Kevin's a biter!

[Mollysmummy]

We have an almost 4 month old kitten called Kevin. We got him at 9 weeks old (which in hindsight I think was a tad early but the owner was really adamant he go as he was the last of the litter and the runt). Anyway, he and our older cat Molly get on fine now, but our problem is he's a biter!

As with any kitten, everything is a game for him. A dangling tassel, a curtain, a sock being put on you name it he attacks it! He also loves to bite and scratch our hands and arms. When he was tiny it wasn't so bad as it didn't hurt too much but now it really hurts! I really don't want to start spraying him with water as I've seen people suggest before, but the word no means nothing to him, a pointed finger is just another invitation to bite a finger, and pulling our hands away and ignoring him just gets our arms bitten.

He can be such a sweet boy but we're constantly covered in scratch and bite marks! How do we teach him it's not ok when ignoring him doesn't work? He's being 'done' on 29th December, will this calm him down at all?

[Jacks]

I don't have much experience of this but I wonder if Kevin may be a little younger than you were told, or whether being a runt meant his mum ignored him - because he certainly sounds like he hasn't learnt manners from his mum, which would be one of her early jobs. I think neutering will calm him to some extent but it sounds like he needs a lot more 'rough play' - like he would get from siblings - than he's getting with tassles and other small toys. You need to wear him out and then stroke him - toys like 'DaBird' where they have to jump and fling themselves around. I'm guessing Molly is to old for chasing and romping, which it sounds like he needs. I took in (literally from the garden) a solitary feral kitten of about 4 months and she would see any exposed flesh in the morning as an opportunity for pouncing play, which involved claws and teeth... ouch. We got her a playmate kitten - from rescue, a similar age and VERY playful. Commence chasing, bopping, play fighting... all through the house. No more sore ankles, wrists or legs and two happy kittens

[Mollysmummy]

We do give him lots of play....he has boundless energy! He and molly chase each other around the house all morning but molly loves to be outside so once she's had enough out she goes. (I've just seen her run off up the garden as I'm writing this!)

We will up the ante on playtime, as he does let us stroke him when he's tired without biting. I'm just not sure how we can teach him the manners his mum didn't?

[greenkitty]

He might be teething...

[Mollysmummy]

I would say yes but I'm not sure we'll know the difference as he's always been a biter! He's always liked to gnaw on stuff.

I realise I make him sound like a terror; he's not, just when he's in the mood everything and everyone gets bitten!

[Crewella]

I love my cats to bits, but must admit I'm a bit draconian with rules - I used to school horses and old training habits die hard (my lot all have to line up by their bowls at dinner time!).

I tend to treat each cat as an individual, so I might be a lot louder and firmer with a confident cat than I might be with a nervous one, but I have been known to hiss in the face of a repeat offender. My Merrick is a miserable grumpy git and used to bite if displeased and when you tried to pill him or put him in a carrier. Once I knew him well enough to know that this wasn't fear related, just grumpiness (he also liked to swipe me when it was raining), being firm and hissing worked with him - I figured that's what his mum would have done. He got the message that it wasn't acceptable, and still spends every evening on my lap and knows I love him to bits.

If pulling your hands away doesn't work, then put or push him onto the floor and ignore him - really ignore him, walk away if you have to, and reward his good behaviour with lots of fuss. He needs you to show him, clearly, the difference between good behaviour and bad by your reaction at the instant that it's happening. Telling him off afterwards is no good as he will have forgotten what he did!

It sounds like this is just high spirits (and maybe teething issues too), but whatever is causing it you really could do with nipping it in the bud, as the bigger he gets the scarier this behaviour will become.

[Mollysmummy]

Those were my thoughts exactly. Pushing him away doesn't work as he thinks this is part of the game and pounces back! Hissing may work, although I'm a softie and don't want to scare him! I honestly think it's just a case of not being taught by his mother what's ok and what's not and as my husband and I have never had a kitten, only already trained cats, I guess we've been a bit soft and lenient with him. Thanks for the advice guys!

[sarie]

My kitten Bailey is exactly the same as Kevin and I've found blowing in his face is the best solution. It's perfectly normal kitten behaviour and you've got nothing to worry about, Kevin isn't at all unusual in his behaviour!

As soon as Bailey goes for my hand I blow in his face and he unlatches. I then slowly and gently remove my hand as if I snatch it away he'll go for it again. I then immediately replace my hand with a toy and once he's latched onto the toy I'll give him loads of rough fuss.

I've also got a couple of teething toys for him to chew on and I've got some cardboard boxes with the flaps open lying around as he loves knawing on those too. I also read somewhere that wetting a flannel, twisting it into a stick and then freezing it gives them a good chew toy if their teeth are sore. I haven't tried it yet! At 4 months he'll be teething quite badly as well as going through the equivalent of the terrible two's phase for humans so the main thing is to gently redirect him away from attacking your hands/feet.

As with human babies, kittens at that age just don't really understand no. My adult cats know from my tone of voice when they should stop doing something but kittens are generally oblivious to a change in voice tone. It's important to redirect rather than discipline For now at least.. once he's a bit older he'll start to understand the change in tone.

I've found already that the scabs on my hands are starting to heal and there are very few new ones appearing. He still goes to attack me sometimes but I've got the hang of intervening before he does any damage by blowing on him and as a result he's cut right back on the hand attacks.
I was calling him a clingon as I only had to so much as reach my hand near him and he'd latch on like a koala and refuse to let go and just moving my arm in bed resulted in him latching onto my elbow (owww).

He rough plays with my other two cats but even so, he's still trying to do it with me. It's just how they play
They do grow out of it though, even though it might not seem like it right now. All my kittens did the same hand/feet attacking thing but by about a year they stop and in the meantime you just have to discourage it

[Mollysmummy]

It's nice to hear that someone else's kitten is exactly the same! The 'koala grab' comment made me laugh as that's exactly what Kevin does. He's got a couple of boxes he chews, we've got dental toys but I don't think they're hard enough for him, he likes to gnaw on the sticks of his dangly toys.

I will definitely try blowing in the face, see if that works. Poor baby is probably in pain with his teeth too if he's teething.

[sarie]

Haha yeah you're not alone.. it's pretty normal kitten behaviour

I hope blowing in the face helps! It's a nice, simple solution that doesn't require you to have anything nearby and is hands free! works like a charm for Bailey.

I've just bought some nubby teething keys intended for babies - you can freeze them too; it's rubbish that there aren't any decent teething cat toys available. You can get tons for dogs but the cat ones are all just made of fabric and stuffing.. as if somehow kittens don't teeth in the same way as puppies? I was going to get him a puppy chew toy but most of them were a bit large and I wanted something with a flatter surface than a ball or bone so I've gone for the baby keys.. I'll let you know if they're any good when they arrive

[Mollysmummy]

That's a really good idea, let me know if they work!

He's definitely in the terrible twos, he used to jump up on my lap and nap in the evening with me but now he would much rather be with our other cat or on his own than cuddling with us! Luckily he's still ok with being picked up; our older cat hates it!