Kitten bites!

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Cat - 22 Jun 2006 20:41 GMT

My kitten who is 9 weeks old now likes to bite when you pet her.
Sometimes she doesn't bite, but last night while we were both trying
to sleep, she would not let me pet her while it was time to settle
down.
Does anyone know what this means? I got angry and put her off my bed
and she went to sleep with my son.

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Ted Davis - 22 Jun 2006 20:59 GMT

>My kitten who is 9 weeks old now likes to bite when you pet her.
>Sometimes she doesn't bite, but last night while we were both trying
>to sleep, she would not let me pet her while it was time to settle
>down.
>Does anyone know what this means? I got angry and put her off my bed
>and she went to sleep with my son.

It means she is a nine-week old kitten.

I got three nine-week old kittens a couple of weeks ago - they are
showing signs of beginning to outgrow that behavior already (they let
me sleep all night last night without a single toe bite and without a
single case of on-bed zoomies).

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wester@laway.net - 22 Jun 2006 22:43 GMT

>>My kitten who is 9 weeks old now likes to bite when you pet her.
>>Sometimes she doesn't bite, but last night while we were both trying
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>me sleep all night last night without a single toe bite and without a
>single case of on-bed zoomies).

Jeez! I thought mine were the only ones who did bed zoomies. I'm glad
there's somebody else out there who has to suffer....

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kuhnfucius - 22 Jun 2006 23:09 GMT

Needs another kitten to keep her playing until it is tired. I will ship you
another for free (I got four 14 week olds that rarely slow down).
Keith

>>>My kitten who is 9 weeks old now likes to bite when you pet her.
>>>Sometimes she doesn't bite, but last night while we were both trying
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Jeez! I thought mine were the only ones who did bed zoomies. I'm glad
> there's somebody else out there who has to suffer....

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Ted Davis - 23 Jun 2006 02:36 GMT

>Needs another kitten to keep her playing until it is tired. I will ship you
>another for free (I got four 14 week olds that rarely slow down).
>Keith

I find introducing a young kitten works better if it has companions
from the same litter. I have a dozen adults, so the usual isolation
of new kittens to protect them from the adults isn't needed: I just
turned them loose in the bathroom with food, water, and litter -
within three days they were sharing the adults' food, water, and
litter, and the hissing and growling was essentially over.

I really wanted only the female, but it's kind of cruel to pull a
nine-week old kitten completely away from its family and shove it in
with a whole bunch of adults, so I took all three of the kittens on
offer.

Pictures: <http://users.wildblue.net/daviste/> (link).

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T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu)

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MaryL - 23 Jun 2006 22:22 GMT

> My kitten who is 9 weeks old now likes to bite when you pet her.
> Sometimes she doesn't bite, but last night while we were both trying
> to sleep, she would not let me pet her while it was time to settle
> down.
> Does anyone know what this means? I got angry and put her off my bed
> and she went to sleep with my son.

She's just a baby. Think about how "succesful" you would be if you tried to
"train" a human infant. In other words, it takes time and you need some
patience. That said, cats and kittens can become overstimulated (often when
petting them) and may respond by biting or scratching. You need to watch
for the signs and *immediately* stop whatever brings on scratching or biting
episodes. Be very gentle when you handle a kitten, and *never* wiggle
your fingers because the kitten will see them as toys and grab for them
(with painful results for you -- especially if this continues as the kitten
becomes a cat).

MaryL

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Kiran - 24 Jun 2006 04:23 GMT

: That said, cats and kittens can become overstimulated (often when
: petting them) and may respond by biting or scratching.

The only times my cat responds aggressively is when some visitor has
been over-petting her. Many people don't understand that a cat is much
smaller than us. A touch that seeems gentle to us could be too much for
them. For an analogy, imagine an elephant pettign you or playing with
you.

You have be sensitive about when petting is too strong or goes on too
long for their little bodies.

A formula that worls for my cat and I try to tell everyone: When she
being to wag her tail, stop or at least slow down. If wagging picks up
pace, stop immediately.

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someone@earthlink.net - 24 Jun 2006 08:13 GMT

Is your son dead now from the cat bites?
You would like a horrible mother to allow that kitten to kill your own
son.

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