Hi John,

It's a great pity the chews didn't work.  I hope you find something that
suits her.  Whatever you do, don't think that you can engage her mouth by
giving her something nice to eat.  It's probably already obvious to you, but
this will only tell her that you're treating her for biting you!

When my cats bite during wrestling, I put my hand in their mouth, and wedge
it hard into the back of their open jaw.  This is the last thing they
expect.  They can't bite and, done early enough and often enough, they learn
that I'm always going to win.  We now have gentle bite fights.  A previous
cat was trained this way so effectively that when suffering painfully at the
vet, he only gave the vet a gentle warning bite.  The warning was heeded.
Incidentally, I also trained a hamster this way; that saved another vet from
a painful bite.  It really can work.

Alas, you and your cat have probably gone beyond this point.  Your cat is
using its full armoury, hence your painful hand.  It isn't going to be easy,
or immediate, to turn this behaviour around, so you will have to be
persistent and patient.  Worth it, I think.

When your cat 'attacks' you, say NO very loudly and firmly.  Let her see
that you're cross with her.  Then, depending on the strength of her
reaction, either just ignore her or shut her in a safe room (maybe the room
she spends the night, so she has her litter tray) for a while.  This should
teach her that you don't appreciate her behaviour *and* that she'll be
ignored if she even tries to hurt you.  This gives me an idea: is it
possible that, being a man, you endeavoured to conceal your hurt when first
wrestling with her?  This would have sent her the message that she couldn't
hurt you, and that she could be as rough as she liked.   If this is the
case, you will now need to be a bit more wimpish with her.  She needs to
know when she's hurting you; she may not even mean to hurt as much as she
does.

Alongside the 'No and ignoring/confinement' treatment, praise her like crazy
when she's gentle and docile or, indeed, does anything right.  She will very
quickly learn your two different reactions to her behaviour and, hopefully,
will choose to behave well.

Cat wrestling is not all bad.  Cats and people enjoy it considerably.  Use
it to your advantage, however, and respond to more aggressive (painful!)
bites/scratches by saying "No.  Be gentle".  All my cats have learned the
"gentle" word and know when to calm down.  We still really enjoy our gentle
bite fights.

Hope this is of some help.  Now: go and tell your cat who's in charge! :~)
Spider

You can try outwrestling but you're probably going to
be sorry.  None of our guys seems to think in win/no
win terms.  Mostly they're "Ha ha ha!  I am
Ultralord!"/"Oh my god, get me out of here!"

I squeeze them gently but firmly.  I also stop moving
the affected part (the one in the Talons of Steel) and
say "No," also firmly.  Except when Pee Wee reaches up
exuberantly from the cat perch and gets me in the small
of the back with one sharp needle.  Then I yell.  But
then I explain very gently what I didn't like and coax
him out from under the table.

I tried the chews too but Gilbert, who has just
discovered that he can chew wrapped presents under the
tree without being observed, has chewed them
meditatively only once or twice.