Cat biting unprovoked

[emily_r]

Hi there. I adopted a cat a few months ago and lately he has been getting a lot worse about biting unprovoked. He will also bite if I pet him too long, but many times he will jump and bite my legs and run away when I am doing something else. I dont know if he is trying to play or not, but it is very painful. After he bites the first time he will continue to try and pounce on me, especially if I back away. If I try to pick him up and put him away from me, he runs after me to bite again. When I get home he will greet me by rubbing against my legs but he will bite after a couple minutes for no reason. I have tried looking up why he might be doing this and I can't find anyone with the same kind of issue. He does not seem frightened of me and will let me pet him if he's in a good mood. Does anyone know a reason this might be happening or what I can do to stop it?

[papa cat]

Perhaps, to him it’s just a game and he needs to learn to do it more gently. A few stern words perhaps might work when he does it.

I knew a cat that would chase its keeper up the stairs nipping at her ankles, it was just a game of chase and catch

[Mollycat]

It's very difficult to offer thoughts on this one behaviour without seeing what your relationship is like generally with your cat. From a cat's point of view there is no such thing as unprovoked, there is some trigger or reason for doing it. My instinct is whispering frustration to me. Is this an indoor cat? Young? What is his background, did he live with other animals before, was he stray, did he go out? How do you play and interact with him? And how do you react when he does bite you?

[susand]

This sounds similar to my cat. I’m not sure if it’s affection, playing or frustration or whether he does it for all three. He sometimes does it when I’m playing with him, stroking or brushing him, usually whilst purring. If I then try to move my hand away he will grab it with both paws and bite again. I’ve found holding my hand very still makes him stop and I immediately end the playing, petting or grooming session at that point and ignore him for a bit.

Also, when I get up in the morning I go to the loo straight away before going downstairs to to feed him. While I’m sitting on the loo (picture the scene!) he will rub against my legs, like they do, and then start biting them! Sometimes purring at the same time. Obviously I can’t move until I’m finished, so I push him away, making sure he faces away from me as I find when I do that he often gets distracted by something else in his sight line and goes to that, leaving me a moments rest bite. However, he will often start nipping at my legs and ankles again as I leave the bathroom, sometimes trying to grab my moving legs with both paws. I wonder if this is frustration at the delay to his breakfast being served, but I don’t know for sure.

He never breaks the skin but it can hurt. I think it is some kind of ‘over stimulation’ response, like he’s over excited. Removing the stimulation seems to work, so I’d advise staying stock still an not engaging with him for a little while afterwards - ie remove any stimulus,

It is tempting to tell him off but I’ve found that any sound, such as my stern voice, or visual stimulus, such as arm waving or finger wagging, exacerbates the situation and I’ve found the best solution is to stay quiet and still.