my cat has a habit of biting. he does it even when he's purring! its bcome more of a habit! what should i do?

Question

the bite is very hard. sometimes when he doesn't get to bite my hand, he aims for my hand instead!! and when he walks by me, he bites my thighs. i don't know what else to do with him!

Answer 1

"extinguish the behavior" -- give no negative or positive response, and withdraw all of your attention, each and every time it happens. Like, just pull away, and calmly turn from the cat and leave the room for at least 5 minutes.

Answer 2

This sounds to me like what Cupid does with me when he gets really emotional. I call them love bites. It's not deep nor does it leave a mark - but it sure does shock you and hurts for a moment. To break him of the habit I walk away and say "No Cupid - no bite!" Usually he follows and then tries to "apologize" by rubbing and nuzzling again. Give in - try again - and do the same thing. So far Cupid is learning that "bite = no more fun" and the bites have gotten to be few and far between.

Try not to be too harsh - just a firm "no" and be sure to use the word "bite" in there so they associate the act they just did with the word, as well as the action of you stopping the fun.

Answer 3

Create a time out room. Each and every time the cat bites, pick him up and place him in the time out room for half an hour. This is most effective if the room is completely dark and has nothing to stimulate him at all (like a bathroom that has no window.

Cats have much thicker skin than humans. They nip and scratch at each other as part of their normal behavior. When it gets annoying to the other cat he either hisses at him or, more usually, simply gets up and walks away. Since you aren't a cat, you need a way to simulate this and time out does this quite nicely.

The cat is interacting with you. He wants the interaction to continue....whether it is petting, being fed treats, or pretending to stalk and jump on some piece of string you are playing with. If, every single time he bites, the interaction ends in such a decisive and obvious manner, he will learn that, if he wants to keep on playing, not to bite.

Answer 4

If its just a gentle bite that doesn't break the skin and doesn't appear to be aggressive it may be "love bites" which is a way cats show affection.

Answer 5

My cat does the same thing too. She does it while she is kneading while being petted and uses only her front teeth. She never leaves a mark but it does hurt. I believe it’s a left over from feeding from mommy kitty, a kitten habit. I’ve never been able to break her of doing it and I’ve tried since she was a kitten herself. It’s just something I live with now.

Answer 6

It's a form of love...he's showing you that he "owns" you.

But it still hurts! I know, my cat does the same. It won't stop, but you can lessen it.

When he bites I usually pick him up and put him on the floor, or I will tap his nose and then stop petting him. He usually comes back to "apologize" within 5 minutes or so (he rubs his head against my hand).

Answer 7

From my own experience, they don't bite hard, but they bite when they want you to stop doing something, like petting them in a way they don't want to be pet.

Answer 8

my cat does that too, but usually its an 'i wanna play' bite... is he really biting hard or is he play biting?

Answer 9

My cat does that. I think that he interprets as a love nip sometimes. But he will do it at times to get my attention too.

Answer 10

There is nothing you can do - he is actually "kissing" you - that is his way of showing you how much he loves you! Take it as a compliment that an animal is capable of loving you so much!