My kitten bites?

Question

I have an adorable 3 month old ragdoll kitten charlee! i dont know much about the ragdoll breed but he constantly bites everyones ankles when they are walking and bites when people try and pat him. He bites my partner alot the only person he doesnt often bite is me. How do i stop him from biting and is it normal? (i asked the lady we bought it from if it was normal it bit so much and she said yes because he is a kitten but will grow out of it)

Answer 1

I am a veterinary technician and in my lengthy experience with cats I have studied quite a bit about learned behaviors. Somehow the kitten has associated biting with attention.Even negative attention is attention and he has learned that by biting he will get attention from you.My best advice is to re-train him by simply refusing to play with him.Give him a firm no as you walk away(no hitting or tapping-by doing that you are telling him it's ok to hurt people when you are mad, frustrated,etc.)and ignore him.This needs to be done EVERY time he bites, scratches, whatever the negative behavior. If you do this consistently everyday he will very quickly learn that biting makes mom/dad mad and he will be ignored for it, and kittens hate being ignored. If it gets out of hand you can resort to the water bottle method. I personally don't like it because people misuse the method and ruin the whole point.The cat is not supposed to associate the water bottle with its' owner, it is supposed to be sprayed secretly DURING the unwanted behavior.If the cat associates the water bottle with you he will resent you, and that can lead to other, more serious problems.I say go with your instincts. You sound like a caring, loving parent and patience is exactly what a kitten needs.After all, he's only been on earth for 3 months and is just now starting to learn about responsibility and consequences. Good luck.

Answer 2

This is actually inappropriate play/play aggression. Basically, your kitten is not well socialized. He is inappropriately stalking others in the house like they are prey! They learn appropriate play behaviors from playing with siblings. Was he hand raised or did you get him at a very young age like 6 weeks?

Your kitten will NOT grow out of this! It will get worse and he will bite more often and harder! The best thing to do it to talk to your veterinarian about proper play and correcting his behavior. Some cat experts recommend getting another cat for him to play with to learn proper socialization, but some recommend against it. Try to see a cat specialist (a veterinarian that only works with cats) or a veterinary behaviorist.

Answer 3

Perfectly normal! My 8-month-old kitten used to do that all the time when he was that age. They grow out of it real quick though; which is a shame since my kitten's now an 8-year-old brat. So enjoy your adorable kitty while you still can! lol

If your kitten starts biting hard enough that it hurts and breaks skin, start disciplining him by scolding him in a loud voice and smacking him on the side of his bum. He'll get the message that it hurts you and will stop as long as you keep doing that whenever he does.

Oh, and does your kitten play hide and attack? As in, he hides somewhere and pounces on you when he sees an opportunity? lol

Answer 4

My adorable kitten had a biting problem from the time he was about 10 weeks old also! We tried saying "NO" and the normal discipline techniques, none worked. The only thing we figured out (that actually STILL works...) was:

-buy a TY beanie baby, and when the cat starts biting, put the stuffed animal in his/her paws/teeth!

My cat has 2 beanie babies, that he drags around constantly... hilarious!!

Answer 5

I think Moxie's idea is a good one!

Don't ever play with the kitten with your hands - always use a feather toy or cat dancer for his playtime.

Also hold him firmly and hiss in his face and then put him gently away from you. The mother cat hisses when she corrects her kittens inappropriate behavior. If you are consistent with this approach it will work - everyone else in the household should follow the same procedure. You can also say a firm "No!" then too.
(1) restrain him to get his attention
(2) hiss in his face
(3) say "No!"

Answer 6

This is normal. It is game for them. Animal naturally like to play rough and bite. When my kitten was doing this the vet told me that a cat biting softly, just grabbing a small chunk of skin and biting softly not enough to hurt usually, is actually a sign of affection, just like when the cat rubs its head on you.

Answer 7

Yes, he is a kitten, and yes, he is acting on instinct and fun, but it can become an annoying habit in an adult cat. Whomever he is most bonded to should gently put him on his back when ever he is caught in the act. Stare him down until he looks away and sternly say 'no' - sounds a litte weird, but it is what mother cats do in the wild to let kittens know their behavior is not acceptable (though they growl instead of saying 'no' :)

Answer 8

He is a kitten and he will grow out of it. He's also teething probably. Look at it this way, in human years, he's about two and you know what they say about terrible twos. Be patient, calmly correct him when he does it. A really good way to train a kitten is with a water bottle. Keep one handy and when he is doing something wrong, spray him.

Answer 9

yes it is normal . young kittens would do it when she little but now she is 5 months old she will grow out of it.

Answer 10

Spray him with a water bottle when he does that. Cats and dogs do not like it when you do it. Pretty soon, when he sees you get it, he will run off.