Unusual Biting by Kittens

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primus - 07 Oct 2004 21:46 GMT

We have rescued three kittens, about 5 months old, and are trying to
socialize them. When we pet them, all three want to lick, and then
bite, our fingers repeatedly. Initially they do what might be called
nibbling but as we continue to pet them, and as they continue to lick
our fingers, they tend to bite harder. This doesn't appear to be the
usual kind of biting that I find discussed in various cat behavior
books, when cats are being petted and then turn and bite a human, nor
does it seem to be a particularly aggressive behavior. The kittens
continue to purr contentedly as they do this. Does anyone know if
this could be a teething issue, or the fact that they may not have
been well-weaned by their mother (whom we've never seen)? We're
wondering if they'll grow out of this or whether we have to stop
allowing this behavior. The problem is that in the
socializing/interacting process, the cats really seem to want to do
this (licking AND biting.)
Thanks to anyone who has interpretations or suggestions.

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Wendy - 07 Oct 2004 23:24 GMT

> We have rescued three kittens, about 5 months old, and are trying to
> socialize them. When we pet them, all three want to lick, and then
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> this (licking AND biting.)
> Thanks to anyone who has interpretations or suggestions.

I think I'd discourage this the same as any other biting behavior. Say
"ouch" and no and then stop petting them. You may also want to approach them
with a closed hand rather than extended fingers. I read somewhere that it's
less threatening.

I do have one cat who insists on licking my hand any time I pet her. She too
used to go from licking to biting when she was younger. I did the ouch
routine and for the most part she sticks to licking. Occasionally she'll
gnaw but no so hard as to hurt.

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Jumi & Shirley Butler - 08 Oct 2004 17:12 GMT

My Rexie (found when about 4 weeks old) did the same thing (lick/nip
fingers), and the vet said this was the nursing instinct. They lick
and bite the nipple of their 'real' mom to stimulate the milk to, but
since they've been abandoned (or taken too early), the instinct just
switches to your finers!

He stopped after a while on his own.

To reply by mail, remove 'nick'.

Shirley B.

Webmaster:
http://jumi-shirley-butler.com
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"Making a way out of no way is sometimes the only way"
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole

~
~"primus" <primus5858@yahoo.com> wrote in message
~news:379f945d.0410071246.42706ab6@posting.google.com...
~> We have rescued three kittens, about 5 months old, and are trying
to
~> socialize them. When we pet them, all three want to lick, and then
~> bite, our fingers repeatedly. Initially they do what might be
called
~> nibbling but as we continue to pet them, and as they continue to
lick
~> our fingers, they tend to bite harder. This doesn't appear to be
the
- - - - SNIPPED

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Mike Z. Helm - 08 Oct 2004 06:48 GMT

On 7 Oct 2004 13:46:04 -0700, primus5858@yahoo.com (primus)

>We have rescued three kittens, about 5 months old, and are trying to
>socialize them. When we pet them, all three want to lick, and then
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>this (licking AND biting.)
>Thanks to anyone who has interpretations or suggestions.

I'm a new cat owner myself. I rescued a stray (more likely abandoned)
kitten at an estimated 5-6 weeks. I've had her since mid-August and she
does the same thing.

I'm not really sure what the best way to respond to it is. I indulge
her until it starts to hurt, then I push her away and still play with
her, but don't let her bite. Other times, I just push her away
altogether.

At some point she figured out that she had been scratching me pretty
badly and for the past few weeks she's been careful to keep her claws in
when playing like this. I think she's even hip to the fact that her
bite can hurt too, but she really enjoys doing it.

I feel she needs some indulgence as she's alone much of the day - I
think she sleeps alot. I'm a little worried that she doesn't get enough
exercise or companionship.

I actually had an idea about building a robot of some sort that I could
control via the web to give her something to do during the day - and to
keep an eye on her via camera.

It occurred to me that this might have something to do with teething
too, although I'm not sure hen that should happen.

To add a slight margin of error to the vets estimate of 5-6 weeks when I
found her, she's now 3-4 months old - and regularly attaining new
heights. I keep putting breakable things away because if I don't sooner
or later she's gonna check it out, which will probably involve knocking
it to the ground.

--
There's no way to delay that trouble comin' everyday

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Wendy - 08 Oct 2004 11:14 GMT

> On 7 Oct 2004 13:46:04 -0700, primus5858@yahoo.com (primus)
>
[quoted text clipped - 45 lines]
> or later she's gonna check it out, which will probably involve knocking
> it to the ground.

Say a high pitched "ouch" when she bites. This is what her siblings would
have done if she was with them longer (well they don't say ouch but they do
make a high pitched sound).

My licking/chewing cat was adopted when she was very young as well. I'm
wondering if it has more to do with being separated from siblings that young
than being separated from their mom. I've bottle fed litters and none of
them have done this but the litter was kept together until they were older.

Cats shed their baby teeth between 3 and 6 mos old. Most of the time you
won't even be aware of it happening. Some cats do have a harder time and end
up with a sore mouth. I have a foster cat who had duplicate teeth as the
baby teeth didn't fall out before the adult teeth came in. He didn't chew on
fingers though. He just got a little testy until the baby teeth fell out. I
had a cat years ago who stopped eating because of teething pain. I had to
feed her soft food for a few days until she started eating the kitten food
again.

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Klm129 - 21 Oct 2004 04:44 GMT

My cat stopped the biting when I started lightly biting her ears. Every though
biting her back after she's bite me, lightly biting her on her ears seems to
work the best. If you try this method and it works, you will need to continue
it as they will revert back to the biting if you don't.

Kathy

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