love bites

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Elizabeth Blake - 21 Apr 2006 20:31 GMT

My new kitty Isaac is around 1 1/2 years old. He was adopted from a shelter
2 1/2 weeks ago and developed an URI. So he's mostly been kept in my
bedroom, away from Otto. He's now finished all of his meds and he seems so
much better but I'm still being careful.

So, since he's in my bedroom alone all day when I'm at work and then locked
away much of the time even when I'm home, he's starved for attention. Every
night when I turn the light out to go to sleep and every morning (befpre I'm
actually awake) he comes and gives me love bites. He is super affectionate
and along with the bites he's constantly rubbing his face up against mine,
purring like mad, flinging himself on me and rolling over. But the bites
can be painful, since his favorite target is my face. I put my hand up and
try to intercept him and tell him no, but often he's too quick or just moves
a bit to get around my hand. Or he'll just nip the hand. He also nips my
arms & legs, both when they're exposed or through the blanket. He is not
being mean about it, he's just extremely happy and excited to be with me.

I have been switching him & Otto so that Otto is stuck in the bedroom for
awhile and Isaac can roam the rest of the apartment. The other morning I
was woken way too early by love bites and switched them then, so I could
sleep for awhile longer. Otto was thrilled to be back in his bedroom.

I think that over the weekend they'll be able to spend some more time
together. I know Isaac just wants to play with Otto and love him to death,
but Otto still isn't sure about such a forward little cat. He doesn't seem
majorly stressed, and when Isaac is out of sight Otto acts completely normal
and relaxed. When Isaac is in sight, Otto does do quite a bit of
hissing/growling if he approaches.

--
Liz

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digbklyn - 22 Apr 2006 07:37 GMT

Isaac does sound enthusiastic! But he has to channel it. Play with
him with a string or toy that keeps him far away from your hands. (And
don't go directly from play to petting.) He has to learn that biting
(even affectionately) isn't right. If he keeps biting, you might have
to use a squirt gun or plant mister filled w/ water. Spritz his back
end and say No. Pretty soon, just No works. Don't sound angry or loud,
just firm.

Is he ever calm when you pet him or sit near him? If he goes from
affectionate to biting when you pet him, you have to learn the point
beyond at which you should stop petting.

When you get Isaac and Otto together, pay lots of attention to Otto.
How old is Otto? Overly playful little "brothers" can be a pain for
older (over 5) cats. Make sure Isaac has toys to distract him from
Otto. We have 5 cats (strays just find us), and there's always a bit
of hissing/growling when a new one joins. Intervene (w/ the plant
mister) only it gets serious. But ensure that Otto is comfortable when
eating and using the litter box. Keep Isaac's dish and box separate.

You've done the right thing in keeping them apart and rotating their
spaces. Now you just need to ease into the next step. Here's what the
ASPCA says about introducing a new cat.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_introducingcat

Good luck

digbklyn

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Elizabeth Blake - 24 Apr 2006 03:55 GMT

> Isaac does sound enthusiastic! But he has to channel it. Play with
> him with a string or toy that keeps him far away from your hands. (And
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> end and say No. Pretty soon, just No works. Don't sound angry or loud,
> just firm.

The love bites occur only in bed, when I'm just waking up. Once he sees
that I'm moving he gets very excited and comes over for some loving.

> Is he ever calm when you pet him or sit near him? If he goes from
> affectionate to biting when you pet him, you have to learn the point
> beyond at which you should stop petting.

Yes, he's very sweet when I'm petting him. In the mornings when he starts
biting, if I push him away and just pet him he calms down but as soon as I
stop he starts nipping at me again.

> When you get Isaac and Otto together, pay lots of attention to Otto.
> How old is Otto? Overly playful little "brothers" can be a pain for
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> mister) only it gets serious. But ensure that Otto is comfortable when
> eating and using the litter box. Keep Isaac's dish and box separate.

Otto is 6 1/2 years old. When I first found him at around 6 months old, my
other cat (Tiger, who died last month) was 10 years old. He jumped on her
constantly, always looking to play. He continued doing that until a month
or so before her death. She never appreciated it!

