I have a 5 month old Bengal kitten and when he plays he sometimes gets a bit too excited and ends up savaging me leaving me covered in bites and scratches.This is not playing - he really attacks me!!!!
He is on the whole a very affectionate and cuddly kitten and only does this when he gets too carried away playing.
He is being castrated in 3 weeks time so hope he will then calm down - has any-one any similar experiences (of kittens,not being castrated!!!)
2006-08-12 07:36:49 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
but it is playing..... he probably can't work out what he has to do to kill that hand once and for all...... all my kittens were the same, and my hands are fine now..... all the fingers are shorter, and I am down on a couple of pints of blood, but hey, they love it!
seriously though.... he has fangs n claws - you tickle his tummy, and I am sure you are rather tasty..... who could resist?
hell, I might even bite you too?.... umm, but not if you were to castrate me....!
2006-08-12 07:50:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You wanted a little "tiger" and you got one! How do I know you are a male cat owner? Men play differently with their cats and kittens than females. They tend to let their hands be used as toys. You should ALWAYS use interactive toys when playing with a kitten. The biting is OK when he is three-four months. Soon it becomes a serious problem as he gets bigger and his bite is stronger. Single kittens almost always have this problem.
With another kitten playmate he would have quickly learned how to fight "fair", the other kitten would have run away from him if he was biting too hard, etc. They soon learn that it is better to play than have a serious fight.
So, where does this leave you? First off, never use your hands as toys. You can both have fun with a cat dancer or feather toy.
When your kitten bites you, pick him up, hiss in his face (that's what mother cats do to correct inappropriate behavior), say a firm "NO!" and put the kitten away from you.
That's a one, two, three,four step action. Do all of these actions EVERY time he uses his mouth on you. I think it might take three days of consistent behavior on your part to correct this. Not that he won't ever do it again and over time it will distinguish this behavior.
2006-08-12 08:13:55 · answer #2 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he should calm down some when he is fixed. Bengals are part Bengal tiger and domestic cat so they would tend to be more wild. My Tabbys were bit a lot up till just after they were fixed though about 5-6 months they didn't do it as much. now at 13 months the one gives love bites and the other one bites when he is in a mood. but it's not bad
2006-08-12 07:49:56 · answer #3 · answered by macleod709 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately for you, Bengals are not far removed from the wild and they can be very mean sometimes. You should never use body parts to play with any animal- they make toys! If he attacks a ball or a toy on a string- it's okay. The few times when I have had a cat "attack" me, I thump them on the nose and tell them no. It usually stops them. Best thing to do is to buy toys. They make interactive ones and ones that you can use also- like fishing poles.
2006-08-12 07:45:52 · answer #4 · answered by Pook 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just like anything else with a kitten, don't tolerate misbehaviors, this leads people to drop their pets off at the animal shelter because they can't handle their pets and seriously, this doesn't apply to you personally but if you can't even handle a kitten how well will you do with a baby?
When he bites or claws, make him aware at that time that it doesn't pay to do that. Give him a rap on the head, hold his mouth together, do something physical so that one he knows you are the alpha and two you do that, I do this and you won't like this when I do it. After a while, he'll get the message.
2006-08-12 08:16:04 · answer #5 · answered by choyryu 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Castration will help a lot. He is a male, and remember cats mature very young; this is like adolescent boys who start by play-fighting and end up with bloody noses because they get carried away. All that testosterone! But castration takes care of that, and stops them "marking" territory with urine in the house (cats, not boys!)
2006-08-12 07:52:10 · answer #6 · answered by anna 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this one is easy.
firstly, yourkitten can grow out of it. In the meantime, don'tplay with her/him. You will only teach her that it's ok to do this.
secondly, if she/he does not grow out of it, my Leia tabby cat didn't, then, accept that he/she is an outside cat and will not want to be cuddled or domesticated basically.
My cat only liked me. Because I was mum and fedher and looked after her. She hated my husband especially his feet and would love to suddenly pounce onthem during the night.
We think that she was kicked around by a man with big feet before we got her. She was like it with everyone. Noone would dare stroke her. People with dogs in our street would walk around our front door to avoid her. She wouldsit on the wall like sheowned the place. Dogs would cower. Even the biggest dogs!
But, she diedlast year of a tumour in her intestines. Probably caught the vet said by eating a mouse. Maybe the mouse had a tumour. She was a wild cat from day one. It wasn'tunusual not to see her for two weeks. We had a rat once come back with her half dead. Anyway, Ihad to put her down at 3 years of age and before they did it the vet poked around her body and hurt her. She screamed in agony and died. The tumour was massive. She only had symptoms for two months. The last thing she done was take a huge chunk out of the vets hand for prodding her even after he knew she was a goner he kept onprodding!!!
Leia made sure she was going to give the last bite and she did. Then she was gone.
My cat was very ficious but it never went near my two babies or me or my dog! they slept together. if leia got fiscious around my company I wouldsimply lightlytap her on her nose likeadog and she would stop. She wouldnt be amused. But she would walk away with the ump! In privacy though with just me and her she was the most loving animal ever and curl up to me! and purr! i miss her so much. Even though she was a grumpy old cat!
much love
x
2006-08-13 11:25:17 · answer #7 · answered by sarahb77 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like normal kitten behavior. And as he is a bengal this is more so as these breeds of cats are more active then the normal domesticated cats.They play hard and rough. if you did not desire these types of behavior then you should not of gone with a bengal!
Bengals owe their roots to a cross between domestic cats and Asian Leopard Cats (ALC). To be a true Bengal cat, the cat must have three generations of interbreeding with domestic cats. That is, first an Asian Leopard Cat mates with a domestic cat, then their offspring mates with a domestic cat, then their offspring mates with a domestic cat, and the final offspring is a Bengal. The earlier generations of cats are only for people who have the wherewithal for dealing with them; they are not easily house-trained, for instance
2006-08-12 16:07:58 · answer #8 · answered by cin_ann_43 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cat Jack does the same thing. I just recently got him neutered, it dont change. He still bites and scratches. Its a kitten thing. He will learn not to do it when he gets fat and old. Well thats what i am hopeing with my cat. Just keep loveing him and when he gets riled like that, get a toy for him to chew on instead of your arm. I gave mine a mouse (not a real one). Good luck and dont worry. Plus he might be teething. Maybe.
2006-08-12 07:50:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that's just part of being a kitten. He'll mellow out within the next few months. And getting him neutered will help too.
2006-08-12 07:47:10 · answer #10 · answered by ♫ Abby ♫ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