What to do about biting, clawing cat?

Question

My mom's cat, Otter, is about 5 months old, and was rescued as an orphaned baby. He has always been a biting little thing, not necessarily mean, but very aggressive playing. Unless he is tired, you can't pet his head without him grabbing your hand and biting it.. He also attacks legs... Squirting water and saying no doesn't do a thing.. Any ideas? (no we will not put him down) thanks.

Yes, hopefully neutering helps. We already have an appointment for Thurs. so its a cross your fingers kinda thing.

Answer 1

If he was taken from the mother at an early age (less than 10 weeks) he won't have been taught his manners by her and though play with his siblings.

Kittens usually don't mean any harm when they scratch or bite people. Like you say, he's playing but isn't aware of how rough he is being. Do you use your hands and feet as toys, if so he views your flesh as fair game. When cats are play-hunting, and your ankles or fingers are the prey. Kittens enjoy practising their hunting skills, such as stalking, chasing and pouncing, so any games that mimic those techniques are always popular. You can play a variety of hunting games with toys that dangle off the end of a wand stick, and your cat gets to be as rough as he likes with those toys without you getting injured. If he gets too rough during playtime, simply tell him "no" in a firm voice or hiss at him. If he doesn't stop immediately, then gently scruff the skin at the back of his neck, tell him "no" or hiss at him again, and walk away from him. This is how the mother cat disciplines her young, and it will teach him that the fun stops if he misbehaves. Positive reinforcement works best with cats, so when he does play gently, remember to reward him with food treats or praise.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Well, if you're having trouble with the clawing, they have rubber claw tips you can put on him, or you can go the pet store, get some claw clippers, and clip the tips off every few weeks. This is a lot less painful and stressful for the cat than declawing.

As for the biting, make sure that no one lets him bite them. Otter probably won't understand that just because Uncle Joe likes to play rough, you don't. Make sure to keep toys at hand. Neutering will definitely help. When you're at the vet's office, ask if there's anything that he or she would suggest.

Kittens are full of energy. In about 7 months he'll (hopefully) outgrow his nippiness.

Answer 3

It will take a bit of patience. For one thing, he is at the age where he should be neutered. This will calm him down. Having an un-neutered cat around is not a pleasant cat to have.

Squirting probably has been ineffective, since squirts work really best at further range, such as when he is on a counter. And, some cats really like water, so that never works with them.

He needs to be trained, as he has been getting by with his wrong behavior for a long time (in cat terms), so he is used to it.

It would be useful if you can clip the tips off his claws. But, step one is to grab his paws and say a firm NO! Escalation is to grab his paws, a gentle tap on the nose, and the word NO! Don't expect a fast change in his behavior. Just keep repeating and be consistent.

Answer 4

They're clipping their nails. All three of my cats do this. I always find the outer piece of their claws laying around cause they chew them off. It's no big deal, it's just something you have to live with. My mom had all our cats in the past declawed, so I never saw them do this until I got my own cat a few years ago. But now I have two more and they all do it. Don't worry unless you start noticing blood or something, then the cat might be getting a little neurotic. Haha.

Answer 5

Never play with a cat or kitten with your bare hands. They will wrestle and mock-fight with their siblings, their mother, or any cat that becomes a buddy to them, it is part of how they gain strength and learn to protect themselves when they are out in the wild. The other cats have nice thick fur that offers protection from those sharp little claws and teeth - the kitten does not realize that it's human friends do not have the same protection. There are plenty of interactive toys that you can use to play with the kitten - including some really wacky looking glove thingies that have extended fingers. I have also used an animal-shaped oven mitt to wrassle with my cats, plus there is always the perenial favorite game "mouse under the bed covers" (um... the risk to this one is that having the kitten associate the bed with playtime might encourage him to wake you up in the middle of the night to play more often than he would already, but I do it with my cats because it is so darn cute).

Sometimes a petting or brushing session suddenly turns into a biting session, or your kitten somehow gets his teeth into you in spite of your precautions while playing. When that happens, try to control your instincts to pull away immediately - that is what a prey animal would do, and it excites the feline more. Instead, you want to push in towards kitten's mouth or body - gently, mind you. So if he's got your finger in his teeth, you will calmly, gently push your finger futher into his mouth. The goal here is not to punish by sticking your finger down his throat or to hurt in any way, but to surprise the kitten with an action that will cause him to release you. Also, if you can, try to imitate a feline growl - it is one of the ways his mother would have used to correct his behavior when it was not acceptible to her. If you cannot (I know I can't get it right) a firm, calm "No!" will do the trick. Then you back off for a time, and use the social pressure of ignoring the kitten for a while to give the kitten time to calm down and to realize how unacceptible his behavior was.


I know a squirt from a spray bottle can be a valuable training aid in some situations - like scratching at furniture - but I prefer not to use something that startling and unpleasant when one is in close contact with a cat, because it may escalate fear, which might escalate into aggression, and I prefer not to have my cats associate those feelings of heightened aggression with playing with me.

Answer 6

Have you considered neutering him? That does calm cats down and it makes them less likely to wander and/ or overpopulate the earth even more. Maybe he is like this because he was lacking a motherly figure in the beginning of his life and perhaps he needs a friend to play with? Cat training? But seriously, I would (snip-snip) neuter him. It is quite painless and is really good for them. But... if he is already neutered, then I have no advice for you except maybe you'll be able to find a cat training class.

Answer 7

He was probably abandoned & doesn't trust people. We have one like that.
He needs lots of TLC so that he will learn that humans can be trusted.
Our Sweet Baby has been fixed, but it just might be his personality.
No, putting him down is never a good solution because he had a hard life before your mom got him. Tell her just to be patient.
Think about it this way: If a child came to you that had been abused, mistreated, abandoned; would you want to have it euthanized because it acted up because of distrust.
Well, it's the same thing. Your Mom is now a cat parent & she must be patient with this little one. It's had a hard life & needs reassurance.

Answer 8

Get your Kitten-Cat one of those tall tower type things with the platforms of carpeted areas for play.

You could probably make one yourself.

If not; get pieces of old carpet and maybe a good piece of hardwood and let your Kitten play with the hardwood on the thick carpet.

Let the Cat scatch her claws on the carpet scraps; beware of plastic toys.

Hopefully this will help.

Answer 9

This very normal behavior for kittens. Think of it like this. They usually play with their siblings in this fashion. Your hand is closer to his size and he associates it with playing, wrestling.etc. When he bites you grab his bottom lip with your thumb and index finger and apply gentle pressure while telling him no somewhat sternly. Introduce him to some new toys he can chew on. A stuffed toy is an excellent toy to get him. He can wrestle with it!

Answer 10

i had same problem
just play with it alot it will hurt but soon enough it wont scratch u and bite u because it will know ur nice or just get one of thos soft mice so it can play with it

cats need to bite and scratch things or it will get sick dont know y but it does trust me get it something to bite and scratch like u lol jk