Can a nibble become a bite?

[AhmedUK]

Hello,

TC often jumps onto the chair and sits behind me. Then he brings his face towards my bare arm (I always have my sleeves rolled up, even in winter) and starts having a nibble. At this moment I always panic, and I move my arm away. Then I try to stroke him to make up for it, at which point he moves his head back and shows me his teeth as if he is about to bite, and puts one paw up to stop me stroking him. And then he will often jump off the chair and run away.

I am now thinking that maybe the initial nibble was friendly, but because I moved away and tried to stroke him, he got upset? Do you think I should just let him nibble away? I guess my fear is that when he is nibbling, his instinct of feeding might kick in and he might bite me and draw blood. Is my fear unfounded?

Thank you.

[bobbys girl]

Hi Ahmed,

This sounds quite familiar. Gracie does this with my OH. In her case she is not looking for a fuss. She jumps on to his knee and snuggles under his arm, taking hold of his T shirt with her teeth and then starts padding. She is 'feeding' - as a kitten!

She doesn't do it with me. She doesn't want a fuss from Dave. She just wants to snuggle under his arm. In warm weather he wears vest tops and I have to be ready with a towel or similar for her to chew. Sometimes, if he tries to stroke her she will growl.

I don't think TC means you any harm. Sometimes Tommy will try to attract my attention by tapping me with his enormous feet (and claws). He gets my attention - just not in the way he intended, ouch!

[Crewella]

A couple of mine do this too, and it's never turned nastier. I do have a biter, Merrick, who will bite if I pee him off, but I can see that coming a mile off .... and hear the growling. Other cats that bite (like Pugwash) it's a quick nip when stressed or surprised, but never just out of the blue and he's not done that for a week now he's getting used to us.

[AhmedUK]

Ah, thanks. In that case, I will let him do it next time and just carry on with what I am doing.

[Crewella]

Having said not to worry ...... neither are you obliged to sit there being chomped on if you're not keen. Cats get told off as kittens for unwanted behaviour by their mums, and there's nothing wrong in setting boundaries. I have no hesitation in saying 'no' and withdrawing my hand if I'm not in the mood, and I always do that with temporary foster cats who do this, as their next home might not be keen on the habit.

[AhmedUK]

That's correct. I don't mind him nibbling if he doesn't bite, it's taken more than a year for him to feel comfortable around me (well, usually, anyway!), and if he having a nibble means he feels happy around me, that's ok with me. But I have set a boundary when he goes into my bathroom, it's a place where he isn't supposed to go so I have "told him off" about that, but if I ever leave the door open, he will still try and go in there for a quick peek and as soon as he hears me coming, he darts out and pretends he wasn't in there!

[AhmedUK]

Well he came running to the dining table where I am sitting doing some work, crying, and he jumped onto my lap! My landlady is away for a few days, and I think he is getting lonely. And then he started nibbling my wrist. But I didn't move it away this time, and then he started biting, though it wasn't a hard bite, it was a bit uncomfortable and I was concerned it might get worse. So I moved my hand back and then he got a little "nervous", and leapt off my lap, and his claws went into my leg - OUCH! A good job I am still wearing my jeans and hadn't changed into my pyjamas yet!

I felt a bit bad, as he is lonely, and maybe I should have just let him carry on with his gentle biting, but I KEEP forgetting to get some disinfectant, and so if he bit me worse, I would have had to wait 7 hours before Sainsburys opens and I could get some.

[sarie]

I don't think he's likely to bite you worse Ahmed, I wouldn't worry about that - very few domesticated cats will bite severely enough to puncture the skin unless they're injured or terrified. If he's just nibbling then it's probably just some weird little quirk he has; all kitties have their quirks. Call them love bites.. hehe.

If he's biting and you don't like it or it feels uncomfortable though then you're right to remove your arm or hand from him, whether it upsets him or not you have to be comfortable with what he's doing. It sounds to me like he's just playing though. Have you got any toys you can entertain him with while you're home alone with him? It seems like he probably just wants to burn off some energy

[AhmedUK]

It sounds to me like he's just playing though. Have you got any toys you can entertain him with while you're home alone with him? It seems like he probably just wants to burn off some energy

My landlady has a few balls, that he sometimes plays with. One day I saw one lying around, and I do love football, so I kicked it towards him (it was inch perfect considering I had my formal shoes on) but he got spooked and ran around the flat for the next 10 minutes as if he had seen his worst enemy! It was a ball he often plays with!