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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / August 2004

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why does she bite me!

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MadHatter - 14 Aug 2004 09:05 GMT
Shaina clearly loves me.  she follows me around everywhere.  if i go
to my room from my bf's room where we usually sleep, she follows me
and lies down on the bed, or just tries to play.  she "grooms" me.
mostly my hands, but sometimes she grooms my face.  she sleeps next to
me in the morning and when she wakes up she pets my face and "hugs" my
arms.  then later on, she gets totally nuts running around and trying
to destroy things in the house and that includes my hands.  she
pounces on my hands and while gently hugging them, bites A LOT!  she
tires to bite legs, but i guess it's not that fun for her. when she
plays, she'll pounce on anything, including hands.  she might by
accident jump on my face, but she just "steps" on it with her paws.
her paws pose now danger whatsoever.  she never extends her claws
during play, unless she is falling and she tries to catch onto
something.  she miscalculates her jumps, sometimes.
i play-hunt with her, but when i am otherwise occupied and she wants
to play, she starts biting.  she does bite my boyfriend occasionally,
but not as hard as she bites me.  i dont' understand why she bites me
harder than she bites him.  he can carry her around for about 5 min on
his arm (his arms are bigger than mine, obviously) and she'll just sit
there.  with me, she wiggles out, but i guess it's just uncomfortable
for her to sit that way. i do spend more time with her.  does she
"think" i am a cat?  if i had fur, her bites wouldn't hurt so much.  
i just don't understand this.

-L
~*Connie*~ - 15 Aug 2004 16:54 GMT
she bites because she's playing, and hasn't learned that you don't like it.
you have taught her that it is ok and fun to be bitten.  Next time she bites
you.  stop all movement till she lets go, then put her on the floor and
ignore her.  Eventually she'll learn that you don't like it.  If you do like
it, but she's biting too hard, just stop all movement till she lets go, then
start up again.

> Shaina clearly loves me.  she follows me around everywhere.  if i go
> to my room from my bf's room where we usually sleep, she follows me
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> -L
Nomen Nescio - 16 Aug 2004 05:00 GMT
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

From: "~*Connie*~" <no@spam.com>

>If you do like
>it, but she's biting too hard, just stop all movement till she lets go, then
>start up again.

Won't work with my cat. After I stop all movement, he thinks he's just made
a successful kill and then tries to eat me. Seriously. He'll start biting REAL
hard and pull on the skin on the back of my hand and then give my arm
a few good kicks to help tear off a chunk. If I continue to stay still, he keeps
working at it until I stop him.
Good thing I have thick skin. <g
Dave - 16 Aug 2004 06:28 GMT
>>If you do like
>>it, but she's biting too hard, just stop all movement till she lets go, then
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>a few good kicks to help tear off a chunk. If I continue to stay still, he keeps
>working at it until I stop him.

Then it's probably time for a timeout.

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Chrissy - 23 Aug 2004 22:00 GMT
When I first got my cat, she would bite me now and then , she didn't
bite to be mean , it was just a habit.  I watched a "mama" cat, and I
saw what mama did when the kittens did that. She got her paw and hit
them on the nose!  I tried that with my cat (not to hurt her, just a
playful tap on the nose), and now every time she tries to bite I just
lift my hand, she closes her eyes like she expects to get tapped, but I
don't even have to do that anymore!
kaeli - 16 Aug 2004 14:22 GMT
> does she
> "think" i am a cat?  if i had fur, her bites wouldn't hurt so much.  
> i just don't understand this.

Cats bite when they play. You haven't taught her that it's not okay to bite
people. Bites that don't hurt other cats can leave us bloody, and cat bites
get infected very easily.

My Mom play hunts with her cat, then wonders why he bites. It started off
innocent, much like you and your cat, but as he got older, those bites got
pretty rough. I warned her not to play with her hands with him and let him
"stalk" her, but did she listen? No. *g*
So now she has to be careful not to get him really excited, because he bites
HARD. He hasn't drawn blood yet, but he leaves a good mark.

I do not play hunt with my cats. Ever. They chase fuzzy toys, balls on
strings, streamer toys, and each other. But never me. My flesh is not a toy.

They do not bite me, even in play. With Isis's "love bites" being an
exception - she will give tiny nibbles (almost like kisses, where she just
shoves her mostly closed mouth against my skin and rubs hard) when she gets
really excited when I'm petting her (sometimes she drools *LOL*). I say
"Ow!" in a hurt tone and she stops immediately. These nibbles started out
pretty rough, but I never let her think it was an okay thing to do and she
got a lot more gentle pretty quick when she realized biting made me leave.  
;)
She's the only cat I've ever had that has done this, so it makes me wonder if
it's because she was a feral kitten. Either that or she's just odd. *grin*

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MadHatter - 17 Aug 2004 22:19 GMT
>> does she
>> "think" i am a cat?  if i had fur, her bites wouldn't hurt so much.  
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>people. Bites that don't hurt other cats can leave us bloody, and cat bites
>get infected very easily.

she doesn't bite that hard, but she does leave marks.  

>My Mom play hunts with her cat, then wonders why he bites. It started off
>innocent, much like you and your cat, but as he got older, those bites got
>pretty rough. I warned her not to play with her hands with him and let him
>"stalk" her, but did she listen? No. *g*

i LOVE play hunting with Shaina.  it's so much fun! if she had
siblings, or another cat to play with, she'd be doing that and i don't
want her to be bored and miss out on a normal childhood just because i
am not a cat. if she gets rough, i stop.

>So now she has to be careful not to get him really excited, because he bites
>HARD. He hasn't drawn blood yet, but he leaves a good mark.

actually, by now, my boyfriend and i trained her to stop biting when
it starts to hurt.  we just say sternly "Shaina, NO" and point at her.
she stops.  she doesn't' like being pointed at. :)

>They do not bite me, even in play. With Isis's "love bites" being an
>exception - she will give tiny nibbles (almost like kisses, where she just
>shoves her mostly closed mouth against my skin and rubs hard) when she gets
>really excited when I'm petting her (sometimes she drools *LOL*).

that's so cute!  Shaina grooms me.  sometimes, for a while.  she would
alternate with taking my hand or fingers with her teeth, but not
biting and then grooming again.  she only bites when she is riled up,
or wants us to let her go.  i wish she would meow instead of that, but
she doesn't' really like to make any sounds.  

> I say Ow!" in a hurt tone and she stops immediately. These nibbles started out
>pretty rough, but I never let her think it was an okay thing to do and she
>got a lot more gentle pretty quick when she realized biting made me leave.  
>;)

yeah, Shaina learned.  my boyfriend has to tell her just once, but it
takes twice for me to get my point across.  perhaps i'm not as
consistent as he is, or she think's i'm a cat. :)

-L
 
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