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SunnyDaysDontLie · May 2015

Hi guys! It's been a while. I'm in nursing school now, and I am drowning in paperwork. As I type this now, it's nearly 4 AM- I have a final exam in six hours, exactly. I just have a quick cat question (I know this is a virtualpups forum... but I can't seem to find an answer on the Internet that is exactly what I've been looking for. Last May, one of my good friends and co-workers found a litter of abandoned kittens under her trailer. We don't know what happened to the mom, but we do know that they were very skinny, and one of them was dead (RIP Pluto). No shelter in this area would take kittens that weren't weaned, and I was told by several shelters that taking them to a pound, or even a couple of vet offices would lead to them being euthanized. I didn't want that- they were perfectly healthy kittens, just needed some TLC. So I bottle fed them. I was up every 30-45 minutes at first, then every 1-2 hours as they became less hungry. They were given Pedialyte (vet recommended), kitten formula, and human infant formula, goat's milk, anything that I could get them to eat. They were so tiny (eyes weren't even opened yet), so they were dropper fed at first, and then moved onto a kitten bottle. I cleaned them properly, stimulated their little bottoms to get them to use the bathroom, box trained them... Eventually adopted out all but one at around 8 weeks- the one I kept was a little orange and white male, named Schrödinger. Schrödinger grew up, and honestly he quickly became one of the best cats I've ever owned. He loves water, will take baths with me, sleeps in my arms and in my bed like a baby. He talks to me, talks to my hamster, and is one of the friendliest cats I've ever met. I don't think he ever stops purring. I sometimes think he's more animal than human. My one problem is this... he bites. And he bites really[ hard. They're play bites, of course- he's not angry, not agitated, he just never learned how to not bite so hard, as the people that were originally keeping the litter at their house tended to keep them isolated, didn't really play with or love on them. Schrödinger is about a year old now. I've tried everything to get him to stop biting as hard, from spray bottles to "hissing", to light but firm swats on the nose.. I just can't get him to stop chomping down on me (or my parents). Sometimes he's gentle, but for the most part he is very rough. I don't know if he doesn't know that he's being rough, or if he just doesn't care (because he's a cat). Anyone have any advice? Or any ideas on how to prevent the hard bites? Thanks!

Nacie · May 2015

Cats are very funny beings - as you said . . . they are cats! But you never said what brings on the bite? What is he doing at the time and/or what kind of interaction are you having with him when he decides to bite. That could be the trigger. Some cats just don't like certain things and want to be left alone - until they want attention on their terms!

PaperWings · May 2015

Is he neutered? That's the key question!

Melrose437 · May 2015

I myself have a cat that sometimes bites hard when he gets excited but since he was a kitten everytime he would bite me I would keep whatever body part he was bitting in his mouth ( very important so the cat doens't get his prey drive activated by you fumbling around) I would then say the typical "Ouch" until he let go( usualy happens very fast if you don't move a few seconds max) then you rederect his attention to a toy * Very important since cats don't like discipline, it makes them want to be worst i find so Teaching a No followed by a Yes action so he gets that No I can't bite the human but when I want to bite I get a toy instead. They learn to bite toys only.*

My cat tries to nibble my toes when he gets hungry but as soon as I go ouch he lets go.. I use the same method for when he uses his claws by accident.

Also neutering your cat is very important, it reduces aggression and the sexual drive.

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