7 Month Old Kitten Bites

[w1rc]

Hi All:

My family is at our wit’s end.....

We have a 7 month old male Balinese kitten who we want to like but he is making it challenging. He will be purring away and when we go to pet him somethime he likes it and all of a sudden he starts biting is. Also we can’t let him run loose in the house because he hets into trouble, hiding under furniture, chewing electric wiring and Venetian blind cords, etc. We are at a loss what to so. We bought him from a breeder because my wife has allergies and this breed is supposed to be good for people with allergies. We have a great deal of money tied up in him and don’t want to just get rid of him.

Anynsuggestions are greatly appreciated.


Best regards,

Michael

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome

It could be that your kitten's still teething; they can all be very different in this respect, and giving him something to gnaw or mouth on, such as a raw chicken wing (bones MUST be raw) or a strip of raw beef, might comfort him while his adult teeth are coming through.

Also, I have a 7 year old who bites ... I think she's half Burmese. I used to breed Siamese but never were they such a pain in the posterior as this. She arrived at about the same age as your boy - oh and she'll claw as well. I've never roughnecked with her (I'd end up shredded!) but we do have certain 'key words' understood by now, such as 'no' 'no tigers!' 'right!' spoken softly but firmly, or even just a hiss. If she misbehaves now I find that a quiet command, coupled with a glare and then all withdrawal of attention (for say two minutes) works; she's very intelligent, as Orientals are, and understands she's done wrong. She's affectionate and possessive and does want to please; when attention is restored she likes me to say 'going to be a good girl now?' and I believe she really does need constant reassurance, even with trivial things; I always tell her what a good girl she is for using her tray, being stroked, etc etc. They may seem like ruffians but they can be very sensitive underneath.

Toys such as a Yeoww banana, a Kong Kickeroo (from Amazon) and a Wiggly Waggler (from the store on Catchat) that a cat can clutch and kick hell out of seem to help as well. ('Get the wigwag! Good girl!')

And just lots of love and talking to.

I do hope your boy calms down soon. Also, is he neutered? If not, the old testosterone will be starting to kick in by now. He'll be thinking he's a Hard Man ... time to take him down a peg or two, poor chap.

Hopefully other people will be along with more advice but hope this helps for now - all the very best with him

[Ruth B]

It sounds like your young lad has a serious case of Kitten.

Lilith has already given some good advise that I would agree with.

Neutering is the first question, if he hasn't been done then getting him booked in a quickly as possible will help in the longer term.

Teething was also one on my thoughts so some type of chew toy for him, or as Lilith says some raw meat could certainly help and take his attention off your hands.

The electrics are a concern, he could do himself serious harm, or even electrocute himself if he bit them too deeply. Pipe lagging and gaffer tape can be a cheap solution to protect him from the cables.

If you can with the blind cords try and tie them up out of reach so he can't end up hanging himself on them.

Hiding under furniture and rampaging around the place is all part of being a kitten, you can try getting one of the long wand toys which can be used to encourage him to run around while you are there to supervise (never leave them unsupervised with this type of toy, again the string could be dangerous), but most kittens have more energy than us humans have.

Have plenty of toys for him that you can leave him with, ping pong balls, foam balls plastic balls with bells in, scrunched up bits of paper, catnip mice and fish, etc., and alternate what is left available for him to play with.

My final advise goes against all instinct, but when he does bite you, don't pull away, instead push your hand, or what ever he has bitten, gently towards his mouth. Cat's teeth curve slightly inwards to help them hold onto prey so pulling away is triggering his hunting instinct, pushing inwards, goes against that and actually makes his mouth open slightly allowing you to remove your hand easier.

Another trick i have heard of, but never tried, is to use these attacks to get him used to having his mouth opened and his teeth brushed. To start with, assuming his biting isn't hared enough to break skin at the moment, while he has one hand in his mouth you use a finger from the other hand to gently rub his teeth, later on cat tooth paste (don't ever use human tooth paste on a cat) can be used and finally a brush. Either he gets used to having his teeth cleaned which will benefit him later, or he will stop biting as he doesn't like it being done.

As a final note, hopefully sometime in the next 6 to 12 months age will slow him down and you will have years of pleasure with a happy, well behaved, intelligent cat.

[Lilith]

Oh heavens yes, Ruth, couldn't agree more - when bitten, keep still. I learned this first with a nervous feral tom and then later with various snakes who sometimes mistook my fingers for lunch. It damps down the instinct to grip and bite harder, and ... slowly ... you can extricate your fingers ... and count them ...

A bad case of kittens lol

[Dai]

https://www.catchat.org/felineforum/vie ... =13&t=7671

you can always get him some siver vine sticks t ochew on.