[CaptainShimp]

Hello!
I have a neutered male cat that is turning 9 months soon. He is well behaved and socialised and has never hissed, growled, scratched or bit me out of anger/fear. As a young kitten he would often bite my toes to get my attention or because he was playing but it was never a hard bite and more of an assertive nibble. But now I fear that i never truly trained that behaviour away...

Now, at almost 9 months old, he can completely randomly and unmotivated start a biting fit. Never enough to draw blood or even leave a mark, but hard enough to hurt.
Sometimes, if i’m laying down, he can jump up and stradle my leg while he bites it. He doesn’t just go for the feet anymore but bites anywhere. And when he starts he doesn’t stop, even if i audibly show him that it hurts and gently (but assertive) push him away. The only way i can stop it is to shut him out of the room for a few minutes.

I do play with him and he has a lot of toys. Then again I admit that I probably could play with him more...
Also I don’t know if it matters but for context, he is my only cat.

Does anyone know why he is biting me? Is it because of boredom? Is he trying to be dominant? I want to train this away but it’s hard when i don’t even know why he is biting me.

Help!
/Annie

 

[marie73]

Your cat (in human years) is a teenager. So.......bratty and full of energy and headstrong. Have you tried squirting with a water bottle? It works on some cats. Charlee would flee just seeing the bottle, but Cali would shut her eyes, wait for the spray, and then continue on her mission, a little bit wetter. Some people will recommend getting him a playmate near his age, but it sounds like both of you are happy with each other, and I think having one cat is special. I would recommend some interactive toys, something he can play with himself.

My girls still play with this one

and this one

 

[katnapt]

my cat did the same thing shortly after I got her, she was 2 1/2 so technically still a teenager herself
what you are doing should work in time. you just redirect the cat to something appropriate to chew on, like a long kicker cat nip toy perhaps, or even a pillow and if he still comes back trying to bite your leg, you remove either yourself or him and he'll get the message eventually that biting you that way is not allowed.
I freaked out the first time my girl did this as I'd never had a cat do it before and I was scared of her. But I contacted the shelter I got her from and they explained it was very common behavior for her age and for probably not being properly socialized (she was a stray) So I relaxed, didn't get mad, and just stopped her anytime she straddled my leg. I have a pillow shaped like a bone that I would give her instead. If she came back to me, I'd get up and leave. She got the message, it took a couple of weeks (she didn't do it every day) but she finally stopped doing it

now she will still occasionally go from my feet at night but maybe once a month at most and it's easy to get her to stop. she's 3 now so should continue to settle down more as time goes by

I'm not comfortable with squirting a cat with a spray bottle, I did it years ago when I didn't realize that it can harm your relationship with your cat. I might do it for something that was dangerous, like jumping on the stove, I don't know, luckily I haven't had to find out. but over all, ignoring or and distancing yourself from the bad behavior, giving the cat an acceptable alternative, usually works


good luck with your boy!

 

[marie73]

Spraying worked like charm with Charlee, because I only had to do it once. After that, the sight of the bottle worked. With Cali, obviously it didn't work, so I stopped. And the spray was set on mist, it wasn't like I was hosing them down. I only did that every other Tuesday or else their colors would run together.

Every cat is different, what works with one might not work with another.