My cat thinks I'm a chew toy

[Dina]

I have a 10 month old kitten. She is very active. I need help with breaking her of chewing and biting. It is playful biting, but nonstop. When ever i try to pet her or love her she is chewing on me. My arms, hands legs. She will sleep next to me. As soon as i give her some attention, she goes for the playful biting.

[fjm]

I would try redirecting her to a soft toy, or play with toys that keep her at a slight distance like fishing wands or pull along toys. Kittens that age play fight together all the time, and can find it hard to understand that humans don't appreciate it. If she starts biting when you are petting her put the toy into her arms; if she insists on biting you game over. Repeat, repeat, repeat, reckoning on it taking weeks rather than days to change the habit.

[cslex]

My husband and I reacted differently to our kitten biting us, and now the kitten only bites him and not me! I've listed below all the things I did that he didn't do:
- High pitched screech (just a quick 0.5 second) whenever kitten bites. I read this is what playing kittens do when the play gets too rough for them. Make sure to warn any roommates that you'll be doing this so they don't get alarmed.
- Pushing kitten away when he bites instead of retracting limbs. Don't push too fast or too hard, just enough to unexpectedly unbalance the kitten.
- What fjm said: If kitten starts to bite when I'm petting, I go grab a soft toy and return to petting. The moment kitten tries to bite my hand, I put the toy in his arms and he goes nuts over it.
- If kitten starts to bite when I'm petting, but it's one of those slower bites (does that make sense? like maybe he's sleepy, tired, etc.), I gently push his face away with my hand. Definitely be careful with this because if you push at the wrong angle, he might land a bite!

[Miss Tee]

I have an 11 week old kitten that I got to ease my 2 and a half year old cats seperation anxiety, and the Miss Tee, the kitten plays with her paws and claws, teeth and Jaws, I'm covered in scratches, and TeeTee, the older cat who I brought back from Majorca when I found her and her siblings at the side of the pool area, she has always played either her teeth and claws, I saw a Dr once and he very casually asked where all the scratches came from!! Nothing I try, and believe me I've tried everything, has helped with TeeTee, but I'm having some success with Miss Tee, if she starts to play too rough, I put her down and ignore her, though she does like to crawl up my legs to come and sit on my shoulder, apparently there was a parrot where I got her from, though I don't think that's why she climbs up me!!! But the little yell and putting her down does seem to help get the message across, though she's small she has very big paws, and the claws in kittens are like needles. I don't have any other suggestions, as all my other cats weren't the type to bite or claw much, but they were all outdoor cats, these 2 are indoor cats. I have a cat tree that I hang toys off, that helps, they only come for fusses and they play very well together in the 3 weeks I've had Miss Tee, but I never leave the toys hanging on the tree if I'm not there to supervise, in case they wrap themselves up in them and hurt themselves, toys like the fishing rods helped a bit with TeeTee, but she generally pulls them out of my hand and hides them under the furniture then comes and attacks me, gently at first, bust she gets rough, try as I might I can't get her to play gently, but having Miss Tee helps, as they play together a lot. All the best with the wee kitten, enjoy this stage while it lasts!!