Help! my bratty kitten wont stop bitting!?

Question

Tazzy is 9 months old, female tabby. She was born in the wild, but we got her from a rescue petstore. She is a sweetheart at one moment, like when she is sleepy. But if i try to hold her when she is in one of her "moods", she bites, gowles, and is a brat. How can i show her that i am the boss NOT her, i don't hit her, and she isn't responding to the spray bottle. HELP! i love her with all my heart, but i feel like she hates me!

Answer 1

when ever she bites give her a flick on the nose she wont like it and then say a firm NO that sould do it. but make sure you keep on persisting.

Answer 2

Sounds like she is not accepting your dominance. House cats have a pecking order like lions. If she bites you and she's not playing then you are below her. Don't force cuddles on her if she doesn't want them but if she is cuddling then bites then grab he by the loose skin on the back of the neck and pin her down, say no! very firmly! and then no more petting for a little while. She will probably go off in a huff but that's ok she'll be back.
Pay attention to her body language, fast, hard tail flicks is irritation or anger. Stop petting her when she starts doing this and you might not have a problem to correct.
The nose flicks work too but I don't like doing those and the pinning is something mommy cats do to kittens.
Oh, and if she's 9 months old she needs fixed fast, that will help her attitude too.

Answer 3

Consider the possibility that she is less domesticated than the average cat.
The cats that are successful as feral cats have somewhat different traits than those that stay home as pets. Their kittens inherit these traits. I had a cat once that was born of a feral mother, but raised by humans. Although raised by humans, and a nice cat, he was very shy with people he didn't know. This is no doubt a good trait in the wild.
Your cat's quick reactions may also be part of her feral genetics.
So, be patient and learn to understand her personality. You may be able to train her to be more tolerant. If not, you can train yourself not to upset her.
All domestic cats are a little wild. They aren't so different from bobcats, except that they stay kittenish all their lives, therefore somewhat tame. Their wild traits are part of their charm. They are also a good deal of the reason people don't breed hound-sized domestic cats! They are never totally reliable.

Answer 4

Your kitten is still a baby and therefore still learning right and wrong. The other thing no one else mentioned yet, is she could still be teething. Go to the baby aisle of the nearest dollar store and buy her some rubber bottle nipples.. they are great for chewing and they bounce. Another thing to try is ferret chews. If its not a teething problem, I agree with "Peter H" on a flick of the nose and a firm no. I had to do all of these with my cat when I rescued her at 5 weeks old.. Just be patient with her and eventually it'll all pay off.. and remember, they're animals, they don't understand things like we do.

Answer 5

My cat does the same thing. I went to the store and bought him toys that made noises, or that moved, and he gets tired very quickly, and then that's the time to pet him and play with him so that he doesn't bite. It might also be that something happened to her before she was rescued.

Answer 6

She is A KITTEN, She not a brat, she just behaving like a normal kitten. Kitten don't have hands, so they use there paws&mouth to learn. When she being nice-give her a cuddle, ignore her when she been scratchy

Answer 7

Some cats just don't like to be held all that much. I think this is the case with your ferel kitten.

Answer 8

if shes biting you, put hot sauce [or anything that tastes really bad] on your hands and let her take a bite of that.

Answer 9

my cat does that, just dont pet her let her come to u, and wen thes calm pet her until her tail starts to move