[artemisa]

I've a question. My kitty Taby's 4 months old, he's quite playful most of the times and he bites when he's playing. But he's been biting quite a lot recently! When he's in that playful/crazy mood he goes at it with all his strenght! will bite you on your wrists, elbows and places like that. Could this be a phase of his? We tell him No! etc but he still does it quite a lot.

It's funny 'cause obviously he's a tabby cat, and I was told by a friend that has 4 cats (2 tabbies) that they tend to act 'crazy' like that. He suddenly starts running all over the room, jumping, as if he was chasing something that isn't there. And biting a lot. I suppose a lot of cats act like that (this is my first), but it's funny 'cause that's the way her tabby cats are like!

So when do they calm down, grow up?

 

[Aonir]

My experience is all kittens do that. Just keep telling kitty No. Also, I tended to stop playing with kitty when kitty started Just to teach them that biting and scratching won't get them anywhere on my skin! And/or you could quickly redirect kitties attention to a toy, so that kitty will play rough with that instead

 

[Ioana]

Do you ever play with Tabby using your hands? If you do it is not recommended at all. SO If this is the case you will have to deconstruct this behaviour by introducing toys to her : toys attached to a string - feathers, little balls - basically things that will come between your hands and the little rascal. They see our hands as objects of prey and your withdrawing them while she is getting rough makes her get rougher. So when she still goes after your hands ..because it won't be easy to make her give up all of the sudden - push gently against her mouth and then pick her up and take her to the"play area" where you will entertain her by making her chase little balls or the fishing poles with "birds of prey" attached to them. Cats can also learn to play fetch ..you will be surprised one day when she will bring you back a toy mousie that you trew for her to chase & catch. Remember - no hands involved :wink:

Best of luck

 

[ci]

He'll probably grow out of it past 1+ to 2 years - but some cats keep the habit forever! :lol: So tell him a stern "NO!" if he hurts you and distract him like the rest suggest.

 

[XChibi]

play rough

My kitty bites and scratches but only when he knows I'm ready to play rough with him. It's ironic how I go "Ow you win you win! I surrender!" He stops biting my hand.

Anyway, I usually put my sleeve over my hand and press down softly on his stomache. Then he latches onto my arm and we play rough together. It hurts a little but not enough for me to tell him to stop, only when its really unbearable I do the whole, "OW YOU WIN" thing and he just stops. I find that when I play rough with my kitty, and I want him to stop, I'll gently and slowly bring my other hand ontop of his head and start petting him and he'll just release his grip from my hand. *Shrug* Course sometimes he goes after my other hand :lol:

But yeah, pushing toward your cats mouth gently should work. Pulling away is a bad ..bad thing to do... makes things REALLY worse. But don't get too made at your kitty. He just wants to burn some energy and play a lil' rough with ya. My cat runs around in "physco mood", as I like to call it, which seems similar to what you said your Tabby does. I think it's perfectly normal for cats to do that.

IOANA's advice was really excellent and if you try that advice I hope it all works well for you.
Good luck!

 

[fbodgrl]

Everything I have read recently says that when they bite you should ignore them. For example if they get overly excited while being petted and bite. Then stop petting.

My youngest cat is almost 2 and a biter. He has been this way since he was a baby and I'm not sure how it got started. I'm trying to break the cycle now.

 

[MrsNZ]

My cat before Angel was a Tabby. He was almost 13 when he died, but he never stopped running around the house like a crazy cat! He was never a biter, but Angel is! Angel can be the sweetest thing while I'm petting her and then she just turns on me and bites my hand hard! She does this when she wants to play...she's rough when it comes to playing so just ignoring her doesn't work...she'll just bite me until I give her the attention. I've noticed that if I'm rough in return then she backs down. When she's biting my hand I put my hand on her head and kind of push her away, she hates when I do this and she runs away. She usually stops biting me for a good couple of weeks, she seems to bite me when she forgets why she stopped the last time. So if your cat doesn't stop when you ignore her, try to push her away. It really works with Angel.
Good luck,
Melissa & Angel

 

[artemisa]

Yeah I'd read about the pushing your hand towards them, rather than away and it kinda works, but he keeps on biting :?

It doesn't really worry me that much, and I do sometimes play with him with my hands so that's a good tip, that I shouldn't do that! It worries me that sometimes he does it to other people that he doesn't see as often, so they think he's just mean or just a mad cat really I don't want people to be afraid of him or think that he's too rough.

Funny that your tabby ran around like crazy, that's exactly what he does in our rooms. Maybe once he can get out into the garden and run around, he'll burn some of that energy off. He is kind of hyper, just like I was told tabbies are :? Worries me a bit 'cause my dad isn't fond on cats, so I want Taby to be well behaved.

 

[drjean]

Right-o, *never* ever roughhouse with cats (or kittens) with your bare hands or any other body parts. It is too confusing to allow it sometimes and not others. I've seen cats needing to be euthanized because they were played with roughly as kittens, and grew up to be deadly biters. One elderly couple got a nice cat from a shelter who totally shredded them, put the lady in the hospital. A cat bite can be very dangerous!

One of my cats was this way as a kitten, it took 6 months of patient work to undo the damage done in just ONE WEEK of inappropriate play in another home. Even today at age 7, she is still unpredictable and occasionally nails me good if I'm not paying attention.

You need to find acceptable ways to get his excess kitty energy dissipated. Here are a couple of articles on play aggression and petting-related aggression:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... aggression
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... aggression

While you're working on it, remember to let your hand go completely limp when he bites or scratches. Your hand is only interesting as long as it's moving. If it's "dead" the cat will lose interest and walk away. Pushing *or* pulling is likely to just get you hurt.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[MrsNZ]

Yeah, don't worry about it too much. Taby is still young, he might even grow out of this. Also, he won't run around like a crazy cat 24/7. My last kitty (the tabby) did it all the time when he was younger, but as he grew up it was less frequent. It was usually when I just got home and he was really happy to see me, or if I was sitting down watching TV and he was looking for attention. Just go buy him some toys that he can chase around to burn off the energy and to keep your hands safe. I'm sure it's just a kitten stage...
Good luck
Melissa & Angel

 

[Misty]

My little kitty is pretty much the same. He has mad, demented half hours where everything that moves or doesn't is in the firing line. I've even had him up my trouser leg one day during his 'moment' and yes he did bite. He hates the stern no and getting ignored. It is getting much better. I have to admit its been much better since he bit his own tail. We were having a rough 'n' tumble session with his toy and he was so excited he didn;t move his own tail out the way and nipped it. His little face was so shocked. I'm sure he's convinced I did it.

 

[artemisa]

LOL! Aw poor kitty! that'll teach him tho

I've been more careful about him biting us, taking my hand away when he does it. 'cause sometimes I would just ignore it, and only pulled my hand when it actually hurt! But he was doing it to my sis' boyfriend and it worried me that he might do it to other people. He does have quite a few toys, so I'll just go look for one and let him bite that.

Thanks for all the advice