On Thursday night, I think, Isaac bolted out of the bedroom when I opened
the door. I let him roam around and Otto would sometimes hiss when he saw
him. Isaac wants to play, of course, and likes to pounce on Otto
(...payback!). Otto is still pretty unsure about him but it's really been
fine. I let him roam again on Friday night, but kept him in the bedroom
during the day while I was at work. I had to work on Saturday and did the
same thing - apart during the day, roaming free once I got home. Saturday
night I decided to let him stay out, and brought Otto into the bedroom with
me. I woke up around 2:30am and got up to use the bathroom and Otto went
out of the room. I let them both stay out and as far as I know there were
no incidents, other than Isaac climbing into a cabinet and finding the bag
of dry food. He knocked that to the floor and chewed up the bag but didn't
tear it open. I'm really surprised that Otto didn't help him with that.

I'm still feeding Isaac in the bedroom because he eats incredibly fast and
then looks for more. He barely weighs 8 pounds but I think that he could
probably eat 8 pounds of food at once if I let him. He wouldn't eat canned
food at first - I think he was feeling so bad from his cold, so I was
putting cooked ground turkey on top of it and giving him dry food as well.
Now he eats canned with nothing added and gets dry as a snack.

I have a cat tunnel (two tied together) and earlier they were chasing each
other through it. Isaac was definitely playing and enjoying it but I think
Otto was enjoying the smacking a bit too much. No hissing or gorwling while
it was going on, though, so I think that they're going to be fine together
in no time. Tomorrow I'll have to decide if Isaac can stay out of the
bedroom all day while I'm at work.

--
Liz

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D. - 24 Apr 2006 04:16 GMT

> The love bites occur only in bed, when I'm just waking up.

Too much information! ;)

Glad to hear there's progress with your boys, though. :)

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Elizabeth Blake - 24 Apr 2006 05:20 GMT

> Glad to hear there's progress with your boys, though. :)

They're both asleep in the kitchen right now. Isaac is in the bed (Petmate
Durabed, I think, made for small dogs) and Otto is sleeping directly across
from it (like 2 feet away) on the mat in front of the sink. Very sweet! I
think Otto may have fallen asleep there just waiting for Isaac to vacate his
bed, though.

--
Liz

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Rhonda - 24 Apr 2006 06:17 GMT

Great news! They feel comfy enough with each other to let down their
guards and actually fall asleep.

I'll bet this will be a very good match.

Rhonda

Elizabeth Blake wrote:

> They're both asleep in the kitchen right now. Isaac is in the bed (Petmate
> Durabed, I think, made for small dogs) and Otto is sleeping directly across
> from it (like 2 feet away) on the mat in front of the sink. Very sweet! I
> think Otto may have fallen asleep there just waiting for Isaac to vacate his
> bed, though.

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Rhonda - 23 Apr 2006 06:51 GMT

Good luck with the introductions. I think once they get along Isaac may
be more distracted and not bite you as much.

We have a cat that has always play-bit us too. It can sometimes hurt. We
yell ouch or raise a finger when he starts to snap at our hands, but it
has been tough to get him to stop. He at least does not do it as much.

Hope all goes well with your two.

Rhonda

> I think that over the weekend they'll be able to spend some more time
> together. I know Isaac just wants to play with Otto and love him to death,
> but Otto still isn't sure about such a forward little cat. He doesn't seem
> majorly stressed, and when Isaac is out of sight Otto acts completely normal
> and relaxed. When Isaac is in sight, Otto does do quite a bit of
> hissing/growling if he approaches.

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LB - 23 Apr 2006 22:16 GMT

> [...] We yell ouch or raise a finger when he starts to snap at our hands,
> but it has been tough to get him to stop. He at least does not do it as much.

-------------
Yep! The meaning of OUCH should be dramatized loudly and taught
consistently. Everything should stop at OUCH, and you should withdraw
and ignore "the perp" for a short time afterwards. Ha! They learn very
quickly after they cause an OUCH that deprives them of affection and
attention. The bigger the wound, the longer your fake sulk, and you'll
be surprised at how intelligently cats can make the connection.

Best wishes.

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Elizabeth Blake - 24 Apr 2006 03:57 GMT

> Good luck with the introductions. I think once they get along Isaac may be
> more distracted and not bite you as much.

I think you're right. I've been letting him out in the evening and he's
much better about it now. I'm going to let both of them roam when I go to
bed tonight, leaving the bedroom door open, and I'll see how that goes in
the morning.

> We have a cat that has always play-bit us too. It can sometimes hurt. We
> yell ouch or raise a finger when he starts to snap at our hands, but it
> has been tough to get him to stop. He at least does not do it as much.

He's nipped at my hand during play a few times as well and I say NO loudly
and take my hand away. It doesn't hurt as much as love bites to the face at
least.

--
Liz

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