Token (5 mos) is a cat who only wants to be sweet at night. He's been like this since we got him, and we love nighttime Token. When he was little, we would be just falling asleep and he would come up and rub his little face on ours and purr. Then all of a sudden he would bite our cheek. At this, we usually sprayed him with water or yelled no. This didn't deter him because by this time we ticked him off and then he would continue to attack. At the time, I wasn't sure if he was trying to show affection by nipping our face, and then we startled him by reacting negatively and then that threw him into aggression.
After we had him for about three months, we returned to our hometown and Parker stayed with his grandmother and Token and I stayed with my parents. While we were home, he would sleep with me every night, and in the three weeks we were home, he only bit me once, and I was so tired I didn't react. Then he just laid back down and went to sleep. However, we got him neutered the first week we were there, and then after that was the first time he did the hand biting and trying to stand on my hand that my boyfriend mentioned in the previous post.
Now that we have returned to school he follows me and stares at me like I am the most interesting thing ever. If I am in the bathroom with the door shut, he throws a fit and wants in. Once in there he will just sit and stare at me, it gets sort of weird because he never does this with Parker.
For the first week we were home, he didn't do the whole face biting bit. At first, when he was little, he bit us both pretty equally. But the second week we were here he started biting only my face. Now it seems like he is doing it to actually hurt because once he does it once, he won't leave me alone until we put him on the floor. Spraying him with the water does no good, and he will continue to attack, and if I put my head under the covers he digs to try to get under there. It is so odd because before this he is purring and head butting, and then all of a sudden he just bites the heck out of me. I can't lock him out of the room because he yowls, and since I am not supposed to have a cat in the first place, this definitely won't work. I love him and love when he sleeps with us, but it is kind of unnerving and even sort of scary to not know when he will attack. He never does this to Parker anymore and along with the hand biting, I am wondering whether he is doing this because he thinks he is dominant to me. I really would like to correct this behavior and am at a loss for any solutions.
Has anyone else had any experience with reasserting dominance or stopping this behavior? Any advice is SO MUCH appreciated.
~Katie~
After we had him for about three months, we returned to our hometown and Parker stayed with his grandmother and Token and I stayed with my parents. While we were home, he would sleep with me every night, and in the three weeks we were home, he only bit me once, and I was so tired I didn't react. Then he just laid back down and went to sleep. However, we got him neutered the first week we were there, and then after that was the first time he did the hand biting and trying to stand on my hand that my boyfriend mentioned in the previous post.
Now that we have returned to school he follows me and stares at me like I am the most interesting thing ever. If I am in the bathroom with the door shut, he throws a fit and wants in. Once in there he will just sit and stare at me, it gets sort of weird because he never does this with Parker.
For the first week we were home, he didn't do the whole face biting bit. At first, when he was little, he bit us both pretty equally. But the second week we were here he started biting only my face. Now it seems like he is doing it to actually hurt because once he does it once, he won't leave me alone until we put him on the floor. Spraying him with the water does no good, and he will continue to attack, and if I put my head under the covers he digs to try to get under there. It is so odd because before this he is purring and head butting, and then all of a sudden he just bites the heck out of me. I can't lock him out of the room because he yowls, and since I am not supposed to have a cat in the first place, this definitely won't work. I love him and love when he sleeps with us, but it is kind of unnerving and even sort of scary to not know when he will attack. He never does this to Parker anymore and along with the hand biting, I am wondering whether he is doing this because he thinks he is dominant to me. I really would like to correct this behavior and am at a loss for any solutions.
Has anyone else had any experience with reasserting dominance or stopping this behavior? Any advice is SO MUCH appreciated.
~Katie~