when I need it! Maybe I just need to hang it from my belt.

 

Hissing used to work when we first got him. It doesn't seem to faze him anymore!

 

Anybody think it's testosterone and that it will get better once he's neutered? The vet wanted to wait until about 4 months to neuter him, but I don't know if I can go another 2 months! I have an 18-month-old little girl that I'm constantly kissing her fingers because "kitty" bit her. He's never drawn blood and she's not crying so I don't think she's actually gotten hurt.

[Lunar]

I doubt it's testosterone, if it were me I'd wait til 4 months to neuter, that's a pretty normal timeframe. It's probably just kitty spunkiness.

 

Hissing at my cat makes him ticked. And if finger taps are causing bad reactions, that won't work either.

 

That young, maybe ever time he does it you just put him down and stop playing with him?

 

I dunno, cat's are so tricky.

[smileyzookie]

Originally posted by Aussie_Dog:

The best idea is to simply hiss.

LOL! I just tried that with Rohan (cat). He looked at me the first time like have you lost your mind? And he did it again while I kept petting him, and he stopped, and looked at me like extremely discusted. So I, satisfied that this worked, turned to walk away and he reached out and with his claws grabbed my shoulder and pulled himself toward me and bit me on the shoulder. lol ... future reference, dont hiss at my cat lol

[Aussie_Dog]

Originally posted by smileyzookie:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aussie_Dog:

The best idea is to simply hiss.

LOL! I just tried that with Rohan (cat). He looked at me the first time like have you lost your mind? And he did it again while I kept petting him, and he stopped, and looked at me like extremely discusted. So I, satisfied that this worked, turned to walk away and he reached out and with his claws grabbed my shoulder and pulled himself toward me and bit me on the shoulder. lol ... future reference, dont hiss at my cat lol ROFL, sounds like Buffy. Stare at her the wrong way, she'll smack you across the face (literally) and if she's not done with you, she'll grab your shirt and keep you from walking away. I got tears (from laughing) from your post, lol

[Liz P]

I have a new rescue kitty, didn't get him until he was a yr old, and he gives me love bites. When he nips my hand I push my hand further into his mouth. He hates it and he stopped biting me almost immediately.

[Betsy]

Liz - sounds like a good plan! I will definitely try that.

 

I seem to have succeeded in making him listen *sometimes* and when I say "No kitty" he will back away.

 

I'm attaching the spray bottle to my hip.