Posted on 07/07/2020 8:17:25 AM PDT by oldvirginian
My dear mom needs help with some kitty behavior.
Long story short, for the first time in her life she has an indoor cat to keep her company. This cat is 2 months old and was born and raised until two weeks ago in a farm barn. This kitten was the runt of the litter and was very small when mom got him. She fed and cared for the little fella and now it's growing like a weed and as active as any kitten could be. The kitten is eating dry kitten chow and turns it's nose up at wet food.
The problem is it bites. It will go all day being the sweetest kitten and then with no provocation bite her on the hand, arm or leg. Or it may wake up and bite then go into sweet mode.
The cat has suffered no harsh handling or treatment from my mom. She takes the biblical view that we are to care for the animals in our life. She has bought a scratching post and any number of toys so the kitten can amuse itself.
Oh, when it's in demon mode a slight spray of water just leads it to bite harder and grab on with all four feet.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Has mom had the wee furball to the vet for a checkup lately?
FWIW, if not, that’s the first thing I’d do.
Make a loud sound (NO!) and reject the kitten as soon as she bites. It will take a few attempts, but she will figure it out.
Does the cat bite hard?
Sometimes cats give “love bites”, but these tend to be more gentle “nibbles”.
I’ve heard some cat-lovers suggest that making a “crying noise” when they bite you, can send a signal to stop (since they often let out a cry when they play too rough with one another).
P.S. a kitten may also grow out of it. My girl cat would bite when excited, but hasn’t done it in years. Hang in there!
get another kitten. sometimes they play rough and should do that with another cat.
Does it have any play time to chase and bite into toys? Does it have a scratch post or is she the scratch post?
We just got 2x rescue kittens, about same age. It’s a kitten trait they grow out of. Since we got 2 of them they do some insane WWE wresting with biting and bunny kicks. A second kitten would divert a lot of that nipping away from your Mom.
It’s a feral cat, they bite occasionally. They’ll grow out of it.
First thing she bought was a scratch post. Plenty of toys and she makes sure it has play time.
Has she been really affectionate with the cat? Some cats, especially born in a wilder surrounding, like maybe in a barn, are overstimulated in a loving surrounding. If she is paying too much attention to the cat physically, and it’s the cat’s determination, it will overstimulate and trigger a bite, scratch, or both.
https://wisconsinpetcare.com/why-do-some-cats-suddenly-bite-while-being-pet-by-katelyn-schutz-cpdt/
Give kitty some room and let kitty come to her for affection, don’t seek it out. And let kitty decide how much is enough. It may take a while for kitty to change its habit of that as that is a different scenareo in the house, but it will change with time. Some cats are far more independent than others and insist on going their own way and their own way of fitting into the house dynamics.
rwood
No, none of the vets in the area are answering the phone. She intends a checkup asap.
It’s very likely to be play behavior (normal kittenish roughhousing), but kittens’ teeth are really sharp, as are their little claws, so it hurts.
It latches on pretty good.
I forgot to mention the kitten is pretty skittish around strangers but not with her.
I’ll pass it on. Thanks.
Kittens bite. And this one is very very young.
Mine was a terrible biter. I had to shame her by shouting “NO” and moving her away from me. I also have tangerines in the house all the time—shoved a piece of moist peel under her nose when she was naughty. Kittens hate the smell.
You have to remember that a kitten is not a cat.
Don’t forget to ask God for the answers.
It’s a kitten with semi-feral beginning - it should outgrow that stage...some of the best, most loving, cats we had began life that way and it took patience...should take less time/patience with a kitten
“born and raised until two weeks ago in a farm barn”
Nuf said cat is a feral kitten.
My Mom had one and it was raised the same way before my sister brought it from her barn.
It was not a pet.
She gave it back to my sister and we went to the Humane Society and got a loving puring sweat little thing that loved people.
Great mouser at Moms farm and went nuts if saw or smelled anything in the yard. It never went out and hasn’t.
Moms gone I still have the little S#1T,its 20 acts 10 totally deaf and no problems ever.
Never been to the vet except for 2 rabies shots.
Bottom line give it back before its to late. Cat bites are very dirty and infect terribly fast even over night. It wont change and no one will change it.
Find a nice kitty,(Female,spayed) play with it 1st then accept it
Cats have extremely short attention spans. When she bites the negative feedback needs to be immediate (Simultaneous). The cat needs to learn biting leads to the thing it does not like. A squirt gun and a very loud verbal NO NO NO has cured all my cats of biting. Always have the squirt gun handy when dealing with the kitten. 3 second delay between bite and squirt is too long. Needs to be almost instant. Will not take long for the cat to associate biting with squirts.
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