my cat keeps biting me?

Question

I have a cat aged 3 years, I found him near my house when he was very young (eyes still a bluey cast) he goes through periods of crying in a high thin voice and bites me, he cries most of the time and when he is going to bite his face changes, this morning he jumped on me in bed and bit my face, then suddenly he will change and purr and rub against me and then maybe not cry and bite for a couple of weeks or so. I wonder if he is having little fits or something

Answer 1

hmmm... if it continues may be best to take him to a vet... Otherwise, is it possible he's just trying to get your attention? My 15 year old cat just started (in the last 5 years or so) doing the same thing. He'll wander around yowling just to get our attention (which always works because it sounds like he's dying, but when he gets our attention he stops) and when he wants to be pet he'll give us little "love nips" to get our attention... It kinda hurts sometimes (He got my cheek right under the eye once when I was trying to sleep... ouch!)

Answer 2

Cat Bites

Cats have teeth. Cats have sharp teeth. A cat will bite when it's upset. A cat will bite hard when it's very upset. Cat bites hurt. Cat bites in your finger joints hurt a lot.

All of these statements are true; I can attest to them personally. I won't bore you with all the details. Suffice to say that at a recent cat show one of my otherwise purring lovelies got loose. By the time I captured her, she was so disoriented, frightened/terrified that she bit me on both my hands. After four days in the hospital, I can tell you that cat bites can get infected quickly.

This can happen, obviously, even if you do know what to do. Statistics show that 80 percent of all cat bites get infected. The most frequent type of bite is a puncture wound. If a cat bite bleeds fairly well, your chance of infection will be greatly reduced. The bleeding actually flushes some of the infectious saliva out of the wound. But, with their rather long pointed teeth, a cat bite is more frequently a puncture that doesn't bleed very much, or at all. If the bite is in a joint, such as a finger knuckle, your injury can prove to be even more serious with the possibility of inflammation and bone infection.

The basic rule is to cleanse the wound immediately. You can do this with any soap and hot water. An anti-bacterial soap is even better. Then, sterilize it with Betadine solution. This is surgical soap that kills just about everything. It's for external use only, and keep it away from your eyes. You can get it at any drug store in a liquid. For easy travel, it also comes in an ointment. When you get home, soak the wound in Epsom salts or peroxide and warm water. The idea is to get it as clean as possible. This will reduce the possibility of infection and inflammation.

If you do rescue work or are around cats of "questionable" behavior frequently, it might be a good idea to carry an emergency bite treatment pack. Many cat show judges do just that. They keep a good triple antibiotic ointment and some form of antibiotic oral drugs on hand. Zithromax and Augmentin are the most common drugs of choice, according to Norm Auspitz, a CFA Allbreed judge. Since there's plenty of liquid disinfectant at cat shows, getting a wound clean at a show is not a problem.

It has also been suggested that having a cat carrier nearby may save your body parts from a cat bite. If you need to capture a cat, try having an open carrier in a place where the cat can just run into it. Jane Baretta, a veteran cat fancier, said, "Any cat with even one brain cell still working will streak into the carrier because it looks familiar among all the strange surroundings."

It's highly recommended that you seek professional medical treatment for any cat bite. The bite can turn into a nasty, infected mess in less than 12 hours. Treatment includes an IV antibiotic and oral antibiotics. The most commonly used oral antibiotic is Augmentin, which is an amoxocillin and clavulanate mixture. Most cat bites contain Pasterella multocida bacteria, with some Staph thrown in, and these drugs best treat those bacteria.

A cat bites one in every 170 people in the U.S. each year. This includes children and people who don't even own a cat. So, everyone stands a fairly good chance of experiencing this trauma sometime. My suggestion is to treat it with respect–the cat too.

Answer 3

We had two cats who did stuff like this when I was growing up. Both of them were a little, uh, brain damaged we (and the vet) thought. One was born quite some time after the other kittens in his litter, so possibly his oddness was the result of some birth trauma. The other cat was a pet store acquisition, given to my mother for free because he had been running around in the window like crazy, then threw himself AT the window and knocked himself out.

Thus, we concluded both of those cats were a little "special".

With your fella, I'd recommend asking your vet about the behavior the next time you bring the kitty in. If it's getting worse or new behaviors appear (like running around like crazy, panting, apparent disorientation), don't wait and just call the vet.

If it turns out there is nothing overtly medically wrong with kitty, then it might just be dispositional. In which case, I have a couple of recommendations from experience with my current cat...a former outdoor somewhat feral stray I rescued about ten years ago.

- If it is dispositional, you really don't want to reward the behavior. The best way not to do that, even incidentally, is through this sort of negative reinforcement. When kitty bites, immediately stop touching him and/or playing with him. When he has calmed down, you can return your attention to him. Pat him gently and speak to him in a soothing tone.

- Never play with him using your hands or other body parts (e.g. hair, feet) as toys. Discourage others from playing rough with the cat and/or using their hands as toys. Also encourage other people to stop touching the cat if he bites.

- If you don't do so already, try taking at least 15 minutes to a half hour to play with the cat (using a toy) a day, evening is good because that's their active time. Get him running around and worked out for a good solid block of time. Bored cats will sometimes act the way your cat does, and they can get bored easily. It doesn't mean you're a bad pet owner. Just that kitty's a little demanding perhaps.

Good luck!

Answer 4

You didn't mention if he was nuetered. Cats get that way
sometimes. He is probably just being a bit aggressive.
Best way to abate bad behavior is a squirt gun. Harmless
to pet but they don't like it. Never swat w/ your hand or anything like that. Cats are an amazing and complex critter and are
only a small step from being wild and will revert to a wild state
easily. But to have one and observe it closely is a joy like few others.

Answer 5

Chances are... He was separated from his mother at too young of an age. Does he bite you hard? As in breaking the skin? Cats bite lightly as a sign of affection. If he is biting you hard and breaking the skin you need to have him put to sleep. It is the right thing to do as he is suffering...

Answer 6

Did you play a lot with him when he was young? If you play with it rough when young when thry get older they think your still playing around. Like its a game.

Answer 7

I guess he's coming out of the kitten stage...

Answer 8

there just playing unless u start to bleed

Answer 9

its just trying to tell you he or her their dominant

Answer 10

BITE THE KITTY BACK!!!!